7 replies to this topic

[bjaurelio]

Hello,

I'm a relatively new painter. My previous experience is 2 core boxes of Firestorm Armada, a few other western minis for Gutshot, and I'm half way through my Batttles of Westeros game. I haven't had much time the past several months, but yesterday I did have some time and spent 4-5hrs taking these two guys from black primer and white drybrush to what you see. What do you think? All comments and tips are welcome and appreciated.

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[themudhead]

Do the eyes... if you can do the buttons, then you should be able to do the eyes...

Link to eyes ...
http://www.reapermin...w-i-paint-eyes/

[Heisler]

They would really benefit from some shading. A quick shading technique would be to apply a wash (I would recommend a brown or a reddish brown) applied selectively to the shadow areas (rather than just covering the entire miniature with it). There are three washes in the Reaper Master Series line. In addition Vallejo and GW also make washes in their paint line. You can also create your own wash of color by thinning down your paint about 20:1 water to paint. Check the craft section of the Reaper website and I'm sure there is something there about washes.

[bjaurelio]

Thanks. I'll give it another try with that technique. My first attempt resulted in getting off-white and dark brown all over the upper face. The buttons are raised, which make them easy. The eyes are set in.

[bjaurelio]

After painting the highlights, I created a wash with a darker mix from the base coat for that section. Do I need to go darker for the washes?

[Leader of the Rats]

Great job on the clothing colors, looks cool.

[dks]

The painting looks crisp to me. Good work.
I would suggest neatening the edges of the bases -- say, with a simple brown or black ring on the vertical edge and the ring around the top -- as a frame for the sandy color.
When I was starting to paint, I painted a few dozen figures with just solid colors, no shading or highlighting, but ensuring that I didn't leave any bare spots. When I painted their eyes, I just painted a little circle of solid color (as in the color of the iris). I think it helped me to develop good brush control like this before I tried any more advanced techniques. I often bring one of those "neat base coats" figures to the classes that I teach at conventions, to show how I started 25 years ago.
Welcome to the forum.
Derek

[bjaurelio]

Your comments inspired me to work on them a little more tonight. I trimmed my smallest brush to be a little smaller so I could get the eyes and facial details. I also applied a new layer of highlights that were a little lighter and did a new wash that was darker than before. However, I clearly missed dks' recommendation before finishing (which I will correct at a later date). I took a new picture, this time with better lighting. Using a cell phone camera makes it difficult for these close up shots and a shift from overhead to more direct light really made a difference, probably more than the extra paint.


The image link is not working with Google+, so here's a link.