GW \"Special Edition\" Skaven Warlord

[Tinweasel]

I was hoping I could get feedback on my recently-submitted figure of a Skaven Warlord.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/183383

I painted this up for a local GW store and tried out some new techniques so far as shading and use of complementary color. I also went so far as using both a triad and a tetrad of colors in the piece (granted, some of them were shading glazes) and I\'d really appreciate feedback on what I could\'ve done differently and/or better.

(I\'d rather hear about the weak spots so\'s I can improve my painting, rather than hear stuff like \"it\'s good\" - not that I mind compliments, of course, but I\'d prefer constructive criticism.)


I happen to think the sculpt is amazingly detailed, and it was very much fun to paint!

 

[squidders]

It\'s a very well painted mini, that\'s for sure. The colours are all well shaded and highlighted but it lacks that wow factor.

I think it needs one, maybe 2 areas of very high contrast to draw the eye and really set it off.

At the moment, my eyes are just wandering over it and while it\'s all extremely well painted, they\'re not focusing anywhere.

I personally would think about where I want people to focus, and put their attention.

Honestly though, my thoughts are certainly no criticism as you\'re a far better painter than I am.

Most of the best minis I have seen draw your eye in a very controlled way, something will immediately grab your attention and when you look there, the next bit will seem to be demanding you look at it until you end up where the artist wanted.

I hope this helps in some way.

 

[mud duck]

RAT FAIL!!
Looking good, the only thing isn\'t white/grey furred skaven always grey seers?

 

[squidders]

i\'m still waiting for an albino lab-skaven.

maybe a funny convertion with a lab coat with pens in the pocket. lol

I\'ll go and seek mental help now.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

get some water effects and tamiya clear red.

the mout is the place where you can draw peoples attention to the head with this piece.

either add saliva with the water effects or some dripping blood with the tamiya clear red (add a little dark brown)

squidders was spot on about drawing peoples attention to a certain point (something i am guilty of as my bases often over shadow the mini!)

have a good look at AUTOMATON gallery, sebs work is unbelievable and his skaven will be a great source of inspiration for you.

 

[Logan]

You\'re not going to like this but I can\'t find too much wrong with it. I\'m a massive \'Rat fan\' and like this a lot.
It\'s the peripheral stuff you could improve on. I think the \'cutting out\' of the character is a bit clunky and offends the eyes and the base would be a good opportunity to add something a bit different. I like the muted colour scheme and adding something to the base could help complement this.

Really like it though.

 

[skeeve]

This is strangest mini ever.
It is well painted but it leaves this strange feeling of a number of tiny elements, each of which painted very well but they don\'t come together. Somewhat disjointed. Lack of center. You sort of go from one piece to another without focusing on anything in particular.
I know, I am rather non-specific here but it just how it feels

As far as details go, I would like to see more color contrast in some places (that would help with making \"center\" too). May be deeper more \"violet\" shadows on his head, possibly slightly purplish mouth (No, I am not talking about offensive pink here .

It really depends on what do you want to accentuate. If I was painting him I would emphasized head, blade, bell on the blade and the skull(s) on his belt.

Again, possibly brighter rust on the weapon, and darker ropes under the blade, I think you overemphasized them now.

It is lovely mini, I am just nitpicking here

PS, Just looked through the other comments, apparently I am not alone with the feel of disjointness.

 

[Infidel Castro]

I gave that a good 8. A bit thick in parts, but the style is up my street. Nice!

 

[Thunderhawker]

Its extremely well painted, but there is something... its a bit bright in tone I think. Skaven are nasty, dirty rat things, and he just comes I dunno, a little clean.

 

[demonherald]

Originally posted by squidders
i\'m still waiting for an albino lab-skaven.

maybe a funny convertion with a lab coat with pens in the pocket. lol

I\'ll go and seek mental help now.

Yoink..........

I agree with what has been said with the slight lack of a focal point and agree with GP that the mouth and face is whee to do it with this guy..That said the sculpt is a funny one anyways so all in all good job...

 

[Tinweasel]

If I\'m getting the gist of the thread, then, it\'s that the overall contrast of the figure is a little uneven, where some areas need accentuated contrast (the Warpstone, for example) whereas some other areas need toning back (like the overall \"brightness\" of the wrappings on his bardiche).

So far as things seeming \"disjointed,\" I\'m guessing I got caught up in all the little details of the figure - like the rat on his backpack, bare patches on his elbows/knee, bare belly and wart on one of the dangling rats, etc. That might be why it seems to have a lot of areas of interest but not one that seems to draw the viewers\' eye moreso than others.

On that note, people are saying the face should be the obvious focal point. Well, I did actually try and do this - the highlighting and overall skin tone of the face is lighter than any other part of the model and the fur on his cheeks and the raised areas left of the muzzle are the only ones on the figure to use true white whereas everything else has glazes of green & blue. (I know I do need to darken down his thigh a bit in comparison, though.)

What else could I do, specifically, to make the face stand out? (I know someone suggested adding \"blood\" effects to the mouth, but I already used a dark maroon/crimson rather severe shading in the mouth and slight glazes of the same on the teeth for that \"dried, crusted blood\" look in his maw - I guess it\'s not coming across too well.)


One last thing: any ideas as to why the scoring might possibly be so weak? It\'s scoring much lower than figures I painted up to a tabletop standard and even those are scoring higher than my one figure that won a Silver Demon last year. I guess I\'m just not understanding the whole \"scoring thing...\" I think this is one of the better figures I\'ve ever painted up, especially with the added use of complementary colors for exaggerated shading & overall glazes across the figure.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Hope you\'ll accept my two pence worth.
To me there are a few things that strike me, as others have said there\'s no obvious point of focus to draw the eyes of the viewer, which leaves the eye to wander without real intent. The face is good but I\'d suggest that the body and every thing else needs to be toned down to enforce the face\'s dominance.

The overall look of the mini seems to indicate that the colours are all at the same luminescence value and that there shadows don\'t really tone in properly with the overall gist of the mini.

Lastly I\'ve been looking at the posted mini and to me the background is too light and the edging which is apparent around the figure from the original background is \"irritating\" to the viewer. I\'d strongly suggest a more neutral background which doesn\'t affect the contrast of the picture.

Even though I don\'t like Rats this picture and the discussion has sparked an idea or two.