Whizard Hlavaz Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 *Stretch* *Yawn* "Huh? Oh, yeah... I been painting... Kind of." Long time, kids. Long time. Stay away from WoW. S.T.A.Y. A.W.A.Y. So... got out the desk. Got out the brushes. Found a primed mini and said "WTH." I'll paint this. And now... sorry to say... You have to endure the results. Mainly, I wanted to get my feet back under me with a little blending practice. Large robes are good for that. Then I thought I'd get creative. Yikes. No dice. So the idea here is the sigil is supposed to be casting a sorcerous glow, as though the wraith has swept his cloak aside to reveal a rune of dark power upon the moment of his assault. Glow effect, good. Rune, bad. I can't draw. Bottom line. And while I tried to render it using a trompe l'oeil effect -- as though carving a rune into a sword -- the glow from within kept messing me up. And I gave up after a few attempts of completely repainting it. Hate it, but whatever. It's a practice piece. The rest isn't bad. That said... all you masters... how would you render a sigil as though it's shredding the fabric of the cloth to reveal a bright (albeit dark) power from within? I'd like to get this eventually. Think it could be fun. I tried stipling. I tried cutting in edges. Each failed me. It probably just comes back to the fact that I can't draw. Just the same, what do you think? Can you hit it? If so... tell me. I'd love to try again.... Just not on this fig. It is abandoned. JW knows what I'm saying. Anyhow, enjoy! -D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I think it came out well. Blending is good and I like the sigil idea. The sword is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumble_B Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Only reason he posted today was because of the extended maintenance on the servers ..... we won't see him again now that another major patch has been released :P O and the wraith is dead sexy. Love the glow effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilwarin Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Very nice job! I think the blending looks very well done :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warlady Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I think you got the sorcerous glow down pretty well. Nice effect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Very nice work! The cloak looks cool and the sword is awesome! The rune is good, it reads as a rune and not something else. I was going to try a coloration glow effect I noticed in a comic book that the inker used on Thor's lightning bolts. If it works out I'll post, but should be fairly easy to find a picture of Ultimate Thor to visualize. And yeah the extended patch was rough.. that game is way too addicting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaGeek Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Very nice job. The sword looks especially good. The gray shroud could use some more shading in the deepest folds, but the blending is really nice. The sigil effect could be better, but if you hadn't told me what you were going for, I wouldn't have known it wasn't exactly what you were trying to achieve. It is really cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted August 5, 2009 Moderator Share Posted August 5, 2009 I think he looks good. Thoughts on doing the rune: to attempt an effect like you describe, I'd do the following: 1. During prep, draw the rune on the bare mini in pencil. 2. Using a carbide point tool in my dremel, I'd go over the pencil line, back and forth perpendicular to the pencil line, like crossing it out. This would leave striations in the metal surface indicating the stress points of the disintegrating fabric. I'd make this at least 2 to 3 times as wide as the finished rune will be. 3. Using a very thin rolled out rod of green stuff, I'd build the rune on top of the striaited part, letting the GS touch the surface just enough to stick. This will make the rune look like it is coming out and off of the fabric, ripping its way free. If you are good at sculpting, you could add a few whisps of torn free fabric on the edges. 4. Paint as you did above, though in the striations on the fabric you'd want to shadow them well to give depth. Andy PS: Nice to have you back. I missed seeing your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewen Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 You took one of the simplest models and did an awesome paint job. Nice blending, lighting, and NMM. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizard Hlavaz Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 Thanks, everybody. You're very kind. Momma -- to your point, the sigil doesn't work for me, either. It just doesn't live up to what I envisioned (which is why I'm a constipated writer...) and as the piece was 'practice', I abandoned it. That said, it's been irking me, so I've been digging through reference materials and lo and behold -- I found an example of exactly what I was trying for in an old Rackham Cry Havoc supplement. Turns out, I was on the right track with the trompe l'oeil rune I'd painted. My failure came in trying to illuminate the sides and immediately exterior edges. Maybe some day I'll fix it. In any event, I'll definitely give it a go on another model. Andy -- I'd thought about green stuff at one point, but as the the robes were already painted and I'm pretty rough handed when working with green stuff, I went with 'abandon'. But definitely a good idea. And thanks for the detailed advice. And thanks. Nice to be back. I've missed painting. Forgot how fulfilling it is. Finally, Bigs -- LOL! Your assumption would have been spot on a few weeks ago. I haven't logged on for a while now, and it feels great. Didn't even know the content patch hit until my guild captain called me up to try to entice me back. Don't think I'm interested ATM, though. I've been able to get a lot of other things done now that I'm not playing WoW. Anyhow, thanks all. More to come, I'm pleased to say. -Whiz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenova Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Ohhh, not bad! I really like what you've done with the cloak. Great color. I agree that it could use a little more shading in the deepest parts. The rune looks really nice, but not really glowing. I guess it's the absence of light right next to the rune that throws off the glow effect a little. The NMM is gorgeous. What did you use for the gold? Got bigger pics? Now, go paint another one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 I hear ya.... Great to have you back at the brush. You did an excellent job on this. The sigil looks a bit odd, but it looks like you have solved the problem on your own; now it's just a matter of putting into effect (on the next mini ). I'd like to see the reference pic you mentioned, if you have the time. Or you could just paint another mini--I can wait. The NMM is wonderful. My only additional critique beyond what has already been mentioned would be to add a bit of weathering to the bottom of the robe. As someone of great authority once told me about an ogress I painted--"it looks to clean". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizard Hlavaz Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 Ohhh, not bad! I really like what you've done with the cloak. Great color. I agree that it could use a little more shading in the deepest parts. The rune looks really nice, but not really glowing. I guess it's the absence of light right next to the rune that throws off the glow effect a little. Hey, Inge. Thanks. Yeah, rune = fail, but I'll try again sometime. This was really just a "get my feet under me" piece with the intent to try to get my blends smooth across large surfaces. The NMM is gorgeous. What did you use for the gold? Thanks. I had a great teacher. The gold was undercoated in Reaper Walnut (old Reaper Pro). Next, a bit of Vallejo Ochre Yellow to base. This was shaded by my cloak's base, which was a blend of equal parts Reaper Master Weathered Blue and Volcano Brown. Highlight back up with Ochre Yellow glazes. Touch of white added to Ochre Yellow. Then white to top off the tips. I skipped using any kind of lemon yellow or yellow so as to keep the gold "aged" and antiqued. Unlike the cold, bright steel blade, I didn't want shiny gold. I wanted it warmer, earthier. Got bigger pics? Um, yeah. If you really want to see the hideousness up close and personal. Here you go: Now, go paint another one! Yes, ma'am!!! Working on it! JW -- Thanks, man. Glad to be back. And thanks for the kind words. Sigil is total odd. Oh, well. I'll see if I can get a scan of the photo example I eventually found in the Cry Havoc supplement. As to the weathering, you can see *some* in the blow-up photos. I got bored and didn't care to do too much finish work once the sigil failed. So, some quick scratches to dust up the weave of the cloth here and there.... then done. But I take your point. Thanks, all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yani Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I love the tones of the cloak, it looks very rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dks Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Welcome back from the clutches of WoW! Blends look good and smooth. The back of the cloak doesn't look black but rather gray -- not enough of the surface is black -- but if gray was what you were after, though, then good work. I like the brushwork to indicate frayed cloth. Might have darkened those areas before brushing on the frays, so the extra darkened areas would simulate openings/absences. A few more artistic-license highlights around the cowl might help to make the head more prominent. Sword blade looks excellent. Sword hilt looks very good, too. Good call on keeping the gold cooler/antiqued. I don't think the point-highlights at the bottom of the crossguard need to be there -- they make it look like the crossguard is concave, so the bottom is angled outward to catch the overhead light at those points -- but that's OK. I've painted a few glow effects from flat objects (runes, glowing eyes), and I generally find it best to make a jump down in value at the edge of the glowing object to its surroundings, and then darken outward from there. Don't go dark around the glow and then lighten outward. ( -- as you & Jenova have already figured out/discussed) Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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