Maenas Painting Log and WIP

[Maenas]

Oh! and flower petals are easier to draw with a brush than with a pencil... it seems that the tip of the brush helps a lot in doing that kind of curves. By the way I used my W&N n.0 for drawing almost all of them, the other brand of brushes I use (Escoda) are a lot less soft than W&N and have a smaller "reserve" of paint. Paint for this drawings was diluted with water, matt medium (one drop) and glaze medium (2 drops) and it was a rather pinky white, not just white as it seems on the pics.

@ArchArad: It is a plain brand "Faber-Castell" colour pencil and it seemed to work pretty well because you can erase most of it with a wet brush... you will see that the pigments blend into the water a bit... but it is not a watercolour type... maybe those you mention work even better!! Anyway this is the first time I try this so I do not know if it will work with other colours but I suppose it will. And happy happy you liked it ^^

@Diggs, Krule, Fluisterwood and SaintToad: Glad you came over here to give feedback and comment! ^^

@Jike Ichi: Will check my mailbox toady when I arrive at home and see... postal service is somewhat a bit random in our country (sometimes ultrafast, sometimes slower than turtles)

 

[SkelettetS]

very pretty work mate keep it up :good:

 

[BloodASmedium]

RReally impressive dude.most likely the best we've seen from you yet....level up.

 

[Maenas]

@Skel: Thank you! Happy to have a visit from you over here ^^
@BAM: Thank you Jhon! Don't forget this is big (21cm tall aprox.) so I have plenty of room to experiment. It's a lot easier to see things at this size and I am starting to get a grip on the shadow placement thing, thanks to both this last two big miniatures (Momohime and Brunhilde 75mm.).

 

[Meph]

A white pencil, that's genious! And so is the execution. I'm seriously adoring the subtle tints on that robe, and the white detailing just suits it perfectly.

 

[Auberon]

I really like the direction you are going with the freehand! It's shaping up quite nicely.

 

[Maenas]

Thank you for the kind words Meph and Auberon

I have been working on her for the last 3 day minus today. I almost threw her away because at the start of the process I dryfitted everything and it was ok. but on friday I discovered that the scabbard and the sword did not fit at all, a little more than half an inch of missaligment made it impossible to fit the first into the second.... In the process of trying to fit those pices I broke 4 more of the 10 fingers (for a total of 5 out of 10 counting the broken thumb from the last week). Which made me really angry and worried at the same time, because I consider myself as a careful person.

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Next step was to calm down, and move a step away, so I get those chips in a box and tried to finish my other little (almost 2 inches / 4,5 cm. tall) project, a lord of the rings beorning lord.
View attachment 43641

Thanks to this parallel project I managed my angriness and could find a thoughtful solution, that was, taking the extra hand that came with the kit to replace the one that holds the scabbard and that was the origin of all the alignment problems. To do that I had to broke both hands at their wrist (as you can see on the previous pic) and reglue them again alongside all those missing fingers!!

Then I tried to assembly everything in place and did some basic basecoat, highlight shadow work on all parts for webmonkeys contest. So I rushed everything a little bit and now I am at this state:
View attachment 43642

So I need a few hours more to really finish her, and then I could feel a little bit more released, since this has been a huge project for me xD

 

[ArchArad]

I'm sorry she's been giving you a hard time my friend. But on the plus side I think you've rescued her! She really is looking great - the metal detailing on the scabbard is very well done and the shading on the wraps for her legs and the sword's hilt is spot-on. :good: Are you going to do anything more with the stones of the base? I know she's the main focus, but they look a bit "underdone" compared to the rest of the piece.

Keep it up and I want pictures when she's done!

Edit: I forgot to tell you (again) that the palette you've chosen is just gorgeous.

 

[Digganob]

I almost cried for you bud. That is insane how great she came out, even after you broke her fingers. I mean you did that when you were not upset so, note to self...never piss off Maen. Haha

 

[KruleBear]

If you have to break some fingers to get them to cooperate, then so be it. The results are outstanding.

the Beorn looks good as well.

 

[Maenas]

ArchArad: I like that you like the palette xD I did not planned it I just went in with my guts.... sometimes it works sometimes not xD I need to further work the armour (cooperish) and golden parts. I painted the scabbard with sc75 black ink, 4-5 layers I think. That ink has a natural shine in it and I wanted the scabbard to look like lacquered. Still I need to correct those filigrees since some are out of the line a bit, but you cannot appreciate it on the pic.

For the base I planned something like extending it a bit more with other stones, mostly smaller than those, just like she were approaching to the riverside into a bamboo groove. But I just runned out of time for the contest xD

Digga: Lol lol lol I think I am the calmest person I know, you have nothing to fear... or maybe yes? mwahahahaha
Fingers did broke because of me trying to repeatedly fit the hilt of the sword in her hand

Krule: That was my conclusion after my angriness went away Anyways in a closer pic you see that they are actually glued, and I need to correct them further.
Beorning lord was a lot easier in comparison, its super tiny and made from a single piece. The fern plant is a lasercut paper one, from a train modeller's shop. NOCH brand, H0 scale.

Here are some close-ups of the armour, just for reference if anyone is interested.. I gave a little more texture to the armour plates by doing a first layer of tinted black vallejo's still water, and when it was half dry removed the excess away with an old brush (left central picture). Should I tinted it brown I think it would have been better because of the cooper colour. On the last pic is the second layer for the colour of the threads subjecting the multi-plated armour. Need to highlight them and correct the errors soon, also metal plates still need 2 highlight layers and a maximum light one (just following the recipes at the cooper set leaflet from sc75 as a guide).

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On a side note I pledged for the Arcadia Quest inferno kickstarter!!! (first time I use kickstarter though it seams a great thing, but the waiting time can kill anyone xD )

 

[ArchArad]

Of course we're interested! It's always cool to see how other people go about things - that way you get new ideas and inspiration.

*now try to stop being interesting again before Friday - ninja ArchArad slinks away*

 

[Teronus]

Wow Maenas, she is really beautiful, I love the free hand.

I voted for you!

 

[oistene]

She is awesome. The freehand is fantastic. If I'm going to nitpick on anything, it would be that I don't really like the waves on the base, those could be smoother, but it is such a little thing, and you'll probably be able to fix it with a little extra time.

Hope you'll enjoy Arcadia Quest! I back most CMoN games on Kickstarter, but I'm passing on that one - I hear the game is great, but I don't like the chibi-aesthetic, I'm trying to cut down on Kickstaters and I frankly have no idea when I would have time to play it...

 

[Arkhareon]

Great job indeed. Large projects full of problems, it is what makes us grow. Congratulations to great solutions with fingers, it looks just great. We look forward to the final result.

 

[Maenas]

Thank you mates, your words made me very happy ^^

Thanks for your support Tero

Arcadia Quest Inferno ended this last Wednesday and it is expected to arrive homes at June or so... there will be a HUGE amount of minis, because I ended pledging for two extra expansions (Pets and Cold Dragon), in fact I am not sure If I ever received a package that big lol!
9,991 backers pledged $1,710,713 dollars, being this my first kickstarter I am pretty impressed on how the things went. Now only the waiting is left so I better hurry up my paintings on my basic Arcadia!!

I am a bit exhausted with Momohime, so I will let her rest and watch me painting/work on other things for a few days

As this post without pics is a bit sad atm. , I will share some pics with my very first painted group of miniatures, they were painted somewhat 20 years ago and show some battle/transport damage but I am happy/proud to keep them as they remind me were do I start and one of my great life's love, my grandmother. (She gaves them to me on a couple of birthdays) On a side note and to break this serious note, I sometimes smile at them because they are painted straight from the pot, super sloppy, but hey! they got eyes!! (Merry got bigger eyes than the rest, even bigger than Gollum's LOL) and some even have a rudimentary and rather harsh shadows LOL!

They were painted all with one brush (more than one size were just for pro painters!! xD) and the eyes drive me crazy XD xD

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They are of course from the Mithril brand, the very first was Gandalf (further left, viewers side) before him I only painted 2d tempera at school xD xD I want to share with you all that a few months ago I bought the very same miniatures and I want to paint them again just for comparison ^^. But this is another future plan.

I am really happy to be here and to have meet such a bunch of great people, thank you all for being there, it really helps me to paint a bit more which I like a lot.

 

[bgcdazzler]

As a newbie it's always lovely to see how much people have progressed.

Oh, and your armour is fabulous (as is the freehand).

 

[Teronus]

Keep those always, I regret not having at least been able to keep only a single miniature from my debut.

 

[ArchArad]

They're a lovely reminder of where you've come from and the person who helped start you on this journey. I'm glad you still have them and that they make you smile.

 

[SaintToad]

Those old Mithril figures are great. I have Beorn (it's gotta be Beorn, I assume) unpainted from 20 years ago or more. In fact, though I started painting not very long ago, I used to love minis when I saw them at this store in my hometown and once at a Renaissance Fair. Truthfully, I didn't know what they were, much less that they could be painted, so I just bought them and played with them on the floor of my bedroom (they probably contain lead, but who cares?). When I started painting minis a few years ago, I remembered that I had a bunch, so I got them back from my parents' place. I certainly intend to paint some, but nostalgia has so far made me cautious! Luckily, I still really like a lot of the figures I picked out 25 years ago!
Anyway, it's really cool to see those old figures and, as bgcdazzler said, it makes me feel optimistic about my own capacity to improve when I see how the mere mortal who painted Gandalf & company is now painting at the level you are. Also, you're pretty critical of your own work, so it's clear that your own improvement continues steadily on. I will be looking forward with interest to your own nostalgic project!