Help my dwarf break a 6!

[Dr. Bob]

I posted a dwarf a little while ago, but he hasn\'t been doing very well vote-wise.

He could use a little help from the forum, if it isn\'t too much trouble.

I know that he\'s not that exciting, but he\'s at least a 6.0 to 6.5 in my book. No?

http://www.coolminiornot.com/55769

 

[KatieG]

Honestly, the best I can see giving him is a 6. In order to get a 6 to 6.5, you need the occaisional person (or not so occaisional - half or more for 6.5) to give you a 7. To me this mini is not exciting enough to give a 7 to. I can\'t see his eyes. The shading and highlighting is rather subtle, and is also abrupt. To me a 7 should be smoother. There appears to be little to no shading on the skin. The metallics are a bit monochrome. The hair/beard could use more depth. These are all areas you could improve, but to be honest, even painted by Jen Haley I doubt this mini could get much above 7, its just not that great a scuplt - it\'s a perfectly serviceable mini, but when you compare it to some of the amazing sculpts out there nowadays, it suffers in comparison. Anyways, I hope this was helpful and that it wasn\'t too er blunt.
--Katie G.

 

[Primeval]

From this picture I would have to agree with Katie, but the picture is kind of dark and maybe a bit out of focus? A better picture would probably help you out.

 

[darthfoley]

I would also tend to agree with what Katie has suggested. Overall the piece just seems very flat, the metallics in particular.

It\'s very cleanly painted, but I think more time in making the highlights \'pop\' would be helpful.

 

[Gypsy]

It looks like the highlights are there but that the photograph swallows every tiny bit of it. Try and take a better picture first and then we can help you better.

 

[Micha]

I also must admit I wouldn´t give this one more then a 6 as the pic really isn´t that good - the colors just don´t show well; there also doesn´t seem to be much shading on this - with stronger shading, this one could have scored more; by the way, I disagree the sculpt is too blame, ther is a spacemarine by cyril so good I instantly gave it a 10 - even simple minis can be subject to great paintjobs!

 

[airhead]

1st, rotate him to his right (clockwise from above) so we can see his face.

2. reduce the red. Everything is too red/orange, he looks like he is in the sandstone desert. This may be a lighting issue and need correction in either the camera or your photo editor.

3. bring the lights more in line with him instead of overhead.

These will help give a photo that will get judged better. Your painting looks clean, but is hard to judge with out a good/great pic to go from. (unfortunate, but true).

 

[Trevor]

If you can, try using a fluorescent strip light and adjust the brightness setting on the camera to make the mini the right brightness (ignore the background doesn\'t matter if it comes out washed out).

I quite like the mini

 

[supervike]

Well, all the folks above gave you excellent advice, following that you should get better votes.

I think, though, that this mini is already a 6. I mean, that is only 1 point above \"tabletop\" quality...It is definately that.

Your realistic style may hurt as well. Not that there is anything wrong with it at all (I quite like it) but I think voters tend to vote higher for things that are more exaggerated. Many arguments evolve around this. Some historical or military modellers tend to use less highlights and go for the realistic \'in scale\' painting. For instance, many believe that the miniature should be painted as it were a real person, being viewed from 100 yards away (or something like that). So small details, and even bright colors all get taken out.

I am not saying this is what you are doing, but rather this is what it kind of reminds me of. I believe to get your scores higher, you have to force highlights, and really make details overly dramatic.

Of course, that is just my opinion, so take it for what it\'s worth (my opinion plus .85 cents will get you a cup of coffee!)lollol

 

[Dr. Bob]

Well, I figured it couldn\'t hurt to ask!

Actually the advice I received was really excellent. Thanks all!

And, as an added bonus, the mini went up in score by 0.1 points!

 

[Grumbold Ironbrow]

Left comments

Dr. Bob;

I think that supervike is spot on. I like the realistic style as well, but it doesn\'t seem to always do as well here. The more cartoonish figures seem to score higher.

I also agree with the others that the pic could use some more light. I\'ve reposted minis with a better, brighter pic before and had the scores jump a point.

I left comments, don\'t know how long it will take for them to appear.

Cheers,
Grumb

 

[supervike]

woo hoo!!

Originally posted by Grumbold Ironbrow
Dr. Bob;

I think that supervike is spot on. I like the realistic style as well, but it doesn\'t seem to always do as well here. The more cartoonish figures seem to score higher.
Grumb

I have rarely, if ever been \"spot on\", so please allow me to indulge in a little self congratulations..

WOO HOO!