oistene's WIP - a mostly dead space

[oistene]

Using a wash to pick out detail is a great idea, Stew, thanks. Should I do it before or after priming? I considered priming it black with white on top to pick out the highlights, though going straight to white in order to add light colors as you suggest might also be a plan. I got James Wappel's shaded basecoat video, and am considering trying to copy what he does, but I worry that it is beyond my skills.

I'm also a bit stumped on how to handle the big thing while I paint it...

 

[Stewsayer]

Hi,

After the prime for the wash. The black/grey then white from above is a great way to get some visualisation of light placement going (suggest grey instead of black to help with lighter colours later, as coverage over black can be an issue). Combining both will also work well.

For holding it while painting. He looks similar in size to the Demon I'm working on at the moment (though mine is a little more compact, with no big trailing bits). I have a block of timber thats about 2x1x1.5 inches in size. I put pins in his feet that I will use to eventually secure him to the display base. I made sure they were quite long (1.5 inches or so). Then I drilled some nice deep holes in my timber block and slotted him in. He's mostly easy to handle just a few spots that are hard to reach without removing him from the block. Just make sure when you drill out the holes for the pins in your figure that you angle them so you can get enough pin inside his leg for the glue to hold well. You might have to dry fit them and put a bend in where they exit the figure (his feet don't leave much space for a pin).

 

[oistene]

I think I have to be clever about the mounting - the problem with the morgraur's dynamic pose is that it doesn't rest its full weight on its legs, some of it rests on the pole it is knocking over. But I'll figure it out, worst case I have to paint it in zones.

I got a question about lighting - in a article on the manifactorers site (http://vesper-on.com/index.php?opti...&id=108:pintandomorgraur&catid=1:post&lang=en) the artist states that he couldn't use zentennial lighting, because of the pose. This makes sense, but he doesn't really describe what he did instead. I am thinking that an about 45 degree angle downwards from the direction the beast is moving away from (That would be from the left on my lower picture). Does that make sense? Light direction is really not something I'm good at.

 

[Stewsayer]

I see what you mean. You nearly need to fully assemble it on the base and mount the base on something. It also makes sense about the lighting. A lot of the piece is screened by its own body and that pole so it makes sense to light it coming from the direction it is moving away from. Your 45 degrees down from that side sounds like a good plan.

 

[oistene]

And now for something completely different . . .

I haven't seen much like this here at CMoN, but I thought it would be cool to share anyhow. After all, it is a WIP - a gaming board. Now, if this looks familiar to anyone, it is because I've stolen the idea. The most sincere form of flattery and so on.'

This will be a general board that can be used for many different games - current plans are Carnevale, Dark Age and Malifaux.

I took the trip out to my friend Mr. T's house - T is a fellow gamer who lives in the boondocks, and has a large workshop with a lot of tools. I have little tools, no good work space for larger projects and a fiance that will kill me if I make a mess, so T's place was the obvious place to work on this. During the first session, we made the frame. It simply consists of two IKEA tables, with the legs removed and used as braces on the insides, like this:

(ignore the noose, it has nothing to do with the project. No, really)

It got hinges, so that it can close up for easy transportation:

Finally, we glued a non-slip mat to one of the sides, to keep it from slipping while gaming. The other side will also get the same treatment, once we get to it.

(That's T in the back there, checking his collection of glue)

During the next session, we made some serious progress. We laid down sheets of cheap styrofoam, to make the bulk of the board. WARNING: If you plan to copy this or even do anything remotely similar, do yourself a favor and plan the height of the styrofoam carefully. We did not, andended up having to cut, move and redo several pieces because we didn't think up front. This is what it looked before we realized that it wouldn't work out:

The tables are are about 45 mm deep, so I had estimated that two sheets of 20 mm styrofoam would be good. It was NOT. The top came dangerously close to the top, so close that we could easily get into trouble once we started to put streets and scenery on top of the styrofoam. So, we decided to add a 10 mm sheet to the first 20 mm sheet. 30 mm will be deep enough for 28 mm miniatures, and still good for 32 mm, and it will leave us a good centimeter to work with.

We also discovered that the humidity in T's garage seemed to have warped one of the tables. We hope this won't cause any trouble down the line, as it is too late to do anything about it at this point.

After another hour of work, we moved inside to dry up, hopefully getting rid of some of the warping in the process. It now looks like this:

As you can see, we have left several sections open - this is intentional. We'll fill them with cellars, ruins - over at the right top, there's something that can be a canal, trench or sewer. The two completely open areas will be ruined cellars, we'll add higher quality styrofoam to those, so they'll be easier to shape.

Now you might be thinking, 'but Ole, what if you don't want an open space there for a certain scenario?' Don't worry. We have a plan for that.

Mrs T inspected the table after we brought it inside, approving of our work, but expressing her concern over the size. It is 150 cm long and 146 cm wide, more than big enough even for space-demanding games like Warhammer.

 

[oistene]

Got the base for the Morgraur more or less ready... I tried to use different colors to make the rock seem more random realistic, yet the same kind of stone. I think it turned out okay, but if anyone has suggestions for improvements, I'll take 'em. Also tried to get the directional light right, and I am more or less pleased with how that went (less pleased with the time I spent on it, but I guess this is a matter of practice). I tried to keep in mind where the beast will cast shadow, but I think I have to darken this part after I've placed the model on the base, if I am to get it 100% correct.

There are a few details for the base (posts and buckets), they are yet to come.

 

[ten ball]

im concerned about the noose!?

 

[SkelettetS]

im concerned about the noose!?

lol my first though exactly

 

[oistene]

T reports that the noose is from a 'previous project'.

After a little hiatus, we've managed another session. Not much visible progress, since a lot of time was spent watching glue dry. The whole surface got a coat of watered down PVA to strengthen it, we added a drop of washing-up liquid to it to make it flow better and poured some into the cracks as well.
Finally, we cut a placed the last pieces. These are blue styrofoam, the reason we used these in these places is simply that we want to sculpt these parts later on, and the blue stuff is a lot easier to form.

And a close-up:

While watching glue dry, we tried out a few pieces we'll add later on. Here's a small sneak peak:

Another close-up:

Hopefully, T will have the time to put on another layer of glue this weekend, and then the next step will be to cover the surface with texture.

 

[oistene]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]My fiance decided impulsively to go to a girly-xmas-party tonight... so I decided to impulsively work a little on ugly! I got most of the face/mouth done, a round on the belly and 3/4th of a coat on the back. Here's some pics:[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Personally, I'm pretty pleased with the mouth. Think the tongue needs a bit more highlight, but otherwise, it works. Belly didn't nearly work out as well, I'm having some trouble with the light colors, guess I have to read some theory before I try to improve it. It gets spotty and doesn't blend as well as it should. Back is all right so far, though I didn't do enough work to really say - other than that painting those tails is real tricky. [/FONT]

 

[oistene]

While I am at it, some older updates on my gaming board:

This is the collapsed sewer, hollowed out and shaped. The next step is to add some rubble and broken pipes.

While T has been doing some heavy lifting (gluing protective non-slip on the other side and so on), I've been doing some detail work at home. Remember that I mentioned a plan for the open cellars? The plan is to cover them with baffles, so I've started making a test baffle.

This is the first step. 2mm plasticard, covered with Wills sheets and a fabric with 'basketball'-texture I got of eBay. It might look strange now, but once painted up, it should look like cobblestones.

Sidewalk edges are sculpted from green stuff. Rather tedious work, helps to have proper tools (i.e. an exacto knife, a small screwdriver and a plastic card...)

Then, some rubble - plastic card cut into small pieces and glued to the board, and a bit of soil mixed with PVA-glue makes the dirt. Once dry, I gave the PVA a soak with watered PVA to seal it.

A couple of coats of grey primer...

A couple of coats of black wash...

And finally a drybrush of grey, plus some sepia ink to add a little detail. After this, I'll give it a blast of matte coat, and glue a layer of neoprene underneath, to keep it from slipping and to protect the table under it. The result is a bit dark - makes it look grimy and war-torn. Not sure if that is what I want, so I think I'll do another test.

 

[oistene]

A snap of the skin. As you can see, the beige isn't very good - I think I got the colors right, but I need to place them better. Maybe add a wash to pick out the details.
The green is better, I need to smoothen out the shadows a bit, and clean up the lighting. Also need some highlights.
Advice is appreciated. Be harsh with me, I strive to improve!

I think I'll give the skin another session, and then I'll brave stippling the skin to make it a bit more interesting. Finally, the plan is to do the barnacles and other details, before I give it a green glaze to make the details pop. I might have to smoothen out the blend some before I do the final glaze, we'll see.

 

[Teronus]

I don't know what to say to you, keep doing what your doing I like it!

 

[Dragonsreach]

A snap of the skin. As you can see, the beige isn't very good - I think I got the colors right, but I need to place them better. Maybe add a wash to pick out the details.
The green is better, I need to smoothen out the shadows a bit, and clean up the lighting. Also need some highlights.
Advice is appreciated. Be harsh with me, I strive to improve!

I think I'll give the skin another session, and then I'll brave stippling the skin to make it a bit more interesting. Finally, the plan is to do the barnacles and other details, before I give it a green glaze to make the details pop. I might have to smoothen out the blend some before I do the final glaze, we'll see.

If this was mine I'd be bringing the beige up a bit more along the groin on the rear leg.
Also I'd be tempted to use Water soluble Oils to get the textural depth in the washes.
When I comes to the face can I suggest adding complementary colour like a tiny amount of purple to give the eye sockets and shaping a more "realistic " vibe.

I was trying to comment earlier on your base but my iPad wouldn't cooperate, I'd suggest adding touches of green to the lower parts of the upright and raised bits as well as on the Cobbles random stones picked out for glazes of Brown's and blue grey. The green will look like damp algae growth and help break up the 'sameness' of the base.

 

[oistene]

Thanks, Tero.

Dragonsreach - Not sure if I want to buy oil paint just too use here, I don't feel ready to progress there yet but I think I understand what effect you are after, I was thinking the same thing and I will try to work out something along those lines. When you say bringing up the beige up along the groin, do you mean that I should make a larger area beige? Or lighten it? Not sure if I catch what you mean there. Really like your suggestion about the face, I was looking for ways to bring more life to it.

As for the base, I have actually done a couple of the things you mentioned, but the fact that you suggest it show that I should make it less subtle. I didn't use as much green as you suggest though, but trying for that algae look is a great idea, so I might give that a shot.

Also, I know exactly what you talk about when it comes to iPads and this forum. They just aren't friends.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Oistene-1st, apologies for just now finding your WIP. I generally try to take the time to comment on people nice enough to comment on my own work. However, this list is just growing out of control and I've has trouble keeping up of late. Anyway...

Nice work here. Especially like some of your earlier pieces. Some of your more recent work has been very challenging sculpts, yet you've stuck around and persevered. A couple observations:
-you have benefitted by attracting the attention of some great teachers. Namely, Stew helped me out a lot as a virgin painter. He talked me through some difficult techniques that were way over my head. DR speaks the Gospel when he talks painting, so listen up, even when you find yourself disagreeing.
-Shade that green with red.
-there is always a place for gaming boards on CMoN. Personally, I love these type of WIPs. There isn't a bigger base than a gaming table.
-the sculpt that DR was talking to you about light placement...I agree with him, and can only add that you needed to thin your paint more. Now, as a gamer first and painter second, you may be unwilling to do this because of the time it takes to paint with super thin paint. But if you can learn to paint fast with thin layers, either through experience or technique (wet blending) then you will see the quality improve tenfold in your painting. Thin paint is most important on skin. If it's not thin, it loses its smoothness. You yourself mentioned how you thought it was splotchy in places. This is because of your thickness. Also, whether your lights or shadows are correctly placed or not, your transitions were too rapid. In places you went from dark brown to khaki with nothing in between. This only serves to add to the splotchy appearance.

God Blessyou though, some inspiring work here and it's great to see you challenge yourself. Keep it up and can't wait to see this table unfold!!!

 

[oistene]

Thank you, BF, for the feedback on, well, ALL of my work. I must note though, all of it is still WIP (except for the zombies - I actually finished those!) I intend to return to the survivors with all of your great advice once I have a little more time to paint.

About the thinning of the paints - I had an eureka experience earlier, when painting a mini for a contest (it went so fast, I didn't even get around to posting it here!). I really feel that I cracked the thinning/smoothness code there, I've been trying to stick to that since then, and I truly see the difference. It doesn't actually cost me that much more time, the extra time spent coating is saved later when I don't have to fix errors or get in trouble doing the shading. I'm pretty happy to have figured it out, since I would probably have ruined the Morgaur now had I not. I still need to work on the transitions, I guess it is a matter of practice and getting the color theory in.

I've also learned to consider what minis I should take my time with, and which I should just throw paint at and dip in quickshade. A smooth coat or two, a couple of simple highlights and a dip in quickshade, and most minis will be good enough for the gaming table. Add a few details, and most people will call them amazing. But I like to stretch a bit further than that once in a while, into the realms of the true artists of you guys. I relate a bit to Stew in that way, only that he is much, much better than me.

There's a little reddish brown in the shade, more of it might not be a bad thing. I assume that when you say shade with red, you don't mean pure red.

Thank you for the kind words, I'll keep at it. I'm happy to have returned to painting, nothing makes me more zen, and I need that in my busy days. I worried that it would take me long to return to the level I was at, but it turned out that my brush control returned to two nights of painting, and with all the help I have been getting here I am now far, far beyond what I've done in the past, and I intend to keep progressing.

 

[oistene]

Finally managed to get some painting time in. I've tried to improve the underbelly, but had a hard time with it - I couldn't get it to look right, didn't get the look I wanted, nor did I feel the shadows right. After a lot of trial and error, I got a look that looked more or less realistic, but it failed to excite me. I brought out some yellow GW glaze, and this is the result:

I'm more or less happy with this 'random' look - I just want to pick some tiny highlights with ivory or white on top of it. As you can see, I've also started on basecoating the barnacles. It goes slowly, but I think I'll get there.

 

[Teronus]

It's hard to tell, I wish we could see a picture of it standing and in total. Something that I find exiting is nice shadings.

Look at your mini from above and look at it, you will see that there is is not so much surface that will have to be highlighted, the rest don't be shy to shade, shade, shade, use thin layers and shade more, you will see your mini start to make sense. Anyway that is how the best i can explain my own way of looking at things. I would shade the yellow with a purple-ish wash and the green with maybe a red-ish wash maybe throw in some blue as well i don't know have fun looking forward to see your developments.

 

[Zab]

I need to visit here more. That table is just fabulous and ugly there is frankly anything but in terms of how well you are painting it/her/him