Lord Wehrmacht

Heya folks, Here it goes... and its something that I sorta understand and am beginning to be aware of in my own practice. Right now I mix in white and black for shades and highlighting. I realize that to advance i gotta learn to use more colors in my highlighting process. What I am looking for is some clue as to how to determine what I should mix in when highlighting various colors, some are obvious... but when I whip out the good ol Color wheel it laughs at me then kicks me out of the bedroom. I feel like I am ready for the next evolution but that it takes some more info than I can easily glean from looking at others work, which is how I usually learn. Am I right looking toward the color wheel for answers? What about base colors... mixing for them... is there some guidance on when you do.. and why or is it based on feel. I understand that some of the french guys like to mix in a certain amount of color throughout the base colors of the mini to give it cohesion. Is there something to it.. and is it reproducible with a more american technique? Do any of these questions make sense? HELP! Cause colors are the biggest things I have trouble with... LW

Ive been watching this one Sue... it looks great and I hope that the Iron Painter goes well for you! LW

Ok.. finally got a better picture of this guy. In case anyone else is interested. As usual... critiques are welcome.. LW

Heya folks! Ok... this guy here took me awhile. And I apologise in advance for the craptacular pictures etc.. I am outside of my normal haunts atm and the setup is crude. I will repost pics that are better when I get home in a few days. Other than that.. Feel the base... BEWARE HUGE PICTURES HERE lol.. im tired LW

New plan! Since the majority of my time crunch is due to having to travel to the inlaws today.. Ill be lugging a Fricken TON of stuff with me to finish the base...because the base and the Mini go together.. Not to mention installing Photoshop on the comp there just to crop stuff. LW

5:30am... 2 hours of sleep.. up at 4am for work. Bringing a hastily drawn up travelling kit to work with me to do the base. Still need to fix a thing on the main mini but it is done besides that. I feel like if the base isnt done than I will have let the piece down. I dont even care if it wins at this point its the best looking thing I have done yet... pictures incoming as soon as I get home from work. lesson learned.. too much procrastination... and I need 5 more hours of work on it in any case by my estimation. I dont have 5 hours.. just 2 if that. 6 hours of sleep in 2 days. And off to work i go. LW

Rhutrho raggy... runnin out of time... Lw

t-minus 6 hours and 50 minutes before either the caffeine runs out.. the Ritalin goes away. Still some stuff to do on the Beast and of course.. the base. LW

Heya folks, This is gonna be a bit wierd... but Im feeling abit psychotic atm. I have a mini due for me tomorrow night. I still have abit of work to do on it so i have been working on it most of this evening. I was thinking about the base and wanted to play with some fancier bases that I tend to dig. Well i think I managed to get myself into trouble, the base just kept getting more elaborate. I did finish alot of the competition model but the base has added a level of difficulty. Not to mention that for the last week ive averaged 4 hours a sleep a night working on this stuff. Check it.. probably gonna call it something like.. "Adamante durior" Latin for Harder than Adamant... the figure is a fantasy fig. This all will be done tomorrow night. (Hopefully) Let me know what ya think.. besides the fact that Im crazy. LW

lookin good meg... cant type much... knee deep in it. LW

Congrats mate.... and my condolences! You two look great! LW

Yes usually I do.... however, it does have alot to do with scale. Try to tie in the base with the miniature as well. The way I look at it, the base is the one part of the miniature that introduces the world the miniature lives in. At first the only outside influence is the light source, thats it. The base sets the stage for the mini. Can ya tell I like the ornate ones? LW

Man.. now I remember that I have a starter set to paint.. thanks... They look very good though! 30 hours for all of them is a pretty good pace! LW

Iron, Currently I use RMS, and a couple P3s. Havent had much chance yet on the P3s. Atm I have separated myself from using straight metallics/washes on them in the classic fashion. Instead I have been playing with a couple things, mostly Demi and NMM. Im working on a post atm that I hope will clarify some stuff for me. However my fear is that I need to see it in person. Being in St. Louis I think im pretty fubar in that. LW

Meg, Once again, wonderful piece. I know how hard you worked on this one and you should be proud of her. She does really look good! I believe that you and me have the same problem Meg... metals are driving us up the wall atm! el-dub

lol awesome! And tell him that we are suitably scared! El-dub

Looks great man! I do like your bamboo plant too... Woodworking is something Ive always wanted to try... but man its pricey to get into. And I dont have time... And Id probably injure myself anyway. LW

100% not a question on the planet Earth if I had to pick one guy to bring in? Robin Williams.... I would die laughing.. every day. LW

This is my particular favorite. I also believe it is the single most viewed video on Youtube, at approximately 59 MILLION!! views. The Evolution of Dance Particularly disturbing is the thought that Ive seen so many of these... either way a staggeringly talented dude, if only for the idea. El-dub

I want a Rub-a-dub-dub... please god.. someone deliver him unto me.... or she... preferably on dubs! I think I need to seek some help. El-dub

Not a chance missy... not a chance...

Ok This one is about to get me in trouble Im sure. First things first: If you want to maximize your skillset and learn to paint so that what you see in your head you can put on the mini then you need to get the best possible materials for it. Im not saying that you need to drop 1000 dollars on paints and brushes and such just yet. However, when you go shopping, do not skimp, even if that means that you cannot get all the stuff on your list. When I got back into the game, I created a list of paints that I couldn't live without, effectivly primary colors, black/white, greys, and some browns. Then I expanded my list, and so on and so on. I still don't have a full set of RMS, but its close and its been over 8 months since I started painting again. Whatever paints you choose, be it Reaper, P3, Citadel, Vallejo, or Rackham (though they are discontinuing the line I understand), I would highly recommend sticking with a line for awhile before playing with another line. Learn the behaviors of the paints so you can control them before you move to another line, which usually have different behaviors and looks. For god sake, thin your paints. Yes, it adds a level of difficulty to the process, but its absolutely an essential element to painting well. Thin it with DISTILLED water, or better still, gunk. Do a search with the term GUNK to get a good review of that process. Brushes. For normal use. (Normal Use is defined as painting on a miniature with NONMETALLIC paints as best you can. I use three brushes, regularly, they are all Winsor & Newton Series 7s sizes 0, 00, 000. I also have a 1 in the series 7, and a 0, 00 in the miniature line. They are worth the money. For metallics, I use different brushes than my W&N, don't cross contaminate them. Time and Practice. Ok... generally speaking I suggest that you work to your own pace to paint a mini. If you can only paint for 1 hour a day, then that is what you do, just don't expect to turn out a high volume. At your level specifically I would do these three things. 1) Pick a mini and spend as long to paint this mini as you would painting 5 of the ones you have been doing, AT LEAST. (Volume tends to be the enemy of learning process. Dont feel bad about it because you are laying the foundation for faster painting later. 2) Before you start painting, sit and pick out your colors you want to use. Try to remember the concepts of complimentary colors and maybe even get a color wheel to help plan your basic goals. Try to limit the number of hues in you piece to 2 or 3. 3) Concentrate on brush control. Your NUMBER ONE enemy in life is brush control. Without that one skill you cannot do anything else. Clean lines and good execution of a basic color scheme on a mini is far and away superior to a bunch of advanced techniques used with a sloppy execution. As always the community is here to support and help you. However you are the only person that can get better, we cant put the brush to the mini for you. Good luck Lord Wehrmacht

Bummer mate... Honestly, and take this with a grain or two of salt, I haven't seen the level your describing. I wish you would reconsider as the only way the board can get to be what your aiming for is working on it. Nothing is ever perfect and its always nice to have one or two brutally opinionated people wandering around. If only to serve as a warning to others at least lol. LW

Wishing you a Happy Birthday VV! Many happy returns to you! Lord Wehrmacht

Naw... he/she hasn't moved on. Rather I think he's called the exterminator in to deal with a certain infestation on Earth Mk 1 and is staying out till the place is clean... LW