Fox (02848: Familiar Pack V) and Dragon (02969: Familiar Pack VIII)

[Marauder 87]

Hi,

 

I have not posted here before and I am still learning how to paint minis. 

 

My son asked for this scene and I wanted to post it for feedback for the next one. He outlined the color schemes for each familiar. He wanted the dragon to be black which on something so small causes it to lose all the details. I tried highlighting in blue tinted black to give it a difference and added some silver to try and give is shine. It didn't work very well, though. Also, the camera seems to make it look much chunkier then how it looks to the eye.

 

The base is the top of a jewel case that dice are sold in which let me set the fox base down below the top level of the base (I couldn't see any way to take the fox off the built-in base and then still have a way to attach it to the base since the contact points are so small). The tree is a Woodland Scenics tree and the rock is a plaster cast. The other materials are Woodland Scenics and Citadel basing materials on top of Citadel green stuff that I used to make the ground.

 

Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

 

Thanks,

Todd

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by Marauder

[Iridil 6344]

Nice! And welcome. Lovely fox - great job getting those eyes. For the dragon, I can't see him well in the pics, but one thing you might try is to highlight with a lighter blue/black/grey.

[Marauder 87]

Just now, Iridil said:

Nice! And welcome. Lovely fox - great job getting those eyes. For the dragon, I can't see him well in the pics, but one thing you might try is to highlight with a lighter blue/black/grey.

 

Thanks. Yeah, I will have to try more highlighting next time with lighter colors. I don't layer very well. I cheat with a lot washes. I think if I go for something black again it will be something larger.

 

I appreciate it.

[Glitterwolf 202100]

Welcome!

First of all, this is a very nice piece!

Looks good.

 

As for black, there are some tricks to make something look like black while it isn't.

Reaper has a nice Dark Elf Skin triad which you can use.

You can also start with a deep blue or a nightshade purple and then add black.

 

When staring with black, highlight with a grey on the sharp edges to make it stand out.

Another trick to give the dragon more depth is add a contrasting colour.

Most dragons have a different colour on their belly.

Like yellow, red or creamy white, maybe a light grey.

 

Anyway it looks good for such a small miniature.

Very cool little diorama.

 

 

 

 

[Marauder 87]

6 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

Welcome!

First of all, this is a very nice piece!

Looks good.

 

As for black, there are some tricks to make something look like black while it isn't.

Reaper has a nice Dark Elf Skin triad which you can use.

You can also start with a deep blue or a nightshade purple and then add black.

 

When staring with black, highlight with a grey on the sharp edges to make it stand out.

Another trick to give the dragon more depth is add a contrasting colour.

Most dragons have a different colour on their belly.

Like yellow, red or creamy white, maybe a light grey.

 

Anyway it looks good for such a small miniature.

Very cool little diorama.

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much. I will try that out. If my son hadn't requested it, I would not personally have painted the dragon black. I tried to put a blue on top of the black. I will definitely try putting the black over the deep blue next time. Thanks!

[Glitterwolf 202100]

14 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Thank you very much. I will try that out. If my son hadn't requested it, I would not personally have painted the dragon black. I tried to put a blue on top of the black. I will definitely try putting the black over the deep blue next time. Thanks!

 

Given the size of the mini, I think you did very well.

 

Highlight the sharp edges a grey after you apply the black.

[Marauder 87]

20 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

 

Given the size of the mini, I think you did very well.

 

Highlight the sharp edges a grey after you apply the black.

 

Thanks very much. I really appreciate it. 

 

Todd

[Sanael 14923]

Wow! Great piece. 

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

I really love the work you've done on the base for this little scene. It looks really good.

 

Your paint looks good, too. You've got some difficult colors on these minis, and you tackled them really well for an early mini.

 

As for the black, @Glitterwolf covers it pretty well. What I'll add is something that helps me a bunch with both black and white: our eyes will "assume" something is a particular color if about 70% of the object is that color. So if your black dragon is mostly black, but highlights are in a dark blue (or purple, or green), it will still read as black. One of my favorite examples of this is in the Reaper store: Jen Haley's Elise. She used teal to highlight the black, and it's awesome!

(There's also a version in the store painted by @Mocha that I love. She used a lot more blue, shaded down to black, and the hat still reads as "black.")

 

I think the silver you used on the dragon works pretty well, honestly. You've picked out a bunch of the scales, and the purple eyes stand out. It has a really menacing look to it, like a shadow that's stalking the fox.

 

I also gotta say, this dio is TINY! You deserve mad props just for making it happen. I would've been terrified to work that small when I was still young in the hobby.

[Marauder 87]

12 minutes ago, Sanael said:

Wow! Great piece. 

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

I really love the work you've done on the base for this little scene. It looks really good.

 

Your paint looks good, too. You've got some difficult colors on these minis, and you tackled them really well for an early mini.

 

As for the black, @Glitterwolf covers it pretty well. What I'll add is something that helps me a bunch with both black and white: our eyes will "assume" something is a particular color if about 70% of the object is that color. So if your black dragon is mostly black, but highlights are in a dark blue (or purple, or green), it will still read as black. One of my favorite examples of this is in the Reaper store: Jen Haley's Elise. She used teal to highlight the black, and it's awesome!

(There's also a version in the store painted by @Mocha that I love. She used a lot more blue, shaded down to black, and the hat still reads as "black.")

 

I think the silver you used on the dragon works pretty well, honestly. You've picked out a bunch of the scales, and the purple eyes stand out. It has a really menacing look to it, like a shadow that's stalking the fox.

 

I also gotta say, this dio is TINY! You deserve mad props just for making it happen. I would've been terrified to work that small when I was still young in the hobby.

 

Thank you so much. I appreciate the feedback. I will definitely take all of your feedback in mind. I checked out the link and it certainly helps draw out the black more.

 

Thank you again.

 

Todd

[Citrine 17632]

Beautiful tiny little diorama!  Welcome to the hobby and the Reaper boards, the friendliest corner of the internet.

[Marauder 87]

7 hours ago, Citrine said:

Beautiful tiny little diorama!  Welcome to the hobby and the Reaper boards, the friendliest corner of the internet.

 

Thank you very much. It does certainly seem that way!

 

Todd

[Cupshotten 16]

Fox and Dragon. Good name for a pub! and a nice little scenario.

[Marauder 87]

On 3/17/2019 at 1:36 PM, Cupshotten said:

Fox and Dragon. Good name for a pub! and a nice little scenario.

 

Thanks!

[FireImp 141]

Very nice! 

[Marauder 87]

On 3/20/2019 at 7:56 AM, FireImp said:

Very nice! 

Thanks!