How can I make this better?

[El Hombre]

I\'ve some pictures uploaded on CMON now, but my old and new work all get scores of max 5.7. Knowing that 5 is \"tabletop quality\" I was/am a bit dissapointed by this. But I still believe that I can improve this by improving my skills.

So, for example, this is my last addition. What should I look out for on my next mini to get a higher score?

http://www.coolminiornot.com/192479

Thanks!

 

[DaN]

Well that\'s nice and neat, the skin is nicely done, but everything looks a bit flat.

You can aim to work on your highlighting and shading in order to make your figure look more 3dimensional (Due to the reduced scale of miniatures, sometimes contrast must be emphasised)

Umm, there\'s probably more, but do things bit by bit - keep posting WIPs

 

[freakinacage]

as dan said, the main thing to work on is your contrast, much darker shadows (the highlights look ok atm). thin your paint, more layers etc!

 

[evil tendencies]

on the subject of contrast, the pustules/scabs kinda blend into the skin. Consider making them a completely different color - a dark putrid green might work, especially if you give it a small bone white highlight.

You may also want to try brownlining the joins of various surfaces - for example, a watered down brown ink would look very good in the join between the upper arm and the red shoulder pad.

 

[pez5767]

Like the other guys said, a little additional contrast on the deeper shadows would do a lot for your scores. If you\'re using GW, some very thined out dark flesh on the underside of the muscles and deepest recesses would be a good start. Also, the reds need some shadows. Again, keep the paint thin and build it up in slow layers.


Don\'t get discouraged at your scores. You have to keep in mind that A LOT of folks on CMON are not gammers. They paint, and for them, that\'s the whole hobby. It puts the term \'table top quality\' at a pretty suspect level. You have a very clean and well organized paint job on your model. I would be thrilled if 1/2 of the people I played with had paintjobs anywhere near as nice as what you have going on your model. If you want to get higher scores on CMON then refer the guides and work through the WIP channel. You can get some good feedback there. Otherwise you have a lovely model. It\'s not display quality, but it\'s still really nicely done.

 

[Gilvan Blight]

Another thing to consider on here is subject matter. It is COOL mini or not, not best paintjob or not. Skaven are definately not one of the more popular races on here, and neither is bloodbowl. A Dark Angel painted to this standard would proabably get a better score.

Regarding this mini, in addition to what has been metioned above, your metals look like they are just silver drybrushed over black, metals should be treated like any other colour with multiple layers and blended/layered transitions.

 

[Undave]

Some good suggestions so far. I\'ll add that you can give him a better expression by adding more pupil to towards the front of his eyes. Because the eyes are on the side of his head, if you have the pupil in the same place on the eye as you would on a model with eyes at the front of its head, it will appear that he\'s looking in two directions. Putting the pupil more towards the front of the head will give the impression that he\'s looking straight ahead. the left eye looks OK in the photo but I\'d try enlarging the pupli slightly on the right eye. Leave a sliver of white at the front and see how it looks.


Before _______________________After

 

[cfwheeler58]

Start your teeth a dirty color ( like snakebite leather ) at the base and work
them lighter as you move to the tips. Avoid a pure white. Stop at 1:1 bleached
bone:white. This guy looks like he\'s paying his dentist a fortune

Nice job on the skin. Some good points made on the pustules.

If you are using pure black for blacklining against any brown based skin,
it will likely \"pop\" too much. Try a mix of 2:1 Scorched Brown:Black.

Every figure will be a bit better than the one before. Hang in there.

Wheels

 

[cfwheeler58]

Sorry for the double post...

The tongue looks cartoonish...all the more so because it matches your armor color.
Move the color of the tongue and gums away from a pure red.

Typically a purple highlighted thru a touch of pink works well if looking for a \"natural\" rendering.

 

[Sauce Devil]

I concur with all of the above. Your painting is a bit flat at the moment (very neat and clean though) but I reckon you\'re just one step away from painting to a solid 8 on the CMON rankings.

 

[El Hombre]

Thanks for all the comments, I\'ll do better on my next one :beer: