Mclimbin Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hey all, Long time no see. It's been a while since I posted anything. Maybe one or two of you remember me? Lots of new faces here now, which is awesome. I painted this up for my gaming buddy, who plays a warlock in our D&D 4e game. I'm pretty sure I need to do some freehand on the back of the cloak, but can't decide what I should do. Any advice? Any critiques or criticisms would be appreciated also. I can see a couple of places that need to be touched up myself, now that I see the photos. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ddot Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Regardless of your freehand skills, it would only distract from an awesome paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferox Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Oooh, looks nice. I love the shading on the reds. Maybe bring some of the deepest shadows on the blue down to purple, to tie in? I wouldn't go too crazy on the freehand -- not just because it's a solid paint job to start with, but also because of those awkward folds and billows. How about a simple stripe or border along the base of the cloak, mirrored on the front tabard/loincloth and maybe the hood? You could do it in white to connect with the skull on his pauldron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Great job, well blended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 The painting is bangin'!! It distracts me from my rage at the model's data card in the Warlord game. Why doesn't he have the Death Magic Tome???? As for the freehand, I say leave it. I'm sure you have the skills, but I don't see how they would add to the finished piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaGie Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Very nice dark colours! I agree with the others, his cloak may not be the perfect base for freehand. And personally, I think freehand doesn't always make a nicer paintjob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Well done mini there. I agree with the rest, that this is not an ideal mini for freehand. Also, I think alot of people go overboard with freehand, it really has a time and a place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclimbin Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Thanks for the nice words everyone. I mean y'all (so the Texans will understand my Cali boy English). Since the character is rather dark (our whole group is), I think I'll take your advice and forgo the freehand. I saw all the real estate on his back and just wanted to lay something down there, but I think the darkness of the colors is actually more appropriate for the character. This is the 4th or 5th time I have done red armor, and I'd still like to improve it. I love the Ruby Red MSP metallic, but I can't find anything that I like for highlights. Silver makes it look weird, gold shifts the color too much, Pearl White makes it look pink, metallic medium doesn't work either. After trying all these again, I pretty much just undercoated with a lighter color and glazed with Ruby Red at the end. If anyone has any ideas or advice on how to do this better, I'd be interested to know what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ddot Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 As to doing the Ruby Red, I haven't used it myself, but I did experiment with metallic paints plus inks. In the end I found that undercoating with the non-metallic color (complete with highlight and shading) and doing the metallic+ink as a sort of glaze. I did get some decent results when I didn'toverload the brush and get the ink/met all over the place. In the end, my biggest problem was that I didn,t shade out the metallic aspects enough in the deepest shading areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclimbin Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 Hey DDot, Yes, I've tried that too. For the red, I undercoated in a an orange yellow (Saffron, I think the color was?) and then glazed over that with the Ruby Red. It worked pretty well, but I'd like to find a way to bring the highlights even higher, if possible. What did using the inks with the metallics get you? I might look into that. As for your shaded areas, I'd recommend using dark glazes (I used blue liner), very diluted and with just a little on your brush. Make several passes and build up your shadows. This is nice because the shaded areas should not be sparkling, or at least not as much, since they are getting less light. Thanks for your comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Double tap!! Seeing how distracted I got over the painting, and that you've just made a sale for Reaper, as I need this model for Warlord, no one commented on the nice basing!!! I'm guessing you used some putty, and primed it, and painted it. It's clean, simple, and makes the piece complete. I appreciate all the wild basing some people do, but again, time and place. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclimbin Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 Thanks JS. You pegged it, a little putty and a little paint and voila! This is really for gaming. I didn't want there to be too much stuff on the base to break off in the middle of battles. Also, why can't he be in a dungeon, on the typical dungeon flagstones? Thanks again. Have fun painting him, I did. Don't stress about the face too much...it was kinda hard, for me at least... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dks Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Nice work. The slate-blue and the crimson work well together. I don't think I've painted anything in red metallic or even red NMM (to give you any firsthand comparisons), but you're right that the red makes it tricky. The highlight on the left shoulder-plate looks good. You could add highlights to the right hand, especially since it's a focal point of the figure. If gold highlights would make it too yellow, but Pearl White or silver highlights would make it too pink, how about splitting the difference and using an "electrum" (gold+silver) highlight? you can glaze red at the end, but I think a little yellow in the highlight would help. Bobby Jackson (who sculpted this figure) has said in his "Learn to Sculpt Cloth" class at ReaperCon that he doesn't try to sculpt billowing cloaks realistically, but he stretches and deforms them for dramatic effect, so you're going to have trouble trying to fit geometric patterns on his figures anyway. A few suggestions for 15 minutes of extra work: 1. Put a white (or even red-orange) dot in the eyes, so they glint ominously from the dark hood. 2. Glaze the flagstones with a warmer gray or brown color, so the robe stands out better. 3. Add a simple freehand edging (in ivory and/or red) to the front of the "loincloth" part of the robe to make it stand out from the layer underneath it. Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclimbin Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 Thanks Derek. Great advice, all of it. I appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookjimjr Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Wow, Great paint Job! I painted him last year and he is posted in the Inspiration Gallery (yours kind of kicks my minis butt). Mine is the purple and green version with standard NMM armor. I did attempt some simple freehand on the bottom of the robe, but it was a pain to do. I kind of wish I would have stuck with a simpler version like yours. I went way too overboard with the basing and the color scheme. I really like the feel your color scheme and base gives off. Probably the proper feel for this mini anyway. I have messed around with some of the Reaper Metallics, but have not mastered any techniques for shading or highlighting them as of yet. Wish I could have been of help there, but other than Silver, Copper, and Brass, most metalics take me out of my comfort zone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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