mattmcl

Things have really changed here in the past year. This is fantastic.

Aha! I was wondering how you got so good with kids... but you've corrupted them already! That's pretty good work for 9.

I haven't seen your work in a while. You got really good!

I'm working on this mini, and need a reference to look at for the water. Does anyone have links to something? Thanks. Clarissa

Looks like you have really good brush control and patience. The leather straps on the one with the green cloak are really clean. If you can do that, you can do dark lining. Basically, mix up a very dark brown, almost black, and outline the areas where the leather sits over the clothing. You don't have to do much more than a very fine line, and fine as you can. It's easy to overdo it, so just do a bit at a time. This will make your details really pop, and you already have the skills to do it. And as the others have said, darker shadows and brighter highlights, and work on smooth blending.

Yeah, I've noticed a lot of high end painters moving towards the bigger stuff. If it's happening here, there's a good chance it's a bigger trend on the other side of the pond.

I have to echo this concern. I expect that a competition held AT your facility would require painters to use your minis. I can't think of any other manufacturer that does this. You have a great opportunity to take pics of some amazing work and publish them (there should be a release for this on the entry form, if it's not there already- I don't remember) to show off your minis. I certainly have not felt constrained by this limitation in the past. Otherwise, I'm all for the changes.

Well, you WERE armed... I was a fine art major and had loads of good classes. History of photography, color theory, figure drawing, oil painting, watercolors... I could keep going. My last two years of school were nothing but art classes, most of them upper level. Too bad I had to graduate.

The whole thing started when Kris said that those in the master's category could enter the historical category one year. Typically master's folks could only enter the master's category. This sparked an ongoing discussion, well really a debate, about what could be entered into the historical category. Kinda had to be there.

Can I enter a Napoleonic penguin in the historical category?

Ping Lili, I think she mentioned something about the books last time I saw her. And yeah, somebody HAS to translate that book. Either that or I have to learn French.

Ditto on the shadows.

I think you were starting to get it with that NMM wip. The only thing you're missing is contrast. If you made those shadows black, and did the same blending, you'd have it. I suggest NMM only because grays eliminate color from the mix, so you only focus on blending tones. I'm a big fan of the Miniature Mentor videos, www.miniaturementor.com. The "Complete Guide" one is really good.

Yes, it's possible, but your brushes in particular will fight you. No, you will not have to relearn with new materials- in fact, you'll find it much easier. Switching paints might take a little getting used to, but not much. I think the fairy with the acorn shows a good start at blending, and going from red to blue is pretty difficult. This is going to sound counterintuitive, but have you tried NMM? For me, that's when blending really clicked. Find a figure wearing plate mail. Pick one part, like a shoulder. Mix up six shades, going from black to white in as smooth a progression as you can. Paint the entire shoulder black. Now go to your next shade, and paint over 90% of the shoulder. Then go to the next shade up, and do 80% of the shoulder. Continue until you get to white. This should give you a decent progression of dark to light. Now you just go back and smooth out the lines. Make sure your paint is thinned well. Just focus on that one shoulder. Don't even plan to finish the mini, just use it for practice. Take the pressure off. Now, I have trouble with GW paints. I find it hard to get them just the right consistency, but you can do it. If you can learn how to blend with GW paints and synthetic brushes, you'll be a pro when you upgrade. Also, is there anyone near you who can show you?

I've heard Anne speak of using brown liner and blue liner mixed together to make black. I don't know if that's the case with this one, but it sure looks like it. Then you can adjust the mix to achieve those subtle tones- either towards blue or towards brown.

You will definitely get more spam. When they get a response, they know they're reaching someone, and your name will go on list that they all sell to each other.

Nice job. I like the colors, and the painting is very neat and clean. You did a great job with the reds. The skin tone looks a bit pink for a dwarf though. I think you could have gone deeper with shadows overall to get more contrast, especially on the chain mail, the red cloak, and the boots. The highlighting on the boots could be blended better too.

Jen, let's talk on Saturday. I do this for a living. Well, until I got laid off. FrontPage is generally considered the low end of site editing tools. I would not pay someone to build a site in FrontPage, but it may be a good option for DIY. If you are going to spend time learning something, it might as well be Dreamweaver, which is considered the top end of site editing tools. It's pretty easy if you're just doing basic stuff. The trick is, Dreamweaver is beyond pricey. I can help you there too.

I'm going to guess that your photo has less contrast than the actual figure. You may want to try P3 Morrow White (by Privateer Press) for a super brilliant white, for the last tiny highlight. Your blending looks great, just make sure you go from an almost black to a pure white. I think gold is harder too, FWIW.

I agree. I wouldn't send the letter. Out of all the positive auctions, this is your first real hassle. Chalk it up to the one in a million bad ones and move on. I've had more negative experiences than you, and with less transactions, so (without taking away from your feelings) count yourself lucky.

Wow- you've got great brush control, the painting is very smooth and clean. I love the color schemes too. I would say to work on contrast- deeper shadows and brighter highlights. I can see you know how to blend well, you just need to push it further. Good work.

Somebody's looking for a smack down. Mr. "8 Posts And I'm a Painting God."

I wonder if you couldn't find something like soldering wire. It's already round, and it's very soft so you could cut right into it. I have no idea how it would react in contact with pewter though.

I do exactly what Anne does, only in a little glass jar. For a preventative measure, make sure you're thinning your paint, and don't get paint more than halfway up the bristles when you load the brush. Some will get up in there anyway, as the bristles wick the paint up, but if you can minimize this you'll have less clogging in the ferrule.