Baphomet69 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Awesome paint work! As an aside, that model's a prime candidate for Bones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 My Disclaimer: If this is just a tabletop piece, please disregard just about everything below. You have taken it past expectations on the tabletop and it is an amazing piece. If you are taking it past that, then here are my thoughts. As always, this is my personal opinion. Not everyone will agree. And I’m no expert. The Bad (meant loosely) Basing: Take the time to invest in a good base. It's hard to sell an amazing mini when your eye is drawn to a base that is incomplete or an afterthought. Building up the ground around the pewter base and throwing some static grass in the mix would do wonders for it, just for starters. Blood Placement: The string blood thing is a cool effect but it's a hard sell unless done just right. The current use of this on your mini detracts from the overall quality for me. The thread is just too noticeable between the drips of blood. If it was more of a gore, intestines, flesh ripped off thing you were going for, I would recommend making the string part much thicker. Blood Color: Blood tends to lean on the side of dark once beaten out of a hero. The blood colors seem very bright and in some areas, delve almost to possible pink. Blood should be primarily a black/reddish color, with hints of the solid red in certain areas to draw your eye. The best thing I have found for this is a Tamiya red color that goops up, is very red when it needs to be and darkens in other areas as it clumps, collects, and dries. Also it’s good to note that your blood areas should have some type of gloss finish too them to bring out the liquid factor to it. It really makes well done blood stains pop. NMM: This might be just a problem with the size of the image as I can’t tell exactly what’s going on. From what I can tell you are using NMM techniques for you metallic components. The bronze/copper studs and colors are well done but the shoulder piece makes me do a second take. If that is supposed to be armor, I believe more of a metallic effect with your NMM is needed to make it seem so. As it is currently colored it resembles more of a creature’s scales to me (like a piece of dragon hide ripped off and stuck on the shoulder for armor). If that is the case, the colors would need to be different enough from the metallic parts to be able to tell the difference. I like to use your belt buckle as the reference for colors. The mace could use a little NMM coloring love. Some of the darker greys override the lighters in areas where it would need lighter. You could also go with more of a battered well-worn look with that mace and a few streaks or colored dents would make it sing. Finger Nails/Toe Nails: The whites on his nails seem overly bright and the dark on the tips seem overly black. I would try to take the whites down a few notches. Maybe a few washes/glazes of his skin-tone would help over the white parts and a little dark brown to the black tips would even it out. The Good Skin: Holy wow. Your skin-tone on this dude is remarkable. He looks amazing with those colors and I probably won’t be able to imagine him another way now. Fur: The fur you have going across his head and down his back and around his ankles. I LOVE IT! It adds a ton of character to the piece and realistic. Face: Very nice face. Ivory work is nice and the eyes are very well done. The dark-lining around the eyes and head are very clean and makes him very believable. Face is almost always the most important part of a miniature. The time taken to do this one right stands out to me and I love it. Tone: Your underlying color tones bring this piece together and really should be pointed out. It helps your mini a TON to have this aspect. The same browns being used on the different parts, but with just different shades. The same orangey red used in the fur similar to the bronze metallics. Bravo. Overall I love this piece. Normally I don't say much but I thought I had to speak up with this piece one (not to mention you asked for it ). This is something, with a little cleanup, that I could see on the shelf being judged at Reapercon. It has a lot of things going for it. Your blending is very well done, color selection very good, and it screams character. Thanks for sharing this piece honestly, It’s great! I really appreciate your thoughts on this piece. I've never considered myself worthy of competition level painting, and while I don't think that will change any time soon, your kind words are appreciated. The pictures I take are with my iphone 4, so I don't always get the best clarity or quality that I'd like with my images. I plan on making some adjustments based on your recommendations and reposting some new pics. ...and yes, this mini is just for my own edification and for being a recurring villain in my next DnD game. I don't think my work is so good that anyone would pay much for it. My minis are however, a personal joy to paint and look at/use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumble_B Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I don't think my work is so good that anyone would pay much for it. My minis are however, a personal joy to paint and look at/use. Sorry that's my silly lingo at play. I meant "sell" as in "fall for the miniature" or "believe in the scene". Keep em comin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azreck Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I absolutely love your work on this. Very good job with your color choices and blends! Even the gore seems well in line. I am not normally a fan of blood on minis, usually seems totally out of place or overdone, you did it very well and tastefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Ok so I'm currently trying to figure out how to add more pictures. Here are edited photos I shot which included several of the suggestions I received. 1) I added basing 2) I darkened the blood 3) I added a gray wash to blend the black/white of the finger/toe nails 4) I added a little more 'shine' to the copper shoulder armor Thanks a ton to everyone for your positivity and for the suggestions (mostly Bumble_B) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citrine Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Wow, it looked great before, but now it is really a mind-blowing paintjob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baphomet69 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Truly awesome paint! Would this be a bad time to mention that this mini appears to be one of the next in the Bones pipeline, scheduled for May at ~$2.49? <whistles> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Yeah I saw that, it's all good though. I didn't pay full price for this guy b/c he was a sporadic pick up at a LGS. I'll probably end up buying a Bones version and doing some customization with weapons, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumble_B Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Love it even more now. I like how the base colors match the same tones as the rest of the piece. Love the log too. All your changes look really good and think he has gone from Good to Awesome with just those few changes. Bravo. My only last recommendation is just a splatter (not much) of blood somewhere on the base (on the foliage/grass) somewhere. He is dripping himself, there is a bloody shield in front of him, it only makes sense that at least a little bit would have hit the ground somewhere. That would tie it all together nicely. Thanks again for sharing, amazing little guy ya got there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I can't reach the top of the heap of praise, so I'll just put some more on the side. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anastrianna Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Love this piece! The blood looks much better after you darkened it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalchaos Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Very nice overall work, the colors are well chosen. I also like the way you integrated the dagger and blood. Maybe the nails are too pale and the base look better now that it's completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Metalchaos, please scroll up the page here on page 2 for updated photos! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I've never considered myself worthy of competition level painting, and while I don't think that will change any time soon, your kind words are appreciated. don't pull yourself down. Skills are there, one can easily see that. thing is - do you want to improve your skills to the so-called competition level, do you want to improve? some people are fine with table-top level, it's enough for them to have their minis painted for gaming purposes, no complicated techniques, no 100 hours spent on mini. and that's great! to each their own. If you however feel like pushing yourself to the limit, try to use comments like Bumble_B's to the maximum. It's a rare case here to get such a detailed comment on this forum, don't waste it good luck on your path to the competition level... if you want to take it, of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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