What makes a great miniature?

[EricJ]

Originally posted by Malfoy
Narrative. A great figure is one that tells a story all by itself and a brilliant model conveys a sense of character. It\'s maybe a little abstract, but I think you know what I mean.

dave

This I agree with. Like I said in reference to Kapels recent submission, he captures not just the eye, but the imagination with his piece. Every mini tells a story, and that\'s what interests me in this hobby, but how many time do you want to see the same story of \"guy with sword, looking upset about something\" or \"woman posing for no obvious reason\". I know I don\'t! Although even small things like pose, body posture, facial expression can \"wake up\" the story so to speak.

I think anatomy is valuable, but not vital, and even distortions in anatomy themselves can make for a much more interesting piece. There is this push toward hyper-realism in minitures which I actually DISlike. I wish there would be more of a push for elements of the abstract or surreal in the hobby.

I sort of feel like the miniature hobby is about 150 years behind canvas painting. In canvas there was a long period of development and push to perfect realism in the art, as well as many versions of lightly stylized realism, and then it became somewhat boring, and from there new and interesting movements took place to challenge the person viewing the piece. On the bright side the development of miniatures is happening FAR faster than canvas painting.

Bottom line for me, I think, is that realism is a suggestion, not a rule, anatomy should be known, but is just a starting point from which to develop, not the ultimate goal.

Anyway, that\'s my rambling thoughts on it at the moment, I really can not wait to see what you come up with Victoria.

 

[No Such Agency]

Originally posted by MarkusTay
The only answer I can give is the \'WOW factor\'. It\'s hard to boil down, but I can give examples. Sandra Garrity is an incredible sculpter, and used to be one of my favorites. Her attention to detail is amazing. However, she has no \'Wow\'. Her poses are stagnant and her subject matter is hardly ever original. Another \'dark knight\'? Ho-hum. Another \'Elf with sword\'? Boooooring. Sorry to Miss Garrity, I\'m actually a fan believe it or not. I buy most of what she produces... but always with some moding in mind.

Now take Werner Klocke... A demon coming out from under a cloak? Oh-my-God! A cook ready to bash someone\'s head in with a frying pan? Insane! Even his Freebooter lady, while not an original concept, was a work of art because of the dynmaic pose and his trademark amazing faces...

See, this is kind of comparing apples and oranges. I believe Sandra Garrity sculpts for gamers - her minis are not terrribly original or dynamically posed but they are very finely done and would look good in a tabletop dungeon crawl. And most are \"archetypal\" - whether you play a Dark Knight or a sword-wielding Elf, you will probably find one of her minis that pretty closely approximates your game character. If you play a one armed half-Orc, half-Dwarf Ranger who wields a kyoketsu-shoge, well... she might not be able to accomodate you

Klocke\'s minis on the other hand are display pieces - intended to be painted to a high standard and only possibly used for gaming. Each sculpt is highly unique, specifically posed and not necessarily an \"adventure character\" in a combat or movement pose. He has more freedom to make each sculpt a true character.

So that\'s it... great poses and faces are important, but give us something we haven\'t seen before and drop our jaw.

Now that I agree with 100%. It\'s the most succinct explanation why a sculpt like GW\'s Marshal Helbrecht doesn\'t catch my eye, but Hasslefree\'s Lab Tech does.

(well, aside from me being a lab tech )

 

[wereweevil]

characterful pose which suits the subject;
i.e delicately poised assassin, or staunch arms crossed steely gazed barbarian (can i fit in any more adjectives:
high detail is not always superior to low levels, \"appropriate\" level of detail to the figure i guess.
cleanly sculpted and relatively proportionate.
OTT weapons are a bit of a turn-off...
oversized hands ditto (which happens all too frequently).
it\'s a list that could go on and on...

 

[emopainterguy]

I like miniatures to be reasonable proportioned and anatomically correct (or like others have mentioned for non-humans, they need to be believable). I don\'t think alot of details are really that important, if there is too little you can always add more, or do free hand, but if there is too much, and the miniature is crowded with detail it can become very overwhelming (GW new Waywatcher\'s come to mind).

For display miniatures I think it\'s important to tell a story. Whether its something as simple as a warrior standing over a defeated enemy or something complex with a large narrative behind it. The story doesn\'t have to come from the miniature itself though, it\'s good if it does, but if it can inspire the painter to create a story for it then I think it\'s a great miniature.

 

[Klute]

EricJ wrote....
\"I think anatomy is valuable, but not vital, and even distortions in anatomy themselves can make for a much more interesting piece. \"

Couldn\'t agree more.
When I say anatomy has to be perfect I dont just mean it has to be technically correct. It has to look \"right\" according to the style of figure.
The girl in Rune\'s sculpt is a good example.
She is obviously not anatomically correct but she looks anatomically \"right\" for a cartoon style girl.

 

[EricJ]

Originally posted by Klute
EricJ wrote....
\"I think anatomy is valuable, but not vital, and even distortions in anatomy themselves can make for a much more interesting piece. \"

Couldn\'t agree more.
When I say anatomy has to be perfect I dont just mean it has to be technically correct. It has to look \"right\" according to the style of figure.
The girl in Rune\'s sculpt is a good example.
She is obviously not anatomically correct but she looks anatomically \"right\" for a cartoon style girl.

I think it would be a really interesting sculpting contest - Anatomically incorrect! The sculpt should not be anatomically correct, but the other details/style of the sculpt should fit to make the overall piece work. I think it would be an interesting challenge, and I would suspect Kapel\'s girl would do quite well.