Ferox
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Posts posted by Ferox
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So Ferox I can do eyes and small details with a #2?
A good one, yeah. In my experience a #2 actually makes things like eyes easier, because the paint's less likely to dry out or get "stuck" on the brush. It takes some practice to get used to the way paint flows off of any brush, but I find I get less surprised by my #2 than even my #1. The key to painting small details is a sharp point on the brush, and my #2's point is just as sharp as my #1 or my #00. I haven't used anything but a #2 for months now, and the Shepherd I just painted has plenty of small detail.
From what I can tell, the main advantage of a small brush is that it's physically smaller, so it's easier to maneuver in tight spaces (like between an arm and a shield, for example). The main disadvantage is that there's less brush there, so paint's more likely to flow up into the ferrule or start to dry out on the brush -- or it'll do so more quickly, and it's harder to predict what the paint's going to do now from what it did a minute ago.
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A #2, another #2, and a third #2. I picked up a #2 S7 after years of using a #1 S7, and the difference is like night and day. The extra belly on the #2 just makes paint flow so much better, and improved my detail painting as much as my large-scale blending.
Raphael brushes apparently have bigger bellies than Winsor and Newtons, so a Raph #1 might work as well (and would probably be a bit cheaper).
Talespinner gave you great advice, fieldarchy told you about crits, and Froggy told you to darkline, so there's not much left for me.
Two things that come to mind:1. My blends got a lot smoother when I started glazing. Sure can take a while to build up an area, but it's worth it.
2. Colour theory. There's a reason fine-arts and design majors study colour theory: it works.
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Have I mentioned how much I dig the halberd on this guy? I haven't? Well, now I have. It looks almost case hardened. The weathering is spot-on as well.
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Outstanding piece! Contra MG, I like the soft tones on the cloth, skin, and hair -- they give it a more cartoonish look that goes well with the figure as a game piece. My only complaint is that the tiny broccoli base looks awfully lonely on that vast expanse of plastic. Well done!
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As of last Saturday I have a full 25pts of Legion painted up and battlin' hard at the FLGS. However, that leaves me with a few models unpainted, and I'm trying to paint what I have before I buy new WarmaHordes stuff. This month I'm going after:
- 3x Warmongers
- 2x Shredders
I also have a couple of gifts for other people that I'd like to finish up:
- Devout
- pSorscha (alt sculpt)
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The Midnight-Twilight-Snow Shadow triad is nice for a shiny blue black that isn't super blue. For me it helps a lot to highlight up from the black and then back down again to smooth out the transitions.
That's basically what I did on pLylyth's cloak, which I think came out pretty well.
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I've been a bit worried about the blue highlights for a while now. Would mixing in a complementary colour work to bring them back to an overall neutral hue? Maybe a thin wash of brown liner over the blue highlights? It's there in the shadows on (for example) the ridge down Blightfang's back, but hints of it right in with the highlights on the scales -- just enough to tie in with the dominant colour in the shadows -- might help keep the scales "black" rather than "blue".
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One comment though the black belt/loincloth on the bolt thrower looks flat/unfinished. My only nitpick as it doesn't seem as done as the rest of the figure.
D'oh! You're right -- I forgot to highlight it when I was doing the inner cloak on the officer. Still time before the tournament -- thanks!
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These guys were a more relaxed painting experience than my hour-a-figure Striders unit, but I still had to hurry a bit to get them done in time for tomorrow's ladder games. First off, the Strider officer and musician:
I'm not sure how I feel about the skin-tones. I kind of like that they look odd and a bit frost-bitten, and the blends are smoother than they were on the Striders, but it still looks a little off. I did however manage to string the bows in a manner that doesn't make me cringe every time I pick up the figures.
Next, the Nephilim Bolt Thrower. No way to string his ballista, I'm afraid. Grr. I ended up painting the quiver separately and pinning it in; oddly enough this is a first for me.
I used Uniform Brown for the carapace on this guy rather than Intense Brown (or Intense Brown:Khaki Shadow, as on my Carnivean). Not too shabby, especially with Red Liner to shade it.
Now to hit the extremities with a bit of Liquitex matte varnish, then top off the metals in the morning and (with luck) ride a storm of arrows to victory.
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Oooh, dig! I love the rust effects you're getting on the blades.
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So by glazing the highlights on the lower trim do you mean I should brighten the highlight or tone it down?
I wouldn't say you should tone down the top of the highlight, but take a thin glaze of your mid-tone purple and brush it lightly over the transition to smooth out the blend.
Still need a good strawberry blonde recipe.
This thread has a lot of recipes for hair. Just as important is placing the highlights and shadows, and if I knew how to do that I'd tell you.
Check out fieldarchy's miniatures, particularly this one, for an example of what I mean. -
I'd tone down the highlights on his jaw back of the chin; they're showing up "light" in a region that should be shadowed and giving me an impression of "Joker-face". The only other thing I'd suggest is lightly glazing some of the highlights on the lower trim of the robe, and you got a bit of red/brown leather on the robe to the right of the pouch that needs to be cleaned up. (I like the pouch poking out from the folds of the robe that way, btw: it's a nice touch of warmth in the middle of a field of cool colour.)
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Great job! I find that wash consistency is key for painting fur, and you nailed it.
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I darkline less than I should, but when I do it's usually with thinned Brown or Blue Liner. For the most part, darklining's meant to emphasize shading anyway, so I glaze some extra shadows into the, erm, dark line. I generally do it after painting, though; I find it gives me more control over the end result.
That said, a lot of people on the Privateer forums tell me that black primer's good for easy darklining (in the "just leave a bit of primer showing" sense), and I doubt they came upon their opinions entirely at random. It's just not something that tends to work well for me.
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Nice one, Jen!
I just finished assembling my Nephilim Bolt Thrower and Striders unit attachment -- the 9 points I mentioned above. I might have them basecoated by midnight Thursday, but I'm vastly unlikely to have them done by the end of the month. So my final tally reads:
Completed:
- Carnivean
- 6x Striders
- Shepherd
Assembled:
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower
- Strider UA
No progress:
- 3x Warmongers
- 2x Shredders
- spell/animus tokens
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Gorgeous! I've saved those photos as references -- suddenly I know why my hair-painting skills are laughably inadequate.
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I like the darker look. Besides, the feathers and leathers tie them all together nicely.
Thanks! The leather's Uniform Brown, which I'm planning to use as a basecoat for the rest of my beasts' carapace. The darker brown and black lining ties in with pLylyth's cloak... kinda. Still not quite sure how I ended up painting her; should've taken notes.
PS, a good choice force-wise. Out of curiosity, are you planning on doing a Forsaken next?
I'm not a big fan of the PP Forsaken model. I'm planning to kitbash something from GW Daemonette and Hormagaunt parts and a bunch of green-stuff, maybe. At 15 points (with two heat-seeking Shredders) I've yet to run into fury-management problems, and at 25 I plan to take only a Nephilim Bolt Thrower as an additional warbeast. One Shepherd should be sufficient fury management, and I won't really have enough fury flux to charge up the blight bomb.
One of these days, though... beast-heavy list with Carni/Seraph/Typhon and a bunch of Forsaken.
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Oooh, looks nice. I love the shading on the reds. Maybe bring some of the deepest shadows on the blue down to purple, to tie in?
I wouldn't go too crazy on the freehand -- not just because it's a solid paint job to start with, but also because of those awkward folds and billows. How about a simple stripe or border along the base of the cloak, mirrored on the front tabard/loincloth and maybe the hood? You could do it in white to connect with the skull on his pauldron.
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Got a Shepherd done (16pts) and 9 points worth of pewter ready to be drilled, pinned, and assembled. Probably won't have that done by the end of the month, but I expect it'll be good to go by Sunday.
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Now that I have my 15pt force, I'm working up to 25pts for next weekend. First on the workbench is this Shepherd, who's been waiting patiently, primed and based, for quite some time.
Bit of a darker look than my Striders, but I figure the Nyss aren't necessarily known for their regimented uniformity. If you don't count the time she spent waiting for me to paint other stuff, I probably have two or three hours into this model.
C&C welcome.
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Indisputable, as you say. Well done!
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Wilwarin: Thanks for the comments. I basically like the scheme, but the reds are a bit jarring. I'm thinking of moving them more towards purple... thoughts?
I did in fact wash/line/shade the feathers with Nightshade Purple, and it brought out a bunch of detail. However... I did that before highlighting them, and the highlights washed out a lot of that very same detail. D'oh!
You're right on about blending, too. Normally I can do better than that (just look at my Carnivean!), but by the time I got to shading the skin I was just trying to get the damn things done and subtlety went out the window. Too much paint on the brush is what it comes down to. I have a Strider officer and musician to paint up for next week, though, so I can spend a bit more time on them and get a bit more out of the scheme.
Shortbeard: Thanks! They performed splendidly -- delivered the coup de grace that won me one game, and very nearly defied the odds to win me a second. And once I tack on that officer-and-musician unit attachment they're going to be simply rude. "Cover? Not from us."
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A local gaming store (Strategies, for any of you in Greater Vancouver) started a WarmaHordes ladder today. Difficulty: they only permit fully-painted armies. So to get my Legion up to 15pts, I had to paint some Striders. And as much as I enjoy lavishing attention on my models, I also subscribe to the school of thought that rank-and-file minis don't need as much attention to detail as, say, heavy warbeasts. With that in mind, I painted these guys up with just a single level of highlight and shadows. It seemed to work pretty well; all anyone seemed to remember was "oh wow you strung the bows!" Anyway, here they are:
I timed myself on each step for most of the WIP thread. That was a mistake: it put me under too much pressure, and I (a) got a bit sloppy and (b) didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. Also, having carted this army to and from a remote game store, the "nickel bases held to the game bases with blu-tak" option just isn't gonna work. The only damage any of these guys suffered was when I levered an outstretched bow on the guy in the front left whilst trying to stick him to his base. (He's posed a bit awkwardly, so I don't mind re-gluing that arm.)
Another lesson learned: these guys have too damn many base colours! It looks pretty good on the table, and ties in beautifully with pLylyth, but the next unit I paint will be, ah, more straightforward.
And finally, a group shot of my 15pt Legion force. As an utter n00b, I went 1-1 in the ladder -- and later figured out how I might've been able to win the second game. Nice to know that after better than a hundred bucks and probably forty hours of painting I actually enjoy the game, too.
C&C appreciated.
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One thing a painter should do to make his work look better?
in Tips & Advice: Painting
Posted
Obviously I'm missing something regarding the Series 7 00.
Why such a small brush?