14321: Bowsister (In which I get started, sort of)

[Arutema 631]

Not my first mini painted, but the first one I'm willing to share, as many of the earlier ones weren't up to my standards.

 

I only bought this mini to practice on, buy it's inspired me to play an archer paladin as my next PFS character.

 

 

 

I didn't even try to detail the eyes. I just don't seem to be able to work at that fine a level of detail. Does anyone have hints for traning may hands to work on really tiny details?

 

[kay13 14512]

I'm not sure if its the light, but her skin and wrist guards, loin cloth etc seem to be the same colour?

The way I work on tiny details is practice... and have a wet brush ready to wipe away my mistakes, or paint it over etc.... eyes aren't fun.

[Arutema 631]

I'm not sure if its the light, but her skin and wrist guards, loin cloth etc seem to be the same colour?

The way I work on tiny details is practice... and have a wet brush ready to wipe away my mistakes, or paint it over etc.... eyes aren't fun.

Wrist guards and loin cloth are same color. Skin is another shade of brown. The lighting doesn't help though.

[Foxfire 1633]

The best way to work on fine detail is to practise.

 

I am unable to hold a brush to 100% steadiness, I always have a tiny tiny jitty that feels like Tokyo when Godzilla attacks as I move in on an eye. But I've found after practising that I'm able to time it right to get the eyes passable. They're still not fantastic, but much better than not trying.

 

Also make sure you have a brush with a really fine tip for the pupil and like, don't try just your standard fare.

 

I like her armour! And the fact she's flipping the bird to everyone behind her.

[Suden 5402]

It's a nice mini. The only thing I would suggest is coating all the non metallic parts with a dull coat to reduce the shine.

 

Kay13 has good advice for eyes, it just needs practice. Try painting eyes first, try a couple times per mini, if it doesn't look good then you can just paint over it and move on to the next one. If you do that every miniature, eventually you'll find you won't need to paint over them as they start to look okay, then better and better. I am far from satisfied with how my eyes look, but they at least look decent, and I can see improvements as I go.

[ObsidianCrane 4081]

Advice on painting fine detail.

 

1) Where possible paint it first, especially eyes.

2) Rest your hands on something, like your table. This will steady then and reduce shaking.

3) Relax. Take a few deep breaths and relax. This is advice for neurosurgeons and mini painters, if you are tense you loose fine control of your muscles you need to relax to get those details right.

 

The only other advice is practice, a lot. (Hey look the Bones KS will deliver heaps of that for you!)

 

More general advice, when thinking of miniatures think of them as people that are 30-50 m/yards away. At that distance the idea of a mini becomes more clear, highlights are more obvious as are shadows. Yes eyes on a mini are unrealistically large, but that helps us identify with them anyway so ignore it. This is also why except (perhaps) for really shiny metals you should end minis with a matt finish, anyone that gleams like a gloss finish is probably covered in baby oil or similar (if they are healthy). :)

[Sanael 15033]

She looks nice. My question: is she coated with a gloss coat, or are you using enamel paints? If it's a gloss coat, then carry on as you are and then hit your minis with dullcote once you're done; cutting the shine will make them easier to see!

 

If the shine is from enamel paints, I'd suggest making the switch to acrylics for this hobby; a lot of the techniques you'll see discussed on these forums won't work very well with enamels.

 

Either way, you've got a good start on the hobby. Thanks for sharing!

[Shakandara 2276]

Actually, I'd guess that the mini has been dipped in something, like Army Painter Quickshade, which results in a very shiny figure. A quick coat of matte finish will fix that.

 

As someone that can feel where you are coming from when it comes to a lack of steady hands, I'd offer the following advice in addition to ObsidianCrane's suggestions. In addition to resting my arms against the table when I am painting fine detail, I also rest my hands against each other. Relax the grip on the brush; the more firmly you grip it, the more tense your hand will be. In addition to taking several deep, calming breaths before attempting to paint the eyes, take one last deep breath and exhale smoothly, putting brush to mini as you exhale. Your body will be most relaxed then. Finally, there are a number of tutorials out there for painting eyes (on CMON, youtube videos, as well as other sites, including an article here in The Craft). I'd recommend "how to paint eyes on miniatures" as a starting point for a Google search.

 

~v

[klarg1 36902]

Not my first mini painted, but the first one I'm willing to share, as many of the earlier ones weren't up to my standards.

 

I only bought this mini to practice on, buy it's inspired me to play an archer paladin as my next PFS character.

 

 

I heartily approve, and not just because I am using exactly the same model to represent my PFS Archer/Paladin

I'm liking the color scheme you picked.

 

I'll also second the previous posters' suggestions to rest your hands against something steady and against each other, if you're looking for a steadier hand.

[CashWiley 36875]

Practice, practice, practice.

 

It's a cool looking mini, I'm with klarg in liking the colors.

[Arutema 631]

She looks nice. My question: is she coated with a gloss coat, or are you using enamel paints? If it's a gloss coat, then carry on as you are and then hit your minis with dullcote once you're done; cutting the shine will make them easier to see!

 

If the shine is from enamel paints, I'd suggest making the switch to acrylics for this hobby; a lot of the techniques you'll see discussed on these forums won't work very well with enamels.

 

Either way, you've got a good start on the hobby. Thanks for sharing!

 

The paints used are Vallejo acrylics, the sealer I used was advertised as matte. Obviously, It is no such thing.

 

Any suggestions on good brands of matte sealer to use?

[Baugi 4041]

Is it a spray sealer? If so, you may have simply sprayed it on much too thick, or failed to shake the can sufficiently before applying. If it's a brush on... I don't know what could cause this, except again, possibly globbing it on a little too thick.

 

I use Army Painter brush on Matte Varnish, and it provides a nice matte finish, but works best in a few thin layers, rather than one thick one.

[Jabberwocky 1550]

Not much to add to the sound advice already given, so i'll just welcome you to the forums!

[Dadcubed 1654]

Lots of goods advice. Personally on really small stuff, I rest the backs of my hands on the table surface brush in one hand mini in the other. I use watered down paint so that it doesn't dry too fast so I can relax and not worry about it drying on the brush. I line up the brush and mini, take a breath, relax, breath out then make the brush stroke.

 

My hands are 100% steady, I don't consume caffeine during the week or any stimulants and don't eat refined sugar. This helps with a having a steady hand.

 

Good luck and welcome to the boards!

 

:)

[ObsidianCrane 4081]

I consume vast amounts of caffeine and plenty of refined sugar and my hands are so steady I rarely need a trick for painting details.

 

I've learnt the advice above by reading advice from those who need it. Mostly practice and the confidence it builds solves the problem.