What is needed to improve?

[Jabberwocky]

I wanted to poll the community on what things I can do to try and improve my work. I was a bit frustrated with my recent score (6.3) for the Vale archer I just completed. Here he is:

I received the same score (6.2) for the Eowyn I did previously:

Putting aside the \"paint for yourself, it doesn\'t matter what others think\" argument, what is missing on the Vale archer? Is the sculpt too simple? Does the lack of freehand send it down to a step above tabletop quality? Are the blends not smooth enough?

Certainly, the quality of the minis on this site has improved over the past several years, but I find it hard to believe these two pieces of work are equivalent! I suppose if I had posted Eowyn today my score would be less than what it is now.

Anyway, I am curious as to what the community sees here. Thanks!

Jabber

 

[beowulfthehunter]

Honestly....I am going to give you the answer you do not want to hear. \"Paint for yourself.\" The voting here is beyond messed up so I tend to ignore it andjust comefor thecommunity aspect.

That being said. Your metalics are killing you. Take Eowyn for example. Her sword looks potmarked and not smooth as does the guard. I would first ask what metalics are you using and perhaps switch to another brand.
I also might look at the quality of the transition between dark to light there does not seem to be one. Are you thinning your paints enough?

Honestly I think they are solid paint jobs and if you are proud to put them on the table you did a good job.

 

[freakinacage]

paint for yourself...

personally i would say that the elf is a lot better (smoother blends, nicer base, bow string). that being said, i don\'t like the sculpt.

in my eyes, the score for eowyn is a little high and the elf is a little low

 

[Jabberwocky]

Originally posted by beowulfthehunter
That being said. Your metalics are killing you. Take Eowyn for example. Her sword looks potmarked and not smooth as does the guard.

Thanks for the reply, beowulfthehunter and freakinacage. I know the metallics on Eowyn are poor. I had painted her a while back and the metallics are basecoated and that is about it. That is the point! I fully think Eowyn is in the 5-6 range and have no problem with her score. Really, it is the elf I am wondering about.

 

[KatieG]

I think some of it is definitely the sculpt. But even though the metallics on this one are better than your Eowyn, they still need some work. The golds especially I think are too flat (however, the silvers are great!). The face needs some work, though some of that I think is the sculpt, it really looks uneven. Finally, the hair is not smooth, too rough. Are you drybrushing? You should try to keep that to a minimum.

I really like your bowstring, what did you use?

Hope this is what you\'re looking for, I don\'t want to be too harsh, but I wanted you to know what I thought you could improve.

 

[goblinLB]

the base on the elf suits it really well i love the golds and stuff a few highlights are not blended enough and on eowyn the sword attracts alot of attention to the mini and the sword isnt exactly very good \"sorry\" so thats what ruins it and i think you need to thin paint a bit more on her
(her face is good imo)

 

[Jabberwocky]

Originally posted by KatieG
I think some of it is definitely the sculpt. But even though the metallics on this one are better than your Eowyn, they still need some work. The golds especially I think are too flat (however, the silvers are great!). The face needs some work, though some of that I think is the sculpt, it really looks uneven. Finally, the hair is not smooth, too rough. Are you drybrushing? You should try to keep that to a minimum.

I really like your bowstring, what did you use?

Hope this is what you\'re looking for, I don\'t want to be too harsh, but I wanted you to know what I thought you could improve.

Thanks for the reply, Katie. No need to pull punches--this is what I am after! The bowstring is actually some 6-0 suture I...uhh...borrowed from work.

@goblin--thank you as well for your reply--as I said, I know Eowyn leaves a lot to be desired; the metallics are really just basecoated and that\'s it.

 

[Wren]

Hiya. I think there\'s an additional factor you may be overlooking a little. You posted Eowyn over 2 years ago. Voting standards on CMON steadily creep up as the top painters push the envelope. My guess would be scores drop by .5 or so a year for anything above tabletop level. So if you factor that in, your elf archer is a point ahead of Eowyn. Sadly this effect does mean that a painter has to improve at least a little just to stay in place with scores, and it can be disheartening.

I think the archer is a little underscored, I\'d happily give him a 7. You\'ve got very neat painting, solid colour choices and some nice vivid highlighting in several areas. The basing is definitely a much nicer presentation than Eowyn\'s, though standards for that go up, too. You might try doing a GW, Rackham or whatever is hot this week figure to the same standard and see what that does, when it comes to talking tenths of points, stuff like that probably factors in a little.

 

[airhead]

Eowyn has problems with her eyes and metals. I\'d say she is about right around a 6.

The elf archer. Love the string itself, but it is done wrong, it should come over the butt end of the bow, not out around the middle. Blendings are smooth. The eyes are much better, but the mini itself is just tired. Good front line grunt, but not a mini I would spend a ton of effort on basing up. I\'d give him a solid 7.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

FINALLY! Someone who actually strung the bow!

 

[GAR]

Overall, both figures are quite nice.

Aside from what my peers heer have said, what I notice, in no particular order, are the details.

Not the highlighting or shading, that is all well done, but the lack of subtle details. For example, she could use a little pin striping on her belt/sash. Also, the clothing could use a little freehand work to accentuate it. Right now it is plain and unadorned.

The hilt/handle of the sword is plain and unattractive and the feathers on the arrows are likewise unattractive. the could use a little less contrast and a little color, ie a colorful band or tip to help them stand out.

The bracers on the arm would have been better if done is leather with a gold detailing, so they better match the rest of the armor.

Little things like that make a hge difference. There is nothing wrong with your figures. They are well done and attractive.

However, they are what some may call plain. The have no \"Bling bling\" to show off any detail work you could have done. its does not have to be super intricate or details, but a little here and a little there will go a long way.

That is one of the hardest things I have had to learn is where to place little details and freehand and how much. Currently my Eldar Autarch is driving me nuts trying to get a nice trim on his cloak, but it needs to be done so his cloak is not so plain.

Anyhoo, I hope you got something out of my comments. There is nothing wrong with your paiting skills, ya just need to learn to \"spice things up a bit\".

 

[OrkyDave]

I really like both pieces, and I also agree the elf is underrated.

The thing I have noticed with scores on here is that if you want to get a 7 then a fair few people would need to warrant your score as an 8, (for an 8 people need to rate as a 9 etc)- hope this is making sense.

I also agree with Wren, that a 7 is a fair score for the elf. It is a very neat figure well based and attractive to the eye. The bowstring is a loveley little touch too! However, despite all this, it just doesn\'t have the extra \'oomph\' or wow factor to warrant an 8 IMHO. It is a very \'vanilla\' mini with very little to make it stand out in a crowd. A bit of freehand or something fancy may help.

IMHO The face on the elf looks a little Animee, (especially in the middle photo) but I like that, and he kind of reminds me of Link from the legend of zelda.

Hope this has been of some help. Scores aside they are both very nice mini\'s and you are improving so look at the positives

 

[tzor]

OK pulling up the mini I noticed that I gave it a 7. So the question I\'m asking myself is why. I think the first thing I look for when thinking of giving an 8 is \"does it blend.\" Generally the clothing has a simple highlight color. I\'m starting to think that if the sash had been a touch more brighter it might stand out better from the leather. Popping is good for points.

Then there is the hair. I take a class at Gen Con this year and that\'s all I think of. But the hair is so close yet so far. The hair is treated as individual strands while most of the highlights in hair are actually broader based than that. As a result the top \"halo\" is barely noticeable and it looks \"thick.\" Had the rear hair been smoother and popped I probably would have given it an 8. Even though the arm bracers should be leather color not metalic. (The same is true for the fletching on the arrows, metalic grey was probably not the best color choice.)

Are these all nit picks? You bet, but most people vote on first impressions, so it\'s the little things that gets the scores.

 

[Hygmer]

Elf Improvements to be made:

Well, mainly choice of colors, the green looks like some modern color, ,aybe use darker, more natural greens. And if the green on the base is supposed to be moss, then it should be very dark and maybe a bit glossy (water usually gather on moss )

Eowyn:

The cloths needs to be a bit neater than they are, try aplying 10-15 coats of very watered down paint (milk-consistence) for each layer, also, you need to work on the base, they have a bigger \"wow-impact\" than one might expect

 

[Jabberwocky]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I really appreciate it--your thoughts were just what I was looking for. Thanks again!