11 replies to this topic

[Dane]

This is my first mini back from my two-year vacation from trying to learn to paint. (I decided tolearn to play hockey instead.) 02553, Sorceress and Servant.

At this time, it's just two "primer" shots. Poor quality pics, as I'm still fiddling with how to take them with a digicam with no manual focus. These pics are of the Sorceress primed with MSP Brush-On Primer. I give two to three coats of primer, then paint. The base is a Reaper metal base filled with Creative Paper Clay, which I textured with a brush handle.

Eventually this piece will be for tabletop play, so the base was more of an experiment to see how the clay worked. I liked it a lot. Next one will get much more filling, and then carved down after it sets.

Anyhow, here's the first set of WIP pics...

[Dane]

Ok, so I've got her skin painted on her. How's it look? I'm using the MSP "Fair Skin" triad. One problem I'm having is that all of the tones are near identical, so you really can't even see the spots where I've applied the Shadow and Highlight. I did mix some Leather Brown in from the "Warm Deep Browns" triad for a wash. Also, can anyone tell if her eyes are open or closed? I can't seem to tell. It looks like they're closed in some sort of meditation.

[House of Dexter]

If you dark line the skin off...it will help you see the contrast in skin tones...

[Jabberwocky]

Looks good so far, Dane. Dexter's suggestion on darklining is dead on. I think her eyes are closed...but you can paint them either way. In regards to the triads, I have read about some folks have taken to "skipping" on the triads to increase contrast. For example, starting with tanned skin shadow, then shading with dark skin, then highlighting with tanned skin highlight. That being said, there are much wiser folks on color theory than myself--hopefully one of them will answer .

[Dane]

Thanks for the pointers. I haven't invested in all the skin triads yet, so I'll take that into consideration once I have.
Do most folks darkline before basecoating, or after? Darklining makes me nervous because of the possibility of smearing the line all over her exposed skin. Any tips for this?

[Mclimbin]

Thanks for the pointers. I haven't invested in all the skin triads yet, so I'll take that into consideration once I have.
Do most folks darkline before basecoating, or after? Darklining makes me nervous because of the possibility of smearing the line all over her exposed skin. Any tips for this?

Suggestions: a brush with a long, thin bristle. I think they are called "liners" logically enough. I got one at Michael's a few years ago, I only use it for lining and it's great.

You could also put some flow aid in your liner/paint, so it will seep into the crevices a little more. If you are like me, you *will* get some liner on the painted flesh, but don't worry too much about it, just go back over the slopped-over spots with your base tone. If you are as impatient as I am, you could use a slightly thicker mix of paint so that you don't have to go over them more than once. Just be careful of the paint getting too thick in those areas though.

One thing that I have come to realize is that painting a mini is often a progression of correcting my mistakes. ;) You paint the flesh, then you darkline, then you go back with the flesh and make the lines thin enough, then you go back with the liner and fix any mistakes that you made, and then of course you have to touch those up with your flesh....wash, rinse, repeat, tell two friends, they'll tell two friends, woooohoooo!

I also find that the flesh triads don't give enough contrast, so I'll use a triad but then use a paint from a darker triad for the deepest shadows and a paint from a lighter triad for the highest highlights. Right now I'm using tanned shadow for my errrr, shadows, then the golden triad for the mid tones, and then fair skin and fair highlight for the highest, errr, highlights. :)

Hope this helps. :)

[FeniXbane]

One thing that I have come to realize is that painting a mini is often a progression of correcting my mistakes. ;) You paint the flesh, then you darkline, then you go back with the flesh and make the lines thin enough, then you go back with the liner and fix any mistakes that you made, and then of course you have to touch those up with your flesh....wash, rinse, repeat, tell two friends, they'll tell two friends, woooohoooo!

Yeah, I hate when you seem to get stuck in that infinite loop.

[Dane]

Ok, I've finished her hair, I think. I started with a base of Leather Brown, washed with Muddy Brown. Didn't think it was quite dark enough in the recesses, so I washed again with Ceramcoat Black (don't have RMS Black yet). Then I highlighted by drybrushing leather brown again, and then one last mini drybrush with Fair Shadow (from the Fair Skin triad). I think once I learn some better drybrushing control, the highest highlight will look better, but it's ok for now.

All other non-hair-and-skin colors are placeholders, minus the grey bracelet on her non-staff hand. I attempted a feeble rendition of NMM on it. But my eyes hurt by that point, so it's not so good. I washed the skulls and helmet in a leftover brown wash from the hair to pick out details for when I go over them with the Bone Triad. I washed the clothing in Breonne Blue just as a color placeholder.

What can I use with a limited yellow selection (just one bright yellow craft paint) for gold on the other bracelet? I'd like her staff to be a color other than brown, as she's got a lot of that on her at the moment. Is it possible to make it convincingly black?

[Dane]

Here's another update. In this one, I've done her cloth up in the Martial Blues Triad. It's my first experience with trying to blend a large patc of colors together. I think I did ok, though the highlights on the back part are in the wrong place.

I've also based the bones with the Bone Triad colors. They're next on the list to be done. Then I have to get back between the ribs with Breonne Blue.

Her boots also need some deeper shading. I'm thinking about going with red and orange or yellow feathers for color contrasts. Anyone have any staff suggestions? It's the scariest part of the mini. I don't want it to look like a big, flat stick.

[Jabberwocky]

She's coming together, Dane. Nice work on the blending on the front part of her clothing. The back side is tricky--those large flat spaces can be tough. I think typically I have seen some stronger highlighting along the bottom fringe. The yellow feathers would make for a nice strong contrast to the blues. The bones are looking good so far. I think you will need a stronger shade than just the bone shadow though. Do you have VMC Smoke? I like it for many things, but it works well for the deep recesses of bone. The staff, the staff...hmm. There are a few options here. One is just to paint it flat, with a thin vertical stripe to represent the highlight. The second would be to paint or draw (I like the micron pens) the wood grain on there. A third and more difficult option (at least for me) would be to put down a thin layer of greenstuff and then carve in the woodgrain.

[Dane]

Ok, now that we're all settled after moving to a new apartment, I've got some more work in on this model. I finished off the bone in the model (helmet, staff-top and belt). Instead of usting VMC Smoke (which I didn't have), I blended black in with my RMS Bone Shadow. I know I could probably go one layer higher on the highlights, but I like it like this. It looks like she pulled it out of the still-burning corpse of a demon.

I also started trying to cover up the blue I'd put on the feathers with yellow. Man, is that ever a long process. I think I hit it about 6 times so far, and it's still peeking through.

I'm trying to decide what color to make the scalp thing on her staff after I finish the yellows. I was thinking maybe some sort of red, but what sort of fur/hair would she have gotten that was red? I don't want brown, as it'd be too close to her own hair.

Then will come some more work on the boots and base, and the staff will come last, as I hate it. It's going to turn out awful no matter what.





I also started work on her servant. I love this guy. I used the same bone recipe as I did for the sorceress, but he's got more of it and is much more fun to paint. It may not be noticable, but I was able to shade his bones pretty well. I was so proud of myself for being able to keep the brush steady enough to add lighter layers in small spots.

I want his armor and weapons to be rusty, and the wood on the hafts to be moldy. Anyone have any tips for achieving that?

[pogre]

There are a lot of ways to add rust to a blade. I like using washes, I start with brown ink and add others as I go. I especially like chestnut ink and mix it with a little VGC smoke.

Mold is trickier - I guess I would shoot for a greenish-yellow mold. I start with VMC black-green, highlight this with VGC dark green, highlight this with VGC camo green, and add a final highlight with VGC livery green. Occasionally, I add a few yellowish highlight in spots. I try to keep it a bit uneven do the darker areas are interspersed to give it a growing appearance.

Forgive me for not using Reaper paints - I am gradually building up my collection of triads, which I like very much too.