Demihuman's DemiWIP

Demihuman

Active member
Thanks Canny,

Yeah 8.6 is pretty solid! (not quite an 8.7 ;) I am happy that I am creeping forward. I did think I had a shot at a "9" and it stayed there through the first 7 votes, but then it suddenly dipped to 8.3! I don't know if it is my best work ever. In person, the Dragon Diorama is the show stopper. It is certainly my most creative and over-the-top but the actual paint job has some technical issues. I think I could have made the NMM crisper and pushed the skin a little further but after a certain point I feel like you get diminishing returns on your time. Don't mean to sound all boo-hoo self critical 9 months ago I didn't think I would ever make an 8. I am going to put Brutus on a shelf and not look at him or his picture for a month or two and then I will probably look at him again and be excited. I do have my fingers crossed that I make the top last 7 days.
 
Just don't know what it takes sometimes to hit 9 territory. Sometimes I think you need a good gimmick and/or a name in the game. There are some 9s that don't belong there, but there are way more 8s that deserve to be nines. Also, there are a 6-7s that need to be 8-9a
 

Canny

Active member
It's true, I think once your at 8.5+ it's the little details that set the scores apart, a few tiny hick ups is ok but to get a 9+ your paint work has to be perfect. I think if you're a big player you have some clout but if you deserve it I score it accordingly.

Hope we are not going to De rail your page Demi.

I have most of my minis in a row, it's satisfying to see how you're improving. Looming back at some parts and thinking WTF was I doing. Improvement is the game and I love the feeling.
 
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Demihuman

Active member
It's true, I think once your at 8.5+ it's the little details that set the scores apart, a few tiny hick ups is ok but to get a 9+ your paint work has to be perfect. I think if you're a big player you have some clout but if you deserve it I score it accordingly.

Hope we are not going to De rail your page Demi.

I have most of my minis in a row, it's satisfying to see how you're improving. Looming back at some parts and thinking WTF was I doing. Improvement is the game and I love the feeling.

This ^^

Yeah you are right on the mark. I have a steady progression in score which means i am on track and the votes are pretty on track too.

I hope that as i paint more and try out my ideas the technical stuff will come, or at least be a little more accessible. So far it has certainly worked with color theory and now with the NMM. Display basing is coming along quite well too. :)

I think the next step for me is to be a little more confident with my paint and shading. I have always really loved the look of guys like Artur, We7 and Camelson. I know you have mentioned them too. Super graphic, super clean. I don't know if I will ever have a style like that, but I think a lot of their look comes from knowing your paints. I still experiment on the figures because I don't know how color A and Color B will look together. (and because I enjoy exploring) I think it gives me a little bit of a muddy look sometimes or i end up keeping something that didn't quite work because I don't want to rework the same spot again.

You aren't going to derail my page. I have no project on the table right now except the Ork Shaman Paint-a-long and the Rackham dwarves. I need to base Dynis but every time I think about it, it turns into a diorama in my head...

Maybe I should do a little quick paint project for the WIP... Or get Started on my 5th Dimension contest entry1 ...WHAT!

http://5-th-dimension.blogspot.com/
 

Canny

Active member
Yeah man! I love these guys and Flameon, his stuff is uber too! I feel another space marine coming on! Must finish Orcy almost done. I will just get him ready to paint . . . I brought the sternguard vets a while ago before I knew less is more but I would still like to paint them.
Better get back to work.
 
You guys are both great artists and I really admire your work. I'd say it's safe to say that the both of you are. "up and coming." Still capable of big jumps in improvement in certain areas, yet in others you're only capable of minor improvement because you've maxed out a particular technical skill. I don't think there's anything to stop either of you from putting out consistent 9s in a year or so. On the cusp of greatness.

Im a late starter myself but hope to catch up to you both some day!!!

cheers!!!
 

Demihuman

Active member
You guys are both great artists and I really admire your work. I'd say it's safe to say that the both of you are. "up and coming." Still capable of big jumps in improvement in certain areas, yet in others you're only capable of minor improvement because you've maxed out a particular technical skill. I don't think there's anything to stop either of you from putting out consistent 9s in a year or so. On the cusp of greatness.

Im a late starter myself but hope to catch up to you both some day!!!

cheers!!!

Thanks BoK! I just had an episode where i was trying to get some paint on my fig and both the kid-o's woke up and the wife was on the phone, and then I knocked over my drink... I didn't throw the Orc shaman in the simple green but it was close. It's a good thing I don't have a cat, cause it would have gotten kicked.
 
Thanks BoK! I just had an episode where i was trying to get some paint on my fig and both the kid-o's woke up and the wife was on the phone, and then I knocked over my drink... I didn't throw the Orc shaman in the simple green but it was close. It's a good thing I don't have a cat, cause it would have gotten kicked.

See, improving every day!! In the past you may have destroyed the poor Orc by dropping and acme anvil on it. Or something.... Discipline.
 

Demihuman

Active member
Ok had some time off today. Last month all of my efforts went toward the Ork Shaman "friendly" paint-a-long (looking at you, cheaters: Canny and Kretcher) http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?57028-Orc-shaman-group-painting-competition

Here is my entry for the Shaman contest, I need 10's to compete with teh New Zealand/Sweden painting Junta : http://www.coolminiornot.com/360556

The next month or so will mostly be wrapped up with the Rackham Dwarves Paint-a-long:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?56997-Rackham-Dwarves-Paint-a-long

So, not posting here much. I did give Dynis a base out of mercy. here she is:

View attachment 29224

Pretty basic. The idea is that she is about to step on a trap. Her front foot is on the discolored stone that triggers the trap and she sees where a skull has jammed one of teh nasty spike from fully retracting.

I feel like the leather armor needs a complete do over. I really wanted to have her on a plinth with some clock work and a monster for her to set the trap on, but rather than let her languish in the doom closet i just put something together for her. What do you think? Worthy of the gallery? I might just go share over on the Reaper forums.

I also mostly finished up that Grenadier D'jinn I used to try out stuff for the dragon dio. i will put some picts here soon.

:)

keep happy Painting1
 
Been wanting to respond to your thread all day but have just got too busy. Insofar as the lady above is concerned, there is a glint on her dagger that tells me she needs to go in the gallery. Extremely creative with the base, very dungeons and dragonesque. Make sure you explain it just like you did here when you place it in the gallery. Don't be afraid that the project will take down your steady progression. Sometimes, a quick side project is just what we need to spring forward (at least, I think this would be true). We can't always put together the most elaborate of display bases. One thing about you that I find striking Demi is your creativity. Not just on your own projects but on advice that you offer others. Great imagination.

The coolest thing about her is the potion. I know it's the tiniest of details but you pulled that off so well. In a word, how? It truly looks like a liquid encased in a glass vial.

I just saw the shaman thread today. I am holding my voting for all entries to come in. That way I can score them based upon the context of the whole. But so far in my book they are all 9s. Without a doubt. Also I'll say now that I think the usual masters were outdone. Which is pretty cool...
 

ten ball

Active member
Love the base idea. I reckon around the other stones (not the trap trigger) there should be old dirt / stones / sand / crap etc in the gaps. Like there would be after years & years.
 

Demihuman

Active member
Love the base idea. I reckon around the other stones (not the trap trigger) there should be old dirt / stones / sand / crap etc in the gaps. Like there would be after years & years.


Thanks Guys! BFoK, you sound like my Mom... "Oh honey you are so creative, I am sure the money will come..." LOL Thanks though.:)

Ten, that should be easy enough and I have been wanting to try out the spider web thing so maybe this just the ticket!
 

Demihuman

Active member
Most of my painting goodies are put away for the move but I do have my camera out and I got a 50mm 1.8 lens for my Canon T3i DSLR. I started to play with teh software that came with it and using natural light following along with the tut over on Massive Voodoo:

http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.de/2013/09/miniature-photography-part-2-how-do-i.html

If you haven't checked out Massive Voodoo and you are getting serious with your painting i urge you to go take a look. They have really just some of the best tutorials over there.

So Here is Dynis shot and edited in RAW and then converted to JPEG I then further edited in GIMP. I think the unsharp mask tool is better in gimp than in the canon EOS software, but this is just my first try. I have gotten better at photography. I no longer dread it, and it has taught me a lot about how colors and light and composition work.

Ok so in the picture below my darker colors are blacked out. I think this is called 'clipping' by the photo guys??? i guess this is because my pict is under exposed. That should be a simple a fix. I also had a lot of trouble getting my camera to focus which might have to do with my shaky tripod. Okay. that is all I have for now. I just wanted to get a painting WIP journal entry in so the next time I set-up the camera I won't be starting from square one.

OOh I also added some 'dosh' and sand to the base per 10 ball's suggestion but you can't really see em in this shot.

View attachment 29376

oh and BFoK, potions are just freehand. Basically you are just drawing an illustration of a potion on the surface of the "potion" It's hard because it is small. I used this for a reference:

View attachment 29377

It took me like a million tries. Adding blue to the glass was key. I expect you to master this in the next 2 months!
 

Bailey03

Well-known member
Looks good. I really like the potion, excellent job on that!

On a side note, you mentioned the photo was slightly over exposed. Are you using the auto bracket feature? It's a nice way to quickly get a couple different exposures so you pick the right one once they're on the computer. I also use a Canon T3 so I can tell you how to setup the feature if you'd like. Oh, and speaking of overexposed, here's what the camera thought was the 'correct' setting for my figure...
View attachment 29378
Ummmm... close, camera. But not quite.
 
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