Math's Arcanists with a fun contest - come see

[Math Mathonwy]

My Arcanists are going to feature quite a few proxies (though also quite a few Wyrd models as well). So I was thinking that it would be fun if you, dear fellow forumites, could try and guess what a given proxy is supposed to represent.

So here goes. First three Arcanists (note that these are rather tiny):

I went with a simple gold that I then washed liberally with black and brown and red and drybrushed more gold and silver for highlights. Then I picked out some of the details with silver and made the eyes green. But they looked still a bit monochrome so I went and gave them turquoise ears to match with my planned colour scheme of yellow and turquoise for the Arcanists.

What do you think of the painting and what do you think these are supposed to be?

[lusciousmccabe]

Metal Gamin?

 

I think the turqoise and brass is a good match and your metals are a nice mix of shades which keeps them interesting.

 

By any chance are you doing a Wizard of Oz theme with your yellow brick road bases? 

[PraetorDragoon]

They look pretty good. My first thought was Metal Gamin as well, but they feel a bit too obvious.

 

So I go with Doves (Colette's totem)

[dgraz]

Really cute models.......I would guess Gamin.

 

On the painting side:

I think they look pretty good as is but if you want to push them higher I can give a couple of suggestions.

 

First, I think the eyes get a little lost.........I believe this is due to color theory......you have the blue ears and the gold (yellow) body....and blue and yellow make green, so I think it's just a little too close on the color wheel....I probably would have gone further into the warm spectrum....if you look at a color wheel and pick a triad scheme, red is opposite the blue and yellow combo.

 

Second is the gold. I really like the variations created by the different washes and it makes them look like they are reflecting colors that are around them which is totally realistic. But I think all metallics greatly benefit from extreme contrast. I'm recently switching to all NMM, but I used metallics for a long, long time...with gold I would always base black first, then leave a small strip of black visible where shadow would be...then I would highlight up using the GW metallics (Tin Bitz, then Shining Gold, then Burnished Gold).......but the thing that really made them pop was to take Mithril Silver and put just a dot at all the highest points paying special attention to the hard edges (closest to the light....I always paint as if it's high noon). That silver glint really helps. Also, as the complementary color to yellow, a very thin glaze of dark purple in the darkest spots can help quite a bit. Take a look at my avatar pic....some people thought I had put a real gold ring on Cojo's chest....but it's one of my personal best jobs using this technique. I think using the colored glazes on a gold that has a more extreme contrast would look really cool.

I hope that helps.

[Math Mathonwy]

Thank you so much for the kind words! And yes, these are indeed Metal Gamin.

By any chance are you doing a Wizard of Oz theme with your yellow brick road bases? 

Haha! That would be awesome. Joss as Tin Man, Sabertooth Cerberos as Cowardly Lion, maybe Colette as Dorothy. But who for Scarecrow?

 

They look pretty good. My first thought was Metal Gamin as well, but they feel a bit too obvious.

 

So I go with Doves (Colette's totem)

I hope to be obvious! As when using Proxies, I think that it is important to be obvious. Knowing the different minis on the Malifaux battlefield is very important and I really don't wish to confuse my opponent about what is what.

On the painting side:

I think they look pretty good as is but if you want to push them higher I can give a couple of suggestions.

 

First, I think the eyes get a little lost.........I believe this is due to color theory......you have the blue ears and the gold (yellow) body....and blue and yellow make green, so I think it's just a little too close on the color wheel....I probably would have gone further into the warm spectrum....if you look at a color wheel and pick a triad scheme, red is opposite the blue and yellow combo.

 

Second is the gold. I really like the variations created by the different washes and it makes them look like they are reflecting colors that are around them which is totally realistic. But I think all metallics greatly benefit from extreme contrast. I'm recently switching to all NMM, but I used metallics for a long, long time...with gold I would always base black first, then leave a small strip of black visible where shadow would be...then I would highlight up using the GW metallics (Tin Bitz, then Shining Gold, then Burnished Gold).......but the thing that really made them pop was to take Mithril Silver and put just a dot at all the highest points paying special attention to the hard edges (closest to the light....I always paint as if it's high noon). That silver glint really helps. Also, as the complementary color to yellow, a very thin glaze of dark purple in the darkest spots can help quite a bit. Take a look at my avatar pic....some people thought I had put a real gold ring on Cojo's chest....but it's one of my personal best jobs using this technique. I think using the colored glazes on a gold that has a more extreme contrast would look really cool.

I hope that helps.

Thank you so much for the in-depth analysis and tips.

I do very much agree with what you are saying. I usually use purple (or green) on my gold and I agree that the eyes do not pop as much as I hoped they would.

Some of this is due to these being a lot more red at one point but then I built up the gold more and they sort of lost that excess redness and that exacerbated the problems. So yeah, I do agree with you fully.

As for the Mithril Silver - there actually are little dots. Photography usually makes them a bit difficult to notice and I for sure could've done them better and more prominent, but you might notice it on the "eye brows" on the first and second pics as well as the tail joint and the tip of the nose.

That said, I do absolutely agree with the comment on contrast for metals - it really is the secret for good metals and these could certainly have more of it and would benefit from it.

So yeah, thank you again! I'll try to implement these with my other Arcanists.

[Linus Mcmold]

I'd guess they were basilisks, not gamin, but I'm late. But I'm unaware on which base sizees they are supposed to be on.
Nice sculpts, rather cute too.

[MasterDisaster]

They are cool little models. Which range are they from?

[Math Mathonwy]

Thank you! They are from Wolsung and should be available somewhere early summer or so, I'd guess.

As for them being Basilisks - that's not a bad sentiment, actually! They would fit the Construct Beast part. But the Basilisk is Rare 1, Ht 3 and on a 50mm base - these OTOH are quite tiny.

[Solicitor 6]

I'd go with a Coryphee for you Scarecrow to complete the Wizard of Oz theme.