NeccoWafer Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 Cinder looks like a beautiful dragon and I can't wait to see how she looks when you are finished. So sad to hear that the shipping wasn't kind to her 'fingers' on her wings and the back was a bit messy. IMO (In My Opinion), if you got it from a mini store, I'd send it back because of the 'non-finished' back and the gap between the head and neck. Of course if you got it from eBay, you take it 'as is'. Good job on fixing her up and maybe with a bit more green stuff you can finish off her back. Happy sculpting and painting! -Terri aka NeccoWafer SORRY TS, SORRY EVERYONE!!!! (Geez, I love it when I look like an idiot because of my machine) SKIP THIS POST, MY PC HAS BEEN MESSING UP THIS PAST WEEK AND NOT EVERYTHING COMES UP ON THE PAGE, SO BASICALLY I MISSED EVERYTHING AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF CINDER. Cinder looks great so far and the choice of colors are just right for her. Hope to see more pics soon! -Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spatula Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 OK, now I want your thoughts. As you can see in the paint picture I posted above, I mixed a Clear Red glaze. I haven't used it yet. I was thinking of going over the scales with a thin glaze of Clear Red to brighten them, but I am not sure that they need it. What do you think? Well...the "red glaze" can be done at anytime...after you complete the current painting "steps" on the model, that "presentation" may allow for a better "call" on what additional "steps" you wish to take. I enjoy your posts...very informative. The picture of "Leftside base coated", "Rightside hi-lited"...two-thumbs-up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleskin Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 Looking good,more updates please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted May 25, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted May 25, 2006 SORRY TS, SORRY EVERYONE!!!! (Geez, I love it when I look like an idiot because of my machine) SKIP THIS POST, MY PC HAS BEEN MESSING UP THIS PAST WEEK AND NOT EVERYTHING COMES UP ON THE PAGE, SO BASICALLY I MISSED EVERYTHING AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF CINDER. No problem, but you did have me wondering for a few seconds, especially since your two posts were separated by a page. Thanks for the comments. Well...the "red glaze" can be done at anytime...after you complete the current painting "steps" on the model,that "presentation" may allow for a better "call" on what additional "steps" you wish to take. Good advice, I think I will do this, especially since I think the pebbly skin may need the glaze as well. The picture of "Leftside base coated", "Rightside hi-lited"...two-thumbs-up! Thanks, I thought that picture was cool myself. Looking good,more updates please! I'll do my best, I already have the second layer down on the left side, only 4 more to go. I won't promise any speed though as (A.) I'm not the fastest painter in the world, (B.) have little kids, and (C.) work is getting very intense these days. I'll be down to only a couple hours of painting time a week now for a while. But I will do my best and as soon as I have something worthy of showing off, I'll post it. Thanks, TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted June 14, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted June 14, 2006 Good evening, Well, after another month of painting, or more precisely, squeezing small blocks of painting time between the other obligations of life, I have finally finished all of the main body scales on Cinder. I am so tired of painting red . Well, I have already told you in more depth than you probably want to hear how I did the red scales in previous posts, so I shall refrain from boring you a second time and get right to the picture: I must say that this side went much faster and I have definitely increased my layering speed, which is one of my goals in doing this miniature. In fact, I'd say that this side took roughly half the time the left side took. I also painted the right eye as well, having not done this previously when I did the left eye for some strange, unfathomable reason. Here is the right eye: Other than that, I don't have much to post. I am not sure what I will tackle next, probably the horns, mouth, breast scales, and then the pebble scaled skin, in that order. The horns and mouth should give me some variety away from shading large areas for a while, which I desperately need right about now. Take care, TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mousekiller Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 Keep up the good, arduous work. That eye is awesome, I really like that you thought to throw in that white highlight, kind of like with gems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeaterofshades Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Ok Quick question. I have Gauth based as a red. With a dragon with smaller scales (not the nice biggies on Cinder), what is best way to highlight and shade and still create believeble results? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amypaintsminis Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Wow, TS, this is quite a project you've tackled! I don't look at the forums often, so it took me a while to get up to date as there's a lot here on this thread (although I didn't read all the comments) I must say that taking so many pictures of the prep work was awfully cool of you, like a parent taking pictures of every stage of their child growing up. The red scales are looking very nice. I know you don't want to hear this, but the edges of the scales could use another highlight or two as they don't seem to have quite enough contrast to pop- when you squint at it looks like there could be more contrast. I would do a thin layer of orange around them to make them stand out just a bit more. What you have so far looks wonderful- I look forward to seeing the completion of your dragon with great anticipation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kengar Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Ok Quick question. I have Gauth based as a red. With a dragon with smaller scales (not the nice biggies on Cinder), what is best way to highlight and shade and still create believeble results? Thanks! Looking good, TS. I'm taking notes for when I paint Lavarath red. TEOS, the obvious -and less helpful- answer to your question is "Use smaller brushstrokes." Another option is a quick-and-dirty method of washes and drybrushing. Lightly drybrush highlights onto the scales' tips, then follow up with some ink washes. Someone else probably has a better idea, but hopefully this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angus147258 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Everything looks good from what I can see. You've definately matched the reaper studio painted version of the dragon. If you want to take it to the next level though, you have a couple more things that you could do on the scales. Most dragon scales are mettalic or shiney in someway. To show this I suggest that you highlight them to follow the light source.An other thing you can do is add thin brush strokes to define the texture of the scales. I hope that helps! Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Wizard Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 TaleSpinner: You should get the Reaper Public Service Award for posting this exhaustive treatise. You have my gratitude for the time and effort this has taken. In other words, thanks dude! Brian the Fizzy Cyst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted July 6, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted July 6, 2006 Ok Quick question. I have Gauth based as a red. With a dragon with smaller scales (not the nice biggies on Cinder), what is best way to highlight and shade and still create believeble results? Thanks! Though a bit droll with his wit, Kengar is right about smaller brushstrokes. I would essentially attack it as any highlighting project, treating the scales as individual objects, though with small scales you can cheat a bit more, especially once you get to the highlights. The red scales are looking very nice. I know you don't want to hear this, but the edges of the scales could use another highlight or two as they don't seem to have quite enough contrast to pop- when you squint at it looks like there could be more contrast. I would do a thin layer of orange around them to make them stand out just a bit more. I'll consider it. I typically leave the fine tuning details until all the various colors are in place and I can see the mini as a whole. I already have 6 shades of red and 8 near the belly. I really want the RED feel to this dragon so I am hesitant to let it get too orangey. Anyway, as I said, I'll leave off decisions like this until I see how all the colors work together once I get the pebbled skin, belly, and wings done. Then I'll adjust as I feel I need to and add the lighting effects. Most dragon scales are mettalic or shiney in someway. To show this I suggest that you highlight them to follow the light source. An other thing you can do is add thin brush strokes to define the texture of the scales. Funny, but I have always disliked metalic/shiny looking chromatic dragons. I was worried that she was coming off too shiny! I'll add fine details and lighting effects when all else is done as I said above, if I feel they are needed. Right now, I like the look of the scales, but am toying with adding a bit of dark veining/striping as some of them look TOO perfect. We'll see how the rest turns out before I do though. Thanks for the suggestions. You should get the Reaper Public Service Award for posting this exhaustive treatise. I didn't know they had one! Actually, I'm just being my typical overly AR and OCD self. It's the technical writer in me showing through. Thanks for all the comments. Next update coming soon. TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted July 6, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted July 6, 2006 Good evening, Tonight, I have a tale of two horns and a question for you. I started working on the horns a few weeks ago, and then set the mini aside due to 2 camping trips 2 weekends in a row. For the horns, I am using a 5 part progression of RMS Muddy Brown, Earth Brown, and Leather Brown: I painted in the base color and added the next two highlight colors as you can see in the following progressive shots: At this point, I decided that the base color of the horns was way too light in shade for what I wanted, so I glazed it using the liner color from the body scales. I then added the three lowest colors in the above mix as a highlight progression. So now here is where I get a little funky. I wanted to add a little texture to the horns, so using the next color in the progression I painted the following: My intention is to then go over each line with the highest color and maybe add another one or two shades beyond that at the ridges. I have two problems with this: 1. It will be very difficult to carry this effect around to the back sides of the horns. 2. I am not sure if I like it. I can't decide if it looks natural or if it is too fakey on this style of horn. I think it would look great on the ram's horns on the Chimera that I'll be doing in the next year or so, but does it work on Cinder? So, I'm putting it to you, should I keep going with the striping on the horns, or should I scrap it and go with smooth looking horns with highlights that flow with the curves? Thanks in advance for your help. TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mousekiller Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 I can honestly say that I am not sure. Maybe a pic from slightly further away would help decide, as it would include more for the eye to take in... Looking great by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kengar Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 I like the horn effect a lot! As far as natural-looking, it looks like a dark antelope horn (both in shape and texture). I can see what you mean about carrying it over to the back, though. The truth is that many horns don't have the same texture over the whole surface, and a flat area is fairly common. You can see an example on a photo of an antelope horn here. The trick would be to make the flat area look delibrate and have it blend well with the textured area, which is probably as difficult as just painting the texture effect all over anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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