my mini how can i improve

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supervike

Super Moderator
I can barely get above a six, so I don\'t know if my advice will help....

You need more contrast so things \'pop\' out at you. This can be done several ways. First is color choice. Choose a complementary color scheme. Second, is highlighting and shading. I think to get better scores, this has to be really emphasized. Lastly, is black or brown-lining. Going around the line where two different areas meet (like where the face plate meets the rest of the helmet).

Also, thinning your paints more and building them up in layers will help. The paint looks a bit thick in spots.

The freehand stuff is a good start, but you really need to focus on keeping the lines very neat and precise.

Check out the articles here on CMON, and just keep asking questions.

I hope this helps, without me coming across as a know-it-all. I consider myself as a know-it-none.

Good luck!
 
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hakoMike

Active member
I think supervike is right about neatness and precision. The line arount the bottom of the cloak is a good example. Work thin and keep it it clean.

Take a look at the fingers in the picture. The white on top with the black underneath looks like a skeleton costume. Just coloring in the lines is not enough to break out of that 5-6 range. I\'m struggling with this level of painting myself, so I\'m right with you.

Photography has a lot to do with it too. I posted two pictures of the same mini with different lighting and the score on the better lit one was .5 higher. You can paint a cool highlight, but if your picture has light reflecting brightly off different areas on the mini nobody is going to know where your painting stops and the light starts. The face is where I see this. It looks like whatever you\'re using for light is really harshly reflecting off the face.

Most of all, just keep practicing. Plus, don\'t get impatient to finish a mini and cut corners.

btw, I like the color scheme.
 
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Dark Seraphim

New member
Could you get us a picture of the back of the mini? You posted two of the same pic :D

Anyways, I\'m actually impressed. Your on the right track a few things I can mention;

1) Outline
This is done easiest by using the undercoat. Specially at the mask ( as mentioned by the two others) you paint the white, but don\'t go all the way to the edge.
2) Eyes
Paint the eyes a contrasting colour to the colour on the face, red or green here would be awesome.
3) Thinning
Thin down your paints so they don\'t clutter up, a bit of water untill you feel it\'s enough should do the trick. Down the road you will do this by heart, it might take a few tries to begin with.
4) Colours
Use different colour shades of the colour your trying to highlight. I can see you\'ve used white to make the red and yellow brighter, this is not a bad idea, but it will show. Yellow turns bleachboney and red will turn pink. Instead use a brigher yellow or red to bring the highlights up.

There are probably 100000 more things I could say, but try these things out and post again :) For all in the world, keep trying.

Feel free to PM me with your new minis if you liked my advice or just post here and I\'ll see what I can say.

Overall!

It looks like you got the hang of alot of things, your a great WIP :D
 
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EricJ

Active member
Step one: paint LOTS

I think a huge mistake people make once they find cmon is that they start focusing too long on each mini trying to perfect it. Mini painting is just like everything else, in order to improve you don\'t just need to learn what works, but go about the process of making all the mistakes about what doesn\'t, and learning from each of them. My advise is to paint paint paint, just paint and enjoy the process. Just stay aware of what you\'re doing, and keep your eyes and ears open to what works in your opinion, and in others opinions. It\'s about getting a feel for the medium, and that just means do it lots!

So paint paint paint! :)
 
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generulpoleaxe

New member
another thing you can do is use the wip (work in progress) thread.

paint one thing suck as the skin on a model, (a good place to start) and then post it on the wip thread.

people will give you feed back on how to improve it. then slowly do other areas on the mini.

after doing this with several minis you will realy start to notice improvements as long as you take your time, keep it neat and listen to people comments.

alternatively, you can live down the road from someone in the top 100 and pester them for advice ;):D
 
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