Randall Devonshire WIP

[Mosch]

This is Randall.

Say Hello, Randall

As you can see, my painting sucks. I am glad that Randall looks better than my Eversor, but he still sucks. So, I guess what I am asking is: What would all you pros advise me to do? Could you help me to improve my painting somehow? I am going for a somewhat \"cartoony\" look on my minis....

 

[Fizl]

Mosch,

I\'m not a pro painter by any stretch of the imagination, but i can give you a few tips from what i can see here.

To start with. Thin your paints Someone was going to say it, so it may as well be me! It may take you two or more coats to get good coverage, but it is well worth it for the effect.

You seem to have some base colours down, but with this huge photo i\'m sure you can see where you have missed little bits and the metal / primier is showing through. The red of his trousers is a very nice even colour, but his flesh is a bit blotchy. Another thin coat of that colour may help that out. I\'m not sure what the flap things attached to his belt are, i would presume they are made of leather, or a laquered armour style like samurai. I would think about changing the colour so it wasn\'t the same as the belt. I haven\'t mentioned highlighting yet, but someone good at it will i\'m sure

Onto the metallics. Silver and gold look really plasticy if painted straight on. There are a number of ways you can change that. The easiest way is to base coat the silver areas black, and then drybrush silver over the top when it is dry. If you keep it light you can do it a few times until you are happy. The other way is to base coat it black, and then use very thin layers of silver. You may need several and it will look really grainy at first, but givews a nice effect. You can do the same with the browns and golds.

to achieve the cartoony effect, you could dd some darklining around all the edges with very thin paint or ink. This is difficult to do at first, but gets much easier with practice.

Second to finally, there are loads of brilliant articles on this site about painint techniques, have a browse.

Finally (at last i hear you shout!), practice, practice and maybe practice a bit more I\'m a naff painter, and a very clumsy one at that (I have a habit of gluing myself to things!), but you can only get better if you practice!

Show us Randall when you have finished him, and i hope this helps a little.

Shaz

 

[Dragonsreach]

Mosch: Fizl has made a great start in giving you some advice, I would like to add in a piece to help.
The sword blades are badly bent, Sometimes this cannot be helped due to how they are transported to the shop. (Rough postal routes I suspect) But, If you take the time to straighten them out it improves the look of the mini. You can use the edge of a flat blade or ruler to assist in getting the straightness, by lying it alongside while you apply pressure.

Also If you find something to mount the mini on to hold while painting this also helps to prevent errors made by catching it with your fingers. (Took me years to work that one out.) I now use a cork from a Demi-John, glued to the based and it works brilliantly for me.

If what I understand from you is that you want to achieve a strong separation on the colours than you may be better off with a Black primer coat, which will help to keep in the \'blacklining\' effect. I use this and find that it\'s a bit more forgiving than White primer, especially when it comes to tiny air bubbles in the paint.. (Why is it that air bubbles only ever show out in the most critial areas?)

Hope that this helps.

 

[Mosch]

Obviously I suck, and I\'m gonna tell you why

First of all, my paint is thinned, Fizl Must be something else I do wrong.... the flesh looks blotchy because... um... I hate to say that, but it does look blotchy because I tried to highlight it lol
So, I suppose I should start over on the skin Time to brush on some Nail Polish Remover, I think.

Dragonsreach, the blades are as straight as my mother`s lips who just came in and wanted me to help her sort the socks. That means REALLY REALLY straight I suppose the masking fluid created the \"bendy\" effect.

To all the other tips, I will try them all out. Expect another mini abomination soon

(Oh, and if I fuzz up the paintjob even worse, it\'s no big problem. This mini is supposed to represent a DSA-character called \"Count Porno\". I rest my case.)

 

[Fizl]

Mosch,

Out of curiosity, what colour did you use for the skin?

Shaz

 

[Mosch]

GW Dark Flesh (which seems, by the way, to have a bad coverage) \"highlighted\" with Dark Flesh/Vallejo Tanned Flesh and then nearly straight Tanned Flesh.

 

[klute_in_the_valute]

I need to know what colors your after before I can tell you straight.
So Ill do some guessing,,,
Dark skin,, give it a black ink wash
White skin,,,highlight up more to say elf flesh.
Pants,,,add some white and orange to your red for a highlight.
Silver,,,black ink wash
Gold,,,brown-chestnut wash

I think what Dragonsreach is seeing is the uneven blade edge on the highest sword,,,File or shave them neater.....MASKING FLUID.....Dont use it. I think at your level this will make things more complicated when you need to start off easy.The black undercoat will work better for a cartoony feel as you will be able to pick out your base colour areas better and easier.You may need to undercoat white over black though for some colours(red usually and yellow).

BTW resize your pics for the forums please.Most browsers will skip this when they see the pic loading.Make sure you post an update.
Also dont get upset with lots of critisism here were all here to help,,,,,,,well mostly all

 

[Mosch]

Diary of Randall Devonshire, Reaper Mini Number 2626

My owner painted me all day. My GOD this guy is awful. He touched me in places in dared not imagine when I was still in my blister. That untalented jerk even put me up on the internet because he could not paint me myself, no, he had to show off to a bunch of grown man who still play with toy soldiers.
Like me.
Dammit.
Mosch gave me a complete makeover today. He redid my skin, changed my vest colour slightly and inked several parts of me. I watched him mix up all those inks he tried to use. I have noted down some swearwords he uttered in the process and will look them up in the dictionary tomorrow. He seemed to get tired after a while and left me in peace, thank Mize. I was feeling sory for the Dark Eldar Warrior he did beside me, that guy looked worse than I do. He came back and fumbled around with my base, then did my boots. About bloody time too, I\'m freakin fed up with massaging my toes back into life after every cold night. I suspect him of changing my base to a greenish colour soon - but then, everything is possible with this idiot. God, I hate his breath. He ate five cans of tuna today.
Could not even sleep. My personal moron woke me up when he tried to take a picture of me. Probably gonna whore me out again.
Trying to get back to sleep now. Will write more tomorrow.


I think Randall said it all. I painted the whole day (well, not all the day, but just until now, 2 AM in the morning) and that is his current state. I like him a lot better then I did before, but he still needs a lot of work, especially on his trousers (did not do anything to them today). Unfortunately, I am giving the best I got, so I fear this will not come from me Dammit, we all know that in the end it will.
So... that\'s it. Any comments?

By the way, I wanted his skin to be bronzed, but not negro (is that word right?) - I imagine he has fought a lot under the burning sun. I think I captured that effect pretty well, but of course I value an input highly

PS: It seems I am not a good photographer. I am working on that too

 

[Nelson]

Whoa.....that has to be one of the best ideas for an article I\'ve heard in a while. How fun would it be to write an entire article on how to paint a mini from the mini\'s point of view? Especially a sarcastic, bitter one.

 

[schobbies]

Undercoat????

Hey Mosch, I think most of your problem was that you did not use any kind of undercoat/primer on the figure. If I am right, on the first photo the legs and shoes are still in the baremetal . This would explain why your skin tones on the first one are all blotchy. Typically either use a white or black primer and then paint on top of that.:innocent:

 

[Mosch]

schobbies: I did use primer, white primer to be exact. There are just some strong reflections because of some awkward positioning of light sources, or so I think. In the second picture for example there is a part on the right hand on the right shoulder guard that looks like bare metal eventhough that is just a really bright reflection.

And the skin tones on the first one: As I have already said, I had even coats until I tried to highlight them


Nelson: I have already done this kind of report several times in other communities (I have yet to find such a friendly one like this one, though ), I never though it was something really special....

 

[klute_in_the_valute]

The skin is smoother and the washes have added depth to the armour.A few selected highlights on the face are needed to make it pop.
Check out Jenova\'s site for some great skin recipes.
http://www.jenova.dk/tipsandtutorials.htm
You brought up a good topic
What is the correct term for dark skin as in African,Carribbian etc.Sure I dont know.

 

[Nelson]

Yeah, he\'s definitely been improved by the washes, especially on his chain mail shirt. I think you\'ve gotta tough it out though, and just keep on trying to add depth with more highlights, while keeping it smooth....and that just takes practice, practice, and more practice. When I first started, I would spend hours on a mini, and yet, now, I can spend the same amount of time on a mini, and it\'s way smoother. Looking back on the guys I painted, they suck sh*t, but I thought that they were great....It\'s almost like your eye for the paint job evolves with your painting skill.

Also, I think a better lighting arrangement would help, cause it\'s hard to see the detail now. If you have bendy lamps, try and position them so that one is slightly below or level with the mini. You could also try just turning up the exposure on your cam, if it\'s adjustable for you.

 

[Mosch]

Thanks again you two, but... may sound stupid, but: Chainmal shirt? I tried to make his shirt look like linnen...

 

[Nelson]

Originally posted by Mosch
Thanks again you two, but... may sound stupid, but: Chainmal shirt? I tried to make his shirt look like linnen...

lol:bouncy:
Whooops, it looked like chainmail to me. Yeah, looking at it now I realize my stupidity, I just thought that might have been a botched attempt at nmm or something.....which is quite stupid of me, cause you used mettalics everywhere else.

I am Moron, hear me roar!!

 

[finn17]

Errr...

Originally posted by klute_in_the_valuteYou brought up a good topic
What is the correct term for dark skin as in African,Carribbian etc.Sure I dont know.

I guess that would just be \'dark skin\' then? Didn\'t we just discuss this recently??? If not I just Dreamed it

 

[klute_in_the_valute]

Thats what I thought.
Cant remember discussing it but I could be dreaming this??

 

[Bendy]

Originally posted by Mosch
I suppose the masking fluid created the \"bendy\" effect.

so my lack of skill has a name now? :bouncy:

 

[Mosch]

Time to start again... Randall had fought a heroic battle when he helped to defend a castle under siege yesterday. Unfortunately, as it happens in such epic battles, his clothes and skin got torn and worn and now he awaits his stripping and repaint.

Note to self: Do not give unvarnished minis to clumsy friends.

As soon as I have refreshed my stock of nail polish remover, I will strip him and redo him using all your tipps from the start this time. But for now, Ulern, the Anti-Paladin, awaits his paintjob...