mini painting: what does the future hold

[Nelson]

This is just a a general, hopefully interesting (please?) post. What do you think the next new fad will be? maybe metallic metal? maybe black and white minis? (that would be interesting, and challenging)

and what about skill. i haven\'t been around long enough to notice a change, but is painting, like technology, evolving? in 5 or ten years, lighting effects might be a staple of any beginners tutorials. and once we get there, how many more advancements in painting can there be? Maybe realistice sculpting will be the only way to enhance minis look.

and what will our colour schemes look like. I\'m glad i wasn\'t around for GW\'s bright neon green, blue, red and yellow phase, which corresponded with the style of the day. some of that stuff looks like a monkey on acid wandered into a bucket of paint, then gave the mini\'s some lovin\'. What!!!???sorry, that\'s my opinion. nowadays, they\'re darker and sudued (more so)

anyways, i just posted this because i am a) bored out of my mind, and b) curious what others think

 

[Corvus]

Personally I think the sculpting and molding of minis will dramatically increase in the coming years.

 

[laurence]

back in beige

Hi Nelson
I think you\'ll find that beige is on its way back.
I mean lets face it beige ain\'t all that drab.

Apart from that I reakon people will prefer to paint leathers as canvas & polyester instead

Apologies for my pathetic attempt at humor...

I think the techniques and quality of mini-painting will continue to grow. As long as people still have an imagination anything is possible.

 

[Panza]

If you look at the past 25 years it seems that painting styles and techniques change as much with technology as they do with anything else.

When GW first released their acrylic line they produced colours very specific to their games and while some painters continued to hold on to enamels and oil paints, eventually most went the way of acrylic, and the only widly available (non tube) acrylic at that time was GW, so bright colours seemed to be the order of the day. Now even the hardcore military painters are turning to acrylic as companies formulate paints that suit the needs of the hobby, rather than hobbyists having to hunt down a particular paint that is usable.

It\'s comforting however to know that it only takes a few painters doing something new to change the way we approach the hobby, by showing the rest of us the capabilities of the tools and materials that we use. People aren\'t getting any more talented or skillfull per se, just open to new ideas.

If NMM has shown mini painters anything it\'s that techniques used in 2D painting can be imported into miniature work, so what\'s next? Will we see tranparent glass effects, sepia toned diorammas, stylistic pieces in a post modernist neo realist style? I think anything is possible, but it does seem that the public have the final say. If the first NMM pieces had been shouted down and criticised then the technique would have probably dissapeared, and I\'m sure that in time it will become a specilist technique, like checker patter, tartan or swirls.

As long as everybody is open to new ideas and prepared to try new materials and techniques, then the next 25 years should prove pretty interesting.

 

[finn17]

Driven by the big companies...

I think that mini painting over the years has been driven by the big companies, mainly GW. They produced the figures, they provided the pallette, and they even wrote books and articles telling you how to do it step-by-step. Other companies have of course had an influence, but it has been slight compared to GW. If you look through old magazines etc. you can see how people have emulated the style of the GW painters at various points over the years. When the Heavy Metal team changed style - so did every one else.

It is interesting at the moment because IMO the driving force in painting style is being taken over by Rackham. People like their sculpts and Rackham have been clever enough to supply lots of examples of well-painted models, painted in what could only be called the \'Rackham style\'.

I think that mini painting is in the process of divorcing itself from the manufacturers now, there are many painters on this site such as myself, who have never played, and have no desire to play the actual games involved. Because of this there is less of an imperative to stick to dictated colour schemes and styles. The most promising thing as far as I can see is that a lot of people on this site are developing, or have developed, their own style, which is not directly attributable to any manufacturer. I would hope to see this trend continue.

Over the next ten years or so I would also predict a wave or two of nostalgia creeping in as forgotten lines are rediscovered. There is already a debate going on in this forum about how people preferred the old comical goblinoids to the new sh*t your pants ones:bouncy:

 

[supervike]

size size size....

When I first starting collecting/painting Ral Partha was the king of the hill.

A normal sized human was 25 mm tall (that is tiny)

A long comes GW and a normal sized human becomes 28mm.

Rackham 30mm

Reaper Warlord 35mm

So, following the evolutionary course:

Mini\'s will cease to be \'mini\'

They will have to change the name of this site to \"cool maxi or not\"

I predict life size minis!!!!(finally, I will be able to paint the eyes without problems!)

lollollollollollollollol

 

[barkel]

Cool Maxi!!!!!

I don\'t think that \"Cool Maxi\" is a phrase that a man with daughters will say lightly. It\'s bad enough those commercials have invaded prime time.:|~

I think the next big phase will be Non Color Colors. Some genious painter will be able to paint an entire mini in black and white and make it appear to they eye as though we are seeing color. That seems about as plausible as me EVER learning NMM.

But I had an idea. I\'m not saying I invented it, or was the first to use it, but I tired it and I liked it. I called it MNMM, or Metallic Non Metal Metallic. It\'s where you use metallic paints, but you paint them to look like they are not metallic paints and you paint in the style of NMM. So they are metallics that look like non-metallics trying to look metallic.

My Celtos Rhianna shield maiden was painted with all metallics. OK, not all, but every single paint on the model has been mixed with metallics. Her skin was Elf Flesh mixed with Chainmail, then highlighted with Palid Flesh and Mithril Silver. The greens were done in a similar way, as was everything else. You can really see it in the hair.

Anyway, the pic I have posted is horrible. I\'m working on fixing it. The metallics that I added to the paint really gave some life that I\'m not sure non-metallics could have added. Taking the pic was hard though because that metallic paint really wants to reflect light.

barkel

 

[Sand Rat]

Originally posted by supervike

I predict life size minis!!!!(finally, I will be able to paint the eyes without problems!)

I\'d still screw em up!!lollollol

 

[supervike]

keep it comin....

@Barkel

I have seen a model in a magazine that was painted in only shades of gray. It was Frankenstein and his lovely bride, and they painted it to \'look\' like the old black and white movies. Actually turned out very cool. So your prediction might not be far off!!

As for the NmNMmMMNM (or whatever technique you are using!!) I started a thread a while back discussing this very thing. I was calling it AMM (actual metal metallics)describing something very similar.(i am not claiming credit for it either!!) Using metallics but in a non metallic way. I have tried it and like it also, but cannot seem to \'pull off\' the exact effect I\'d like. It looks so cool inside my little brain!!

lollol

Oh and let me be the first to wish you congrats on your 100th post! You are no longer a \'junior member\'. (of course, you only have 99 right now!!)

 

[supervike]

good point

Originally posted by steelcult

Originally posted by supervike

I predict life size minis!!!!(finally, I will be able to paint the eyes without problems!)

I\'d still screw em up!!lollollol

I thought about that after I posted. I can imagine a lifesize mini staring right at me!! At least one eye is staring at me, the other is aimed at the ceiling!!!lollol

 

[Corvus]

Would these \"maxis\" also be made out of solid lead? lol

Seriously, this is getting very OT

To get back on track: I don\'t think minis will ever get larger than 30mm, because otherwise they come too close to the 54mm category...

If you look at scale models the sizes are quite fixed: 1/144 1/76 1/72, ...

 

[barkel]

thanks Supervike!

Happy 100th to me. Happy 100th to me!

Thanks for the opportunity to shamelessly squeeze in the 100th post.

One of the things I liked about the MNMM was coverage. Because there was metallic paint mixed in I did not have a problem with painting light colors over dark colors.

I have seen some colored metallics at stores like Michaels. I have not got the courage yet to paint just in those. That would be too much metal. When I did my version of MNMM or AMM, whatever, I usually had about 25% metallic to 75% non. Otherwise it was just too shiny.

Tonight I will Dull Cote her in an attempt to reduce the shine. I hope I don\'t ruin her.

barkel, the MEMBER

:flip::flip::flip::flip:
:bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:

 

[Pellimore]

I agree that painting does change, even as a Warhammer 40k player I see it, but I have no clue as to what its going to change into next. I also agree that the painting companys have a huge influence.

Take GW for example. The \"old\" line of Warhammer 40k models had an almost cartoon appearance. Like the orks, and the tyranids, and even chaos. It all had a very cartoon, comical feel. So, the painting followed the models. The tyranids were bright, chaos was crazy, and orks were just plain out stupid. Now, though, they all look more realistic. The tyranids all have the sense of power and horor, along with the Chaos thats all painted black now. Even the orks are all earthy colors and feral tones to them.

It all depends on what the heads of the companies are feeling at the time they release minis.

Have fun!
-Pellimore

 

[finn17]

Originally posted by barkel
I think the next big phase will be Non Color Colors. Some genious painter will be able to paint an entire mini in black and white and make it appear to they eye as though we are seeing color. That seems about as plausible as me EVER learning NMM.

And it all makes just about as much sense as NAA - non alcoholic alcohol or NCC - non caffeine coffee!lol

 

[vincegamer]

what\'s next? Will we see tranparent glass effects?

Just look at the first CMON contest. There\'s a guy with a crystal sword that looks right snazzy!

As to putting metalics in non-metalic things. I read on a web site I can\'t recall right now to put gold paint into red hair (google \"painting red hair\" and you\'ll find it). It really works. I did it on my Joan of Arc here but you can\'t tell in the photo so well. I\'m now trying to make a reflective cloth using more gold. No good so far but we\'ll see....

 

[freakinacage]

well done barkel. i wouldn\'t go around shouting that you are a member though!!

as for the thread, i love some of the comic feel gw figs esp the orks but i also like the ferral newer ones. i also like the subtle colours of the rackham paint schemes and the cartoony, contrasty feel to the gw stuff. i agree that it does basically depend largely on what the company heads want.

 

[Panza]

I don\'t think that \'member\' means the same thing in America as it does in the UK. lol

I\'d like to put forward two more ideas that I used to see a lot of, but now see to have disappeared without trace.

Box dioramas.
Dioramas, in a box :duh: so that the point of view is restricted. This means that lighting effects, NMM and SENMM can be controlled and designed around the area that the minis are in.

Anime (cartoon) shading.
A much more hard edged form of shading and highlighting to make your minis look like they have their own Saturday morning show!

Any help?

 

[kittykat23uk]

Speaking from personal development over the past few years, I have tended to experiment with a number of different techniques and materials. Including:

A) Working on creating different texture effects like on my wolfen with the fur.

B) More freehand work seems to be a common theme these days, and I\'m trying to improve in this area.

C) I even experiment with using gold leaf, like on my games day entry last year.

D) Whilst at the moment I use both metallics and NMM techniques depending on the minis I paint, I think people will begin to rediscover techniques such as doing a metallic sunburst effect - like on my Fiancee\'s Eldar Phanton titan (on my website- see link below).

As for the actual ranges of miniatures, I think the sculpting will improve (models becoming even more detailed) as will casting, with GW, Reaper and Rackham leading the way. :]

Though the plans to bring out a mage knight style AD & D range is to me very depressing!

Regards

Kat

 

[barkel]

box dioramas

I hadn\'t actually thought about restricting someone\'s view like that, but it\'s a really good idea. My biggest problem with NMM and glass effects is that if the view is looking from the wrong angle a great piece becomes a piece of crap. It hadn\'t occured to me to \"help\" the view by restricting their line of sight. The box would also come in handy when trying to paint the background. Sky, clouds, mountain ranges, could all be added to the scene.

 

[barkel]

hope for the future

On direction I hope the industry is going is towards Everyman Minis. I understand the draw to heroic miniatures, evil villains, sexy ladies, etc., I probably wouldn\'t do this were it not for such minis, but I want to see more normal figs. More figs doing nothing or just milling about.

We are seeing some of this with models like Reapers Bartender and Maids. But I think we\'ll see some more flat chested women, skinny armed men, fat people, kids, babies, ugly people. It\'s the Fat Bottomed Girls that make the rocking world go round. Not the lean, sexy Swordmaiden.

barkel

ps. In america we are well aware of the multiple meanings for the word member. I might be a member, but I\'ll never show my member. Unless, of course, you ask nicely.