Summer Exchange Miniature, not in an oak box yet

[Helltown]

Okay.. Wisely I decided to paint this fellow without his bow attached, it would've obscured a lot of stuff that I wouldn't have reached otherwise... But it's getting close to the end and I want to make sure my recipient gets a nice mini so... I'm asking for input after weeks of furtive painting and flinching whenever someone announced that they'd already sent their summer mini.

 

He's not permanently fixed to his base yet, so that can be changed and here are all the linkies, no pictures here so that my recipient can read and not look if he chooses.

 

Front

Side 1

Back

Side 2

Front angled up for better facial view

 

Please limit to advice and pointers... comments are cool n' that but I know he's a pretty boy already, I just want to make him prettier.

[Ayin]

My suggestion would be to bring up highlights on his armor. I like the colors you've chosen, but they look a bit flat in the picture, and the burgundy/brown combo don't stand out from each other. IMO, I would bring the burgundy up with reds, leave the brown dark - maybe even use a bit of brown liner.

Also, I would use a soft brown (nothing drastic) to line between his face & hairline, and maybe to give him a bit of an upper eyelid.

I like the shading in the hand on the quiver.

 

Which mini is he btw? I think I needs one o' him.

[Cerridwyn1st]

The model in question is a Warlord Vale Archer. They have been releasing these individually, but I don't know if this one has been or not.

 

The skin and hair look very nice. Don't be afraid of brownlining between the skin and hair for more "pop".

 

I concur with Ayin on the need for more highlighting on the armor. I would be inclined to make the filigree stand out more by highlighting that as well. In RMS colors, one of my favorites for this kind of thing would work out as Intense Brown, Palomino Gold, then Clear Yellow. I would be careful bringing up the burgundy with additional red. Not too bright, or he'll look like the Christmas Archer.

 

What are you using for the green? I'd highligh that a bit, too. Try adding first Field Green and then Moth Green. I know it sounds a bit odd adding a florescent color, but with the darker green base it works out nicely.

 

IMO, there's too much of the green flock on the base. I'd take a little of that off. The cork part of the base looks very nice. Well done.

Edited September 6, 2007 by Cerridwyn1st

[Helltown]

My suggestion would be to bring up highlights on his armor. I like the colors you've chosen, but they look a bit flat in the picture, and the burgundy/brown combo don't stand out from each other. IMO, I would bring the burgundy up with reds, leave the brown dark - maybe even use a bit of brown liner.

Also, I would use a soft brown (nothing drastic) to line between his face & hairline, and maybe to give him a bit of an upper eyelid.

I like the shading in the hand on the quiver.

 

Which mini is he btw? I think I needs one o' him.

 

The face isn't quite done yet, I put the eyes on and then take care of the final highlights. I intend to leave the brown dark so I'm probably going to bring up the burgundy a bit more. There's not a lot of space for eyelid, but I'll give it a whirl when I get to the face later today. So far this mini has used... 8 colors? 9 colors?

 

As for the mini itself, you've got two choices in getting one.. He's a Warlord Vale Archer, but not the one released individually. I got him in a 3-pack blister those are no longer in production. That leaves the 9-pack unit box or he can be bought from the Boneyard. If you go the Boneyard route you'll need to get 006119A Vale Archer: Bow Down and 006119D Vale Archer: Bow Sprue. The one released individually was the female of the unit.

 

The model in question is a Warlord Vale Archer. They have been releasing these individually, but I don't know if this one has been or not.

 

The skin and hair look very nice. Don't be afraid of brownlining between the skin and hair for more "pop".

 

I concur with Ayin on the need for more highlighting on the armor. I would be inclined to make the filigree stand out more by highlighting that as well. In RMS colors, one of my favorites for this kind of thing would work out as Intense Brown, Palomino Gold, then Clear Yellow. I would be careful bringing up the burgundy with additional red. Not too bright, or he'll look like the Christmas Archer.

 

What are you using for the green? I'd highligh that a bit, too. Try adding first Field Green and then Moth Green. I know it sounds a bit odd adding a florescent color, but with the darker green base it works out nicely.

 

IMO, there's too much of the green flock on the base. I'd take a little of that off. The cork part of the base looks very nice. Well done.

 

I'd rather bring up the red because the brown is also a reddish-brown (GW Scorched Brown) and it's a larger surface area to work with. I actually did the initial highlights by mixing Terran Khaki Highlight to Red Liner (the basecoat is a Terran Khaki and Red Liner 1:3 mix).

 

The green is a basecoat of 1:1 Green Liner and Khaki Shadow, brought up to a mix of 1:1 Green Liner and Terran Khaki (I was trying to keep things murky, dusty to add a feel of war-weariness to the mini). I don't have Field Green or Moth Green, so... I'll have to sort that out somehow. Heh... I don't have a lot of paints, I do have a lot of imagination and a color wheel tho so we'll see what we get playing around with what I do have. Not an excuse, just stating facts.

 

And that's not flock... that's moss, I haven't gotten any flock yet. I do agree that it needs a bit of pruning, bonsai trimmers to the rescue!

[Stubbdog]

simple, clean, nice.

 

nice mix of browns and greens and golden color.

 

Only realy question is whether you are going o do something different for the filigree or leave them as blends of their current material.

 

Other than that, I agree with the need for some more highlights. Some of it is cause the pics are dark, but even so the highlights could be a bit more noticeable.

[Cerridwyn1st]

I'd rather bring up the red because the brown is also a reddish-brown (GW Scorched Brown) and it's a larger surface area to work with. I actually did the initial highlights by mixing Terran Khaki Highlight to Red Liner (the basecoat is a Terran Khaki and Red Liner 1:3 mix).

 

Painting itty-bitty details is what Russian Weasle Butt-fur is for.

[Helltown]

I'd rather bring up the red because the brown is also a reddish-brown (GW Scorched Brown) and it's a larger surface area to work with. I actually did the initial highlights by mixing Terran Khaki Highlight to Red Liner (the basecoat is a Terran Khaki and Red Liner 1:3 mix).

 

Painting itty-bitty details is what Russian Weasle Butt-fur is for.

 

And synthetics as well, but that's not the point.. It's my brush control is still off from my lil' Xacto slip and if I try to force too much fine motor control, my hand shakes thus ruining lots of work instead of just a little bit.