7 replies to this topic

[Sanael]

Well, I'm back from a looooong hiatus. We finally got the paint room set up in a usable condition (Air Conditioning! Not a crap-filled junk room!), and over the past few months I've managed to paint a few things. First batch for show-off: a few minis for an upcoming campaign set in the "Firefly" 'verse.

All of these were an interesting challenge to paint: I wanted everyone to look like part of a group without being "in uniform," so limited the palette pretty severely. Of course, since this was the first time I'd picked up a brush in years, I also wanted to make life as hard as possible; the palette involved black, red, and white.

Please, comments/critiques, etc. are all welcome.

Here's Sascha, who will take on the captainly duties of the crew. Very pleased with her coat, although my first attempt at OSL is somewhat...meh, especially as it's hard to tell the pylon behind her is glowing. Also sad the photo is washed-out on top, as I'm very proud of her hair.




Next, Andrew Lane, the crew's doctor...more specifically, a veterinarian. He was a fun, simple sculpt to paint. I see in the photo I need more contrast between his boots and the ground.



A Privateer Press mini, Gamak Redhammer, obviously pressed into service as a mechanic. Fairly pleased with his Blue Sun shirt. Displeased by the goopewter on the side of his face, but otherwise a very fun mini to paint.



And two Wyrd minis not actually seeing play in this game. Perdita was a possible PC at one point, and I've always wanted to paint her in white (the reason for that part of the palette). Very happy with her skin. And quite happy with both ladies' hair.

[Inarah]

Nice set.

[Jay]

A diffuse light from the sides/underneath would help us see the details better.
They all look very nice.

[Sanael]

Thanks for the comments, folks. My photo-fu is even weaker than it was before, I'm afraid...out of practice a bit!

[dks]

Welcome back! Thanks for the backstory on these. Agreed, nice work especially on the Wyrd ladies' hair and the Blue Sun shirt. I also like the tarnished/rusty metal effect on the mechanic.
You certainly gave yourself a challenge by using red/black/white as the main elements of the palette! You're jumping right back into high-difficulty stuff.
Congrats on your first OSL. It is tricky, to be sure. I can see the extra highlights now that you pointed them out, but I've found OSL to be more effective when the object is at the front or side, since you can't really put a mini into a cinematic backlit silhouette with only a painted effect! It's also tough to do colored OSL (like your green light) on a colored object (like your red coat) -- next time, I suggest trying either colored light on a neutral object (especially a black one), or a more neutral (white) light on a colored object. And if you plan to do OSL on a figure, it often helps to make the rest of the figure a little darker (highlights don't go as high), so the "light source" looks brighter by comparison. ...Anyway, lots of nuances that you'll pick up as you do more.
It will take a few more minis to get the rust out, but meanwhile enjoy the novelty of relearning some things. The few times I've taken long breaks, I've come back and changed my approach on some fundamental things like paint consistencies, whether to paint dark-to-light or light-to-dark, painting the skin last or first, etc. "Beginner's mind."

Derek

[Sanael]

Derek,

Thanks for the kind words! I don't have any OSL planned for any of the projects currently in my queue, but there is a primed lightsaber-wielder in my drawer of shame. I'll get there eventually!

The palette of this crew was a lot of fun to deal with, and I'm quite pleased with the oxblood red recipe...certainly not back where I was, but it was a good exercise for rust-knocking!

I'm actually rethinking the dark-to-light/light-to-dark options now, as I paint my Everblight army. I've generally always painted midtone-shadow-highlight, but I think that's about to change as I delve into giant swathes of skin on some of these beasts...the army painting (preambled by painting this crew as a coherent unit...almost like I've learned to plan my painting, too!) is also forcing me to re-think the order I do things, in the interest of time. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to RCon next year for your goodfast painting class!

[Jordan Peacock]

This is the first time I've seen the Sascha Dubois miniature painted up, both front and back views -- very nice! I really like the braided hair and coat stylings on the miniature; I hadn't realized just how cool the mini was from the preview picture alone I've seen in catalogs. (I haven't seen this miniature actually in stock at my Friendly Local Game Store yet, alas.) With a little conversion, it seems this miniature would work for a number of different applications.

More specifically about the paint job ... I like! I especially like the darker/lighter red effects on the coat, which make for an appealing combination, and the highlights you made on the back of the coat that suggest that the gizmo-thingie behind her is casting off a pale green light. (At least, that's my interpretation; please accept my apologies if that wasn't what you were aiming for.)

I also really like the way Andrew Lane came out, and the shading you've done on his coat to bring out the folds. I really need to put more work into my shadows/highlights, because now I can see a lot more can be pulled out of something as "simple" as a coat with a few rumples in it. Thanks for the examples!

[Sanael]

Jordan-

Yes, Sascha is a very versatile mini; steampunk, space-western, even a bit of hard scifi are all appropriate for her with a minimum of fuss. Thanks for the kind words, and yes, the greenish tint is there to show some light cast from the pylon behind her. I'm glad you like it.

If you're having trouble finding a mini at your FLGS, I know my shop can usually get Reaper minis in under a week; it may be worth it to ask if they'll do a special order!