getting to the elusive 7

[Thecadian]

hi
Most of my minis are between 5.5-6.5(ish)

how can i get them up to 7\'s?

heres my gallery

i would appreciate any advice

james

 

[james sequeira]

make sure all areas are covered with paint and have a good even coverage.

take your time

 

[MPJ]

Pick one or two aspects of painting at a time and work on them till your happy, then pick another and you\'ll improve in no time.

I suggest eyes and skin. My favorite eye tutorial can be found at Reaper\'s web site (here).

Just got to the 7s this week myself and now I gotta go after the esteemed 8s. :drunk:

 

[funnymouth]

just spend a silly amount of time on one mini. take it slow, wash after wash. scores for groups of minis and complx dioramas are usually scored higher too.

 

[karmazov]

Even though I might not have a great many mini\'s on my gallery, I\'ll try my best and give some tips

1: Always water down the paint and use serveral thin coats instead of 1 thick, on my shaggoths skin, it took abaout 13 tanned flesh coats, but its smooth and a smooth basecaot makes highlighting much easier

2: Use a good brush with a sharp point

3: Try and find a colorscheme that suits you and the mini, be it dar or light, nmm or real metal, evil or good, etc etc

4: Do a nice base, a striking base might give you an extra point or 2

5: Pay attention to all parts of the model, and dont stop untill your satisfied

6: Make sure you add \"that little extra\", be it glowing eyes, blood on the weapons, a characteristic tatoo, a jewel or anything you might lay your eye on, that too might just make the model interesting enough to add yet another point.

7: Conversions are always a great way to make a model more interesting, just a weapon swap or headswap or repositioning, anything counts

8: Make sure the colorscheme fit with the base/rest of the mini. Having a goblin (green) with a white coat (white) on a completely white base (snow) makes a dull overall weiv, better mounting such a model on a dark base, just to make it stand out.

9: If a area of the model dont turn out as you want it, it might be, for example, too bright, then dont re-paint it, using thing glazes you can tune the brightness down and still have a smooth surface that doesnt have an inch thick coat of paint on it (exaggeration)

10: Practice, practice and even more practice, no-one can get better at anything without practice, and it takes time too, so just be patient and you\'ll have your 7:s, promise =D

Cheers

Erik

 

[Dammekkos2]

I\'d say take more time. You obviously paint fast, you have a large gallery. Slowing up a little might bring better results.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

forget scores.
concentrate on one skill at a time.

photography is one of those skills remember. editing the damn bugger is another.

the miniature wil help dictate what skills you can practice more easily.

for example, for human flesh tone get down to hasslefree. they have lots of scantily clad (and naked) minis. lots of flesh to work on.

hope this helps.

 

[OrkyDave]

Some good pointers already given, but practice is the key.

I can see a big improvement with you, just stick at it, practice and patience, you\'ll get there!

 

[hakoMike]

I hear ya, brother.

I posted pretty much this same question about eight months ago. Here it is:
http://coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=12565

For me, the following helped a lot:
1. adequate lighting (I paint about 3\" from an Ott light)
2. a good brush (break down and get a W&N Series 7 size 0, or I hear Kappel\'s are just as good)
3. slow down. pick a mini and spend a week on it, even if you are working on other things at the same time. Keep putting it down and picking it back up, looking for things you can improve.
4. photography. Getting a light cube helped my photography a lot. yours looks pretty good already. Take WIP photos to identify things you need to change before you call it done.
5. Vary what you are painting. You already seem to be doing this, but I thought I\'d mention it. I had painted not much else but Skaven at the time, and switching over to some Space Marines made me rethink some of my techniques.
6. Differentiate areas. Make sure that when two colors come together that they have clearly defined borders. Your night goblin\'s eyes a good example of this... they fade into the face and could really use some darklining to separate eye from face.

....and, the hardest to define....

7. Look deliberate. For me, breaking that barrier was a matter of painting things in such a way that it looked like I meant to paint it like that. simple overbrushes to pick up raised details or ill-defined shapes that look good but could have been accidental will push your mini down to the 5-6 range. It has to appear as if everything on the mini was exactly as you intended it to be.

I\'ve managed a handful of 7\'s since then. Once I can consistantly get 7\'s I\'ll try to figure out what makes for an 8.... maybe.

 

[Hinton]

Hi all.

I\'ve only painted one mini and this is my first post here, so I\'m about as new as a person can get, but I would like to offer my opinion on this, if I may.

I didn\'t get into painting miniatures to get scores and votes; I got into it because it\'s fun and I enjoy it. The only reason that I put my mini up here was simply for input and advice; that\'s it.

There\'s nothing wrong with wanting to be a better painter. I\'m sure we all want to paint the best that we can, pushing our limits and producing quality work, but when you become more concerned about the score instead of just having fun painting, then it\'s not a hobby anymore.

For me, when it stops being a hobby, it stops being fun.

My advice: stop worrying about the score so much and focus more on where you may think you need to improve.

To paraphrase the late, great Boss Ross: If you ever do a miniature that you\'re absolutely satisfied with, then quit; you\'ve got nothing left to improve upon.