Where im at!!!

johnny889

New member
just thought id post a few minis showing where im at in the painting world, striving for perfection, settling for neglection ;)

tips are more than welcome, 7/10 aint bad, but i just aint cuttin the mustard. any advice!!!
 

shakes

New member
Hey Johnny, looks like your after some crits so I thought I would put down my initial impressions. Firstly it looks like you have good brush control which is key, all your paint is where it belongs so to speak, you don't have the gold from the trim for example overflowing onto the marines armour. Second thought is wow, that's a whole lot of washes being used... Washes are great for many things and have uses on everything from slayer sword winning minis to tabletop minis depending on how there used. In your case it looks like just about everything gets a base coat and then a heavy wash, in some cases a very heavy wash. This is great for knocking out a table top army but for someone aiming for perfection I feel less is going to be more. Third thought is wicked, he's got some spattered mud effects and weathering/chipping on his models that really make them stand out and give them more character. I feel your painting would see rapid improvement if you cut back a little on the washes and worked on learning some blending techniques. Right now I feel your easily capable of getting into the 7's and beyond with more work but for me these are hitting in the 5 and 6 range.
 

dogfacedboy uk1

New member
I would submit your pictures in a smaller format - this is pretty gigantic close up and shows just how good these minis are, I can imagine these look awesome in the flesh, but as they are currently filling my screen some people will not appreciate just how good these are. I like everything you have done here, but the banner lets it down - a bit more colour would be better. The weathering is great to and the shading and variation of colour on the bases looks like a good touch. But as said, I would like to see them close to actual size! These fellas look like 8's to me, not sure why Shakes posting above there thinks they are tabletop standard!!! Like I said, a smaller photo may help make people realise how good they are a bit more.

dfb
 

shakes

New member
I'm posting that I feel there table top standard because thats my honest opinion. I feel a basic table top should be a clean paintjob exhibiting good brush control, a highlight and a wash. Looking at these minis that's what I see. An 8 to me is something that could get a finalist pin in a GD and a 9 is something that could be taking home a trophy. 10 is the very rare omg that blew my socks off and is incredibly inspiring.

Now back to the mini's, I thought I'd toss out a couple more specific pieces of feedback incase your interested!

Chaplain - His crozius handle looks very unfinished to me, it looks like its had a couple thin coats of cream over a black base and you can see the black showing through still on the raised areas. If you got a solid coat of paint on that and then either highlighted the raised areas or gave it a light wash I think this would make a huge difference. Second I think his loincloth could really use a couple of highlights, this would give some really nice contrast to the black and make it pop! Lastly, it's hard to tell but I think he has a crozius hanging on the end of the chain by his foot? at the moment it looks the same color as the loincloth and is really hard to see. making this pop out with a crisp gold and maybe a dash of red would bring it to the eye and give it a nice dash of color to contrast with the rest of the model. With these small changes I feel this would be brought up to a 7 for me.

Sicarius - I feel this is the "cleanest" of the 5 models but has two things really bringing him down, the skintone and the banner, both of which feel like they've been drowned in washes. As the face is the centerpoint of the mini you really want to make it pop and have some nice contrast and depth. I would re-paint it without any washes and focus on where the shadows would fall and your blending. The second thing as I said is the banner, to me it really looks like it got drowned in a wash and is almost all the same color. Theres some great details that would bring a lot to your model if they where picked out, even your green laurels appear in almost the same muted color as the rest due to the heavy brown wash. Adding some color and tidying those things up I feel would really bring alot to the mini and same as the chaplain bring him up to a possible 7 for me. Also a couple things I really liked on siccarius! The gold on his helmet looks great! Nice contrast and depth, really pops. Also the plume and the mud on his cloak, both really nice touches : D

Ghazkull - I think Ghazkull is my favorite, really like the weathering on his armor. I think his skin could really use some shading to give it some contrast, it feels quite washed out on top of the very pale blue armour. Also the metalics, theres some washes that look as though they pooled in places and could use some additional highlights. I think he was my personal favorite of all the minis but that might be biast, I really love that model : P

The other two I don't really have anything to add, similar things, though I will add that I love the battle damage on the scout sergeant!

Shakes.

P.S. I apologize if my earlier and current critisicms offended you, I just wanted to give some honest feedback and wish you luck on your quest for perfection! I feel its a pursuit many of us asspire to. Best of luck.
 

johnny889

New member
Dogface, thanks for the reply brother, its nice to know someone apreciates my painting,

Shakes, also thanks for the reply, tough love is what we call it, and it has been much appreciated, has encouraged me to pull my finger out of my !!! and hopefully will push me to paint a better mini, all are still in progress, but i feel 1 is near complete, ooh no, maybe 2!

will highlight the base a lil more as per the DOGFACE instruction! cheers D!

Better pic, better cam, and SMALLER! smaller!
 

dogfacedboy uk1

New member
Yes the pics are beter, but make sure the pics are evenly lit so people can see the details. About 500 pixels wide is approxiamately suitable. These are roughly to scale on my screen so show me how they look to the eye, people will need to see some close ups etc to do crits depends what info you are after. The pics above are a little too small now for doing crits on but for showing a finished piece at roughly right scale are ok. It does take confidence to post larger pictures as it can get ugly, if your extreme close ups are neat it is a great testament to a painters skill! Mine are a little ugly up close, but I'm working on it!

dfb
 

shakes

New member
Hey Johnny, pics are a little small for me to really make out the details but the one thing I will say is the chaplain is looking markedly better, the dash of color + the crozius no longer looking unfinished makes a huge difference! Nice one.

Shakes
 

johnny889

New member
Thanks Guys, Anyone purchased Dark Vengeance yet, its a good box, ive been busy with the paint, not finished anything yet , but well on the way,

DF, theres no way im putting a blown up pic of one of my paintings, ive looked at one, looks like the kids have cracked out the crayons!!! :)
 

johnny889

New member
'Dark Vengeance' is going kinda 'Bright manga'

All three bikes, and five termies are at the same level as above, ill post squad pics when finished.

PS, im getting quite pleased with my photography skills these days! (thanks for the push) J.
 

KruleBear

Active member
Looks nice. I like the colors you have picked. Especially the skull faced guy (harequin?). Is there some freehand on the cloak? I would like to see the back of the mini.
 

shakes

New member
Looking good, all very tidy. Librarian looks great. I think he's the best work you've posted so far!!

Shakes
 

johnny889

New member
DFB: congrats on making to the final at GD, thats a nice Ork. good luck with ur photos.

Krulbear: i tried taking close pictures of the harlequin coat but they just coming out white n blurry.

Shakes: thanks for the boost, the mini was a joy to paint.

Been workin on the green guy, n pushing on with the termies, nearly there, then its 'Bulk Basing Time'
 

shakes

New member
Looking good, to me these are a big improvement on the first minis you put up. There very clean and tidy with no pooling washes. I really like the green on the terminators chests. I also think that they would benefit greatly from having a bit of depth/shading added to the bone. A few key areas might be around there collars, under there knees, and around the feet etc. I like what you've done with the captains sword, looks like it came out quite well! I think the purple, especially when used with the pale bone looks very washed out. I would darken it all down a touch and then continue to shade the deeper areas from there. I think this would overall give a much richer look to the model.

Shakes
 

johnny889

New member
even though you say the sword looks good, it loos terrible in real life, just white and blue, but it does go with the manga look i suppose! (think im gonna try real metal with highlights on my next set of minis) im with you on the rest of it though, ill post pics when done!
 

johnny889

New member
Always wanted to paint a dreadnought but this is closest ive got so far, i think hes looking good but still needs a little work, should i paint his toe nails lighter thann his skin or leave them darker!!! still need to do all his little horns but thats a quick fix, you guys got any other tips / adjustments that would make him pop!
 
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