Looking for Comment and Critique

[tahrqa]

Hello all ... I've lurked around here off and on for a serveral years and finally made up my mind to post a few shots up and see if I could get some comments and critique of my work so that I can improve it.

However, since I'm not getting any comment on the submissions themselves I thought I'd post here and see if I could get any pointers, suggestions, or other critique.

Specifically I'm looking for feedback on the following five models:

Ork with Blunderbus on Crystals
View attachment 17870

Ork Prospector
View attachment 17871

Fantasy Ork Boss
View attachment 17872

Skaven Rat Ogre
View attachment 17873

and

Ork with Blunderbus
View attachment 17874

I welcome all comments and critique on the painting, base, and photography of the models. What works, what doesn't, tips to get better looks, etc.

 

[Wyrmypops]

Nice colour choices and neatness. 'S'kinda nummy.

The thing to go for would be more contrast. Those dramatic shifts make a mini *pop*.

Techniques to look up in the articles and sticky thread I reckon would be "shading". "Layering" would give some smooth transitions in highlighting up.

 

[boubi]

You will need more contrast, you miss some shadows, try to avoid using the washes, but instead push layers of darker paint in the darkest spots, skin recesses, etc... then highlight by pulling lighter color to the most exposed area.
Your metallic colors are good and the overall quality is also quite good, for playing purposes is far enough...

If you want to improve to better level, one of the best way of doing it is to post a WIP where you paint a mini step by step explaining your difficulties and what do you want to achieve, many people will help you then to improve and give you materials (tutorials, etc...) to achieve it.
Then you will need practice and practice, again and again... But as soon as you will achieve to do what you plan to, it will give you enough motivation to continue and improve!

Don't hesitate to ask specific questions, with some examples (found in the gallery) of what you want to achieve, then many people will tell you different ways of doing, you will have to find your own way and what fits you the best! Then you will see tremendous progress in quite short time!

 

[PegaZus]

Yup, echoing the other two, but contrasts are the key. And I'm sure that these look nice in hand, too. Just the life of a miniature.

I'll ping a little bit more on each one, however.

Orc with Blunderbuss: The crystals are a good example of where the contrasts need to be made. There's no dark or light areas of the mini. For fun, I just did a little technique someone posted here, and that's to turn the photo to gray scale. The crystals become a near uniform shade of gray. This is where I get into problems as well, as I keep thinking it surely shouldn't go further contrast, but it almost always should. The pants do show a more proper amount of shading, but washes can only go so far. Useful tool, but there are others that are more controllable.

Orc Prospector: Very nice detail work, and again the contrasts need to be pushed up. However, there's something about the photo that would drop it down a point for me. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what exactly. There may be too little focus and the photo isn't as sharp as it could be. Can't help you with what's wrong there, as I don't know if that's actually the problem or how to fix it.

Fantasy Orc Boss: Again nice details. The face and the red fabric is what has brought it down a little. Contrast problems again, probably. The blending on the sun is very nice, and I like the rust on the sword. One issue may be is that the rust is too uniform over the entire blade. It may have been better to put the rust effects where the blade wouldn't be in constant contact.

Skaven: The wash is pretty apparent on the furry bits, but doesn't seem to exist on the rest of the fleshy parts. This is most likely a limitation of the wash, and one where the contrast would have to be forced on it with a brush.

Orc with Blunderbuss Pt 2: Very little contrast once again, as the green skin appears nearly uniform, as well with the plant thing and pants. And on the pants, it seems that things are dark in areas I wouldn't really expect. This looks like either an attempt at making the pants dirty or the paint didn't cover completely.

So yup, work on the contrasts. There's good control with the brush on the colors, so you're over one of the early hurdles.

 

[tahrqa]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I do appreciate the comments.

I guess part of what has always held me back on the contrast is that I don't want them to look too cartoony so I've been a little leery of 'pushing' them. I've been working on these to try and get back into painting, so will work on taking it farther with the next set.

 

[Elric2k]

As long as you stay away from 'add white to base color to highlight' you should be able to stay away from the cartoony look and still get good contrast. It's all about color choices