Thaelynne

Thanks all for the comments. :) I've finally gotten back to these guys. Work's been crazy. I repainted the stone on the brown lizard's sword, and I started some highlighting of the green lizard. I'll post pics when I get them uploaded. I'm struggling right now with colors... I took the shadow green (I'd love to know what exactly this color was designed for, but I liked the shade) and I added buckskin to it in various amounts to create highlight shades. But I'm not sure if it's working out? Thin coats really weren't adding much shade at all that I could tell to the basecoat, so I went even lighter, but I'm not sure if I went to far too fast. Pics coming soon.

The shading on the mom with the kids is really good! Tell me now, how much advice did she get from you, with suggestions of technique etc? I'd love to live with someone who's been painting for a while and sit down together. My friend and I only get together maybe once a month, it's tough to find people to paint with around here! Whatever the motivation, she's off to a great start. :) Very nice!

Kudos on the eyeshadow and lipstick on on the sorceress. Also nice skin tone on the princess. And I think she's got blue eyes? I need to learn how to do that, and somehow find a steady hand to execute it!

I think you did well on the plants, nicely done. I've been wanting to paint that faerie dragon myself, just haven't gotten to it. You did a great job on those wings. :) I agree with the others, I like how the two bases work well together AND apart. I'll have to try that myself if I can put together a nice theme. :)

Are those emeralds on his helm and axe? That's great, I love it! and 5 stars on the freehand stein on the shield, that's classic. :) I also noticed the blond beard, it's a great take since I usually see reds and browns. Great job! I appreciate a little rough around the edges on a dwarf, I think that was great for your first Reaper paint. Can't wait to see what you do next!

oh wow, he's very impressive! Great shading on the hanging cloth, and I LOVE those wings! I'd love a tutorial on that color scheme. Kudos!

I like the color choices, with the green boardered yellow tabard and the red cloak. Nice. Great eyes too. :)

Is that a cork base? Like the 1/2 in thick sheet of large cork pieces? I've seen others use that, but I can't find where to buy it. By the way I'm a big fan of blue, I love what you did with her in that shade.

We'll definitely be there. And I know we'll have some recently completed minis and definitely a few in progress by then, so we'll pack those up too. :) Looking forward to it! By the way, whatever method of blending you've got... we need to try them all out probably and find what works best for us so we'll take whatever guidance you can give! Also I personally still have trouble figuring out how to pick out the colors to highlight and shade with, as well as picking out general color schemes for the mini to start with. I'm really trying to work on getting those creative juices flowing, but it's a real challenge for me!

I'd love to see some more fairies. Some more options from various fantasy interpretations.

Wow, I love those guys! You did a great job, I love that frog. His eyes are awesome. I was just looking at that figure in the Asylum store yesterday, but I wasn't really taken with the sample paint job. But I just love what you've done with these two. I mean, how vicious can you be when you're riding a frog? But I see it now!

I ordered the DVD two weeks ago today, and I only JUST got it in Thursday. Well technically it landed at the post office, so I had to wait to pick it up Friday (yesterday). I figure there were LOTS of folks ordering the new DVD, which is why it took them closer to their 1-2 week time period this time! JOY!! Can't wait to sit and watch some today. The only hesitation I have with the CMON DVD is the cost compared to the Natalya DVD. :( But like Loim, I'll likely end up with both, in the end. :)

That was excellent, Anne, thanks! Some of us are paint geeks, some of us are paint nerds... some of us are a bit of both, I love it.

haha! Well that's a good way to get the girls involved! I totally think it was worth whatever effort it took to find those decals. :) You made it work!

I like what you did with the black highlighting. He looks like he's got these dusty hightlights, which is appropriate I think. I also really like the horns and hooves. Nice paint job.

I'm no pro, pretty new myself, but the biggest issue you have in anything you do is overthinking. Analysis paralysis! ;) Basically, based on your list above, it looks like you have most of what you need to get started and my suggestion is... just start painting! My friend had to smack me a couple of times to get me going too. :) I agree with the skin triads mentioned by Mercius, those are pretty standard, and you can change them up with the color wheel colors you have if you want to go any further. And for basing, as my friend always tells me, just hit the spice rack. Mix in a little basil, parsely, oregeno... put glue on the base and cover. Unless you want to do more, that'll be a perfectly decent start. or you can do the same with sand, and then prime and paint the sand. You can do that before or after the mini painting, and at this point, I'd go for after, just to get you started on the mini. Reaper's got some great stuff, and hey, if you don't like the paint job the first time around, you can either buy another of the same mini, or strip and repeat! Good Luck!!

I just wanted to repeat the other sentiments above. I have truly enjoyed catching up and watching this thread as you went through this process and included everyone by taking feedback. It was so interesting. And as one who doesn't have those kinds of artistic skills, THANK YOU so much for posting it and allowing us to watch along with you. I'm also glad you're feeling better. I look forward to news on this casting, and your next sculpts!

What an interesting concept... I like it! Are you thinking of a series of household 'appliance'-type monsters or is he just a standalone? that could be cool.

I like him, and you're right, he does look like some old character... I can't place it though... too early in the day. Nice round of second pics, I was actually going to suggest a non-white background. Good call.

I love those Gnolls and I think you did a great job on him. Nicely done. Keep practicing on those bases, and update this thread when you finally dare to base this one. :) I agree, do post more! Novice Tip, with the camera. There's a macro on most all cameras these days, and if it's still not focusing well, I don't zoom in very much, I'll depress the button enough so the auto focus kicks in, and then I'll move the camera closer to get to where the camera thought it was really focusing. See if that helps any. Good luck!

This is a fantastic thread, thanks so much for going into such detail, Darkstar. I was actually just looking at washes (the ones I tried using from Reaper just seemed muddy to me), and I was wondering what in the world I could do with the clears... so this was actually a well timed discussion for my mulling this week! I love what you did with her. I'm kinda partial to my 'barbarian/hunters' for some reason, and I really like the couple of plaid pieces that have been shared recently. I can't wait to steady my hand enough for some freehand like that, but I don't think that'll be for quite some time. :) Right now, I'm just trying to learn about color theory! And more practice with brush handling. Thanks again for the glaze/clears commentary, I'll definitely be referencing this thread again.

Looking forward to seeing more! Take care of yourself, though. I know what those evil flareups feel like.

I have to admit, I looked at the first pic of the Minotaur, and then I spotted the water effect, and that's all I could focus on! My current kick is to try out a water scene, and I love what you've done in both of those. But just to confirm, yes, I totally got the blindness as well, very nicely done.

Yeah, stone was sortof the first look I was going for... I was mimicking one that was painted up like bone, I believe. I might go back to that stone look when I get through the green lizardman. I'm having trouble finding examples though to figure out the shading on the flat stone sword too. Thanks for the advice!

Just for starters, here's the green lizard concept art and another Marike sample. And here he is so far. I'm using Khaki Shadow on the back and Creamy Ivory on the front to start out. I'll be using olive colors, unless someone has better color suggestions. That's one area I'm struggling with right now... color selection. (this is a real challenge for someone with very little artistic talent!! ;) )