Demihuman's DemiWIP

[Demihuman]

I know this is not what you meant but I have to say it any way . . .


SHOW WHATS under the WATER Demi - I know you have more to come!

LOL. First I invite DR to the gay pride parade then I tell the new guy I am holding back... Maybe I should get a proof reader.

Ok, so my internet friends, here is what i have to offer. I am back to my son's dragon. I went after the under belly and feel like I worked the colors out but will need to clean it up. I am breaking it down more than I usually would because I have gotten some really gracious feedback from people that are new to the site in the last couple of weeks. So maybe this will help. Or just make it sound like a giant PITA

Step 1. Big wash with ~1 part Reaper Magma Red to ~3 parts Reaper Earth Brown mixed about 1:1 with Vallejo acrylic matte medium and enough water to get it to flow into cracks but not enough for it to be thinned much. A pretty gel-like consistency maybe 1 part water to 2 parts paint?

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Then another wash with that concoction mixed with some Burnt Umber ink. This stuff is pretty nice. I tried to use it back in the day and had bad results with horrible tide marks. I guess the trick is that you need to thin it with something and keep an eye on it or it will pool. A bunch of acrylic matte medium seems to do a really good job of fixing the tide marks in washes too.

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Next step is the "shadow wash" as shown here: http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?55160-Painting-the-Nautiloid&p=710585#post710585

I actually used my red-brown mixed with the blue ink and matte medium with a little water again for this step. The color came out really close to my Reaper Deep Ocean. Reaper Deep Ocean is the darker mid tone on the wings. Maybe I am on the right track? Color blind?

I made a pretty big mistake on this step. I flipped over the parchment paper layer of my wet pallet (SUPER LAZY!) instead of putting down a new piece of parchment paper and it picked up a bunch of fibers from the paper towel underneath. So I got much more texture than I bargained for and some pretty nasty little hairs. I also got pulled away mid-step for some daddy-duty. The dragon is big though, so rather than breaking out a tooth brush and dish detergent and stripping it I am just going to go with it. I did get some nice shadows:

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Next, still following the Nautaloid write up, I came back with my Reaper Golden Highlight (an ethnic skin-tone highlight) and tried to edge highlight the belly. I got some pretty nasty blotches and I don't know whether this is from not thinning enough or too big of color change. Maybe both? With the size of the dragon and his 2x4 dolly I did have some problems with getting my brush where I wanted it to go... I did go back in and try the golden highlight mixed with Marigold Yellow (really a pastel orange) to try and smooth it out. You can also see the "texture" here from the paper towel.

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Next I went back into the shadows with the red/brown and then the Deep Ocean to clean up the highlights and the mistakes above. I shaded from light to dark up toward the highlight (dark part of the gradient on this step touches the highlight and is on top.) Much like some folks do NMM, hoping to make the scales looks a little shiny. I also went back to the highlight with the Golden Highlight and then some spots of Linen White ( a warm off-white)

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And that picture ^^ looks like crap. I think this would be a lot more helpful if i could take consistently lit photos from stage to stage. Baby steps I guess. Maybe I should have the same light at my paint station as as I use for photos? That might not be possible.

 

[Zab]

I don't know man, that last pic looks pretty nice. Could just be your monitor... Skin is stunning and the scales look very aged and ancient, tough like I would expect. Aslo, proof readrs are fro sissys :snicker: Auto carrot for the wind!!!!

***edit*** Stupid iPad :neutral:

 

[Dragonsreach]

Demi, remember if you are using these inks as washes WHITE us yoyr friend.
Yiu can use it as a coloyr to be toned over by the inks.
I'd also suggest gount back to DBLOID's Nautiloud thread for reference.

 

[wargamesculptor]

Really like your colour choices for the dragon, gives a great aged look to the beast and your death is very contempory keep up the great work

 

[Canny]

EEkkk going to be late for work, gret contrast from the blue to the scales I like look, I also like the look of the ages darker scales.

 

[Demihuman]

Hit a personal milestone over the weekend: My first empty pot of paint! After several helpings of drying retarder and water my reaper Pure white is finally gone:

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Reaper puts a small skull in their paint pots as an agitator which is totally awesome!

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Scrubbed out the dropper bottle so I think I can use it again... now I must find more white to defile... HERESY!

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Ooh also got to post the other Reaper to the gallery. The Old Death is here if you want to vote:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/345951

Seems like another mid to high "7" which is actually more than I was shooting for. If you are thinking about bidding on it It is much prettier in real life and I would be happy to touch anything up for you (like the purple on the flower or the white tide mark on the scythe)

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Got a bunch of work and WIP pictures on the dragon done as well. Managed to make it through the part of the paint job where everything looks sort of rough to the part where it is mostly awesome. Still need to clean up a lot of brush marks and slop from washes but it is starting to look badass at arms length.

Here is a mini step by step where I add white and black, with lot's of purple to build up a shiny looking contrast on the horns

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The photos are still a little yellow but I have made peace with my WIP photo set-up for now. I base coated the horns in Reaper Nightshade Purple and I think I should have just done successive washes instead of a thick base coat. That would have left me a better map for where to put the highlights. The pure white highlight is a rougher or sloppier than I would have liked but I will take it. Also there is a casting flaw on that left horn that you can REALLY see in that picture. I thought I could pass it off but maybe I should nip it out.

I am trying to emulate AndyG's [http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/member.php?28782-AndyG] last couple of paint jobs on the horns here... not sure if am pulling it off :/

 

[Zab]

That contrast is great on those horns, but yeah the white could be finer. That first pic though with the head and neck in focus? WOW! All those colours really pop and work well together!

 

[Demihuman]

That contrast is great on those horns, but yeah the white could be finer. That first pic though with the head and neck in focus? WOW! All those colours really pop and work well together!

Thanks Zab. I went back over the horns again to clean them up a little. Also started on the head. I am happy that I did that initial wash of lavender, it really is giving some interesting tones to the lighter parts of the figure.

I really need to work out my photo stuff. I have a decent camera, which is probably part of the problem, too many settings to fiddle with. I am thinking about trying to get some sort of mini photo booth next to my work area that I can just leave up so that my WIP photos will start to be better practice. That actually sounds like a really good idea now that I have written it down

 

[Demihuman]

Okay Zab. I did a little reading on a Jewelry photography site and then looked up some stuff in the Gimp manual and I think I might have made a break through.

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1. Is the plain old photo
2. Is with exposure enhancement and where I usually leave my photos
3. Is the same as 2 but sharpened using the unsharp mask tool in Gimp. So that's Filters/Enhance/Unsharp Mask with just the base settings.

To me 3. is the truest photo. The colors are still duller than real life but this is just with my desk lamp. I have played with the contrast settings in Gimp but they suck. I think this tool is what I have been missing. Sigh, Just think I could have been having straight 10's this whole time! lol.

 

[Zab]

Yeah that works quite well!

 

[Canny]

Most interesting I will have to have a play. . . . with gimp too

 

[Baerd]

Been away for a little bit, catching up now with the WIP--and I love your step by step posts on the dragon! Your color choices in the head/horns are so dramatic. I just got a whole bunch of these old Grenadier dragons, so I'm going to have a chance to work on many of the techniques I'm reading about on the site. Thanks again for letting us watch over your shoulder!

 

[Demihuman]

Thanks Baerd!

Okay so it was Thanksgiving weekend and since the in-laws were coming over I decided to throw my back out... Still got the turkey on the table but was pretty much useless after that. Although I did manage to drink about a half gallon of the Father-in-laws superb central coast Pinot. Didn't any painting done over the long weekend. I did have a nice session yesterday afternoon. I have the dragon basically painted to a low-medium personal standard (low because there is still primer and lots of brush marks showing through in some spots...eek!) and got some eyes on there that I am very happy about:

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In the above picture I have skipped a few steps in the WIP. If you are following along at home I have basically been going back over the head, arms, wing armsand joints, and feet with my same pallet of: Black - very dark purple - dark aquamarine - aquamarine - Light aquamarine - off white - pure white. the idea is to use those colors blended on the pallet. So, I add some black to the purple to make another shade to paint with and add off white to the light aquamarine to make another color on the pallet. It is usually easier to make all the shades you need on the pallet then on the figure. All of the paint is watered down to the point where it comes of the brush translucent. I wipe all the excess paint off the brush on a paper towel test the paint on my thumb nail and apply to the figure in a thin 'glaze' waiting patiently for each stroke to dry before i apply another. Well that's the idea anyways. It's probably safe to say that I haven't thinned my paints quite enough or used enough different shades to get really clean transitions but you get the idea.

I am having some problems with brush control on this big figure. Those wings are in the way of the head and it is so big i to have grab the figure itself to get the steadiness i need. I am just trying to keep my hands very clean. I am still having a hard time getting all the way in there to really nail some of the highlights but i am ready to move on to other parts of the diorama. Here is the original box art:

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Pretty sweet right? I LOVE box art. I need to make a box art album. There is a contest entry form in the box too. I think I might have missed the dead line.

And here are the other figs from the box:

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They are a little clunky. The dude is actually a pretty nice sculpt, just needs a new sword which is easy enough, but the lady... I think these are actually lead and those horns are too soft for me to file to where i want them, so they have to go. Her staff is pretty lame. I mean if she is a Storm Dragon Priestess you think she could afford something better than a stick right? Maybe a lightning rod? Or like a Tesla spear thing? I have visions of adding some sprue crystals to the base if i have time so maybe I could just add a crystal to the end of her stick? I think they definitely are cool enough to keep with the dragon so my next step is to get them cleaned up and give them a quick paint job.

 

[Zab]

Keep at it with the dragon! I just finished sleeping chibi!!!! If you have or can get latex medical gloves those help when handling your minis while painting. As for those little minis - old school goodness! Convert away if you feel the need, but they would hold up with a good PJ too ya know

 

[Digganob]

I don't know what Zab is talking about "keep at it with the dragon" I know he has a fine eye for detail but to a novice such as myself I think it's awesome. I think you should keep the original sword to. Can't wait so see them all together.

 

[wargamesculptor]

the eye on the dragon looks awesome ! Agree the models need improving should be great practice for your sculpting, which is improving all the time

 

[Baerd]

Just loving it. That eye is absolutely outstanding. I loved reading about the meticulous layering you're doing to get that wonderful effect on the dragon--I don't know if I'll _ever_ have that much patience, but I'll try! I was so tempted to swoop in at the last minute and buy that Old Death figure, by the way, but it's a rough time of year for splurging.

 

[Demihuman]

Thanks Guys!

I don't know what Zab is talking about "keep at it with the dragon" I know he has a fine eye for detail but to a novice such as myself I think it's awesome.

Seriously Zab! Quit being such an internet bully! lol. In my defense i would say that the picture is very magnified...

I will go back to the dragon and do some more tidying but I was really hankering to move onto the other figures. While I have the green stuff on those drying I wanted to make a painting journal entry here.

Last month I entered the Secret Weapon weathering contest with this guy from the Nob Mob:

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I didn't place but I made it onto their Facebook gallery (I don't think all the entries did) so i feel like I made the initial cut. Zab entered his Fianna as well, and while he did not place either, I have feeling he might have gotten a little closer to the mark. I don't feel bad, mostly because I didn't use any weathering pigments (!) but I wonder if I would have done better with my new improved Gimp photo processing skills.

Also the Old Death sold for $41.50 on ebay. The end of the auction caught me off guard as it was at like 3 AM here in California so I missed it. I maybe would have bid it up some more. That is my first painted mini sold. Pretty exciting. I figure it went for about $4 an hour... Going in the mail on monday. Sorry Gohkm and Auction winner, it was a rough week but it should deliver by 12/13.

The really exciting thing about Old Death is that he (she? could be a 'she') is holding at a whopping 7.9! My goal since I started posting to the gallery was to get to an "8". So I am certainly within striking distance and this was the fastest painted display oriented mini ever! Maybe that tells you something. Here is a link so you can whack me back down if you haven't voted:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/345951

Okay should have a nice little post about converting some old school figs here coming up. Oh, also a note for reference to future Demihuman: Demispawn II's due date is in 5 days!

 

[Zab]

Geez. I was just trying to encourage you to complete it for the reaper comp! Isn't it funny that the minis you paint for fun or for others and don't agonize over seem to come out best? Weird. maybe the guys over at massive voodoo are onto something when they say to let go and just paint, don't think just paint. Re Demispan2: Get yourself a hot sling so you can paint while baby naps and you can keep your hands free...I have uh, "heard" some people (not me) have done that

 

[Canny]

Lol guys funny stuff, I realy like the dragon, I tend to take real close ups too for my wip so I can pick it to bits, latley its been working as I have felt like I have been making some big improvements with blending and colour selection. I have had a bit of a burn out after the chequers, I have painted a bit of the black armor and the inside of the chaos lords cloak.

The baby sling will be handy next month when No2 arrives.
Its pretty exciting that death is holding at 7.9 its a great acomplishment.