Gareson

Thanks for the feedback...both the affirmations and constructive criticism. Highlighting cloth is indeed a w.i.p. for me. I used to "over highlight" and have chalky contrasts between highlights and shadows...now I find myself erring the other way...being overly subtle. The green cloth you see on my Silas was higlighted with about 45 layers of ultra-thinned highlight color. I probably need to add more pigment to my highlight mix. I suppose as I've been overly aggressive with highlighting in the past, and overly subtle more rcently, maybe its a sign that I am zeroing in on a happy medium! I appreciate the critique because although I was generally happy with my finished mini, I did wonder if I had enough contrast on the cloth...feedback from other folks is helpful in this regard.

Well I have seen a lot of great paint jobs on this great sculpt so I wanted to do something a little different in terms of paint scheme. I dropped the shield just because I couldn't get it to look right with the figure's pose and he has such a great stance...I thought he was better without it. As with all Reaper minis...a pleasure to paint! I chose to make him an "older" guy with a litte wear on his leather and armor...and of course a five o'clock shadow to boot. I had every intention of painting the eagle on his chest, but in the end I liked the look of just a "stamped" form without color. When I was one brush stroke away I dropped the mini in a Brown Liner glaze I had made for his armor...and had to go back and do some serious touch ups! I experimented with some of the demi-metallic suggestions of Anne Foerster in the Dark Sword DVD(not perfectly executed...but it's a starting point)...

But I've seen the eyes on your figures on your website...I definitely wouldn't change whatever you're doing...top notch!

Thanks for the kinds words...pretty new to this community but I really appreciate the positive reinforcement.

Oh yeah....I didn't even notice your avatar!

Well I'm really enjoying painting Reaper minis for the first time and I really had a lot of fun with Shalelu(Elf Ranger). Doesn't this sculpt have the greatest hair? I went a little more green with her than the studio scheme(by the the great Derek Schubert)... My wife bought a couple of new brushes that are a dream for painting eyes(Da Vinci Retouch and an Escoda)...they were handy for Shalelu's peepers.

Same here. Recently I've moved beyond just painting Privateer Press stuff to Reaper and other fantasy minis. I've noticed that a lot of the dwarves(such as by Red Box, Hasselfree, Valiant) are a lot smaller than Reaper's...I much prefer the bigger ones(especially for painting faces!!!).

Cobb is joining my Fulumbar and Halbarad in my small but growing collection of painted Reaper minis(I have too many unpainted ones to think about!). At first I leaned towards replacing the giant shield with something that didn't conceal so much of the mini but in the end I decided I liked the unique look it gave him(and I would have felt guilty deviating from the great vision of the likes of Jason Wiebe). I hope you like him...

I appreciate everyone's suggestions here in response to my post...thanks for all the ideas and I welcome more. Also, I am thinking of using liners as washes(as someone suggested in this thread)...in the past I've used inks for this successfully but in the Dark Sword DVD Anne and Jen suggest that inks will tear up your brushes.

Just curious as to the various ways that painters in these forums like to employ the various "liners" in the RMS series. How do you all typically use them?

O.K., that's pre-ordered by me even though it isn't even offered yet! That would really be great!

The DVD's are indeed awesome. I posted a thread of my wife's first ever painted minis after she watched them, which I think speaks to how effective the instruction is! You can see that post here... My Wife's First Minis

Well I love the showcased(official) paint scheme for Halbarad on the Reaper site but I didn't want to just copy it. I went for a yellow(Palomino Gold)& Crimson(HD series)combo to give him a bit of a different look... Thanks for viewing.

Brilliant colors and eye-catching details. All around great!

I have to be honest...very little(from me). My greatest contribution is directing her to where to buy minis and paints(which obviously is a minimal contribution). She really learned a lot from the Dark Sword painting DVD's...patiently watching, taking notes and following their examples. In fact, if anything, she has been helping me improve(even though I've been painting for decades)...pushing me to take my highlights higher and being more aggressive with my hues.