jah-joshua Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 hey Reaper people... i have been trying to find this mini for a while... as soon as i got him, i knew i had to paint him as a Blood Angels Sternguard Sergeant... more views are available in the gallery post: http://coolminiornot.com/248224 i like the scheme in the new codex, but i thought that the Sergeant should have a little more bling on the shoulder pads... the rest is strictly codex coloring... on this mini, i was trying out the Vallejo Air Gold for the first time... i don't like it much, as it's way too bright... mixed in with my P3 Rhulic gold, it made for a nice midtone... on it's own, it makes a good highlight... this was my first time trying battle damage on red... quite a fun challenge... i also tried my hand at marble stone for the first time... i think i can pull it off a bit better next time... i had a lot of fun painting this guy, and i look forward to some more Blood Angels minis... i've got The Sanguinor on deck, and the rest of the new releases are on their way to me thanks to Wayland Games providing me with a very generous prize for my Salamander in the Golden Bolter painting contest... thanks for lookin'... hope you like him... cheers jah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 Can I borrow some of your skill? Dude, you are a great painter, I really dig your style. I can't find anything to say other than great job, headed over to CMON to throw a 10 on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferox Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 Outstanding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted April 18, 2010 Report Share Posted April 18, 2010 Awesome job, the optics on the scope are excellent as well as the red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 Gotta love those sweet metal sculpts by GW. Yeah, the new Sternguard and Vanguard models rock. Nice work on this guy. I've got a squad of 10 Sternguard still in the box. Say, is that base piece part of the sculpt? SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jah-joshua Posted April 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 thanks for the kind works, everybody... i have a few touch-ups to do tonight, and some new pics to snap before he goes up on ebay... red is really hard to photograph!!! @Stern: this is the Web Exclusive Marine that was available in '08 as a free gift for buying $100 worth of stuff at the online store... the base is part of the sculpt/cast.. he's 3 parts, body w/stone, arm w/bolter, and backpack... i actually like the stock Sternguard with powerfist way better than this pose, but i'm a fanatic for limited edition minis... cheers jah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 Jah, if you don't mind me asking, waht kind of layering/blending technique do you use to get the 'Eavy Metal paintjobs? Your style seems very similar to many of Darrin's minis that I have seen, so was wondering if you use the same techniques he does. I plan on doing a unit of Dwarf slayers soon and want to try and pull off that 'Eavy Metal style on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jah-joshua Posted April 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 no worries, bro... i'm always happy to talk shop... i use a technique called "24 years of painting GW minis"... seriously, ever since i picked up my first White Dwarf at 12 years old, i have been a student of their style... as it has changed over the years, so has my painting... i don't study technique in the sense of approach, such as wet-blending, feathering, juicing, or even color theory... maybe i should... my approach has always been more masochistic... i look at a finished mini, see what i like about the results, grab my brush, and dive in at the deep end... i don't start with any analytical step-by-step technique to get to the end result, which does make things harder for me... it's just hours and hours of hard work, trial and error, and experimentation... i've known Darren through email for about 4 years now... we used to have a good discussion about how traditional GW painting style was pushed out of the competitive arena by the French style, a few years ago... this trend actually pushed the 'Eavy Metal studio to expand it's own skill set... 5 years ago, you never would have seen a NMM in a Codex, or the catalog (as in the pic for The Sanguinor in the online store)... it wasn't the "official" GW paint approach, 'cause they want to sell their metallic paints... anyway, i'm a huge fan of Darren's painting... his improvement in the last few years has really been what pushed my to break out of my comfort zone... being a professional studio painter puts you in a place where, most of the time, the boss just wants something to be "good enough"... it's assembly line painting, and doesn't usually push any boundaries... when Mike Mcvey would send me a unit to paint for Privateer, it would come with a very specific brief, and reference pics... always with a very tight timeline, and an expectation of exactly what the mini would look like... this leads to years of painting at exactly the same level, in exactly the same style, but is a good solid foundation of the skills... now, a few years later, i have finally stopped working for any studios... it's nice to have the freedom of getting to chose which minis i paint, which scheme i want to use, and what experiments i want to try... this is the first year that i have only painted what i want to paint, and it's really helping to improve my painting... so basically, everything i'm doing right now is an experiment... the only real basic technique i almost always use is layering... each layer is a progressively lighter tone, on top of a previous layer that is completely dry (no wet blending, or two brush blending)... how thin the paint is, and how much i can feather the layers is still a learning experience... the main thing is that i use P3 paints... these paints have slightly different tones to GW paints, and cover better... since they cover better, i have more confidence in my paints, and this pushes me to thin my paint more, which leads to smoother transitions and better results... i still use some GW paints, and any other company that has a unique color i want, but moving away from stricly GW paints and styles has made me a better painter... i still love the work that the 'Eavy Metal guys are turning out, all these years later... the way that they have evolved pushes me to evolve, especially with their own personal work... as much as i like to study all the different styles of mini painting, it's the 'Eavy Metal crew that has inspired me to keep at it all these years... i'll wrap this up now, as it's getting a bit long... this is a subject that i contemplate daily, and will be talking about a lot on my blog... the personal philosophy of a painter's approach to their work is something that has always fascinated me, in all genres of painting from the Old Masters to the guys who airbrush custom choppers... cheers jah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 Awesome! Thanks for the great reply. I have been following your blog, I look forward to reading more of your thoughts. I am a huge fan of the 'Eavy Metal style, I think it is mainly beause thats what I looked up to 12-15 years ago when I was first painting. Now that I am just getting back into the hobby after 12 years away I am still trying to find my own style while getting the basics down, layering and thinning and whatnot. I loved Darren's article in the recent Whit Dwarf about how he painted the Sanguinot in NMM, great stuff, I still think I prefer true metallics though, for no other reason than being old school. Habits are hard to break, I am trying to break my addiction to washes at the moment, not to using them, but to overusing them lol. Again thanks for the comments, I always like hearing theory and philosophy from someone whos work I admire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gowestover Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 GREAT JOB on this mini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jah-joshua Posted April 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 hey Reaper people... i've got some new pics, showing the full 360 view, and the mistakes i corrected... here he is, if you care to vote: http://coolminiornot.com/248491 he looks much better in the new pics i took, with my lights in the right spot this time... this is much closer to how he looks in hand now... the freehand on the shoulder pads needed a bit of attention, as the skull had a snaggletooth, and the blood drop was not quite round at the bottom... DOH!!! some of the metal highlights got rubbed off when i was handling him for photos last weekend... that's been fixed... all in all, i'm pretty pleased with how everything turned out... my next mini is also red, but from the completely opposite approach... i'm starting with white primer, and laying down the main color with Khador Red Base as the first coat... then i will be shading down, instead of highlighting up... should be interesting... thanks for lookin'... cheers jah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mini Killer Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 Great Work, the red is just fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 pure awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jah-joshua Posted April 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 thanks guys... for those who are interested, i have done a full write-up of the painting of this guy on my blog: http://jahminis.blogspot.com/ have a look, and let me know what you think of my presentation... is it clear and concise??? easy to follow??? did it help any??? what would you guys like to see in the future??? any feedback is appreciated... cheers jah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookjimjr Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 Simply Fantastic. I love the color choices and metalics. Almost makes me wish I actually liked those types of figures, but I really never got into the Warhammer style stuff. I am would like to try that technique out on some Battlemechs though. Keep up the impressive work and keep experimenting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.