Hinton

Hello, Andrew. Welcome to Wyrd and the boards.

And we're the freaks? No kidding. Marmite? What is that? Is it anything like Vegamite? And the milkshake thing is going too far. I mean, really...that would be just.... Okay! Okay! I admit that I tried it. And yeah, it's pretty good. Still prefer mayo on my "chips", though. Speaking of mayo: has anyone ever put mayo in their chili? My whole family does it so I grew up eating it that way. Anyone else?

He looks cool. I really like the face paint. I'm not familiar with this mini, but if the work on the scabbard and shield are freehand, then well done. The colors are very clean; excellent brush control. The pictures are a bit blurry (a problem I still struggle with sometimes), especially towards the bottom. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's because the camera is focusing on the nearest object which blurs everything else. Some of the transitions from highlight to shadow are kind of abrupt. Perhaps a wash might help ease those transitions and make them look smoother. I'm sure someone more qualified than me could explain it better. Nice work overall.

This mini was mostly used for experimenting with some different things: 1. I got some flow improver and tried several different recipes. That’s why some areas appear slightly different than others (smooth, not so smooth, etc). I finally settled on two that I like a lot. 2. Gem work and freehand. Since she has a gem, I decided to give it a try. Not sure about the results, but the first time I did skin it didn’t turn out right, either. I didn’t want to get too elaborate with the tattoo, so I drew up a quick design that I was pretty sure I could do. 3. Painting technique. I wanted to get a better understanding of layering and how to thin my paints. Her cloak and leg band are the best examples of what I did. They’re not actually purple (well, they are, but that’s not how I painted them). I gave them a basecoat of blue, and then went over them with a very thin coat of red. The idea was that if it came out too red, then I wasn’t thinning it enough; too blue and it was too thin. For the most part, I was pretty close to the right mix, so it came out as the purple color. After that, I used blues for the shadows and reds for the highlights, always keeping the paint thin enough to let the under colors show through. Most people probably already know this and how to do it, but it might be helpful for my fellow newbies and it was extremely helpful to me. Definitely a learning experience all around. Comments, advice and constructive criticism always welcome, of course.

I like mayo on my fries (chips), but everyone here (US) thinks I'm out of my mind.

Whoa. Stop right there. If you haven't seen the most recent episode of Heroes (aired 11/13/06), then go watch it and certainly don't read any further. I haven't been all that thrilled with the show the last couple of weeks, but tonight's episode made up for it. ******************SPOILERS**************************** Seriously, don't read any more if you don't want to find anything out without first watching the show, even though these are mostly questions. Where the hell is Hiro and why did the picture change? What happened when he went back to the past? Just how far back did he go? Did he save the waitress? What part does she play in all of this? And what is the deal with Sylar? Is there anything that guy can't do? And why is he cutting off the tops of people's head and taking their brains? Is that how he gains superpowers? Is Sylar from the future? How does Claire's dad know exactly when and where Sylar is going to kill her? Why doesn't he stop it? Has it been tried before and they failed to save her? Claire obviously has some major part is saving the world, which I believe goes beyond simply stopping a nuclear bomb from going off. Many, many things going on here. I'm sure the last two weeks have a lot to do with what's coming up, but it was still kind of "meh" to me and I feel like they're getting back on track with this episode.

Glad to hear you had a good day to counter-balance the bad one.

Agreed, JW. Every Veteran's Day I make sure to call my dad and say thanks.

Thanks for the comments. The white spots are probably from the picture since I can't see them on the mini. Of course, the camera could be picking them up even though I can't see them. Thanks again.

Here she is; all done and based. The pictures are a little better than my previous attempts, although still a bit rough. I got Gimp and I'm still learning how to use it, so hopefully they'll get better in the future. I appreciate any advice or comments. For the record, this is the sixth mini I've painted.

Thanks you two. It seems to be a common theme for me to stop while other people think I should continue. I wrote one short story called "Tell the World Not To End" and almost every comment I received about it was "So...what happens next?" Well, there isn't a "next"; that's it. I write what's in my head because if I try to force it beyond what's there, it turns into a really, really bad story. That being said, I might work on it and see if I can come up with a continuation of it. If I do, I'll post it.

A quick note before I post the story: This was written in Feb 2002 for a short story writing contest. The rules were that each writer had 30 days to write and submit a short story that was 2,500 words or less and it had to be within the chosen theme. In this case, the theme was "No More Blood". This was my entry. It took second place. _______________________________________________________________________ He waited as he always did. He stood, as he had almost every night for a year now, under the street lamp, its yellow light casting his features in shadow and reflecting off his jet black hair. He shrugged and drew his coat tighter about him. The chilly night air didn’t affect him; it was just habit; a way to appear normal. Few cars passed by on the street and the drivers of those that did never spared him a glance. After all, it was a “bad” neighborhood; staring at someone could get a person shot. The sound of heels clicking on pavement came from behind him. He stared forward, letting his other senses gather information about the person approaching. Perfume. Should be a woman. The clicking of the heels was light, made by someone weighing no more than say, 120 pounds. He felt confident that it was indeed a woman who had now stopped directly behind him. “Hey, mister,” she said. Her voice was soft and melodic, but the tone underneath betrayed her, revealing boredom and a touch of despair. “Yes?” he asked without turning. “Lookin’ for a good time, maybe? Maybe you need a friend or somethin’?” “No,” he said and slowly turned. She took an involuntary step back. It was a natural reaction and one he fully expected. “I need something else from you.” She tried to smile, but it kept faltering. “Look, buddy, I’m not lookin’ for trouble.” He smiled and his voice was soft when he spoke. “I know.” He took a step toward her. “I know exactly what you mean.” He reached out, took hold of one of her delicate hands and gently brushed the back of it. “So much pain in your life, dear woman. So many worries, so many trials.” When her eyes met his, her body suddenly relaxed. “I can help ease that pain; I can make things better.” “Yes,” she said in a whisper. He drew her close, put an arm around her shoulder, and slowly walked her down the street. They turned into an alley where light seemed to be not only absent, but actually sucked in like a black hole. His eyes adjusted in a way that hers never could. As he pushed her back against a wall, he knew any thoughts of flight were long gone from her mind. He bent his head down and nuzzled her neck with his nose. “Yes,” she whispered again. Her scent was intoxicating. He drew his mouth open, the sharp points revealed, and bit into her neck. As the blood pulsed rapidly into his mouth, he felt it starting again and drew away quickly. The woman’s eyes were glassy and begging for him to continue, but he would have to stop. “Damn it,” he said as he let go of her. She slid down the wall and crumpled into a heap at his feet. “This has got to stop.” He stood there for a moment, looking at her vacant smile. Besides a couple of punctures in her neck, she’d be all right. He left the alley, cursing. “You’re my doctor,” he said, “fix it.” Dr. Morris turned on his small stool and faced him. “Jake, I wish I could.” He stood up, walked over, and peered into Jake Turner’s eyes, first one, then the other. “However, I have never heard of a vampire being allergic to anything other than the usual.” “Well just look at me.” Jake waved a hand in front of his face, which was covered with small, bright red spots. In fact, they covered most of his body and they itched horribly. “Every damn time I try and feed, this happens.” Morris returned to his stool and rolled over to the small counter that overflowed with tongue depressors, ear swabs, and bandages. An open file took up the rest of the space and Morris wrote in it. “When did this start?” Jake thought for a moment. “A few weeks ago I guess.” Morris looked at him then wrote some more. “Was it after a particular person?” Jake shook his head. “No. Come to think of it, this started during a dry spell. I think I went about four days without feeding before my first rash appeared. Then, when I tried to feed, it only got worse.” Morris nodded. Jake scratched his face, arms, legs, and anywhere else he could while he watched the doctor scribble. Morris was a human, but he was trusted among the vampire community. Not that vampires needed a doctor very often, but occasionally one might come across a human who hadn’t taken care of himself. Finding clean blood was getting harder every year. “Okay, I’ll run some tests and see what I can come up with. Offhand though, I’d say it’s an allergic reaction of some kind.” “Great.” “Come back tomorrow night. In the meantime, try not to scratch too much. It’ll only make it worse.” When Jake returned the next night, he hoped for an answer. He got one. “You are definitely allergic to human blood.” Jake didn’t speak; he could only stare. “Most likely you’re having a reaction to types of blood that are different from your own, but I can’t say for sure without further testing. So, you have a choice: either stop feeding on human blood, or live with the flare-ups. I will tell you this though, the reactions could get worse.” “How much worse?” Morris shrugged. “In humans such severe reactions would be deadly. In your case, it’d just make you wish that someone would come along with a wooden stake.” “Oh, very funny. Come on doc, isn’t there a pill I can take or something?” “No, Jake, there isn’t. Your body doesn’t function like a human’s. I can work on it, but something like this would have to be done in secret and it could take years to find a way to combat it.” The doctor looked at the floor and rubbed his hands together. “Now, for the really bad news.” “Oh god.” “You’re not the only one.” “What?” Morris nodded. “Since yesterday, I’ve had two others come in with the same reactions as you. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that it was some kind of epidemic. A vampire plague, if you will.” “And?” “And what? There’s nothing I can do except run some tests and see what I can come up with.” “And how long will that take?” Morris shrugged. “Like I said, it could take years.” “And in the meantime?” Morris smiled. “No more blood for you.” Jake stood up and moved towards the door. “Perfect,” he said as he left. Morris smiled at the now closed door. Yes, he thought, it was perfect.

Skya: I'm using Isabey's 1 & 0 brushes for most of my work, especially the details. These are a great improvement over the cheap brushes that I used on previous minis. Frustrated Father: Thank you. I've tried painting the eyes pretty much every way that's been suggested. The one that I found that I like best is to paint the whole eye white, place the pupil, paint the flesh basecoat around the eyes and then darkline them. Anything else I try and it gets all messed up. Mclimbin: Thanks for the tip. That's much better than stripping the whole mini, especially when I'm fairly happy with the way this one is turning out. And thanks for the compliment.

That's the approach I took after my second mini. I would paint the whole thing and then start on the eyes since that's what almost every tutorial I read recommended. However, I'd have an ok paint job, but couldn't get the eyes right at all. If I messed up too much (which I did a lot), then I'd have to strip it and waste all of the work I had already done to the rest of it. The bangs do make it difficult to get in there. I've tried a couple of times, but the paint doesn't go where I need it to; either all over or in the wrong spot. I stopped messing with it since it seemed to be ok (not great, just ok) and I didn't want to make things worse. I'm working on a base for her right now (yes, I'm finally going to base a mini) and should have that done in the next day or so. I'll call her done and post some pics then.

Here's a close-up head shot.

It does look like it. I think it might have to do with the fact that her hair is covering half of her right eye; it makes the other eye look too big. I've did some darklining to reduce the size of the eye, but if I go much more, I'll be covering the eye. I'm really at a loss as to what I else I could do to fix the eye.

Here's the promised update:

Holy crap! I'm not a computer expert (as far as anyone knows), but I'd say it's definitely your monitor. Out of curiosity, what kind of monitor is it (CRT, flat panel, etc.)?

Thanks for the replies. I'll start applying them and update in the next day or two.

That is looking really good. I have this one in my wish list over at Reaper and it's great to see someone working on it. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Normally, I paint a mini, post the pic and call it done. Think I'll try something a little different this time. This is Tara the Silent (crossbow version) from Reaper. I was hoping to get some advice on any areas that need something more (highlights, shading, etc) to make it better.

I've ordered some of the W&N flow improver from MisterArt.com. I'll play around with it a little once it gets here and pass on if it helps me or not and what I think of it.

Thanks Ritual and Wren.

After reading around a bit, I've seen suggestions about using a combination of extender, water and flow improver to make "gunk" (I think that's what it's called). I'm really wanting to improve the way my paint handles and using plain old distilled water won't do it. I've finally gotten my hands on some extender, but I'm still trying to find a good FI. Of course, W&N Flow Improver has been suggested, but I can't seem to track any of it down; not even at Blick. I know Reaper sells FI as well, but have no idea if it's any good or not. So, if some of you could maybe take a moment to offer your opinion of which you think is the best and possibly where I might be able to find some, I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Duende: Very lovely. And don't worry; we'll hide you here.