Shaedra the Paladin

[fieldarchy]

I was hoping to get some feedback on this mini but it seems that not many people on the other forums I\'ve posted on want to comment for some reason. I\'m trying to really bump up my painting so I that I have a decent shot at some competitions coming up in the next year. Please let me know what you think

Shaedra

 

[jahminis]

i checked out your website, and this latest lady is your best work yet...i\'m not a big fan of nmm, so i can\'t really comment on it, except to say that the gold looks good, but could use some spots of pure white to bring a few bright spots out...think little sparkles...
the two tones of blue turned out nice, and i really dig her hair...
it looks like you have been influenced by marike, which is good...if ya wanna win comps, tryin\' to match her standard is a good way to do it...what contest are ya lookin\' to enter???

cheers
jah

 

[fieldarchy]

A couple people have made mention of the fact that it looks like marike\'s style. I really wasn\'t even going for that, just working on contrast and better blends. Guess it works though.

Ahh what competitions I plan to enter I should keep hush hush as a ways to keep my enemies unawares <insert ninja smiley here> I\'m planning on entering the big \'uns . . . probably not a whole lot online but actual comps at conventions. We\'ll see what I can get to.

The gold is highlighted up to pure white actually so there are little sparkles

 

[jahminis]

meg...maybe it is just the female sensibility that shines through in the paintin\' of ali, marike, jen, amy, and now you...there is a different tone to the way that the ladies paint skin, and hair, and a few other little subtle things...
your contrast and blends are definitely gettin\' better...one thing that i can say on your highlights, is that on things like the cloak and the leathers, it is not so important to go almost pure white on the last highlights...it is better in my opinion to have deeper shadows, and more subtle highlights...could just be the pics thouh...one can only really appreciate a mini in real life...
as for comps and cons, i have been makin\' the rounds here in the states for 4 years, and i\'ve been fully booked since gencon l.a. \'03...online comps are something i haven\'t tried, \'cause my fotos suck...i have pimped my pics around tryin\' to get work, and never succeeded, but everytime i\'ve brought my minis in person i\'ve gotten work...
gencon is the best comp to shoot for, since there are no restrictions on manufacturers, and they have cash prizes...obviously you\'ve been to reapercon...kublacon is good...i\'ll be there next year...games day is good, mostly cause winnin\' a demon is like winnin\' an oscar for pushin\' up your prices...a lot of it is just about the advantages of networkin\' at a con with many manufacturers...
what are your goals right now???

cheers
jah

 

[fieldarchy]

Dunno if it\'s something that us fems see differently than guys. Maybe . . . I\'m just glad that I\'m starting to be elevated more towards the \"greats\" after only three years of painting! woot woot. I still have a ways to go though and I am trying many different things to see what my results look like and so far I\'m liking it.

I\'ve done GenCon SoCal, worked at the minis section for the past two years. Sad to see it go but tis ok. Never placed or won anything though. I did a last minute entry for RCon this past year but didn\'t get anything (the mini sucked!) but this year I\'m in the category with The Schubert, Jen, Amy, etc so I need to buckle down and try to kick their butts . . . or at least get close?

I am planning on Baltimore Games Day as Bal\'more is close to home (VA is my home). So I can visit fam, show my dad more of the hobby (he\'s a Civ War mini enthusiast) and maybe start getting my lil bro interested in the hobby of painting. He\'s a creative little bugger. Dunno if I\'ll make it to Genghis Con since my house will be finished around the same time. We\'ll see though. So I do have plenty coming up. And it\'s nice that I am getting more involved in teaching too. Did my first class last year at SoCal.

My goals include juts beating myself every time I paint. I want to get better with each mini I do. It\'s all personal. Making some extra cash and just winning awards for personal satisfaction would be good. But I\'m pretty content. I do work for Reaper (as Shaedra was one of my projects) I do work for Crunch Waffle when I can. I\'m also going to start painting some stuff for Ebay too. Need extra money now that I\'m trying to build a house.

 

[supervike]

Hi there!

Yes, your style is very reminescant of marike\'s. High contrast and almost invisible color transitions, yet still bright and crisp. I really like it quite a bit.

There is a \'graphic art\' look to it that works.

Now, on the other hand, the base is severly lacking. I\'ve no experience in such things, but i would assume a contest judge may not \'put you over the top\' because of that.

 

[airhead]

Meg, welcome to the dark side (cmon).

Very nicely done. Your blends are great as is your pallet for this mini. I can maybe offer a few nitpics to help, but not much.

Her grey belt buckle thing is lost on the blues. Maybe brass?

The shoulder pads are not quite up to the same shiney as the sword cross guard. That would also help separate the hair from the shoulderpads.

The skull feels a bit heavy handed compaired to the lighter style of the rest of the piece. Too much darklining.

Hope this helps?

 

[foosgoalie1]

[No message]

 

[foosgoalie1]

Overall a very well done mini. A few minor critisms. There is dark lining on the top of her breasts which probably should be blended in more. The silver nmm could use a high point of white highlighting i.e. sword. The base appears to be a muddy field? (dark brown color) so either her cloak needs some mud or the ground needs to be highlighted. Please take these points as constructive crits.

 

[fieldarchy]

does anyone else have any comments? please?

 

[Torn blue sky]

I\'m really diging this, the NMM on the sword is top notch! You know its awesome when it shows well as metal from all angles! Loving the blends and colour choice too! This is a smooooth piece of work indeed. I\'m not sure if you were going for the NMM gold thing there, it does look kinda \"boney\" in places , if you know what I mean. People say gold is harder than steel...I find it the other way round lol .
I\'m sure you\'re not far off nailing it though, good job that lass!

 

[fieldarchy]

Thanks TBS. I find gold way easier than Steel because you are using multiple colors to get the right gold look. Whereas steel well there are only so many variations with black, grey and white you can do.

I think the NMM looks pretty good too. Most of the comments I\'ve gotten about been about the sword being flat, I can understand that to a certain degree but it seemed more like people on Reaper were citing preference in styles rather than execution. We\'ll see though. I\'m taking her in for the Master Anne at Reaper to pick apart. Hopefully I\'ll survive that.

The gold was a bit tough to pull of just cuz there\'s so much crud all over her and little bits on the armor. Still pretty happy with it overall though. Just needs some more practice me thinks.

 

[supervike]

Try mixing a light blue together with a black color for your base color of steel. Then you can add white to that as needed.

Maybe that will give you a bit more control over the hues as you work up reflections.

 

[fieldarchy]

The NMM is actually a grey blue triad.