Help and Comments PLEASE!

[slidedog]

Ok all, my CMON3 mini went up before the deadline and I think it turned out rather well and I have had a couple of good comments. The day it went up, after 10 votes it dropped into the mid 5\'s, and has been slowly working it\'s way back up. Is this mini really a mid 6 mini??? I would love to hear what the better painters have to say for improvements. Not a great mini to be sure but I think it is a solid paint job with a cool base, I expected it to score more like mid 7\'s. Help me out and tell me where I went wrong! I\'m trying desperately to improve as I intend to enter the Golden Demons next year.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/57640

 

[finn17]

I like it!

But I think it has lost points because it is not consistently good. Most of it is 7-8, but bits of it are 6-7. The base is a bit too fussy IMO, possibly the photo doesn\'t do it justice.
It\'s actually just occured to me that the rider is much better than the horse, this is what threw me when I looked at it. If you imagine the horse without the rider its a 6, if you imagine the rider without the horse, it\'s an 8 - purely IMO of course.

*EDIT* Looking again. I am sure the horse is the problem. I tried imagining the horse without the rider and base and I would give it a 5. I say this in the spirit of constructive criticism

 

[DennisMech]

One thing that stood out to me which I didn\'t like was the water. I think you really would have done well to at least make the color a bit more realistic, and maybe give it a gloss finish, if not use model water effects.

I think the model might be a bit too colorful, and loses having a cohesive scheme. Really though, I think you did a good job with said mini.

 

[slidedog]

Thanks guys! That is a help. I did use model water effects, but I think that the angle I took it sort of dulled it down. Finn I tend to agree on the base I had it a really simple cool look and then overworked it, RATS. Oh well, it helps to have some feedback and I will endeavor to improve!

Oh and the photo doesn\'t really do it justice, I thinkk the copmression does some crappy stuff to the bleding at that is most evident on the horse.

 

[finn17]

Hey!

It\'s a lot better than I could manage...don\'t beat yourself up about It...I would be as happy as a sand boy if it were mine:flip:

 

[supervike]

my two cents...

I had already voted it an 8, most of the mini is excellent, but...I agree with much of what Finn says. I like parts of the mini quite a bit (such as the saddle bags, bedroll, leather belts, horses hindquarters, and half of the base.

The thing I think hurts it the most is the odd color scheme and that blue blue water.

Water may look blue from a distance, but usually up close it is more brownish or greenish that a vivid blue.

Technically your painting is very well done, good blending, the right amount of paint, etc.

 

[Trevor]

I actually liked the base, rider is good, horse let you down, the painting is too rough, you need smoother transitions. Overall I gave a 7.

 

[KatieG]

I liked this mini a lot, I gave it a 7. I like the pattern on the horse, and I really like the colors on the cloak, but I felt that your blending on both was not terribly well done. In particular, the horse\'s front leg, the grey to white transition in the shadows to highlights is too abrupt. And the purple/blue transition on the cloak - it looks like there\'s only two colors there. It\'s actually a neat effect, but its not very smooth. I probably would have chosen either a purple basecoat with that same highlight (with a smoother blend) or used a lighter blue to highlight the darker blue. It just looks odd the way it is now. Though it reallt does catch the eye! It might also just look better if there was a smoother blend between those two colors instead of just looking like there\'s only two colors. Finally, it could be a little smoother in places, in particular the horse\'s front and the saddlebags look rough. Anyways, I hope this wasn\'t too harsh and is helpful... it\'s not like I can score this high consistently yet myself, though my critical eye has grow a lot lately because of this site
--Katie G.

 

[slidedog]

This is what I love about this site! You guys and gals are giving me some great feedback and I am starting to see some of what you are talking about and that is the first step. A littel more patience on my part will go a long way. Add a few more transitions and smooth those blends. Thanks all!

 

[Trevor]

I should have said that in parts the painting is excellent. The problem is that with the voing on this site the whole mini has to be great to get a great score, one little flaw can bring you down a whole point.

Also because votes are in whole points you will always tend to score 1 point less than you think you will, thats becasue to get an 8 you need an equal number of votes at 7 and 9 and the rest to be 8\'s. people tend to vote lower rather than higher, hence you get a lower score.