Where are we headed?

[rextalon]

This post is more about all submissions, rather than any specific one.

When I first started painting the \"in\" thing was to paint your minis in bold, striking colors. Then came high contrasting colors, and everyone\'s style shifted in that direction.

A few years later NMM and OSL became popular and everyone seems to be giving that a try. For a while now NMM has seen a lot of use in making worn, chipped, and oxidized metal.

Now, if you look at the main page, you can see the next big trend in miniature painting emerging. It\'s not new, none of the techniques really are, but it\'s gaining popularity. Unfortunately there isn\'t a single name for it that I can attribute.

The trend seems to be going toward muting the color pallete so that all the colors seem more \"earthy\" and warm.

It makes me wonder if anyone has taken the time to note these trends and who made them popular. Also, which trend do you think will emerge next?

 

[supervike]

It is an interesting phenomena, but one that would be very hard to predict. It is very cool though, on retrospect, to spot the trends and see how they fit into the hobby as a whole.

I\'m hoping Drybrush becomes the new trend, as it is the one area I completely rock at.lol

 

[generulpoleaxe]

muted (natural) tones are used a lot to get more realistic results within the historical side of the hobby.

some prefer it, some don\'t.

there are a lot of people tho that will adopt the \"new trends\" because well known painters use those styles.

i recomend trying everything you can mate and with your knoweldge get your own style, as imitation will never be as good as the real thing.

 

[rextalon]

It\'s interesting you point out dry brushing.

I have a friend who used to work for GW. While there he learned a lot of the \"industry\" techniques. His work rivals anything I\'ve seen in WD\'s \"Heavy Metal\" to date. The thing is, he uses dry brushing on his work, but it never looks like anything else I\'ve seen.

Seriously, there is a whole spectrum of dry brushers. People think it\'s the easiest technique and that it looks like a 55 gallon drum of arse, but if it\'s done well and with other techniques thrown in, it can look awesome.

Take this dread for instance...

It was painted using dry brushing and some highlighting, et cetera. I think it looks awesome, and not just because my friend painted my name on it. It\'s a LOT better than some other dry brushing jobs I\'ve seen.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

that doesn\'t rival the heavy metal teams stuff mate.
the studio guys stuff yes, but not the heavy metal teams.

 

[freakinacage]

drybrushing can work pretty effectively if used in a controlled manner with watered down paints. you still need to touch it up with some \'proper\' painting though to look good

 

[Avelorn]

I use drybrushing too on some specific areas. It\'s just a tool like anything else. One mate of mine said he used \"drybrushing\" when he blended the colours on al large area but in reality he used wetblending, he just didn\'t dilute the colours very much.

@Rextalon: I double-dare you on the rival the EM stuff.

Trends are interesting. Yes now we are more inspired by realism from historical painters. Meaning using lightsource and working with textures and such. I think the use of Vallejo Model Colour paint etc. have had some impact as well when it comes to colourschemes as they have more muted colours. But still there is a lot of expressionism etc. going on as well.

 

[AinuLainour]

It\'s interesting what is happening, we are in a sort of \"Painting Renissiance (sp?)\". Ever since OSL and NMM came up in fantasy/sci-fi miniatures, there\'s been loads of people experimenting and discovering new things every day.

Many of the European artists, such as jmpn and allan c. have drawn ideas and inspiration from canvas and historical art. Colour composition is a big deal now, de-saturation (muted, realistic tones) is an absolute must, and two of the bigger advances in fantasy/sci-fi is the use of \"juices\" over traditional wet-blending or layering.

 

[No Such Agency]

Well, as has been alluded to above, I notice a lot more (good) painters starting to consider the source of light hitting the figure, even if they aren\'t doing a really dramatic contrast or OSL. Techniques like \"zenithal spray\" and so on are part of this. There are a few of my recent minis that in retrospect, could have looked amazing if they were painted this way instead of just highlighted in the traditional fashion.

 

[Thunderhawker]

I am of the mind that if I like it, I like it and if I don\'t I won\'t use it. I like to experiment with different techniques, but as I so rarely actually finish a mini, its all a matter of \"flavor of the moment\" so to speak.

 

[funnymouth]

very vague trends are hard to spot, but i kind of agree - muted tones are in. it may be related to the popularity of osl and other hight contrast techniques directly. to make osl work you need a subdued palate...perhaps its catching on.

 

[rextalon]

@Rextalon: I double-dare you on the rival the EM stuff.

I didn\'t say I could do it, I said he CAN do it. The Dred is to show you that dry brushing works fine. It\'s not to show you that everything my friend produces is EM worthy. I shouldn\'t have to defend his work based on one pic, so lets keep it on topic please.

You\'re right, Funnymouth, maybe the OSL steps are the origin of a muted palate. Maybe to find out what the next big thing will be, all we have to do is closely study the steps involved in already popular processes.

 

[squidders]

The future of mini painting is with my 3-D painting idea!

http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=23670

Mwahahahaha!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

 

[Bill]

lol Here is an \'Eavy Metal mini that looks like it\'s been drybrushed:

 

[tooshy]

Like most painting, dry-brushing looks good if it\'s done well. At its worst, someone uses a very ratty old brush which has dried up crusty paint on it which then transfers to the model, leaving it looking powdery and lumpy. But done well, it can add texture etc - it\'s just a case of not having the brush too dry I guess...

 

[digbaddy72]

Originally posted by supervike
It is an interesting phenomena, but one that would be very hard to predict. It is very cool though, on retrospect, to spot the trends and see how they fit into the hobby as a whole.

I\'m hoping Drybrush becomes the new trend, as it is the one area I completely rock at.lol

Give it time vike. Eventually everyone\'s technique will become the \"in\" way of doing things.

If you look at my gallery, you will see that I have been painting in dark muted tones for quite awhile now.

Hey....wait.....does that mean I\'m a.....a..(dare I say it?)...a trend setter? :]

 

[uberdark]

i have noticed that many artists have been painting with muted tones but the other thing i have noticed more of is the use of more painterly qualities in the pieces we see. work that is not always techncially amazing but compositionally works much better is becoming more important these days.

its as if the art world might actually start to accept mini painters in a better sense.

just my two cents.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

Originally posted by rextalon

@Rextalon: I double-dare you on the rival the EM stuff.

I didn\'t say I could do it, I said he CAN do it. The Dred is to show you that dry brushing works fine. It\'s not to show you that everything my friend produces is EM worthy. I shouldn\'t have to defend his work based on one pic, so lets keep it on topic please.

You\'re right, Funnymouth, maybe the OSL steps are the origin of a muted palate. Maybe to find out what the next big thing will be, all we have to do is closely study the steps involved in already popular processes.

Yes but if you are going to say you can drybrush and still produce top quality work then produce a picture that backs up what you are saying.

 

[rextalon]

Yes but if you are going to say you can drybrush and still produce top quality work then produce a picture that backs up what you are saying.

Are you even reading what I\'m posting?
If you\'re going to issue baseless challenges, do it in a PM. In the mean time, I\'ll thank you for keeping it on topic.

I think parvusmachina has it right. Eventually the accepted style may cycle around to what ever talent is currently being exhibited. After all, who really comes up with an honestly innovative way of painting? In parvusmachina\'s case, the muted tones have come to meet him. Lucky you!

 

[squidders]

Well everything has to be done first by someone on a mini... underpainting, painting sheer fabric, SENMM etc etc etc.

As to whatever vogue will come along in the future... it\'s all down to the results.

Until someone paints something that makes everyones jaw drop that includes a certain technique it\'s just not going to catch on regardless of how old the idea is.