DFo

I asked for advice, so it'd be pretty bad form if I didn't take it - I've taken new pictures and re-done the photoshopping in the hopes of providing something a bit more visible. I think this is about the best I can do with the tools I have. Thanks for the feedback!

I love this sculpt - always reminds me of the Dunwich Horror box art - and this is a great paint job. The ripple effect in the water really is excellent. I only wish that were an Elder Sign instead of a pentagram on that book cover...

It's been a very long time indeed since I've posted anything, but that's because it's been a long time since I've PAINTED anything. I painted this figure up to represent one of my adventuring companion's DnD character in our current campaign. He specified a LOT of browns, but I tried to add a little colour wherever I could. The sculpt is absolutely gorgeous and the quality of the casting was impeccable. I certainly didn't do it justice, but what a pleasure to paint. Anyway, here he is: Comments, critiques and especially advice are always welcome. I think I've had it with metallic paints had will finally have to cross that bridge and start trying some NMM techniques. Scary!

Goregeous mini all around, but the knife and fork "cross bones" take the cake.

The melted straw "alien corals" really look the business. What a great idea. I could see the same process used for rusted/bombed-out metal. Lovely stuff!

I'd say those cows are up to something.

Fantastic cape work. His armour, and his sword especially, are stellar also. If my helmet were that bulky, I'd prefer to carry it too.

Lovely stuff - I like the round shield especially.

That is one smooth and beautiful paint job. I even kinda like the axe deal. Can't wait to see your upcoming non-"rusty" stuff.

Nice effect on the divebot's porthole.

Masochist. ;-)

This is not my work (in fact, it's much better than my work), but I think this is a pretty killer silk/satin effect, and there's a link to a tutorial down the page.

For what it's worth after so much good input here... I started with sythetic brushes. Then moved to off-brand Kolinsky Sable. Then to Da Vinci Maestros. Now I use W&N Series 7 Miniatures. Each of those transitions was eye-opening, with the difference from synthetic to sable probably the most pronounced. The Maestros are good brushes, but I prefer the amount of snap, the paint flow, and especially the point of the W&Ns. Disclaimer: I paint with pretty thin paint - I'm not sure how the designed-for-watercolour S7s would do if you like to dip straight from the bottle, or only thin slightly. I ordered my Series 7s in 3 sizes - 000, 0, and 2. I don't use the 000 - it's too small. Pupil dotting is actually easier with the wider belly and fine point of the 0. I really need a larger brush than the 2 for large blocks of colour. I should note that the Series 7 Miniature 0 is about the same size as a Da Vinci Maestro 000. Finally, I got my latest brushes from Jerry's Artarama (although I believe Blick is slightly cheaper). I've paid much more for far inferior brushes. Having the right tools for the right job really helps - but remember, you can't always blame your brushes! Good luck with the painting!

LEGEN ...wait for it... DARY.

Descent campaign! I'm jealous. Suitably ominous fig (what? no pastel colours at all?!?) Are you washing your copper/bronzes with something there?

I once accidentally painted an elf who was supposed to be wearing leggings or hose of some kind as having bare legs (she's on these pages somewhere). I think your (albeit more intentional) effort at making bare skin look like fabric is much better realized. If you hadn't brought it up, I would have taken it completely for granted that he was wearing tight (but not spandex-y) pants. Good job in my opinion.

The Warmachine community down here is actually pretty strong, but I've vowed not to play another match until I can field a fully-painted army. The good news is that WM is a relatively low model-count game, and I'm only 12 little pikemen away from a 500 point army with no "silver surfers". 750 points comes in about 9 figures or so more after that. Then I'll allow myself to start buying again, and the circle of life continues. Still no PAINTING group here however, which is what really gets me. Sigh...... Edit: Oh! And thanks for the kind words, eveyone!

If memory serves, albino Lizardmen carry a special in-game connotation which may even involve special rules. So as sharp as white would look, I'm not sure it would be Kosher. I've never been a fan of the new blue Lizardmen myself. I think I'd go for something like the RMS 184-186 triad (Serpentine Shadow/Reptus Green/Scaly Highlight), especially for skinks, and maybe something more somber like 082-084 (Jungle Moss/Highlands Moss/Pale Lichen) for the Saurus. I'm not sure whether I'd go with contrasting scales, or a more naturalistic look. I hope we'll get some pictures of your test schemes. (Here's a link to the RMS colour chart for easy lookup.)

Nice work on the face windshield glass. God these Classic Battletech sculpts are awful, though. Do you also do Hello Kitty Space Marines?

That is one high-impact paint job - perfect for a Titan. I really like the choice of purples - Skorne in general look good that way in my opinion (leave the red for the Ruskies). Excellent work in particular on the elephant skin and the metallics. Good luck in the contest!

For what it's worth, when I paint "blacks" (in quotes, because as eastman says, nothing is truely black), I base coat with the colour under the black (for a raven, I'm thinking a dark navy blue) then do a heavy black wash over it. That gives me black in the recesses, but blue-black elsewhere. I'll then highlight up with increasingly lighter hues of my base colour. Just don't ask me how to paint those white doves...

Here we go again. After an absence of months and months from painting anything that wasn't a Reaper, I'm back to my Warmachine army. It's hard to believe, but I started painting these models way back in May of last year, and I only just finished them today. These models feature the thick paint and thick highlights that were the norm for me half a year ago. That being said, these models are for gaming and are not intended to be more than tabletop quality. The basing is incomplete - I photograph before sealing, and will glue on some static snow after sealing (I use an airbrush). I hope to get my next unit painted up in much faster order. Thanks for looking and, as always, comments and criticisms are welcomed!

Very nice work on Mom's apron.

@bikerdrew: Your comment regarding the skin tones made me think back... and I don't think I ever did the top highlights or the final glaze on the skin at all. I must have intended to return to the flesh at the end, and then neve did. So good eye there. The clear colours are too thick a suspension to be washes, but I guess they kind of work like inks in that the pigment in them does seem to gather in recesses. The only reason I used them here is becasue I bought the first 108 RMS numbers in a kit (what is it? Number 3?) and I thought I may as well give them a try. I probably could have acheived exactly the same effect on the gem just using water-down glaze-consistency paint for the colour blobs. @VV: Thanks for that. The purple, appropriately enough, was the first thing I did on this figure, and was therefore the part I did under the least amount of apathy and burn-out. It guess it shows! I'm currently running around to all the local gaming shops trying to badger the owners into setting an evening aside to encourage a painting group. I really miss the motivation that regular sit-downs with like-minded people afforded. It's going to be a real shock moving from the one-off Reaper figures I've been doing lately to a unit of 12 Iron Fang Pikemen. Time to bust out the #4.

I'm still waiting for an Herbert West: Reanimator scene for your mad scientist. Nice job on the Faerie's wings, and Cleopatra-with-raygun... it's just somehow so right.