Third ever painted miniature
- Thread starter vdaiev
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Josh The Stampede
New member
For a third mini ever that's pretty damn good.
Thanks guys!
Actually the funniest part is that I spent a looot of time trying to do the highlights and shadows. tried to use the layering technique and wet blending. The result is not visible at all.
When I tried to wet blend dark and light colors on legs I got an uneven surface which you can observe. and the effect after that is as if there are tons of paint there (which is more or less true)
Actually the funniest part is that I spent a looot of time trying to do the highlights and shadows. tried to use the layering technique and wet blending. The result is not visible at all.
When I tried to wet blend dark and light colors on legs I got an uneven surface which you can observe. and the effect after that is as if there are tons of paint there (which is more or less true)
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Heldiar
New member
Third mini?!?! Great begining. Don't worry about problems with layers and blending if thats your third one, on fifth you will probably now how to do it. Like ten ball wrote thin your paints thats real secret and no one knows answer how much to thin, but you will find it. For highlights and shadows try to make more contrast. Any way good luck. Keep painting.
Josh The Stampede
New member
I'll elaborate a bit more.
The good: It looks like you know how to thin paint, apply pretty even coats, have the brush control to "paint within the lines", and can edge highlight and darkline. The basing is really nice as well, well above the glue and sand that most people start with. These are all skills that usually take new painters way more than three models to get, so you're way ahead of the game already.
The next step in my opinion is to take a look at the mini and understand WHY you are edge highlighting where you are. Try to only highlight places where light would hit, rather than just any hard edge. The "any edge gets a highlight" is sort of a GW style, it's a bit old school and is fine if that is what you are going for, but try only doing the upper-facing edges and not, for instance, the bottom of the leg plates.
Wet blending is not for everyone - I can't really get the hang of it after hundreds of minis. You can try glazing - thinning paint down to where it's very translucent, like colored water, and applying it thinly to gradually shift the color. You can try that with black or a darker blue on the lower legs, undersides of the arms, etc. You can do the same with lighter colors on upward-facing surfaces, but it can be harder, as lighter colors sometimes go chalky. You can use glazes to blend, too - just put in your shadows and highlights without worrying about blends, and then go over the "borders" with a thin glaze of a color halfway between each, until the line blurs and it looks blended.
The good: It looks like you know how to thin paint, apply pretty even coats, have the brush control to "paint within the lines", and can edge highlight and darkline. The basing is really nice as well, well above the glue and sand that most people start with. These are all skills that usually take new painters way more than three models to get, so you're way ahead of the game already.
The next step in my opinion is to take a look at the mini and understand WHY you are edge highlighting where you are. Try to only highlight places where light would hit, rather than just any hard edge. The "any edge gets a highlight" is sort of a GW style, it's a bit old school and is fine if that is what you are going for, but try only doing the upper-facing edges and not, for instance, the bottom of the leg plates.
Wet blending is not for everyone - I can't really get the hang of it after hundreds of minis. You can try glazing - thinning paint down to where it's very translucent, like colored water, and applying it thinly to gradually shift the color. You can try that with black or a darker blue on the lower legs, undersides of the arms, etc. You can do the same with lighter colors on upward-facing surfaces, but it can be harder, as lighter colors sometimes go chalky. You can use glazes to blend, too - just put in your shadows and highlights without worrying about blends, and then go over the "borders" with a thin glaze of a color halfway between each, until the line blurs and it looks blended.
Wow that's really good. I came across my first space marine I painted when having a clear out and it's no where near as good as yours here.
The edge highlighting is great and I think you can take your model a step further by adding another highlight with a lighter shade just on the corners of the armour. This will make it shine a little and pop more.
If you wanted to go the other way you could look into battle damage and weathering.
I really like the base!
My other advice is with your photo. The overhead photo looks clearer than the rest. Is that because the light is shining from above? Perhaps another light shining on the front of the mini when taking a photo will improve your pictures.
So where did you learn to paint so fast?
Keep it up and enjoy =]
The edge highlighting is great and I think you can take your model a step further by adding another highlight with a lighter shade just on the corners of the armour. This will make it shine a little and pop more.
If you wanted to go the other way you could look into battle damage and weathering.
I really like the base!
My other advice is with your photo. The overhead photo looks clearer than the rest. Is that because the light is shining from above? Perhaps another light shining on the front of the mini when taking a photo will improve your pictures.
So where did you learn to paint so fast?
Keep it up and enjoy =]
Guys, thank you very much for critics. I really appreciate this!
Anyway, Josh, thank you for advises. This is really what I need!
You know, currently I'm painting the fourth miniature and I did the same edge highlights everywhere (added more highlights in some area, though) and came up to the same idea that it looks, kinda, unnatural. So when I finish my current one and start the new one I'll think a bit more about light source and lights/shadows in general.
Yeah, this part is really time consuming. I have 2 little kids and reeeeally limited amount of time, so when I start doing some layers I can spent several day trying to paint one shoulder pad. So I decided to chit a little bit and save the time. I bought an air brush. Currently I'm playing with it. The process goes much much faster. So I think I'll be able to produce painted miniature faster then a month
Anyway, Josh, thank you for advises. This is really what I need!
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Josh The Stampede
New member
An airbrush definitely makes it faster, and you can do some neat stuff with it. Check this method out - it's the same one used to paint the box art for Infinity models, and its pretty expandable - you can leave it just where this tutorial does, or can enhance with glazes as your time and effort allows.
http://tomschadleminiatures.blogspot.com/2014/08/panoceania-blue-step-by-step.html
http://tomschadleminiatures.blogspot.com/2014/08/panoceania-blue-step-by-step.html
That's actually the thing I'm trying to do with my current space marine. I faced some issues, though, which I described in my other thread here: http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?62112-Thin-lines-or-edge-highlights-issues but I hope I'll manage this.
That is so true. I used two lamps, one of it at the top and one at the left side. But photos, unfortunately, became dark. I'll definitely try and place the main lamp somewhere on the front (and change the background
)Youtube, my friend
Basically it's not fast at all. I spent for this miniature around 4 weeks. I can't paint everyday and even when I paint I do this when my kids are sleeping. so it's several ours per session only. But anyway, it's a lot of fan.Thank you for your comments, Quantra!
Thanks a lot! Will definitely check this out.
