Not highlighting enough?

I

Indigo

New member
I\'ve received a comment or two on my work that I am not highlighting enough. The models in question are:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/57704
http://www.coolminiornot.com/57703

#57704 - Ogre
#57703 - Troll

While I agree the Skin on the troll needs work, I thought working up from Scorched brown to elf flesh (about 10 layers in all) would have been enough? Also, with the hat I\'m advised to shade & highlight it more, but how? If I highlight with white it\'ll turn pink and if I highlight with yellow/orange it\'ll look un-naturally bright and not like a Santa hat! How the hell can I possibly highlight that?

Finally, on the Ogre\'s skin I have again moved from dark flesh -> dwarf flesh -> elf flesh using about 2 shade and 4 or 5 highlight layers. What more can I do? Use white?!? If I highlight further will it not appear to be un-naturally luminous?

Advice is clearly needed :)
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
I like the christmas troll\'s dark skin. I might have brought it up to a medium gray instead of flesh. His cheeds are a bit broken, the transition is to rough. But the hat is very monochrome. Bring it up to a bright red and shade it with a dark red (gore?) The pink in the ears goes from a nice dark shadowed area to a bright lit area. This is done very smoothly and you have to look to notice it. This is the effect you want everywhere to break the 7 barrier.

The ogre looks like the highlights/blending was done everywhere. The only evident shadowing is right at the muscle cuts. The top of his pecs should be brighter than the bottom side, same with the abs and all of the arm muscles.

I have noticed that I have to \"overdo\" this to get it to show in a pic. Much like stage makeup is overdone to be noticable under the floodlights.
 
G

Gin1906

New member
I agree with the commentor especially on the santa hat, Reds are kinda tricky, here is what I do... using Vallejo paints start with black red, then start layering up 1:1 black red - red next layer red next layer 1:1 red - carmine red next layer carmine red, next layer 1:1 carmine red - vermilion last layer vermilion seems to work pretty well. At least I like it:D
The other thing to keep in mind, highlighting and shading are subjective, I have had comments that I have highlighted to much, and that I have not enough highlights! Paint to make your self happy. Btw, I really like your scoreboard fella, kind of funny idea, but again, you could highlight his pants just a bit more, the tops of his sandals and his vest. Hope this helps.
Gin
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
Well I\'m going to make a suggestion try looking at these two articles:

Faces & Expression Part1

Faces & Expressions Part 2

For your Ogre the skin tone stops at a nice level, but the level of highlight could go a touch higher, for example if you clench your knucles you\'ll see that the underlying bone/cartledge tissue shows through the skin as a \"Bleached Bone\".
Now Muscle mass (Biceps, Pectorals etc) don\'t normally drop skin colour, but when we are painting mini\'s we are exaggerating the highlights.
So I would suggest that you could take your highlights of skin tone up by adding \"Pallid Flesh\" to the \"Elf flesh\". This will help exaggerate the contours.

You mentioned that you took the Troll up through 10 layers. Excellent work. But the overall effect is still rather dark. If you look to some other painters galleries (JTY comes to mind) you might get an idea of how they have finished skintones.

As for the hat, to highlight without going Pink you could try adding a little \"Vomit Brown\" to the Red.

Hope this lot helps. :)
 
P

pitynoman

Member
Obiously you are confused about your scores on the Troll. What would you rate it as, according to your scale? I\'ve watched you give some 8 ot 9 level paint jobs 5 s and TRASH newbie painters.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/58425
(just an example)
Going by your scale, your Troll is well above what it deserves.
(end rant)
Back on topic, your pictures could be better, to show off the highlighting.
Easiest way is to drag a chair outside and put the mini on it, with a piece of white cloth on the back. Make sure the sun is right behind the mini, so it\'s shadow is at 12 o\'clock. Make sure your shadow doesn\'t fall on it.:flame:
 
I

Indigo

New member
Originally posted by pitynoman
Obiously you are confused about your scores on the Troll. What would you rate it as, according to your scale? I\'ve watched you give some 8 ot 9 level paint jobs 5 s and TRASH newbie painters.
Click to expand...

I resent that remark. I try hard to not trash ANY painters, newbie or not, but I know I vote harshly based on my own painting scale. I make no apologies for not liking some miniatures, despite a considerable number of angry messages and emails because I scored some minis low. The Nurgle Lord you have mentioned (and gotten so angry about) looks OK at first, but when I examined it further I liked it less and less. First of all, the paint/colour scheme is not at all to my liking. Ignoring the fact it\'s out of context for nurgle (it\'d look better on a Harlequin...), it\'s garish and clashes and is not easy on the eye. While parts of it may be well painted, others aren\'t - the banner skulls are an immediate example. Also, the base is pretty poor for a display piece and it looks like he is standing on lumps of badly painted green stuff, or perhaps rabbit droppings. For a gaming figure it\'s acceptable, but for a display piece it falls WAY short of an 8 in my book. Just because you disagree with my opinion does not give you the right to flame me. In my opinion, despite some examples of competent painting it\'s not a cool mini in my eyes.

When I posted my comment about my troll it was because I was getting a 3.5 or so for it, no doubt from another small-minded painter who was upset I had given a lower vote on a model they liked. I expected it to score 5 - 6 as it\'s a pure gaming piece. Anything more would be a pleasant surprise.
 
I

Indigo

New member
Originally posted by Gin1906
- carmine red next layer carmine red, next layer 1:1 carmine red - vermilion last layer vermilion seems to work pretty well. At least I like it:D
Click to expand...

Are carmine and vermillion in the Vallejo range? My UK supplier of Vallejo paints (www.nugaming.com) does not stock these shades...

Does anyone know of a UK stockist that does?
 
G

Gin1906

New member
Originally posted by Indigo

Are carmine and vermillion in the Vallejo range? My UK supplier of Vallejo paints (www.nugaming.com) does not stock these shades...

Does anyone know of a UK stockist that does?
Click to expand...

Taken Straight from bottle....Rojo Carmin #908 Carmine Red. R.C. Bermellon #909 Vermillion. both are from the Moded Color line.

was reading some of this thread again, I wish I knew where to find this \"rant\" about scoring, I would love to read it. I can say that in all fairness I was not thrilled with the score you gave my Lysette. But I agree with the fact that this is \"Cool Mini or Not\" you have the right to vote how ever you want. you know the old saying....
opinions are like a**holes, we all have one and they all stink lollollol.
I do think that if you rate others harshly, then you have to expect for them to rate your minis to the same standard, and should not complain about it. Btw, I rated your Troll a 7, why because it was a clean paint, with a neat idea, just needed a little work, above table top, yet not outstanding, much like my own work.
your other guy (santa had dude) I rated a 5, why, the picture needed work, the hightlights needed a lot of work, and in general I just plain did not like that figure.
Good luck on the reds, they really are pretty easy when you get them down. (btw I use the reds recipe on Lysette)
Have a great day,
Gin
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
Originally posted by Indigo
Originally posted by Gin1906
- carmine red next layer carmine red, next layer 1:1 carmine red - vermilion last layer vermilion seems to work pretty well. At least I like it:D
Click to expand...

Are carmine and vermillion in the Vallejo range? My UK supplier of Vallejo paints (www.nugaming.com) does not stock these shades...

Does anyone know of a UK stockist that does?
Click to expand...

Try Prince August in Ireland (Eire) they stock the complete Model Colour range as opposed to the Game Colour substitues (you can\'t call them copies) for GW\'s colours. It\'s the only online store I know A.T.M.

Here\'s the link: Prince August
You\'ll have to navigate to the Paints & Brushes page.
 
P

pitynoman

Member
Originally posted by Indigo

First of all, the paint/colour scheme is not at all to my liking. Ignoring the fact it\'s out of context for nurgle (it\'d look better on a Harlequin...), it\'s garish and clashes and is not easy on the eye. While parts of it may be well painted, others aren\'t - the banner skulls are an immediate example. Also, the base is pretty poor for a display piece and it looks like he is standing on lumps of badly painted green stuff, or perhaps rabbit droppings. pleasant surprise.
Click to expand...

You are right. Comparing the base to rabbit droppings is in no way insulting.
I saw the piece at LA GD and met it\'s owner. It\'s as nice a piece as they come.
It doesn\'t matter that you don\'t like the colors. The blending is flawless. I judge the execution, even if I hate the colors...because it\'s ART. Taking someone elses word for what Nurgle is supposed to look like?....Cough!!! There IS NO Nurgle.
But hey it\'s my opinion so you can resent it or contemplate that just maybe you come off a bit rough to people who are just trying to show off art.
 
F

finn17

New member
Heh..

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
Try Prince August in Ireland (Eire) they stock the complete Model Colour range as opposed to the Game Colour substitues (you can\'t call them copies) for GW\'s colours.
Click to expand...
As a layperson with no affiliation to either Vallejo or GW. I reckon I can call them what I damn well like...

Anyway, you can\'t copyright a particular wavelength of light and \'bogey green\' is sufficiently diferent from \'snot green\' to make legal action a waste of time as far as GW are concerned.

It\'s not much different however, from launching a band called \'Fred Zeppelin\' and releasing a single, \'Stairlift to Heaven\'. It\'s not a copy, but as near as makes no difference:bouncy:

No offense Mike, it\'s just that I have this condition that reacts violently to words like \'no\' \'can\'t\' \'shouldn\'t\' and the like:D

Besides, in this case, I think they have improved on the original:flip:
 
S

supervike

Super Moderator
we come from the land of rice and toe...

Fred Zeppelin Rocks,

James Paper
Robert Tree
John Paul Smith
and that guy that died....;):D
 
F

finn17

New member
Where the boys wear frocks and the girls say no...

Hey Soop!

We could be onto something here...

I play (and I use that word loosely) bass...you don\'t by any chance happen to be an, as yet, undiscovered virtuoso guitarist????
:idea:
 
S

supervike

Super Moderator
ahhah ahhhhh aahhh

Yes, I do play (and I use that looser than you do) guitar a little.....Not exactly a virtuoso, or even good.

I can play \"stairlift to heaven\" though...

and have mastered all needed power chords.....

I sold my electric guitar and amp ages ago, but still have a relatively decent Fender Acoustic....

Could Fred Zeppelin be mounting a comeback tour?lollol;):cool:
 
H

hivemind

Guest
I\'ve taken the liberty of linking to those two excellent articles on our club\'s site (www.mvgc.net). Hope you don\'t mind.

They\'re great.
 
H

Hawks58

New member
Ogre: The body looks fine, the wood needs more highlight though. And shouldn\'t the screw/nail be a metal color?

Ogre= 5.5, body is good, sign needs work. But he is a gameing mini, so I should give him a 5 flat.

Troll: Doesn\'t look bad, a better picture might help it some. As I truely don\'t like to vote on stuff that I can\'t see the whole thing, or I\'m unsure of what to give it I didn\'t vote on it. It looks around 6ish though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back To Top
Top