New here - please vote and advise?

[Greg Ellis]

Hi Folks!

I\'m new to CMON and I am really enjoying the great wealth of fine work and wisdom I\'m finding here.

If you have a moment, and you don\'t mind looking at newbie-level work, I would very much like to receive your votes and advice on my figs, especially these three:

Elladan < my best face on a finished fig so far

Cave Troll Champion < my best monster so far, IMO

Shadow Warrior < At the moment I am somewhat baffled by the very low scores on this last one. Yes, my technique is primitive, but 3.4? Ouch! Any insight into why this one is scoring so poorly would be very much appreciated.

I know that I need to thin my paints more, and I\'m finally learning how to paint eyes (as some of you know from my WIP thread). Aside from that, do you have any advice for a struggling amateur?

On a side note, I am curious about the many pictures I see posted where the image of the figure is quite small and/or in soft focus so that the detail is not at all obvious. So far I\'ve been trying to post shots that are sharp, well-lit and at least 2X to 3X actual size (on my monitor, anyway); about 10-15 pixels per mm of height. Am I just shooting myself in the foot this way?

My thought is that it will be much easier to rate my work and offer tips for improvement if you can actually see it. Any thoughts on this? Is there a rule of thumb on how big the mini should be represented in the pic? Sorry if I missed a FAQ somewhere.

Thanks in advance for any input. My near-term goal is to produce reliable 5\'s, perhaps with a 6 in my future after a bit more practice.

Best wishes to all,

Greg

 

[Larre]

I believe your are ALMOST there. I think your work looks really good how long have you been painting?
I commented on yur first mini.
on the shadow warrior, you have some to work on that one.

highlight more. you need brighter highlights.

metal. you should start glazing them, and highlighting with brighter metal colours.

a glaze is a thin layer of paint you paint over a surface. now I mean really really thin, almost transparant. it should be almost like water, a good colour to use for this is GW\'s brown ink (or any ink colour, depends on how you want the metal to look like). BUT to not make it glossy you have to thin it with water. 1 part brown ink and 2 parts water. the ink paint is very rinny in itself, so if you want to glaze with some other colour you should have more water.

and when you have glazed the metal you should highlight the raised areas with a clean metal paint. good colours for that is GW chainmail or mithril silver.

keep working on those faces. it will look great in no time I bet

keep it up

// Larre

 

[freakinacage]

you are on the right lines. as you said, you need to thin your paints more. concentrate on highlighting the uppermost surfaces. practice practice practice!! i see no eason wh the shadow warrior is below a 5. yes, he\'s a little messy and has no eyes but i wouldn\'t say he is below tabletop

 

[uberdark]

voted and commented on all three.

 

[Greg Ellis]

Thanks for taking the time, you three. I really appreciate it. Hoping to hear from some others.

 

[MPJ]

I rather liked the animals and felt they are a bit on the low side. As for the human(oids) the flesh colors are very flat and to brownish-grey. This is in addition to other comments.

Keep plugging. :drunk:

 

[Highbulp Billy]

Hi, I\'ve voted and added comments for each one individually. Generally speaking, you show a lot of early promise. I think once you get the hang of thinning your paints down you\'ll notice much smoother results. I agree with the advice to read through the articles to learn about washes and glazes in particular. Also, although Reaper minis are lovely, their bases leave a lot to be desired and are difficult to improve. Clipping, filing and replacing or simpling hiding with a build up of sand/grit may improve the look.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing more of your work :beer:

 

[Dammekkos2]

Originally posted by Greg Ellis
Hi Folks!


On a side note, I am curious about the many pictures I see posted where the image of the figure is quite small and/or in soft focus so that the detail is not at all obvious. So far I\'ve been trying to post shots that are sharp, well-lit and at least 2X to 3X actual size (on my monitor, anyway); about 10-15 pixels per mm of height. Am I just shooting myself in the foot this way?


Best wishes to all,

Greg

No, this is what you should be doing. This is what I try to do, though not very successfully. You\'re right, some people do increase their scores with slightly deceptive photos, and some peoples\' technique is suited to photo-viewing, but you shouldn\'t aim for this. Scores aren\'t important, painting ability would be a better thing to go for.

 

[Greg Ellis]

Thanks guys. Your assessments and advice are very valuable to me.

Michael, I really like animals too - lots of fun to paint. I\'m surprised there aren\'t more of them posted.

The Krenshar I painted, for instance, is essentially a lion. And while I would probably change the way I painted the skull if I were doing it now, I don\'t think I\'d alter much on the rest. It turned out great. More by fluke than skill maybe, but still...

Perhaps I can find a suitable fig to enter this new goat painting competition...

Seriously, thanks guys!

Hoping for more votes, to get past that magic 50!

 

[Dragonsreach]

Hi Greg:
I\'ve taken the liberty of capturing your shadow warrior in the hope that I can demonstrate a couple of points more easily with a picture.

As you can see the highlights have been raised dramatically and the shadows deepened accordingly.
This is a key point in miniature painting as these miniatures are approx 1/65th scale and so the contrast to make them more \"Realistic\" in appearance needs to be exagerated.

There are several noticable things that you need to work on IMHO the first would be the tonal range of your figures. One of the constant things used and referred to around here is Blacklining or Darklining. Which is the increased tonal darkness of a painted area immediatly adjoining another colour or detail. By using a darker version of the colour (eg on the cloak ) as it approaches the leg us to define the differing areas and improves the separation between two parts of the mini.

One of the primary thing that is needed to make a Mini \"Spark\" is the face. Have a look at these articles:
Faces with Expressions Part 1

Faces with Expressions Part 2

(Blatent Plug there )
Hopefully these might be of some use.

Don\'t be put off by low scores as you start to paint, at this stage comments and forums threads asking for help are more imortant. Most people will provide helpful comments amongst the sarcastic humour.

 

[Talonicus]

All I can offer is the same as those above me.
Thin your paints more, this helps keep the detail of the figure and yet still achieve good colour depth.
Introduce more shadows and highlights. At such small scales you cannot rely on light itself. At larger scales highlights can be much more subtle, but they have to be implied when working so small.
Washes ( very thin paint ) are great when working on the metal sections, they help keep the metallic effect but add depth to it. Dont be afraid to add colour into your metals on the pallette also.

Your photos are fine, and do not worry much about scores, this site is better described as cool photo or not as minis can only be truly judged in real life.
If you ever want any advice just ask, there are a lot of great people about more than willing to offer advice.

Nigel

 

[Greg Ellis]

Wow! Thanks guys, really helpful feedback.

Mike, I\'ve already been through your entire website. Really helpful stuff there.

I\'ve done a bit of practise on faces, see my WIP Thread here if you\'re interested.

I\'m struggling a bit with the lousy basecoats and lumpy primer that\'s on some of these figs, so I\'m getting some new ones prepped. I\'d like to start clean and use well-thinned paints throughout.

Thanks very much. The bit about raising the dynamic range is very useful.

I\'m thinking I might try grabbing some photos of the new figs with a strong downlight before I start painting. Maybe that will help me to place the shadows and highlights more appropriately.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Greg Ellis
Wow! Thanks guys, really helpful feedback.

Mike, I\'ve already been through your entire website. Really helpful stuff there.
Wouldn\'t take you long

I\'m struggling a bit with the lousy basecoats and lumpy primer that\'s on some of these figs, so I\'m getting some new ones prepped. I\'d like to start clean and use well-thinned paints throughout.
Sounds like a bath of Pine -Sol to me .
I\'ve just primed a mini using Vallejo Foundation white mixed with Vallejo Black thinned with water and brushed on. Worked a treat. Nice smooth covering without being too dark.
Managed to paint about 60% of the figure in less than 2 hours which for me is Espresso Psycho Energiser Bunny speed.
I\'m trying to do it as an example of freehand ready for Salute as a \"Take & Show\"

Thanks very much. The bit about raising the dynamic range is very useful.
You\'re Welcome.

I\'m thinking I might try grabbing some photos of the new figs with a strong downlight before I start painting. Maybe that will help me to place the shadows and highlights more appropriately.
Can\'t hurt