Emma Brownberry

[Theomar Pius]

http://www.coolminiornot.com/193982

This a Reaper mini recently painted for my village project.
I really like this set of three minis, they can fill out a scene.

Mostly I paint just to have minis in my terrain projects, so any advice is appreciated.
This mini I\'m starting to use washes on, and trying to get away from drybrushing.

Hope you like her.

 

[evil tendencies]

I think this is a really solid paintjob. The colors are good, the painting is neat and details have been addressed.

My advice would be to add more contrast to the figure. The colors could use slightly brighter highlights, and slightly darker shadows. In the same vein, I would also suggest that you darken the areas where two colors meet. The mother\'s cleavage is a good example of this; a dark brown shade between her breasts/upper torso and the white dress would make both colors a bit more vibrant.

 

[arogers907]

Heya Jeff! You\'re scary enough making terrain the way you do. If you master figures... yikes. =)

I think the single, best thing you could do right now is get some character into those eyes.

You have good brush control and pretty clean lines. You can and should work on shading and highlighting, but that\'ll come. ET\'s advice on contrast and dark/black lining is good. However, anyone who pics your mini\'s up is going to look at the face. It\'s just the way humans work. The eyes are a biggie for making a good impression there.

Here are a couple pics from Bragon and Automaton (without a doubt two of the best) that showcase how well human eyes. Obviously, these guys are masters. You can see how they outline, high light, and build character around the eyes.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/185504
http://www.coolminiornot.com/174835
http://www.coolminiornot.com/188937

I think with some attention to that one thing and you\'ll see a reasonable jump in increase in your scores and, more importantly, a warmer response to the townsfolk who fill your terrain masterpieces.

That\'s what I\'d do first, anyway.

 

[Theomar Pius]

Thanks for the tips guys, I\'ll have to give them a whirl.

The eyes on those minis andy posted are seriously good. I\'ll have to practice, I can\'t hardly imagine getting a dab of paint that small! ???

 

[arogers907]

Yah, there are lots of tricks you can use on eyes. Some that people swear by, I can\'t seem to pull off for the life of me. Others are pretty simple while being dramatic improvements.

However, it\'s one small thing you can focus on that will vastly improve the look of the mini. Obviously shading, highlighting, layering, wet blending, voodoo rituals, human sacrifice, prayer... you know, the usual. Those can all help, but I think if you got some lines framing those eyes and worked in some lids, bags, lashes, \'n\' whatnot you\'d have a single trick to work on. There are tons of tutorials/articles on them, too.

Oh yeah. And if you\'re getting away from dry brushing and don\'t want to invest a ton of time layering, try a wash or two on more textured hair. It\'ll give you a lot more depth for pretty little effort.

 

[supervike]

No offense meant here, but when I looked at your picture of Emma Brownberry, and then noticed your #69 in the CMoN rankings, i thought there seemed to be a discrepancy.

So then I pulled up your gallery, and now I understand completely.

Jaw dropping stuff there!!!

Your minis are nice and clean, and I would say just keep plugging away doing what you do. I\'m sure each one will improve.

 

[arogers907]

Originally posted by supervike
Jaw dropping stuff there!!!

Heh. I got to see a good handful of his stuff and Baltimore GD.

Yah... bottom of my chin is still bruised from hitting the floor of the convention center. Let\'s just say he makes terrain better than he takes pictures. ;-)

 

[Theomar Pius]

lol, no offense taken vike.

I\'ll be the first to admit that I have an awful long way to go on mini painting, but really, it\'s ot my focus, so I don\'t get much practice at it. Mostly, I want minis that will look good within the terrain, but even still, I want to improve that, make them look a bit better.

Most of the terms I hear thrown around here, like blending, or the acronyms, yeah, over my head. I\'m still working on it though, whenever I am painting minis.

Appreciate all of the comments and suggestions guys.