Help out a new guy?

[johnboyjjb]

Sartaan has a few pics up and could use some critiquing of his work. It looks like a few simple things would really help him get better.
You guys willing to help him out?

Gallery Link

Elven Archer



Reaper Vampire Female


Reaper Assasin

 

[mattrock]

The first and most immediate thing I noticed is the shininess. The gloss has to go or they look plastic. Hit it with a shot or two of dullcote.

The paint is all in the right places, but I would add more contrast between the lights and darks in the shadows and hilights and make sure the paints are thin!

Great start though!

 

[Wappellious]

I agree with Mattrock.
Lose the gloss varnish. Use Testor\'s Dullcote which is a matte spray varnish. Apply one coat. If you know the figs will be handled a lot, wait for it to dry before applying another coat.

Not sure what paints you\'re using. Paints made specifically for minis are a good start. Games Workshop, Reaper, Vallejo are all good brands.

It seems like you have a good concept of shading and highlighting.
Darker in the deepest shadows and even lighter on the highest points will give it even more contrast. For something so small, you want to exaggerate the contrast.

A defined contrast between areas is good too, like where the cloak meets the shield, so there\'s a crisp edge making the two look like separate items instead of one thing that just changes color.

There are many good tutorials on CMON to help with the finer points.

Happy painting. :flip:

Oops!
I\'m Celthulhu by the way. Accidentally posted on my husband\'s name.

 

[Roger Bunting]

I agree about the shinyness. It doesn\'t help with being able to see the details. otherwise they seem neetly painted.

If they\'re going to get a lot of handling you can use a gloss spray for the toughness and then use dullcote to remove the shine.

 

[ErunnerXI]

I don\'t know if it\'s a trick of the gloss varnish, but the paint looks very thick as well. Otherwise, highlighting concept looks solid.

 

[Legacy Account]

In all seriousness, I\'d advise painting better figures as well.

You can\'t make a silk purse out of a sow\'s ear and all that.....

 

[sartaan]

Thanks All

First of all, thanks for the posting of this and thanks for the comments!! I do appreciate them. I didn\'t really realize how bad the gloss was until I took the pictures. Although my picture skills need to improve as well I will admit. I am really starting to water down my paints more so I think that will help out a lot. I\'ve only been working with about 3 highlights right now until I get a bit better at it. From the tutorials I\'ve read around 5 or more is needed to get a decent look (depending on the situation).
I think you are right about the quality of the figures. I have purchased some nicer quality ones but have kinda been saving them until my skills improve so that I can do them justice. I guess I\'ll just bite the bullet and work on them.

Thanks again everyone!
-Sartaan

 

[redarmy27]

Welcome!

Welcome to the \'family\'!

You have the right start. Once you \"de-gloss\" them you\'ll be on the right track. From there, fine tune your shadows and highlights. You have the right idea, now it\'s just the refining process.

You have all the right processes there, it\'s just a long road to refinement. I\'m still in the process myself, but relax, you\'re in good company There\'s a wealth of knowledge from people around here, don\'t be afraid to ask!

Cheers,
Jake

 

[Legacy Account]

Originally posted by sartaan

I have purchased some nicer quality ones but have kinda been saving them until my skills improve so that I can do them justice. I guess I\'ll just bite the bullet and work on them....

-Sartaan

That\'s a fair point, and the figs you\'ve painted are perfect for that. It\'s worth considering that better quality sculpts are sometimes easier to paint as areas of detail are better defined. Painting is also more fun if you\'re working on something you really like!

Don\'t be afraid to use washes and thinned paint or ink. A wash over a basecoat of paint is the simplest and easiest way to shade a figure. It takes seconds and helps you to establish where you need to highlight. You can get a more than respectable amount of contrast from a wash and 2-3 highlights.

You\'ll also find that you can feed thinned paint or ink into areas on a sculpt that need definition - between skin and cloth for example - and the paint will naturally flow around detail to give you darklining and shading.

 

[demonherald]

I echo what Spacemunkie says there .... it\'s often easier to paint with a better mini...

You certainly have a grasp of highlightig and shading.. I\'ll let you in o a little secret..Theres no magic number of layers ...it differs from colour to colour and in my cae day to day.. It\'s just a case of getting the effect to look right for you.....:drunk:

welcome aboard.

 

[bodiscool]

hi well wen i started many years ago! i found it best to paint mostly 1 colour over and over untill i got it right.say green i simply painted lots of orks,dark angels n so on.its often a case of wot colour to highlight with for diffring results.1 thing that realy helped me was to get strips of card or even loly sticks and everytime u mix a highlight paint a line on the card.wen ur done u should see a smooth blend.this also helps in working out how many highlights ul need and were to paint them(sometimes u run out of room on ur mini lol) i also use blister packs from tablets as a palet i find this allows me to take better time knowing my paint wont dry up + i can just place some masking tape over it(it will keep for a few days)basicaily take ur time work carefully and dont get discouraged ur foundations r solid the rest is just practise.lol my first post!havent posted any minis yet but heres a link with some of my work http://demonwinner.free.fr/peintre.php?id_peintre=308
pm anytime if u need any advice id be happy to help if i can lol

 

[demonherald]

Mr Crawforth where did you pop up from.....???

How\'s things going you still keeping the brushes wet??? Love that shadowlord remember seeing it at winners day down at Lenton.. just so smooth ..like porcelain..

 

[bodiscool]

lol thanks.started painting agin last month after nearly 7years away.had a look on here and found some insperation.

 

[sartaan]

Well, I\'ve always kinda wondered how everyone get\'s their mini\'s so dull (Or rather, not shiny) with a clear cote. I\'m gonna have to get some good dull cote, just wondering what people would reccomend or if they have advice to help with application. Is spray better than brush on? I\'ve seen someone mention GW dull cote...but I\'m not really a GW fan, is there anything comparable?

Thanks again,
Sartaan

 

[mattsterbenz]

If you\'re in the States try picking up Testor\'s DullCote. You can find it at most hobby/model car shops. (I believe it was available in other countries but the environmentalists took issue with it).

As said before once you get some dullcote on these it will bump up the score. Everything is painted in the right spots, and colors seem smooth. Try adding some more highlights and shadows on your next figure and see where that takes you!

-Matt

 

[sartaan]

Dull Cote

well I finally picked up some Dull cote spray. I could not find the Testors at the local stores (they only had gloss) so I got some Krylon Matte Finish. It seems like pretty good stuff. Just wondering if anyone out there has used it and if it is the same quality as testors or GW? Also, it has made a dramatic difference already but how many coats would be good for a display mini that\'s only handled once in a while?
Thanks,
Sartaan

 

[bodiscool]

personaly i dont use any varnish on my minis.but i wouldnt use any more than 2 very light coats but again its up to the indervidual.i work on base only toutchy feely policy lol

 

[airhead]

The back of the vamps cape:

Looks like it goes from mid blue to black. Try putting a layer or two in between. And don\'t use black as the shadow. Try a dark purple. Then bring it up to a sky blue on just the tops of the folds.

Thin the sky blue a lot, pick up some on your brush, then empty most of it back out or it will just dump on your mini and become a wash. Then lay the side of the bristles on just the tops of the folds.

 

[sartaan]

Thanks for the advice on the cape. Unfortunately that pictures sucks bad and the glare is not helping either. That dark color is actually a dark blue but looks quite black in the picture but you are correct, I should have done a few more layers or at least a lighter shade. It is a bit much contrast. Never thought of purple for a blue shade, I\'ll give that a try.
Thanks,
Sartaan

 

[johnboyjjb]

Were you aware that there articles in the articles section and elsewhere in the forums about photography? There are also people here who would be willing to help with the photo editing.

Finally, you can claim some blog space and post WIP pictures as you revise things. That way you can get more pertinent feedback.