Help with mottling

I am my worst critic. To me my mottling looks unacceptable. If this needs to be fixed how do I accomplish that using luminaire paints. I have come so far I don’t want to strip it if it can be fixed.
Thanks for the help.

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It looks okay. Keep going with different colored mottles and it’ll start looking better. It always takes multiple mottles before they start looking good

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I am limited with what colors I have one was a variant of mauve and the other was a dark purple wash. What other color can I use for a wash. All I have is the Master set from Luminaire and a limited income so I can’t afford to buy more colors at this time. I was so happy that it wasn’t as bad looking as some of the bad ones I’ve seen for sale.

Do you have any blues or yellows? I use blue,pink,purple,red,green, yellow and several other colors. Mottling doesn’t have to just be red :slight_smile:

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I have a blue vein and Asian flesh (which is somewhat a yellow).

Try using those, they help build depth. If you have a white or a light flesh try making a bubblegum color. You can use whatever red you have and vein blue to make purple. Just try mixing colors and see what happens. I use GHSP not air dry but the colors you can use are the same.

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Can I use a layer of liquitex between layers of luminaire? Would I need to add something to the liquitex in addition to water? Just wondering in case I can get my hands on some liquitex.

I have no clue, maybe the air dry ladies will chime in and let you know. I use GHSP so I’m no help, good luck! Can’t wait to see your finished baby

Thank you for your help. I guess I need to think outside the box on my colors. I do have a burnt umber. It was in the bag for eyebrow colors (which I can now assume be used for other things besides eyebrows).

Yes, you could use them for other things definitely! I add burnt umber into lip colors and blush colors to make them a bit darker and more lifelike You can also use burnt umber as a warming wash. Some of the colors I use seem weird at first but they create a really nice and realistic result when you combine them. Just for an example, here are some of my favorite colors. You could do a mottle or a wash with any of them

And here’s what the baby looked like finished (i used all the colors above on her)

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I have always used air dry paints. I do not use one particular brand and nothing else. I do use liquitex mediums, for instance, and I have other acrylic paints in tubes I have purchased. Just try working with them, putting them together. A color wheel is a very useful item to have. If you don’t have one, you can find them online and see what you need from those, just until you get one. But, as a general rule, what the heat set folks use, we can use as well. We just use acrylic paints instead of the heat set paints, and we do not use odorless thinners. We use distilled. There are other things, too. But, that is about as far as I can take you. There are tutorials. Some of them are paid for tutorials. They are not all expensive. Some are. But they are out there that are not. Just keep looking and working with the paints. I think the other lady here gave you great advice. The colors she showed you can be made with acrylics. I guess that is my point. :slight_smile: HTH

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Thank you so much. I did do some experimenting and trying different washes with some of my other colors on my baby… I have watched many tutorials and some of them 5 or 6 times. I did pick up the color wheel the other day. Every day I think of something I need. I am almost on a first name basis with the cashiers at Hobby Lobby. Who by the way is having a 50% off sale on their paint brushes. I am thinking about picking up some more colors of paint. If I get liquitex do I need to add a thinner to them or is just distilled water enough?

@MilosMeadows. I did use some more washes with other colors I have, which definitely made a difference. Your baby is amazing. What kit is she?

With the liquitex or Golden I believe you will need some kind of a medium that contains binders to help the paint stick. I use golden glazing liquid in satin. Some use a little ultra matte gel. If you had any mediums that came with your paints you should be able to use them with other air dry paints.

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I don’t know if this will help because I use Genesis, but with my mottling layers (I do about the same colors as Victoria) once my mottling layers are set (I don’t bake in between) I gently rub them down some to get the effect I like so it’s a more even surface. Now I don’t know if you can do this with air dry so please forgive me if this is no help. :hibiscus:

Did you do more washes? Or more mottling layers?

I’m glad it helped!
Thank you :slight_smile: she is Ylenia by Elisa Marx

The color looks good. A sea sponge will help make the mottling more even without leaving gaps between where the sponge was applied.

I use Genesis, so I don’t know f this applies with air dry, but when I first started I gated my mottling. I could never get the well defined mottles others achieve, it would just sort of run together. I finally figured out that I had too much paint on my mottle sponge. If you pounce the sponge a few times on a paper towel before applying to the kit, it’ll leave a more defined mottle.

shh…Don’t tell my husband how late I stayed up painting last night. LOL. I doesn’t bother him, in fact he keeps asking me during the day if I am going to paint. Here are some updated pics of my baby after doing more mottling. I don’t know why my pics keep coming out so bad.

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