"You Color Experts, PLEASE Help Me Out!!!" Topic

Please look at the photo links I provided on this other thread:

TMP link

QUESTION:

Would the greenish-grey dust seen on the photos be best duplicated as an underlying base color (part of the priming) or as part of the dry brush?

Thanks.

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Ooops. I really meant to type "You Color Experts . . ."

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Looks to me like any Ochre would do as a base coat.

So, the grey-green would be just a dry brush then?

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I'm not convinced that there is really a green there. Two of the photos that you linked are the same photo, one has the grey-green dust, the other does not.

Anyway, to the question: If I did it, I would either use fine foam flock, sprinkling a light dusting of a faded green, then sprinkle my regular faded orangish flock. Or, I would texture the terrain with an acrylic texture gel/medium, and drybrush with probably about 4 shades of grey and grey-green, after painting and drybrushing my other martian tan/orange/brown dust.

I love the colors in this shot: picture

To get an effect like that on terrain, I'd first completely finish the red-brown terrain – base, shade, highlight, all that – then *lightly* spray the green from a distance and at an extremely low angle, so the green just barely catches on the surface. Then finish with a clear flat coat.

You can find cans of green spray paint close to that color in DIY stores. Rust-Oleum's Painter's Touch Sage is pretty close to that dust color: link

It's gloss paint, but, again, you can hit it with a flat sealer after it's dry.

I love that shot! One of my favorites.

Thanks so much for the suggestions.

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That is a beautiful photograph, beautiful landscape.

Just looks like an ochre with a blue/green/grey patina to me.

I'd be surprised if you/anyone could pull off the green colouring on an ochre/red lanscape. However if i was to try i would base coat any old desert yellow, wash with various falvours of red oxide/ red browns and selectively highlight with the base colour and lighter up to white/flesh as suites. The green would probably work best as selective dark brown washes on the above and then highlight up to green, finishing with a mottle green and not go any lighter.
Alternatively as suggested maybe a dusting with some fien green pwder or fine balast may achieve the effect you're after.

Sorry, has nothing to do with the painting,but when I opened the link from your first link the tab that came up announced I was opening "The Separatist Martian Colon". Now that one caught my eye.

Ok, on the pictures. It looks like the photos aren't color corrected. I'm betting those are false colors. Looks cool though.

"It looks like the photos aren't color corrected."

Which ones have been then?

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These two are from the links on one of the threads (I'm losing track). They appear to be the same shot, one color corrected and the other not. Don't know if this is what Mikhail was referring to, but is the source of my comment above.

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Could they simply be at different times of the day?

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I don't think so, as the shadows cast by the boulders seem to be be the same or very close to the same. My guess is that the blue/green colors are a reflection of the sky off of of material in the dirt. I pretty much convinced that theone photo is an edit of the other, though I have no way of knowing which has the ost accurate colors.

Another approach would be to try to figure out why such coloring would occur in the soil. I'm completely outside my realm of knowledge on this, but could it be from copper compounds in the soil? If so why would they be there/How did they get there? If not what other conditions would cause green soil? etc.

From the gaming standpoint, does it matter (beyond basic curiosity)? It is very cool looking, which strikes me as being more than enough reason to build it.

"From the gaming standpoint, does it matter (beyond basic curiosity)? It is very cool looking, which strikes me as being more than enough reason to build it."

I am starting to agree with you more and more.

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Hmm . . .

Well, it looks like this is what Mars really looks like . . .

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Powder it with grey/green chalk dust and apply a sealant? (Might be messy though….)

I'd be surprised if you/anyone could pull off the green colouring on an ochre/red lanscape.

I wouldn't be at all surprised. In fact, I'm tempted to do on a small scale just to prove that it *can* be done.

:)

I suspect the green is because of a filter. NASA often uses various filters to see things in false color that aren't apparent in a non-filtered photo. That can expose minerals and other geologic formations that can't be seen in the standard photo. It might be possible to check the NASA site for the Mars Rover, if there is one and see if they have posted photos with captions explaining them.

Ok, I went to the site and took a look. It's definitely a false color image. The actual color is the reddish color you see normally associated with Mars. But, unless you are doing Mars, why worry to much about the reality. Your planet can be any colors you want it to be, including having a layer of grainy greenish sand.

Hey, and for all we know, that "layer of grainy greenish sand" may just be the ever-drifting ashes of little green men, after they nuked each other and left Mars a barren world!

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Guys, thanks for all the great suggestions!

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I love the "approximate true colors" in these photos:

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Check out the "blueberries" on the bottom photos here (also in "approximate true color"):

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Man, don't you wish you could walk around in some of those images?

This is way too orange here:

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This is interesting:

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