Blood Elf WIP- Completed!

[redarmy27]

After finishing Fabius Bile, I feel excited to start my next miniature. This next piece is a little different than the others I\'ve done: it\'s a woman! This is the first female I will ever be painting, so let\'s hope I don\'t botch it up.

I bought this mini from the CMON shop after my girlfriend saw it and liked it a lot. She wants me to paint it like her blood elf character from World of Warcraft. She\'s challenging me to paint it nicely, and if I do, she\'s going to try her hand at painting as well! No pressure

I primed it this past weekend and let the primer cure for at least 24 hours. Tonight I finished establishing the basecoat, a good 8 thin, even layers. I then started to work on the shading gradually. I\'ll work on more shading tomorrow to make it dramatic, then start on the highlights.

I still can\'t figure out what happens when I put pics through photobucket. It butchers them and depletes the resolution. I size them correctly and everything and they look great on my laptop, but darn it, the moment they go through that site they get butchered.

Anyways!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

I got Paintshop Pro 12 working wonderfully on my computer and made the proper corrections to the images to the picture before I uploaded to Photobucket.

It looks much better after it\'s been correctly formatted. I\'m still trying to get my depth of focus right so the entire mini is in focus. Any suggestions would be great!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

I went to work on the shading and highlights of her cloak today. The shading is done, but I\'m going to add a few more dramatic highlights for the cloak. When in doubt, add two more!

I\'m enjoying this more since I got the hang of the photos and the editing part!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[mattsterbenz]

Nice stuff so far. She does look a lot like a blood elf. Good choice.

-Matt

 

[Thunderhawker]

Keep rolling! This has the potential to be fantastic!

 

[Ratboy The Legend]

You need to do lots more shading on the robe i think, it looks very bland at the moment i think. What colour are you going to use for the highlighting?

 

[redarmy27]

Thanks for the comments . I\'m only about halfway done with the highlighting. I\'m slowly inching it along, layer by layer. I\'m going from a deep red (Khador Red) all they way up to Khador Highlight which is almost an orange color. From there I\'ll use a very light, strong color for the edges.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

I worked further on the highlights tonight. They look pretty good, but they don\'t show up quite as well in the picture.

Next up, I\'m going to be painting her leg wraps, I\'m not really sure what color yet though. I want something to contrast with the deep red she\'s wearing. For the necklace and other jewelery, I\'ll paint them gold and the jewels will be emeralds. She\'s going to have blonde hair and green glowing eyes.

C&C is always appreciated

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

Well I\'m slowly trudging along with this mini. I\'ve recently gotten distracted with my new camera so I\'ve been out and about taking pictures of whatever appeals to me.

I\'ve started painting her leg wraps a cream color and then put a wash on them to accentuate the borders and such then I\'ll move in on the highlights. Her hair is going to be a sandy blond color. I\'m a little hesitant about painting the gold, I\'ve had bad luck with metallics in the past so I\'ll have to really play it safe. Any C and C is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[Thunderhawker]

While everyone has their preference, I would suggest you finish her flesh before moving to any other part. Its the lowest level and the most likely to cause \"accident\" when you paint it. Thus, if its finished first, you won\'t have to get mad at yourself because you ruined your brilliant red cloak.

 

[redarmy27]

Ahh you\'ve hit my current fear, hawker! I\'ve finished the cloak and nearly done with the skin. (I still can\'t get it to show the highlights on the cloak the way are) Thanks for the advice! So close to finishing yet one little mistake will mess it up!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[mattsterbenz]

I agree with Thunderhawker. Generally I like to finish one section before moving on to the next. Also it\'s helpful to work from the inside - out. Start with the tricky hard to reach areas first before moving on to outer areas. It helps keep spills minimal.

Other than that looking great! Be careful with your shadows and make sure to get them dark enough, otherwise it could end up looking flat.

-Matt

 

[redarmy27]

Thanks for the heads up . For some reason, the cloak doesn\'t look as good as it does in real life when it comes to the photos. I\'ve got the shadows and highlights all done for it and it looks great in person. The rest of the mini looks the way it does in real life, I wonder if I need to change the contrast settings on my camera before I take a picture.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

After a long day at work with some bad luck, I only felt like putting the basecoats on her hair, wraps, eyes and necklace. I think they turned out pretty well.

I had one of my studio style lights burn out so I have to hold the remaining one over the light box. I couldn\'t find the right bulb for the other lamp, I\'ll have to hunt for it tomorrow.

Can\'t paint anymore tonight, my shoulder\'s swollen from a hornet\'s nest I came across today; three of the little buggers got me.

As always, C&C is greatly appreciated. Thanks goes out to Thunderhawker who helped me learn the ways of getting the reds to come out better and the gradient effect behind the mini.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[mattsterbenz]

Coming along nice Jake!

Hornet\'s nest? Ouch. Keep up the painting when you feel better.

-Matt

 

[Thunderhawker]

Very sharp there. Maybe you could push the reds a touch more if you are so inclined as far as the shadows go. Mabe add a drop of green to your darkest red? Just thinking out loud... sorta.

 

[redarmy27]

Thanks for the notes of praise

My shoulder should be fine in a day or two, but it\'s pretty stiff today. Also, I need to find another darned bulb!

TH, I was thinking about the same with the red. I was maybe thinking of a brown, but a green makes sense. Just a few light coats of that and it\'ll really accentuate the shading. It\'ll also give the cloak a little more of an earthy look.

I\'m so close to getting the reds right, just a bit more tweaking!

Have a good one and keep that brush pointed!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

Well my shoulder healed up nicely and I took the time today to get the muscles a good painting work out. Obviously I have to attatch the arms and the polearm but she\'s nearly done. I\'m going to add highlights and shading to the platform she\'s on.

Almost there! The lighting isn\'t that great because I\'m not at my house right now. I\'m actually out of town house sitting for my grandparents while they go down South. Coming here gave me the peace and quiet to endlessly paint for a long weekend and to also get some games in with new competition in Mordheim!

As always C &C are always appreciated. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

End in sight...

Well she\'ll be done tomorrow. I have the arms and polearm just about ready to be attatched. I finished her base for the most part, I just need to finish the outer red ring, but that\'s not too important. As long as she\'s done by the 23rd I\'m sitting pretty. It doesn\'t look as good as it does in person; I still am missing my replacement bulb for my studio lighting, I\'ll get that once I get to my place at the college.

As always, C and C are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[redarmy27]

She\'s done!

Well I just finished her! I had to do a little shuffle when using my last good light to get the lighting right while still getting my camera just adjusted. She doesn\'t need to be submitted until tomorrow so I may do any touch-ups if need be. Overall, I think she turned out pretty well.

Any C & C are greatly appreciated.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend everyone.

Cheers,
Jake