02344: Catherine O'Mannon by Sandra Garrity

[Wilwarin]

This year I am doing something new. I have a ton of minis that I need to paint that are on "back log" and little room for them. SO, I decided to randomly send out some to friends out of the blue, without the knowledge, as a little surprise to brighten up their day :) I already sent out one and my friend adored her. Tonight, I finished Catherine after another friend's persona online. This is her site. Catherine is made to look like the figure on the left :)

 

I take about a week per figure now and she was quite the challenge. Her face had to be the hardest as the bird is RIGHT in front of it. I spent a few hours on that alone and finally got it to how I like. Shading with black and red also gave me trouble and I spent even more hours on that... but I got it to a pretty good blend I think, I still need to practice though.

 

I made the highlights on her hair quiet and sadly you can't see the variations on the bird at all :( he's supposed to be a hawk with muddy brown as his body color and first layer of feathers and then earth brown as the outer feathers. I highlighted both as well, but the picture doesn't show it.

 

The dress gave me some issues and I ended up repainting it completely a few times. I finally got it to a smoother blend and I like how it looks. Enjoy!! I hope she likes it :) Comments and Crits welcome and appreciated :)

 

[Renowyth]

I like the red streak in her hair.

 

Your blending really is improving, great job!

 

My one critique, and the photo may be the issue, is more difference between the black hair and the black shawl. True, in real life, hair can match a shawl, but on this scale it looks odd. With your color scheme, I don't have the slightest idea how to do it. :-) my two guesses are 1. tint the black of the shawl with red, as if the lining was poking through 2. add brighter highlights to the hair. Hair shines, cashmere shawls don't. I'm currently staring at my black cat trying to figure out what his 'highlight' is...I think it's a dark gray.

 

However, this is a minor critique - a stretch goal.

 

Overall, the figure is great. I wish I could get my blends as good...

[Wilwarin]

I like the red streak in her hair.

 

Your blending really is improving, great job!

 

My one critique, and the photo may be the issue, is more difference between the black hair and the black shawl. True, in real life, hair can match a shawl, but on this scale it looks odd. With your color scheme, I don't have the slightest idea how to do it. :-) my two guesses are 1. tint the black of the shawl with red, as if the lining was poking through 2. add brighter highlights to the hair. Hair shines, cashmere shawls don't. I'm currently staring at my black cat trying to figure out what his 'highlight' is...I think it's a dark gray.

 

However, this is a minor critique - a stretch goal.

 

Overall, the figure is great. I wish I could get my blends as good...

 

Thank you so much for your kind words For the hair and shaw, it's the picture. The hair is dark purple highlighted with a slightly lighter purple but the camera didn't show that up well.

 

As for the highlighting on black, I'm in the same boat with you lol.

[dks]

Thanks for the explanation of the figure and the link to your friend's site.

You're showing good progress, and I'm sure that your friends will be excited to receive your gifts.

 

The eyes and eyebrows show the care that you paid to the face, despite the difficult positioning. I once painted a figure that was holding a helmet right in front of her face, so I wound up cutting off the arms entirely, painting the face, and then gluing the arms back on.

 

I see that the character on the site has a corset that's all deep purple, including the edge and the laces, but I probably would have taken the liberty of painting the figure's trim and laces with a different color, just to give some more interest to the middle of the figure.

 

You say that the painted variation on the bird and the hair doesn't show up well. It might be worthwhile to try changing your lighting setup (in case the real shadows are overwhelming what you painted), or changing the backgrounds that you add. I notice that you digitally replace the backgrounds on your photographs, and sometimes those colors are too bold (like here) or the gradients have too much contrast, so they are detracting from your paint job. Here, I would suggest something more neutral, since the bold fuchsia color makes the purple hair look duller than it probably really is, and it makes the red streak in the hair almost disappear.

 

Derek

[Wilwarin]

Thanks for the explanation of the figure and the link to your friend's site.

You're showing good progress, and I'm sure that your friends will be excited to receive your gifts.

 

The eyes and eyebrows show the care that you paid to the face, despite the difficult positioning. I once painted a figure that was holding a helmet right in front of her face, so I wound up cutting off the arms entirely, painting the face, and then gluing the arms back on.

 

I see that the character on the site has a corset that's all deep purple, including the edge and the laces, but I probably would have taken the liberty of painting the figure's trim and laces with a different color, just to give some more interest to the middle of the figure.

 

You say that the painted variation on the bird and the hair doesn't show up well. It might be worthwhile to try changing your lighting setup (in case the real shadows are overwhelming what you painted), or changing the backgrounds that you add. I notice that you digitally replace the backgrounds on your photographs, and sometimes those colors are too bold (like here) or the gradients have too much contrast, so they are detracting from your paint job. Here, I would suggest something more neutral, since the bold fuchsia color makes the purple hair look duller than it probably really is, and it makes the red streak in the hair almost disappear.

 

Derek

 

Thanks Derek! I'll redo the picture, actually, as I was thinking the same after I saw her.

 

As for the lighting, I'll take a look at it. Currently I use a small "Mail" box as my lightbox. Does the size of the box make a difference? I asked in the photo area and never got replies :( I process the pictures in Photoshop and find when I paint with darker colors it's always hard to get the contrast to show between shading and highlighting.

[Wilwarin]

Added a new picture of her :) I hope this one is easier on the eyes :)

[Mini Killer]

Nice Job, I do love the way the purple dress came out. Your blending skills are improving with each mini.

[Wilwarin]

Nice Job, I do love the way the purple dress came out. Your blending skills are improving with each mini.

 

Thank you :)

[dks]

Yes, that less intense background color in the new picture helps.

 

I find that a medium-value background makes my paint jobs stand out best. My theory: if the background is very light, then everything on the figure is darker so the contrast in the figure isn't as apparent. You might try experimenting with some slightly darker neutrals (warm or cool grays, blues, tans -- just highlight the background and adjust the brightness, hue, and saturation) and see whether this makes things any better.

 

I don't use a lightbox, so I don't know whether the size of the lightbox affects a photo, but definitely the placement of the lights does. Having lights shining from the front/sides (in addition to from the top) will balance out the influence of the overhead light. Then your painted shadows can show up better. Are you using more than one light?

 

A photo of my setup:

 

 

Derek

 

Thanks Derek! I'll redo the picture, actually, as I was thinking the same after I saw her.

 

As for the lighting, I'll take a look at it. Currently I use a small "Mail" box as my lightbox. Does the size of the box make a difference? I asked in the photo area and never got replies :( I process the pictures in Photoshop and find when I paint with darker colors it's always hard to get the contrast to show between shading and highlighting.

[ixminis]

I *thought* had a recurring subscription setup to catch camera questions in that forum, but apparently not. Derek provided great answers. Below are some of my thoughts to tack on to his:

 

Photo area size: Large enough for the largest piece you are going to photograph. Other considerations that are not hard and fast requirements. How much contrast can your camera handle? If it has problems with it, then larger photo areas that limit the variety of color & contrast captured by the cameras sensor are better. more on what I'm talking about below...

 

Background vs. miniature: Derek is on target. The higher the contrast (light and darkness values) between your piece and the background, the more you'll lose the subtle things in your digital image. Expensive cameras do better than what most of us have, but why spend extra $$$ on the camera when you don't have to? However, from a color perspective, you want to pick a background that helps the viewer differentiate between the piece and the background without detracting from your presentation. Red mini on red background, bad idea. Tan background for primarily blue piece, possibly good choice. Grey/Neutral - most likely to succeed with most pieces although it may not be interesting enough for you. I've personally found neutral backgrounds very useful for troubleshooting white balance/lighting issues.

 

You also want to look for color shifting caused by a reflected background.

 

Lighting: Ensure you've got the same bulbs. Each camera is different, so you'll have to experiment to find the bulbs that work best with your camera and it's white balance adjustments. The bottom line is using different brands and types will only make your color correction more difficult. Color cards that show the primaries (or close to primaries) and black and white are useful for figuring out good color corrections in photo-shop, gimp, or whatever your photo editing choice is. Alternately, with alot of practice, you can eventually get to a point that your lighting and background setups resolve 99% of your image color issues.

 

Ah, one more idea/suggestion: Find a time that you can practice with reflected natural daylight to troubleshoot camera settings and background choices. It will help you narrow down whether or not it is a lighting, camera, or background issue.

 

I'm probably babbling now and not making much sense.

[rgtriplec]

Does the size of the box make a difference?

 

I don't think it really matters. The main purpose of a lightbox is to diffuse the light through thin panels or with solid wall boxes to bounce the light off the top. Derek's setup is not a light box but it is the same principle as the thin walled boxes, because his lights are covered in something to diffuse the light. You can get similar effects from bouncing light out of an umbrella or off a reflector board. As long as the mini is well lit with a diffused light you can get good results from a variety of methods.

 

 

http://www.studiolighting.net/homemade-lig...ct-photography/

[Wilwarin]

My setup is this:

• small lightbox (homemade) with tissue paper on all sides and printer paper as the background
  
• 3 laps, one on each side and at the top facing the tissued part of the box
  
• my camera (Pentax k100d) sits on my tripod in front of the figure
  
• I manually take the pictures following MamaGeek's tutorial
  

 

The lamps aren't the same, however. Two are the same, but one I got a different time. Brightness wise the two lamps that are the same could be brighter than the different one, I'll have to see next time I take photos. The bulbs are the same for all 3 lamps.

 

I think I'll definitely use neutral backgrounds for my minis for now on. Tomorrow I might take some photos with the camera to see if maybe there's something up with that?

 

Thanks for the advice thus far, guys. I really do appreciate it :)