Another Commission WIP and one for fun.

[kathrynloch]

Thanks to a wonderful friend's referral, I managed to get another client with a nice handful of minis to paint. We're starting off with a single mini but things are lining up for the rest. Since I know y'all will kill me if I started separate threads for each mini, I'm going to put 'em all in here.

I still have my other commission work and will update the Ogre thread in a bit. My GD entry is coming along but still in the prepping stage - taking my time with that so I don't miss anything. And honestly after the frenzie of the last contest I need to recharge my batteries to get jazzed up over another.

So I went ahead and started a just for fun mini because I absolutely love this sculpt - so sorry gang prepare yourselves for pic overload. lol!

But first things first.

My client, it turns out, is from my home town in California and knows all the places I know - holy hometown reunion Batman! lol! Anyway, the first mini on the block is Reaper's Xanesha - kind of along the lines of a gorgon being half human, half snake.

Here she is a day or two ago. Even though we're talking a fantasy creature, y'all know I like to find real life references. I found a photo of a blue coral snake (Asps, very dangerous). It's bright bright blue with a bright red head and the tip of its tail is red. So on Xan here I did the snake in blue pigments, armor in gold and I thought I'd put the red on that funky thing on her shoulders. (Mask needs to be gold per client's request.) So I got that done and set her aside to dry. I was working on something else, glanced up and spotted Xanesha and the very first thing that popped in my head....

WONDER WOMAN!

head desk!

It was the color combo, especially with the gold bracers on the arms...so I changed the color. I'll still use red on the gemstones but right now I have the color at a bluish-purple. i'm going to wait and see if the color I need to paint it becomes clearer as I progress.

At least I got the snake body and armor looking okay.

I worked on the eyes today and the result was one of those Wow! Cool! moments. The mask is supposed to have dark green lenses for the eyes. So my intent was to go for that but with a bright green/yellow flare.

The first layer I tried a color I haven't used yet - Reaper's Leaf Green. With just one layer I notice an unusual effect almost immediately.

It's almost a neon glowing green but it looks pretty cool.

Still working toward the dark green with the lense flare I applied Reaper Pine Green around the edges and I applied a flare with Reaper Marigold Orange.

Its okay...at least going toward the direction I want but I'm not jazzed about it.

Normally, for something like this I'll use my Windsor & Newton drawing inks - green for this one. But I wanted to try something else. I got out the Reaper Clear Green and applied it instead.

Whoa! The eye suddenly looks like its glowing and this isn't an exercise in OSL.

Because her head is tilted to the right, that eye doesn't catch much light but it catches enough to glow as well.

I thought it was seriously cool! So much for the dark lenses! lol!

Okay and quickly here, this is my fun mini. Reaper Monique De Noir 54mm by Werner Klocke. It's kinda nice working on a little larger scale and Werner did a fantastic job on this sculpt. I think she's gorgeous!

Look ma no arms!

Added 1 arm. The other holds the shield. Also added a couple of pieces of armor.

Gradually building up colors with glazes. The shading on the red is dark purple and the inside is almost black but also has purple.




The armor is still rough but the face is coming right along.

I still have a lot of work to do on her but like I said, she's one I'm doing for fun.

And I'll update the other commission pieces in the Ogre thread a bit later.

 

[TrystanGST]

You never slow down, do you? Haha.

Well done! I'm going to have to bug you about the finer points of pigment usage before too long.

 

[marjedi]

Funny Monique in 54mm is on the way in the mail as we speak, alongside Triel also in 54 mm.

 

[William T.]

She's definitely one of my favourite reaper models! Now I want to paint her again! Damn you!!

 

[kathrynloch]

You never slow down, do you? Haha.

Well done! I'm going to have to bug you about the finer points of pigment usage before too long.

Not if I can help it! lol! And just let me know, I'm happy to help.

Funny Monique in 54mm is on the way in the mail as we speak, alongside Triel also in 54 mm.

:laugh: There we go again! When I bought it, it reminded me of the Amazons you got and of course being Werner Klocke, I thought you might like it.

She's definitely one of my favourite reaper models! Now I want to paint her again! Damn you!!

lol! I'm sorry William...NOT! I think you should get another one to paint.

 

[William T.]

Just look at my log in the morning and see how many other projects I have!

I'm still putting stuff away from moving it all!

 

[kathrynloch]

lol! You're supposed to say, that's a great idea Kath! And get one. lol! Having more minis than you could possibly paint is part of the fun of the hobby. :devil:

 

[William T.]

Not with a hundred model commission looming over my shoulder and the fact that I want a new house! haha

But I may have to make a trip up to Reaper HQ and get one this weekend! lol

 

[kathrynloch]

OSL Sidebar

Okay, so I was discussing OSL with amrogers in his thread, and telling him about how I painted the eyes on Xanesh. At ReaperCon, I picked up the GW 'eavy Metal Masterclass book and it as a section on OSL. The other day I experimented with it but the results were less than stellar. After the result with Xan's eyes, I got curious about the specific paint I used so decided to experiment a little more, this time on one of my own minis and not a commission piece. lol! The discussion with amrogers had me bump up the experiment on the priority list.

So here are the results which I think folks may find interesting.

The biggest thing I learned from this experiment was lighting. No matter how much paint we apply, no matter what color, no matter what technique we use, our OSL item is not generating its own light. The effect is completely dependent on lighting and the angle it is viewed at. One of the classes I attended at ReaperCon was Michael Genet's NMM class. A big thing he pointed out was that sometimes people get carried away when trying to decide the direction of the source lighting. When that happens, the piece falls apart when viewed at any other angle but the original source lighting. To keep that from happening, until the artist gets to the point where they know NMM inside, outside, upside down and backwards, keep your source lighting coming from above the mini, centered and straight down. That way the piece will always look correct unless you lay it on its side or something. lol!

That premise can also apply to OSL, the we paint the source lighting coming from a single focal point - but it is still completely dependent on the ambient light in the room. If you keep that in mind while working it makes a huge difference and I'll demonstrate this with photos at the end.

Anyway, upward and onward. Here are the colors I used, all of them are Reaper MSP. I also mixed in a couple of drops Reaper Drying Retarder - you probably won't need this but I've grown so accustomed to having drying retarder in my paint, Jen Haley pointed out that I overwork it when it has started to dry. So I add a couple of drops not for wetblending but because my internal clock insists I have more time than I actually do. And of course I thinned the paint with water.

Colors:
True Black
Leaf Green
Pine Green
Clear Green
Sun Yellow
Pure White

You guys remember my Forgeworld Dragon. Well, the metalic gold wasn't turning out so hot, so I tried something different. Since he was handy, he became the victim....errrr...uh...volunteer! Yeah, that's it...volunteer for my experiment.

Basecoat True Black followed by a couple of layers of Pine Green.

Four layers of Leaf Green - I know I'm being sloppy so....

I went back and cleaned up my with Pine Green accenting shadows. This probably isn't the easiest piece to attempt OSL on since he's got lots of ridges and valleys. Light doesn't always behave like we think it will. It bounces all over the place. But I did my best with it and tried to pay attention to the valleys that would have strong shadows.

Then I added a couple of layers of Sun Yellow in specific areas.



Remember what I was saying about lighting and angles - this is where it starts getting interesting -

I've applied two layers of Clear Green but also wiped out my yellow in the process. Okay, I'll fix that.

Okay NOW I've got the Clear Green and Sun Yellow working together better.

And the last thing I did was put a small amount of White directly on the eyeball. But it doesn't end here.

Remember I mentioned lighting, it plays a significant role in photography as well. I've got my color balance off on my camera in all of these shots because I didn't add my extra light I've been using. I just wanted quick photos to show the process. But then I realized the photos aren't showing you guys the real results because my camera and lighting are wrong. So I got my secondary light out.

Jumpin' Jehoshaphat! That makes a huge difference!

But the exposure on the camera isn't right and I'm having to manipulate these in photoshop which is not a good thing. So I fiddle with the exposure and aperture so I can get it right and still taking photos with the extra light.

This is when I realized how the lighting in the room affected my OSL. Like I said, my paint is not generating light on its own. Because of all the valleys on this thing, I can paint the eyeballs like they are blazing light but if they are in shadow at a certain angle or when I take the pic - that's going to screw up my OSL effect. When I got out my extra light, that helped get rid of the shadows so we get the intended effect.

Anyways, I hope this makes sense. Feel free to ask questions if it doesn't! lol! It makes sense in my brain but that can be a scary place for others. :laugh:

 

[William T.]

Interesting concept. I'd have to see it in person. I think your still very strong on the colour surrounding the eyes. While it is directly impacted, imho, the underlying colour shouldn't be fully obscured, it should be a nuance to the reflection of light.

My personal way of painting OSL is to paint everything normally, then going back in and glazing the reflections of light. It gives a very natural and realistic impression.
I'll try to paint up a quick example tomorrow for you!
Since I have to do my Templar tutorial anyway!

Then we can compare notes on our OSL!

 

[kathrynloch]

That would be cool William! Yeah, I was getting pretty sloppy. That's what I get for trying to do this and some stuff here at home at the same time. lol! The biggest thing for me was trying to get the feel of these new paints. Until I did the eyes on the Xanesha, I hadn't used the Leaf Green and especially the Clear Green at all. The pigment in these particular colors is quite different.

Now I'm going to be futzing to find something to try more OSL on. :laugh:

 

[marjedi]

The bright eye orbs are dead on, but i think you are too heavy handed with the other glowy bits.

OSL is tricky, having experimented with it alot recently on some defunkt necrons i have found that you almost only need to drybrush the sorrounding areas that need to catch the glow.

But then again i like my OSL more subtle then most do.

 

[khavor]

The bright eye orbs are dead on, but i think you are too heavy handed with the other glowy bits.

OSL is tricky, having experimented with it alot recently on some defunkt necrons i have found that you almost only need to drybrush the sorrounding areas that need to catch the glow.

But then again i like my OSL more subtle then most do.

I mostly agree. I think what Marjedi's getting at without specifically saying it is that you have to always keep in mind that light only travels in straight lines. If there's a ridge or obstruction between the source and where you're painting, then don't paint it with the source light color. I know you were being quick and experimenting more with the blends and colors Kath, but one big thing I see is there's way too much green in the area between his lower eye socket ridge and the top of his mouth. This should be in a shadow and revert to your natural colors, with maybe a slight green tint from reflected light. One thing I've found that helps, if the mini allows, is to paint the OSL highlights looking at the mini from the angle the light would be traveling. In this case paint below the eye looking down, and above the eye with his head flipped over looking up.

 

[William T.]

Alright I knocked this one together real quick. Just a rough application.
Starting with a zenithal lighted Space Marine Helmet.

Painted it like a Blood Angel and weathered it up a bit.

Then using my smallest brush from Reaper I paint the eyes using Regal Blue, Enchanted Blue, Ice Blue, Skull White, and Asurman Blue wash.

First I begin in the eye with Regal Blue

Then add enchanted Blue till I reach pure Enchanted.

And I begin again mixing in Ice Blue and Skull White

Finally I wash the eyes with Asurman Blue to tie it together and create some depth.
Now for the reflections I wash the area with Asurman Blue giving a nice tint over the red armour, and allowing me to work with a guide.

At the stage I play with different mixtures of my 4 colours until I am happy with the result. The further from the source the darker the effect. The only place I used pure white is on the eye itself and the trim below it. I always use thin black lines around the eye to create the depth between the armour and eye.

Sorry it's not the most in depth tutorial! The helmet was a bad choice because half the stages don't translate into photos!

Also posted in my blog!

 

[AndyG]

Nice OSL, I tend to struggle a bit with it generally doing too much coverage hence reducing the contrast which isn't good. Looking through the WIP that gorgon is a lovely sculpt, I must say sometimes reaper is meh so so and sometimes it produces realy very good sculpts which this is!

What's the masterclass book like, worth picking up or is it just a re hash of what's been in the WD?

Been using the Jeremy Bonamant DVD with that zenithal lighting William T?

Got to say Jeremy's DVD is one of the best if not indeed the best I've watched. Genuinely improved my painting.

 

[William T.]

Nice OSL, I tend to struggle a bit with it generally doing too much coverage hence reducing the contrast which isn't good. Looking through the WIP that gorgon is a lovely sculpt, I must say sometimes reaper is meh so so and sometimes it produces realy very good sculpts which this is!

What's the masterclass book like, worth picking up or is it just a re hash of what's been in the WD?

Been using the Jeremy Bonamant DVD with that zenithal lighting William T?

Got to say Jeremy's DVD is one of the best if not indeed the best I've watched. Genuinely improved my painting.

Actually I haven't seen his! haha I've been using zenithal lighting for the last 4 years! It makes a huge difference in painting the miniature!

I do watch a lot of Miniature Mentor though!

 

[kathrynloch]

The bright eye orbs are dead on, but i think you are too heavy handed with the other glowy bits.

OSL is tricky, having experimented with it alot recently on some defunkt necrons i have found that you almost only need to drybrush the sorrounding areas that need to catch the glow.

But then again i like my OSL more subtle then most do.

I mostly agree. I think what Marjedi's getting at without specifically saying it is that you have to always keep in mind that light only travels in straight lines. If there's a ridge or obstruction between the source and where you're painting, then don't paint it with the source light color. I know you were being quick and experimenting more with the blends and colors Kath, but one big thing I see is there's way too much green in the area between his lower eye socket ridge and the top of his mouth. This should be in a shadow and revert to your natural colors, with maybe a slight green tint from reflected light. One thing I've found that helps, if the mini allows, is to paint the OSL highlights looking at the mini from the angle the light would be traveling. In this case paint below the eye looking down, and above the eye with his head flipped over looking up.

:laugh: Uncle! Uncle! lol! I returned the dragon back to his normal self...well almost normal...still have a couple of layers to go. Then I'll go back and give it another shot. You guys are hilarious but also great information - thank you! :hug-left::hug-right:

Sorry it's not the most in depth tutorial! The helmet was a bad choice because half the stages don't translate into photos!

Also posted in my blog!

Thanks for the SBS William! I really appreciate it. Yeah, the helmet, like my dragon didn't help get our points across did they?

But when I get ready to tackle the beasty again, I'll definitely use it for reference! Thanks again, hun!

Nice OSL, I tend to struggle a bit with it generally doing too much coverage hence reducing the contrast which isn't good. Looking through the WIP that gorgon is a lovely sculpt, I must say sometimes reaper is meh so so and sometimes it produces realy very good sculpts which this is!

What's the masterclass book like, worth picking up or is it just a re hash of what's been in the WD?

Been using the Jeremy Bonamant DVD with that zenithal lighting William T?

Got to say Jeremy's DVD is one of the best if not indeed the best I've watched. Genuinely improved my painting.

Hi Andy! Thank you! When the client contacted me about a commission slot, he gave me a choice of a couple of models, Xanesha being one of them so I snapped her up quick because she is seriously cool. And yes, I love Reaper but sometimes I look at some of their minis go...You're kidding right? Seriously???? The nice thing about ReaperCon was we could dig through every single blister in the factory and see everything up close. But they also have a really cool Scrap Metal Exchange program. You bring in metal - either scrap or minis that you will never paint. They weigh them, knock off a small percentage and give you a total weight. Then they let you loose in the Boneyard. You can get whatever you want. Entire minis or bitz that you might need. When you're done you weigh your box - anything under or equal to what you turned in before - you're good. If you go over, you purchase the difference. I think that's a fantastic recycling program!

I haven't subscribed to WD in years but have a ton of mags from way back when LOTR was the rage. Yeah, long time ago! lol! A friend came to ReaperCon with it and I looked through it. It was nice but I didnt think it was worth the price. However, Reaper does sell a few GW items here and there. I have a wholesale account with Reaper so when I saw the Masterclass book for sale and was able to get it for a lot less than the cover price - I went ahead and nabbed it. Unfortunately, they don't offer this stuff for sale on their website, only in store. While I did find some good layering SBS with great photos, some of their better models and interesting customizations (I like the simple stuff that's easy to miss...like one was just lengthening a Skaven's tail...it was simple, easy to do but changed the entire appearance of the model - little things that have big impacts) and they had good color blend combinations, but yeah - there's a lot about it that's the same ole same ole.

One thing - can someone on the 'eavy Metal team, please, just once, just dare to be different...and please prime a mini something other than black??? I honestly can't remember ever seeing any mini primed white or gray. And I've always seen the same build up starting with the black as the deepest shadows and working up to the highlights.

Actually I haven't seen his! haha I've been using zenithal lighting for the last 4 years! It makes a huge difference in painting the miniature!

I do watch a lot of Miniature Mentor though!

Bloodhowl posted a link to Jeremy's DVD from a company in Europe. I tried to order it but they are out of stock. They have more coming in and will email me when they get them. This DVD is like a ghost or something - POOF it's gone...was it even there in the first place? lol!

I've got Miniature Mentor too - Laurent's vid and watch that a lot (even got an email from him because I sent a pic of my Wolfen with her bronze to MM and they sent it to him - he emailed me about it. ) His methods sound like he watched Jeremy's DVD but since I actually haven't seen it, I'm not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if he has.

Okay, I've been up way too late. With my husband working nights now, and my son out of school, I automatically changed schedules to match. But I gotta show y'all what I accomplished today. The minis actually cooperated!!! The photos fought me tooth and nail but I'll take that over the mini being a pain any day.

Okay, gotta show of Monique first.

Not sure what's up with that highlight next to her face. It actually looks normal IRL but the camera wigged this one out for some reason.

I started her off Red and Gold but the gold NMM was - as usual - driving me insane. So I switched the armor to black and silver NMM. Gold was kicking my butt every time and I haven't tried silver in awhile.

I swear it was like a freaking tag team - silver promptly started to kick my ass quite handily. grrrrr!

But at least the red was cooperating a hell of a lot better than the NMM (I've got some camera noise in the photo too).

The black armor and silver NMM just didn't look right...color theme I mean, aside from the fact the silver NMM was crap.

Sorry about the backgrounds in the photos guys, like I said the pics thought they'd have a turn beating on me.

So I went back to gold. Instead of black armor I painted it a dark walnut brown and very carefully started the gold NMM on her arm. It's not perfect but its definitely a hell of a lot better than the crap I had been doing.

I haven't highlighted all the way to the hot-spots yet. I still have two more colors to highlight to get there but I'm going to hold off and see how the entire thing looks before I start working on the flares.

I am also very pleased to report after I changed from black and silver back to dark brown and gold on the armor, I didn't use a single drop of drying retarder or any additive to the paint except for water. AND I was able to apply it correctly (knock on wood) without a water flooding from my brush because I forgot to wipe it on the paper towel before applying the paint and all of the other problems that drive me insane when I try NMM.

While my wetpalettes have been working fine, I still don't really care for them. Like not paying attention to the palette but instead concentrating on what I'm painting only to discover the colors in my wetpalette are now one single color covering the entire thing!

At ReaperCon, I picked up a ceramic paint tray without about 9 wells in it. I bought from an attendee and it was freakin' expensive because he paid full retail and shipping and so on. But while I was working with John Bonnot, I noticed his ceramic palette.

View attachment 13573
It's the perfect size for minis and its only $5!!!! I got two of them and LOVE 'em! A drop or two of paint, and the rest is water until the little well is almost full but I can still stir it without spilling. I get a perfect water to paint ratio for layering. And they are so much easier to clean than the plastic stuff! the side is a little mixing area if you need it. It absolutely rocks!!!

Okay, enough about that - upward and onward.

While the eyes, using the Clear Green made them oh so easy...

The same cannot be said for Clear Red and gemstones. I had a heck of a time and still aren't quite where I want them.

I also got more work done on the other commission with the Ogres - yeah, I need to update that thread but I'm going to be a back girl and crash instead.

I'll talk to y'all laters!!!!

Thanks again for all the help on OSL!

 

[10 ball]

This is looking real good, love the serpents tail

 

[kathrynloch]

Thanks 10!

I wasn't feeling so hot today so I only did a little work on Monique.

I haven't popped the highlights yet since I still have to attach the shield. I'll probably do those last. Anyway, not much but a little.

 

[William T.]

Comin along nicely!
I know the feeling. I really didn't have any energy to paint last night but I made myself work on the Contemptor and unfortunately made me unhappy with the results.