BloodASmedium
[img]http://pnp
Excellent trip David..god bless you your wifey and Chloe you all deserve the best things in life.im so happy for you all.
Bailey03's WIP
- Thread starter Bailey03
- Start date
MrJim
New member
That's pretty cool. I haven't seen anything like that here is Baltimore. The few stores that are around are exclusively table top gaming.
ArchArad
New member
Yippee you're back! *happy dance*
I'm so glad that you and your wife had a good trip. I'd love to travel to Europe at some point. Fabulous looking shops and absolutely great reference pics for your future work. It's great that you had the chance to visit some of the places that inspire you.
I'm so glad that you and your wife had a good trip. I'd love to travel to Europe at some point. Fabulous looking shops and absolutely great reference pics for your future work. It's great that you had the chance to visit some of the places that inspire you.
fluisterwoud
Active member
Those shops looks so cool. The only thing I found that came close to a place like that in the US was Michigan Toy Soldier Co. They had a few display cases and while the quality was good, it was not European good. Hope you had a great time over there. Now finish your stuff! It's only 29 days 'til Crystal Brush!
Bailey03
Well-known member
I've done a bit of work on the samurai since getting back. I've started to attach and paint the last few pieces. I first put on his left hand with the bow. I had to do a little more of the main pattern as there was a bit more of the sleeve up around the hand. I also attached the arrows in the quiver and began painting them. More work is needed here, I'd like to develop a nice gradient along the shafts.
This project has also given me a chance to work on painting black. I've been comfortable with the color white, but I've still found black to be very tricky. This time around I decided to reverse my process. Normally I paint dark to light but, because the very dark colors look darker when wet and then dry lighter, what initially looks like a decent blend doesn't work as well once dry. So I decided to try painting light to dark. First a base of black of course to fill in all the cracks and crevices. Over that I sketched in the highlights and then started to blend them back down to the base. I still need to adjust to the process, change my way of thinking about how to place the highlights and shadows. But, so far, I'm happy with the results this is giving me. Here's a close up of the black armor on the leg so you can see how this comes out.
This project has also given me a chance to work on painting black. I've been comfortable with the color white, but I've still found black to be very tricky. This time around I decided to reverse my process. Normally I paint dark to light but, because the very dark colors look darker when wet and then dry lighter, what initially looks like a decent blend doesn't work as well once dry. So I decided to try painting light to dark. First a base of black of course to fill in all the cracks and crevices. Over that I sketched in the highlights and then started to blend them back down to the base. I still need to adjust to the process, change my way of thinking about how to place the highlights and shadows. But, so far, I'm happy with the results this is giving me. Here's a close up of the black armor on the leg so you can see how this comes out.
BloodASmedium
[img]http://pnp
CHECK WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!! You'll see I'm right again.for me I just found out Angela irmrie,Aron love joy and a billion other fantastic artists that are all your level....I know your gonna do great and I fear I will not be placing this year but hey ide love ,you know how we say.....make EM sweat....and watch you and your "giant spacemarieesque Kyril" Samarai dethrone the pros....
BloodASmedium
[img]http://pnp
CHEXK WINNER(subliminal message) lol
Bailey03
Well-known member
Thanks, BAM and Krule.
Krule, yeah, luckily I had some string on hand that was about the right size. I found the trick to doing the bow was not to rush it. I cut a string longer than needed and glued the center to his hand. Then I waited for that to dry before the next step. Once it was set, I pulled it taut and up to the bow's end. Then I glued where it would first touch and waited for it to dry. I found if I actually tried to wrap it around and fix it before gluing, it would slip out of place or the string would be too slack. So this helped to hold it in place and then I was able to wrap it around the bow and more or less follow the process with which it would have been attached in real life. Oh, and for applying the glue, it was always squeezed out onto some aluminum foil and then transferred to the figure by a tooth pick. This allowed me to control the application and just get a little bit of glue where I needed it.
BAM, I saw someone the other day on facebook responding to one of Jen's posts about the Crystal Brush. They were saying how can part time hobbyists compete against the pros in a contest like that. I feel like with all the categories and three places getting recognized in each, there are enough awards to go around and both hobbyists and pros can come away with something. Now, for the top three overall spots, I expect the pros to get those year after year. But, as I said, I'll be happy if I can just make them sweat a little. And, if someone I luck out and sneak into third, I'll be ecstatic! :smile:
Krule, yeah, luckily I had some string on hand that was about the right size. I found the trick to doing the bow was not to rush it. I cut a string longer than needed and glued the center to his hand. Then I waited for that to dry before the next step. Once it was set, I pulled it taut and up to the bow's end. Then I glued where it would first touch and waited for it to dry. I found if I actually tried to wrap it around and fix it before gluing, it would slip out of place or the string would be too slack. So this helped to hold it in place and then I was able to wrap it around the bow and more or less follow the process with which it would have been attached in real life. Oh, and for applying the glue, it was always squeezed out onto some aluminum foil and then transferred to the figure by a tooth pick. This allowed me to control the application and just get a little bit of glue where I needed it.
BAM, I saw someone the other day on facebook responding to one of Jen's posts about the Crystal Brush. They were saying how can part time hobbyists compete against the pros in a contest like that. I feel like with all the categories and three places getting recognized in each, there are enough awards to go around and both hobbyists and pros can come away with something. Now, for the top three overall spots, I expect the pros to get those year after year. But, as I said, I'll be happy if I can just make them sweat a little. And, if someone I luck out and sneak into third, I'll be ecstatic! :smile:
fluisterwoud
Active member
Since I haven't been in the hobby long I haven't seen many Crystal Brush comps, but from the ones I have been around for I noticed that the top guys are gunning for $10k prize and usually bring a single piece that they pour hundreds of hours into. In 2013 Jeremie Bonamant Teboul won 1st overall (1 entry) and Raffaele Picca got second (1 entry). In 2014 Marike Reimer got 1st (2 entries), Enrique Velasco got 2nd (1 entry) and JBT got 3rd (1 entry). And last year Kirill had 1 entry, Ben had 2 and I believe Jessica only had 1. So yeah, there's still plenty of trophies to go around to us part-timers. And looking at all the past winners it's clear on which categories to avoid if you want to stay away from the pros. All the big prizes go to 54mm+, diorama and fantasy single.
BloodASmedium
[img]http://pnp
Oh yeah somethings been on my mind
There's something really really important I forgot to tell you David........
.......
.......CHECK WINNER!!!!! Lol
There's something really really important I forgot to tell you David........
.......
.......CHECK WINNER!!!!! Lol
Bailey03
Well-known member
Ha, BAM. Even so, I'm not making plans to cash anything yet!
Fluister, yeah, I think part of that is caused by one of the downsides of painting figures for a living. Any time you spend not painting a figure for someone else, is money you're not making. Winning competitions boosts your profile and can help you get business and charge more, so there is an incentive to paint one or two entries. But, it's not worth it to the pros to spend time painting 5 or 6 entries. I know some people will paint a commission piece and then take it to a show. But again, that might account for a single entry, maybe two. But certainly not a large number per person.
And I agree, large scale, diorama, and single figure (fantasy or sci-fi), tend to be where the top entries wind up. Of course this year fantasy monster might be a surprise one. I know Karol Rudyk is coming and he's doing some pretty amazing dragon pieces in the past...
Fluister, yeah, I think part of that is caused by one of the downsides of painting figures for a living. Any time you spend not painting a figure for someone else, is money you're not making. Winning competitions boosts your profile and can help you get business and charge more, so there is an incentive to paint one or two entries. But, it's not worth it to the pros to spend time painting 5 or 6 entries. I know some people will paint a commission piece and then take it to a show. But again, that might account for a single entry, maybe two. But certainly not a large number per person.
And I agree, large scale, diorama, and single figure (fantasy or sci-fi), tend to be where the top entries wind up. Of course this year fantasy monster might be a surprise one. I know Karol Rudyk is coming and he's doing some pretty amazing dragon pieces in the past...
fluisterwoud
Active member
I know Karol is currently working on this thing:
If that's what he is bringing then my octopus is fighting for silver. Hope I finish in time, haha.
If that's what he is bringing then my octopus is fighting for silver. Hope I finish in time, haha.
BloodASmedium
[img]http://pnp
Xezbeth might just rain on folks parades..But we'll let the judges decide that... After all they might bump him from single where I want him to monster where I don't not want to see James wappell,Sam lens, tom ales, Angela irmrie ,Aron love joy, hmmm I guess my experience tells me 2 things is for certain,1)there are more great artists better than myself who clearly can eat up the first three spots...and number 2) David Powell is ahead of all of them...IMHO.
After all they might bump him from single where I want him to monster where I don't not want to see James wappell,Sam lens, tom ales, Angela irmrie ,Aron love joy, hmmm I guess my experience tells me 2 things is for certain,1)there are more great artists better than myself who clearly can eat up the first three spots...and number 2) David Powell is ahead of all of them...IMHO.
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