18 replies to this topic

[demonelf3]

Hi all! Here with another figure. This ismy version of Meg's. I tried to keep the colors similar but I didn't particularly care for the jaguar spots. Anyway, I really need some advice. He's my entry for the wannabe competition. My favorite part is his left shoulder-back. I just love it. Now, he still needs work, but at this point what do yall think?

[olliekickflip]

Hey, it looks nice! As for suggestions, I would say to add some highlights and shadow areas on the trousers. They look a bit flat compared to the rest of the model. I do like the base though, nice touch! Diggin the blood on the axe as well! Also is it just me or do the pictures seem squished? Anyways! Great job....keep it up.

a

[Jabberwocky]

Nice to see some other wannabes starting to post!
Great looking skintones on this guy! As for critiques, perhaps a bit of darklining between the fletching on the arrows. I like the blood on the axe but the blood on the bottom of the weapon doesn't look quite right to me.

[demonelf3]

Thanks ollie and jabberwocky! Now that you mention it the pictures do look a bit squished- I'll try to be more careful when I resize them in PS. As for the pants, I know they need more shadows but I'm really having trouble painting a large flat surface. Any suggestions to that?

I will probably change the blood on the stone part of the weapon. The blood on the axe is actually just blood red thinly layered.

Anyway, thanks again! I will work on all you said today.

[gowestover]

Yeah, demonelf3 - The skin tones look great and there's lots of nice detail all over. Great base too!

Like Ollie, however, I've been noticing on some of the photos you've been posting that they are "squished". As a result, it's hard to properly interpret all of the work you've done (kinda like trying to read a sign that is upside down or something). It looks like when you are resizing them, you may be shrinking the width, but not "locking the ratio" (or whatever)between the width and height, so that the height dimension will shrink down in the same porportion as the width...


Good luck, and I hope we can continue to see more pix from ya!

[demonelf3]

Wow, I didn't really even think too much about photo size. From now on I'll lock the ratios in so it stays consistent with its larger version.

Thanks for the compliment govestower! I appreciate it.

[demonelf3]

Okay, I did some lining on the fletching but honestly it was more of a future wash of brown. Then I wetbrushed on some rust.Shaded boots more, and touched up his chest strap (bandolier?) but that still needs work. Did his pendant thing in red browns.glazed his pants and shaded them with tanned shadow. Threw future washes on fiddly bits, mainly the weapon. Really shiny now, will go back and hit them with brush on matte. I hope you all like it, and I constrained pics' proportions.

Any suggestions before moving onto the lining?

[Don Rodolfo Graziani]

Hey demonelf3,

It's looking good. I really like the work you've put into the skin, and the base is very cool. My only suggestion to add (and, yes, this is just me being really nitpicky so feel free to ignore) would be about the top of his head. Excellent shading and highlighting and a good solid face, but it does seem a bit dark on top (may just be the photos). I might suggest going back in with the base tone and working the shading above the eye ridges into your existing highlights, lightening the top of his head a bit more as the shading seems to come pretty far up the skull. Of course, as I said before,this is just a nitpick on my part. He looks really good. It's just a thought.

The stone on the end of his axe could use some shading and highlighting, however, as it's flatness rather stands out next to the hard work you've put into the rest of the figure.

Good luck in the wannabe competition. Are you working on more figures for it?

[gowestover]

Demonelf!

The new pix look great! I agree with Don Rodolfo. The head doesn't bother me that much, but it is a bit darker than everything else, and you have put a lot of good time in to the rest of the skin tones.

Have you seen that tutorial on painting an un-shaven beard by Allan Carrasco on CMON? Here's the link:

Unshaved Beard

Here's my big suggestion - Since you've put so much time in to the flesh tones, and everything is looking very good, it's worth it to take this mini up to the next notch and try something like this 5-o'clock shadow effect on both the beard area and the skull. My guess is that it will look great on your mini, and the process and technique involved is very, very simple.

I also agree about the rock counter-weight on the butt-end of the big axe. It really needs to be much darker, along with deeper shadows and more pronounced highlights. The other thing that is big is - should it be there at all? From looking at photos of this mini on the Reaper figure finder, it looks like that bit is just part of the casting sprue, and should be cut away altogether:

Thelgar on Figure Finder

Not what you may want to hear, but it's something to consider. Then again, you may have decided on your own to leave this excess part on your own, which is fine too. If you do leave it, consider doing more dramatic shading and highlights though.

Now, I want you to know that I'm NOT being critical of your mini here - we're just giving you suggestions because you're asking for them, and are going to be entering this mini in a competition. I'm a big fan of rusty weapons\metal on orks, trolls, ogres, etc., because I think it looks cool on them, and helps project the idea that they are foul, smelly, uncouth, etc. Rex Lyver did an Ogre recently, and although he used NMM, he started to bring in some pretty cool rust effects on the metal parts. You can still do it with real metallics. I think it would look great on that big axe head.

The only other suggestion I would have is for the blood on the axe. Yours looks fine, mind you. Here's the thing - I saw a really cool article about blood on a weapon in a White Dwarf some time ago, and have seen similar tutorials here and there. Your blood looks all fresh - like it just got there with the last fight he had. If you wanted to make it look like the axe has gone through multiple fights and the guy never bothered to clean it off.. you could go back and layer much darker red\browns on first, and just leave the bright reds for the very last parts on the edge of the axe. It makes it have a sense of "age", and that he's been through plenty of battles, and has never bothered to "tidy up" afterwards. Here's another article by Allan Carrasco that basically covers what I'm talking about:

Painting Blood

This is just something to think about, and I hope some of this will be useful at some point, if not for this particular mini. Your mini is coming along very nicely, and I offer my compliments on what you've already achieved. Good Luck on the competition!

[Jabberwocky]

DE--

Really coming along nicely. I think DRG and Gowestover have make some excellent suggestions. All I have to offer is some very minor nitpicks, so take 'em or leave 'em. Between the fingers on the left hand, I'd recommend evening out the darklining. Between the index and long fingers, it runs the length of the fingers, but between the others it is only at the top. IMHO you could take the highlights on the red portion of the quiver and the fletching on the arrows up a bit more. Same with the top of the belt, particularly on the back side. Finally, I might darken the blood on the axe just a bit. It may just be my monitor, but looks a bit more pink to me. This is going to be a great entry and reminds me I had better get myself in gear if I want to top it!

[demonelf3]

WOW! Thanks for all the great replies! I will definitely work on everything suggested. Thank you all so much - gowestower, I will definitely try retooling to blood and rust. Also, I can't believe that's a sprue part. I mean, it looks so natural. Again, thank you thank you thank you. I will have pics up ASAP.

(And yes, I might work on a second wannabe piece)

[demonelf3]

Well, I tried all of the above suggestions. I kept the stone, but my bone shadow has gone bad so it's really thick and clumpy and shiny. I'll have to redo it again. I added more lining between the fingers, with a mix of tanned shadow and scorched brown. I tried to peach fuzz on his head, but not as a beard. I must say, I think it looks rugged! I shaded the blood with chestnut and mahogany to make it more dried looking. I tried rust but there ended up being too much red on the axe so I ditched it. Anyway, thanks for all the criticisms and comments. They help quite a lot.

[gowestover]

Man, you are kickin' arse! The crew-cut looks great!

Don't be afraid to take the rock down to black in the deepest recesses, like next to the red trim. I wish I could see this mini in person!

Keep it up!

[Toad]

Basing is fantastic and the painting is coming along great. Keep it up

[demonelf3]

Again, the comments are appreciated. Gowestover - Thanks for the link to the tut - I like it, and it's really simple. I just took a drop of rainy grey and thinned it to glaze. Then, my brushstrokes going to the crown of his head, I layered it on, not letting it pool. I did this several times. Then I added in white and glazed in a few more layers near the front. Then a couple of glazes of tanned skin, and voila!


Thanks so much everyone!