PSMS02 Planosaurus Marker Set - Triceratops / Stegosaurus (3 Markers Set)

A horned and a plated dinosaur in one set

The triceratops and the stegosaurus have in common that their shape is held together by pronounced solid parts – on the first a massive neck frill and three horns, on the second a row of bony plates along the spine and spikes on the tail. It is exactly these areas that need different handling from the smooth skin of the flanks, and that is why the three marker pens are put together to cover both.

Working part by part

The frill and the plates are usually dealt with first, because they carry the most attention and will take a stronger transition of shades. On living animals the horns and spikes tend to be horny and lighter than the surrounding skin, so it pays to separate them from the body with a tone that does not fight with it. The rest of the animal is then held together by a uniform opaque application, into which a darker shadow is placed only here and there under the belly and at the legs. On the skeleton inside the model the opposite method works: there a darker tone is let into the gaps and the shape of the individual bones steps out of it.

The small things that decide

A pen holds its mark best when it is not pressed anywhere; pressure squeezes out too much color and it then builds up at the edges. A dry final stroke across the raised edges of the plates brings out the structure better than another coat of full color. If two shades are to blend, the second is applied into the first while it is still wet and the transition is blended with the tip. Once the work has dried it is worth unifying the surface with a matte varnish, so that the sheen from coats of different thickness does not diverge. It is only under a uniform surface that you see how much work the shadows have done.