What do I need to fix?

[stokerd]

OK, was hoping to get some comments on my WIP thread, but I guess I will go here. Can someone please help me understand why this model is a 4.4 and this model is a 5.7? Both were painted by me and personally, I believe the first is far superior. Also, both have been painted in the last three weeks, so it's not a time discrepency either.

I'm not upset (please don't take it that way), I just really want to know what I need to do to up my painting skills. I thought I had done a much better job on the terminator, and paid a lot more attention to the little things, and yet scores do not reflect that.

Please, any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to get better at this, not worse!

 

[Zab]

The blue Is really washing out the yellow. Also space marines have a hard time here. Nice freehand on the shoulder though!

 

[stokerd]

Ok, retake the picture using a different background. I have white, black and red - any suggestions? And thanks!

 

[gohkm]

Your pics look washed out in general. Did you take them with a flash?

The IG looks better in general - there seems to be some effort at shading and highlighting. The Space Marine, though, looks like a basic coat of yellow albeit with an attempt at OSL.

 

[stokerd]

Your pics look washed out in general. Did you take them with a flash?

No flash, but it was mentioned it might be the background. Will be retaking the pictures with a different background.

The IG looks better in general - there seems to be some effort at shading and highlighting. The Space Marine, though, looks like a basic coat of yellow albeit with an attempt at OSL.

This I don't understand. The IG was painted with a coat of Shadow Grey, given one highlight on edges with Wolf Grey, and then washed with a black wash. That's it - maybe some cleanup here and there with Shadow Grey.

The Terminator was painted with multiple shades and highlights. There's a brown wash, Leather Brown wash, Iyanden basecoat, multiple layers of Golden Yellow, Sun Yellow and Moon Yellow. Much more effort was put into the yellow than even attempted on the IG. It's why I'm so disappointed with the reaction to it

Thanks for the comments, I will attempt new pictures tonight. By the way, all colors except the Iyanden basecoat are Vallejo Game Colors.

 

[gohkm]

In that case, it's probably the photography that is causing the wash out. The shades do not show up at all on the Terminator. It's just flat yellow.

Just to clarify, the pictures are washed out, similar to an overexposed shot. The background does contribute somewhat to this, but it cannot be fully ascribed to the background alone.

 

[Zab]

Have you looked at Tommie's thread on basic photography with simple equipment? That one is aces and will help clear up a lot of your photography woes.

 

[Ritual]

I thought I had done a much better job on the terminator, and paid a lot more attention to the little things, and yet scores do not reflect that.

If you think so, when a) knowing what you have done, how much time you've spent on each etc., b) can compare the two minis in hand and c) actually care about your work, which the majority of people voting here probably don't, then I'd say you should stick to your own opinion instead of the almost arbitrary number that a CMON score is.

If you want advice on how to improve... Paint a lot more! Improvement comes with practice. Work on neatness (both concerning freehand and basic stuff like colour transitions), basing (the base work on the terminator probably hurts the score) and, if you plan on using Internet as a platform for feedback on your painting, improve your photography.

Most importantly, though, like I mentioned... Paint! Practice! Don't expect things to fall in place just after reading something that makes sense. Expect it to take time to implement your knowledge. Don't get frustrated by that! Enjoy yourself. That is what painting should be.

 

[Zab]

^^^This. Later in the week on my WIP thread I'll be posting my experience with trying out James Wappel's shaded basecoat technique. Spoiler alert: It was a mess. I have been painting for a long time gotten decent scores here and even placed in a contest or two, but there are still new ways to learn to paint and I am going back to novice status when it comes to learning some of them A hammer may have been employed as a final solution to the problem I was having, but I'll get into more detail later.

 

[vincegamer]

I see 2 issues (maybe 3).
The first is just the "coolness" factor of the mini. I think people find minis with faces cooler than armored marines. Nothing you can do about that.
Second, the blending on the weapon is way better in the sword than in the hammer.
The thirdish, is that yellow is a b*$ch to paint. I know because my marines are yellow and blue. I have done all kinds of things and in the end find that with yellow less is better - fewer layers, greater transitions. Doesn't seem right but that's been my experience.