On what criteria do you vote?

[Lussuria]

I was just wondering, when you're looking through the CMON gallery, or viewing entries for competitions etc etc.
On what criteria are you evaluating the work? Do you look for anything specific? Or is it merely a gut feeling of 'Oh yes, I like that'?

I ask because being new to painting I seem to see painted miniatures a little differently, and I suppose I don't pick up on the technical flaws in a paint job that someone with more experience might.

 

[TrystanGST]

Good question.
If I'm cruising the CMON gallery, I don't spend a lot of time examining each entry, but there are a few things that will influence my vote:
Basing - What's the base like? Is there one?
Contrast - Is it overdone? Is it absent?
Neatness - Has the artist kept his colors in their respective areas? Is there bleed over?

Usually I just see a mini that jumps out, and then I take a closer look and vote.

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

Same sort of responses to Trystan.

1. Eye catching Yes/No?

2. Neat and tidy?

3. Technical skill?

4. Basing - Good bad?

5. Aim - i.e. tabletop, display, testing out etc.

I can be generous and anything that is neat and within the lines is a 5, then its into well based - 6, shading 7, NMM use 8, tying it all together high technical skill 9, all of the above and something extra 10.

That's kind of how I look at them.

 

[Bailey03]

First I look at neatness, as Trystan said. A sloppy paint job is going to get a low score.

From there I look at shading and highlighting. Did the painter use just a single color for a region or did they attempt to do some shadows and highlights too. It's also important that shadows and highlights are placed correctly. You'll see people who just do drybrushing of highlights so the raised portions are light and the recessed areas are dark. For correct highlights and shadows you should be painting as if there was an imaginary light directly above the figure. This is typically called zenithal lighting or by historical figure painters the stop sign rule (from Sheperd Paine's books). Another concern with shading/highlighting is how much contrast you're using. Some like a lot of contrast others don't. But, typically novice painters don't use enough. My rule of thumb is take whatever contrast looks right to you and then go one or two steps further. It might look good while I'm painting and it's right in front of my face. But put it down and step back, now it's not enough.

Once you're doing highlights and shadows you need to work on smooth transitions and blending. If you can do all that you'll probably get a score around 7 or 8.

Getting into the 8-10 range requires something extra. That can include:
Special techniques - NMM (non-metallic metal) using flat paints to mimic the look of metal, OSL (object source lighting) painting lighting effects, making something look like its glowing, etc.
Use of color - take skin for example, it's not just a single shade. You might have more red here or a little bit of blue there. Does it have those interesting color transitions? Using complimentary colors, effective use of warm and cool colors, etc.
Painting textures - does the leather actually look like worn leather or is it just shaded brown? Stuff like that. If you're painting TMM (true metallic metals) does it really look like metal?
Weathering - if appropriate does the model look dirty/dusty, is metal rusty, are there paint chips, etc (again only when appropriate)
Freehand work - painting designs on clothing, banners, shields, tattoos, etc.
Basing/Groundwork - Does the base help tell a story? Does it show you a glimpse into the characters world?
And is the figure/scene neat? Dioramas and duel scenes will probably get a better score than a single figure when painted to the same level. If it makes people go 'wow' its going to help the score

Is not about having all of those, but they will help your figure stand out and get those top scores. In the gallery look at the 'Top Last 7 Days' and you'll see examples of many of these techniques. And, even if you haven't mastered highlights, shadows, and blending, adding any of these extras is going to help boost the score. A neat diorama even with just so so painting is going to bump up the score. Maybe not to a 9, but certainly higher than it would have been if it were just a single figure with so so painting.

 

[Zab]

Pretty much what others have said. Are the basics there? Ie good brush control smooth paint, etc and then it starts to get influenced by the human side of experience. ie Where is that compared to what I can do? I have voted high on some things with really simple paint jobs because the overall piece is cool.

 

[sm51498]

A 10 is almost unattainable. It has to be noticeably perfect in all aspects with good composition, excellent basing that fits the figure, good presentation, use of light, shadow and color to enhance the drama of the piece. It needs to tell a story and make me feel something about it. Falling just short of that gets you a 9. Often the difference between a 9 or a 10 is something just slightly off, including if I just don't like the style it was painted in.

A nine will be almost perfect but lacking in one or two small ways from my above criteria.

An eight will be technically proficient but lacking in composition or have such a great composition or story telling element that it overcomes its technical deficiencies.

a 7 will be deficient in some small way technically and lacking the composition and focus of an 8.

a 6 has some serious technical gap

a 5 is seriously compromised but otherwise competant, pretty much table top.

I don't often rate anything below a 5. If something warrants less than a 5 I skip it. I'm not really that interested in looking at sub standard miniatures. Also, as I have stated before a 1-5 scale is so much more valid than a 1-10 scale.

 

[SkelettetS]

first impression mostly, i dont like to overanalyze things. probably to generous with the scoring, ha! so much minis i like here...

 

[Lussuria]

Thanks everyone! It's interesting to read what it is you're looking for in a 'good' paint job.
I find I tend to rank MOST of the minis on here quite highly because most are far more technical/clean than my own.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Lussuria

Thanks everyone! It's interesting to read what it is you're looking for in a 'good' paint job.
I find I tend to rank MOST of the minis on here quite highly because most are far more technical/clean than my own.
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View attachment 22997
Well I wouldn't knock yourself about too much, this is a decent mini with only a few steps needed to lift it up.
Smoother paint via thinner coats will make a major difference as will making a focus of the face. (After all in human terms whats what we look at the most, well for men almost the most.)
Getting the edges "chrisper" will make a difference but in this case white for the body suit needs very careful tonal touches to make the shadow areas look 'real' and not pastiche'd.
Over all slightly longer tonal graduation on the armour will make a dramatic change, ie instead of going 1,2,3,4,5 think 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.3, 2.6 etc... that way the tones change is longer and looks smoother.
Now if I could only get that right myself. :eyeroll!:

 

[Lussuria]

Oh thankyou very much dragonsreach! I really appreciate that! And very useful feedback thankee
Yes, I was wondering if people noticed the thickness/thinness of the layers was something other people see and this influences their vote.
I don't seem to be able to look at a mini and say anything critically useful other than the colours either either 'inside or outside of the lines' at the moment. How do people look at a photo and know the paint was too thick?

 

[Zab]

There's bit of texture to it and you can see the layers a bit near her, um crotch, where the layer of white is a bit opaque once it jumps from grey to white. Honestly, you clearly have the basics down and that is a strong tabletop job. It won't take much to refine your painting to be come great. Especially given how fine/petite those figures are. I particularly like her make up. It's a nice touch and great bit of blending. Try applying whatever you did there to the rest of the mini.

 

[shakes]

Hi lussuria! A bunch of people have already given great replies but I figured I may as well chip in my two cents!

There are many criteria on which I judge a model, a few of the big ones are unity, first impression, overall effect, etc. Really their all aspects of the same thing.

- do the colours work together.
- does the scene make sense (this is more in terms of dioramas.)
- has equal effort been spent on all aspects (if the model is perfect but the face was an obvious rush job it will tank the score.)
- is the model complete? The base has a huge impact for me, it doesn't have to be anything fancy but nothing screams incomplete more then a base that just has primer on it. Makes it look like its still in WIP stage.

A basic break down of what the scores equate to for me.

10. This is very rare for me, generally something extra will be needed on top of a perfect paint job (base, conversion, story, etc.) There are a lot of flawless paint jobs on cmon so this really needs to be unique. In my mind its something that would win the highest accolades. Picsters undead giant from the last crystal brush or jarheads recent slayer sword.

9. Flawless painting OR near flawless painting with something of the above mentioned uniqueness. This in my mind is the type of painting that is going to win golden demons etc.

8. Smooth panting, proper lighting, appropriate palate etc. Once again the above mention, base, story, etc. help a lot here.

7. Clean painting, appropriate highlights/lowlights, simple but well based, if in terms of multiple models their must be unity. No mold lines etc. Nothing exceptional is needed but it must be clean and tidy with nothing missed. I might expect to see this in really beautiful armies.

6. High quality table top. Clean and tidy, colours in there boundaries. Basic highlights/lowlights. Tidy base, etc.

5. Tabletop. I feel a lot of people undervalue this and see it as a poor quality paint job, I don't. A 5 should be tidy and based. It doesn't necessarily need to be highlighted etc. but for me the colours need to be tidy and within their boundaries. Often I see models that have a nice controlled base coat and then really sloppy highlights. Even though more has been done it will drop the rating for me. Basically a 5 to me has a basic base and shows good brush control.

I think I may rate things harsher then some but it's not because to me a 5 is a nicely painted mini.


In regards to your miniature from infinity? Currently I would give it a 5 or not vote. The painting is actually quite clean, on top of which it is an exceptionally delicate model to have worked on. The reason for the 5 is that it is unbased, it looks incomplete. Base the model and clean up the edge of the base and it would be a 6. Furthermore, with a small among of work it would be a 7. Your brush control already looks great.

- give her skin some extreme highlights to draw attention and make it pop (forehead, tip of nose, tops of cheeks)
- clean up the hand holding the gun (painting is a little sloppy, flesh tone in gun etc.)
- little more highlighting on the high parts of the gun and right wrist guard. Light isn't coming from underneath her but from above, this comes back to creating realistic lighting and drawing attention towards the face.
- thin your paints a tad more, over all it is quite good but there is a tiny bit of roughness in some areas. Part of this is that it's such a delicate model it stands out more.
- what's going on underneath her breasts? Is is shading or is that part of her uniform meant to be another color? If the latter cool! If the former the transition is a little harsh, a couple more tones between it and the white would soften it up.
- last suggestion, never go all the way to white, stay a few shades under. The eye will be tricked into thinking its white and you will be left with something to use for extreme highlights on the "white" areas. Specifically the tops of her knees, tops of her calfs, high points on the highs and left shoulder, tops of the breasts, and possibly the tops of her shoulder blades/butt unless they're in the shadow of her hair (can't tell with only a front view.)

Shakes