Hey there, Frank. An idea occurred to me. If you'd like, bring two primed minis (the same one) to NOVA Open. I'll try to set aside some time from running Capital Palette, and maybe we can sit down together and paint the same mini, side-by-side. I can share some techniques that I use, and you can decide whether they're ones that you'd like to use and add to your repertoire. Watcha think?
Khonner's WIP
- Thread starter Khonner
- Start date
Demihuman
Active member
Well that sounds pretty good!
Khonner, sorry to hear about the simple green bath, but some times that can be cathartic. I get to that mid point where everything just looks messy and flat and I want to chuck stuff in the vat too. I notice that a lot of better painters will paint one section all the way to completion and then work from there. Like, if you can nail the eyes, it motivates you to go after the other stuff.
BloodFather of Kharnath
Active member
One last thing bud. Don't ever let people's constructive criticism bring you down or frustrate you into not doing what you think is right in your heart. It can be hard accepting when other people don't like your work, because we put a ton of time and effort into it. I was ready to toss my last project. At one point, people used the word "terrible" to describe my NMM. It was unanimous too. Nobody liked it. Ten ball even told me to try an easier sculpt like a chaos warrior. Lol. But sometimes you just got to persevere. That same terrible sculpt that was too complicated for my skill level is an 8.0 in the gallery right now. So the lesson here is sometimes go with your gut and ignore the well intentioned advice. Cheers!
BFoK.. nah, I appreciate all the feedback that I get here, both the positive and negative. It's the only way that I can grow as a painter. The reason why the green shadowed guy got the bath was 2 fold - the skin was getting a little too thick due to the layers and I must have put too much glazing medium into the well. When it was dry, it had a weird glossy/rubbery look to it.. I'm not too worried about it he should be all cleaned up and re-primed by Friday.
Shades...
That sounds awesome!! I really appreciate it. I will figure out a miniature.. I would assume something 28mm? We will talk more about this when it gets closer to NOVA..
Shades...
That sounds awesome!! I really appreciate it. I will figure out a miniature.. I would assume something 28mm? We will talk more about this when it gets closer to NOVA..
BloodFather of Kharnath
Active member
Ok cool. I only offer advice because you respond to it well and are good at "editing" your work. But yeah you absolutely have to know when it's time to give it a bath. Looking forward to seeing it come to life again.
Demihuman
Active member
Whoa! Fireshady looks HOT. Those are really nice skin tones. My only gripe is that her lipstick is a weird color. I know it matches the fire but it really clashes with the purple and her hair too in my eyes. What about some metallic bronze to nearly green lipstick? Maybe dab in some super subtle shadows above her eyes with the same color to go with it?
Gladiator looks good too but where are his nipples? And his gladius looks a little bumpy. You could redo it our just add some Vallejo smoke or rust dry pigment to it to make it look rusty and funky. I think that would be a nice addition. Pigments are also nice for the dessert bases.
I think these, especially the lady, are a big step up from the polar bear.
Gladiator looks good too but where are his nipples? And his gladius looks a little bumpy. You could redo it our just add some Vallejo smoke or rust dry pigment to it to make it look rusty and funky. I think that would be a nice addition. Pigments are also nice for the dessert bases.
I think these, especially the lady, are a big step up from the polar bear.
BloodFather of Kharnath
Active member
Fyreshadow looks great the purple is stunning
Sionid
New member
I think you did a really nice job with Fyreshadow's skin, the highlights are really soft and lovely. I do think you could've push the shadows a good bit darker and cooler, maybe even by mixing in the violet you used for the cloth? But seriously, her stomach muscles in particular look really good.
I also think the hair could benefit from a little bit of orange highlight, but the shadows look great.
I also think the hair could benefit from a little bit of orange highlight, but the shadows look great.
I have finished the modifications to Fyre and I have submitted her to the 5th Dimension Painting contest. So when I hear back from them, I will post her up here. I know I have zero chance, but I'm looking forward to see how the certain areas score with those guys and see where I need to practice more.
I have started back on working on my Pop-Eye bust. I'm trying for a cold albino look for the skin, but I'm not sure if I got it right. My main concerns are the dark blue in the shadowed part of the head. Not sure if it's too blue or just not blended right. It's still very much a WIP, but any suggestions would be awesome. Appreciate it..
Khonner
I have started back on working on my Pop-Eye bust. I'm trying for a cold albino look for the skin, but I'm not sure if I got it right. My main concerns are the dark blue in the shadowed part of the head. Not sure if it's too blue or just not blended right. It's still very much a WIP, but any suggestions would be awesome. Appreciate it..
Khonner
BloodFather of Kharnath
Active member
Me too. Though I'd take the dark blue off of his right cheekbone. Also, go a shade darker blue inside of the dark blue, in a small, tiny area.
Bailey03
Well-known member
Yeah, neat idea with the albino skin. I think the colors you're using look great.
I actually don't mind the dark blue on the collar bone. What I think you need is to extend that up on the inside front of the trapezius. Basically along a straight line from where the shoulder meets the collar bone (that little dip) to the top left corner of his mouth (and then shade in the area to the right of that line). I'd also use that shade on the left side of his face (well, his right side) under the cheek and along the side of his jaw. Not much of what you see from the front view, but if you turned him 90 degrees then you'd see the area I'm talking about. With that head tilt I think you can use some strong shadows on that side of the face.
I think the issue with the dark shade as it stands now is the transition is too stark. I'd work in at least 2 or 3 more intermediate shades to help it transition from that dark shadow to your lighter skin tones. The more intermediate shades you use the smoother the transition will be, so use as many as you feel comfortable with. If you can do 5 or 6 that's even better, but at least 2 or 3.
While not as critical you can also work on the transitions on the back. I wouldn't make the crevices between the muscles any darker (you could even go a little lighter if you wanted). But I'd do a more gradual transition from the bottom of each of those shapes. They're all pretty rounded shapes so shade them like spheres (more or less). Going from the bottom I'd take the transition tones (between that dark shade and the light one) up about 1/3 of the way before I get too light. Keep the tops bright and then go right into the dark shade for the bottom of the next shape. I grabbed this shading sphere image off a google search to help illustrate what I'm talking about. You've got that core of the shadow tone and then just too quickly to highlight. Work in that middle region to help define the shapes.
View attachment 29354
Ignore the cast shadow and reflected light part of the diagram. But the rest is a pretty good guide as you work on the figure. You can think of most organic shapes as just spheres (typically stretched or squished, but still more or less just rounded shapes).
I actually don't mind the dark blue on the collar bone. What I think you need is to extend that up on the inside front of the trapezius. Basically along a straight line from where the shoulder meets the collar bone (that little dip) to the top left corner of his mouth (and then shade in the area to the right of that line). I'd also use that shade on the left side of his face (well, his right side) under the cheek and along the side of his jaw. Not much of what you see from the front view, but if you turned him 90 degrees then you'd see the area I'm talking about. With that head tilt I think you can use some strong shadows on that side of the face.
I think the issue with the dark shade as it stands now is the transition is too stark. I'd work in at least 2 or 3 more intermediate shades to help it transition from that dark shadow to your lighter skin tones. The more intermediate shades you use the smoother the transition will be, so use as many as you feel comfortable with. If you can do 5 or 6 that's even better, but at least 2 or 3.
While not as critical you can also work on the transitions on the back. I wouldn't make the crevices between the muscles any darker (you could even go a little lighter if you wanted). But I'd do a more gradual transition from the bottom of each of those shapes. They're all pretty rounded shapes so shade them like spheres (more or less). Going from the bottom I'd take the transition tones (between that dark shade and the light one) up about 1/3 of the way before I get too light. Keep the tops bright and then go right into the dark shade for the bottom of the next shape. I grabbed this shading sphere image off a google search to help illustrate what I'm talking about. You've got that core of the shadow tone and then just too quickly to highlight. Work in that middle region to help define the shapes.
View attachment 29354
Ignore the cast shadow and reflected light part of the diagram. But the rest is a pretty good guide as you work on the figure. You can think of most organic shapes as just spheres (typically stretched or squished, but still more or less just rounded shapes).
