Rasputina

[Hinton]

I painted this up for the GenCon painting competition. In hindsight, I should have spent more time and did more work on it; I'm not all that happy with how it turned out. I wasn't going post it, but I'd really, really appreciate it if I could not only get some feedback on it, but also some advice on how to improve those areas that need work.

Sorry for the slightly blurry pics.

(And yeah, I need to work on my highlights; I'm hoping that highlights won't be such a problem for me one day.)

Thanks.

[matty1001]

It's very nice great piece of work, love the stockings (freehand?)

Now the ego stroking has been done, time for constructive crit lol

The black is great in some area's (the breasts) but not so in others like the front of the skirt bit, you need to glaze over and smoothen it out a bit and really up the contrast into the white's. You seem to just stop at grey's. Trying going right up and using the entire spectrum from black to white, but only using pure white (i prefer Ivory) as hotspots, like you would NMM or metallics.

The flesh is the same, it looks quite flat, really push the shading and the highlights. I have a female flesh tute on my site which may help. Im not the best at it by far, but it may help and give you some pointers. www.matthewbraid.co.uk

The lenses on the googles might of been better with a slight gem effect to give them a shine. Its not to hard to do and looks really effective.

In some parts I can see strong zenithal lighting, but other bits arn't as effective. The arms are great in this respect, but the shadows need to go much darker. (A bit like OSL, where you paint the shaded areas much darker)

The hair looks quite flat, you need to add in a shiny stripe around the middle (not sure how to explain it properly, but Im sure other's will)

And lastly the base. Its a bit basic and perhaps needs a bit jazzing up and giving more of an overall atmosphere to the model.

But you did say you would have liked to spend more time on it. Will you be improving it? Or just using what you have learned on the next one?

[Jubilee]

The face is off to a good start, I think, and the lips look nice. You just need to smooth out the blends a bit more and up the contrast. I also think the freehand is good - much more ambitious than anything I've dared try.

Composition wise, I think that grass is WAAAY too bright compared to the muted colorscheme you've got going on. It's quite distracting and pulls the eye away from the model. I would go for a different colored static grass, or a more stoney/rocky terrain instead of that bright green grass. Also, adding more depth/texture/variety to the base would be a good thing. I also would suggest a touch of reddish-brown somewhere on the model, perhaps the laces or the buttons on her coat, to contrast with the green sash and boots. You don't want bright red, because that'll look christmassy, just a rusty brown.

/ali

[Wren]

Aside from a few areas of slightly rough blending (black is an evil colour that way...) the contrast is really the main thing I'm seeing as a problem here. I think it's particularly necessary because of the dark colour scheme, so you need to do things like paint the goggles a bit gem like so they stand out and stronger highlights or a different colour on the belt like Jubilee suggests so it stands out more, that sort of thing. I know from personal experience that getting the contrast is hard mentally as much as it is challenging in terms of brush work. It looks so glaring and unnatural when you're sitting there painting. It helps to hold it away from you. Turn off your painting light and look at it just under regular lights. Leave it and come back the next day and look under different lighting. If it still looks glaring, maybe it is, but more likely it's not going to pop enough and need yet more contrast.

Where and how big the shadows and highlights are is the other part of that. The general rule is 50% of something should be the midtone, and 25% highlight and 25% shade. With black it's 75% black, and 25% highlights. (Which I think you're pretty close to, just need to take a few of the highlights a bit brighter in very tiny areas.) I know when I was initially wrestling with this one of my problems was highlighting too much. It made a nice gradation, but it was over too much of the model. That nice glow/pop you'll see on a lot of the top miniatures is partly from highlights that ramp up from midtone to bright spot in a smaller area.

The last thing I'd consider (other than the stuff about the base, I think something gritty and urban would fit the character and how you've painted her better, but I suck at bases when it comes down to brass tacks, so that's all I'll say there...) is the idea of glazing in some subtle touches of different colours. These would be thin, carefully applied layers of say, purple in the shadows of the robe to play off the green sash, or a little bit of brown on the fur or something. Subtle works great here, you don't even necessarily want people to notice the colour consciously, but to unconsciously find some subtle complexity and visual interest to engage their eyes. Or something like that, mostly this is stuff I'm passing along from classes with Jeremie and still trying to figure out myself. ;->

I like the face also, I think that just needs some highlighting right under the eyes. You can go up pretty bright on that, it draws attention to the face and is more realistic looking than you'd imagine. The stockings are super, a nice way of showing off some freehand in a way that fits with the sculpt and the paint scheme without being show-offy for show-offy's sake. I think she has a very nice steampunk vibe the way you've painted her, well in keeping with the sculpt. I think the green sash and gloves came out very well.

[Larkin Vain]

I like it a lot. If I could only paint half as good I'd be very happy. Great work!

[Hinton]

Thank you all for the feedback; it's exactly the kind constructive criticism and critique that I like to get. It's helpful and to the point without being rude and it gives me a direction to think about. Thank you all very, very much!

I do want to mention the base real quick. Unfortunately, my basing skills are terrible. I know it's because I didn't think about basing my minis when I first started and I've developed a really bad habit of not giving the base any serious consideration. I'm working on improving that and trying to drive it into my head that the base is just as important as the mini itself.

@matty: I actually read and tried to follow your tutorial for skin (great tute by the way); however, the skin areas are fairly small on this mini and I know I didn't get it done right. Hopefully I'll be able to apply your technique better on the next one.

The stockings are indeed freehand. I started out going for a sheer look, but it wasn't coming out right at all, so I shifted gears and tried to get a fishnet look instead. I know what you mean on the hair.

One thing that I've done ever since my very first mini is that once I call it done, it's done. As much as I would like to go back and redo things on several of my minis (well, all of them), I like to leave them where they are once they're "done" so that I can look back and see where I was and where I am now.

@jubilee: good advice on adding a touch of reddish-brown. I'm still trying to figure the whole color theory thing and, to be honest, I really have no sense of what goes with what. But I'm learning!

@wren: I hadn't heard about the 50/25/25 thing with midtones, shades, etc. That definitely gives me a better idea of what I may be trying to accomplish.

I've often heard of people using a thin wash of some color to help enhance their paint jobs (i.e. a purple wash on flesh to give it a more realistic look without going overboard on it). But, like color theory, it's just not something that I'm very familiar with. Thank you for the suggestions, though; it certainly gives me something to think about for next time.

Again, thank you all very much for the comments and especially for the honest critique. It's exactly what I'm always looking for. You don't have to worry about brusing my ego or anything like that because I know precisely where I stand with my painting skills (and I know there is a ton of room for improvement) and I know that I can only improve with practice and honest feedback.

[Stupidcow]

Looks like the folks already covered all areas that you need to improve on, and in great details. We should see some improvements in your next mini then. Happy painting.

[Hinton]

Looks like the folks already covered all areas that you need to improve on, and in great details. We should see some improvements in your next mini then. Happy painting.

I hope so. Of course, if you see anything, feel free to comment. The more, the merrier.

[gi6ers]

Nothing else to add but their is a definite improvement here, keep it up.

[matty1001]

Nice to see someone is using my tutes!

And the ego thing was a bit tounge in cheek, aimed at all the gencon people who went, didn't win and got in a strop with the comp system.

But you seem to have loads of advice their so il just say cheers to your next masterpiece!

[Wren]

One thing that I've done ever since my very first mini is that once I call it done, it's done. As much as I would like to go back and redo things on several of my minis (well, all of them), I like to leave them where they are once they're "done" so that I can look back and see where I was and where I am now.

This is how I approach things, too. When I hear about people constantly stripping and redoing paint jobs, I wonder if they're working against themselves a little - how do you feel that you've ever made any progress? Once something's been photographed and sat on my mini shelf for more than a week it's not likely to be touched again. I'm sadly even bad about touch-ups, a fig I brought to show off at GenCon last year is still wondering when I'm going to stick his hand back on...

There is one mini I'm tempted to break the rule on, as I love almost everything about it but the hair sucks and I forgot to add something to the base that I had intended to at the time.

@jubilee: good advice on adding a touch of reddish-brown. I'm still trying to figure the whole color theory thing and, to be honest, I really have no sense of what goes with what. But I'm learning!

If you get another chance to go to GenCon or another con where Anne Foerster is teaching, try to take her colour class. She's had traditional art training, she's spent the past three years working with physical pigments developing the Reaper paint line, and she's spent years working with mini painters of all levels of skill and interest. Plus she's pretty good at teaching. Maybe I'll try to run down some of the most basic-basic stuff and post it up in tutorials or something.

@wren: I hadn't heard about the 50/25/25 thing with midtones, shades, etc. That definitely gives me a better idea of what I may be trying to accomplish.

I've often heard of people using a thin wash of some color to help enhance their paint jobs (i.e. a purple wash on flesh to give it a more realistic look without going overboard on it). But, like color theory, it's just not something that I'm very familiar with. Thank you for the suggestions, though; it certainly gives me something to think about for next time.

This is very much something I'm still working on getting my head around, too. A lot of the European painters seem to do this, and I think it really adds a lot of complexity and subtlety to their models.

[Highbulp Billy]

Hey Hinton, lovely stockings you've got there. Generally very nice but would so benefit from a more fitting base - something more urban.

[AoM]

The whole model looks a bit muted. what did you use to build up the highlights? adding white or grey to your base colors often gives a muted look. for the green, try a slight bit of yellow when you're building up the highlights.

The straps on the boots are getting lost with the rest of the boots. Perhaps a nice sharp line highlight on the top edges of the straps to help them stick out more? Or maybe make the straps a brown leather against the dark green boots?

The lips and the eyes look really nice. The rest of the face needs more contrast though. The highlights could come up a bit more on the cheek bones, I think.

One of the things that Sue will always tell people in her painting classes and at Paint & Take is to bring the highlights and the shadows to where you think they should be, then take them another 2 steps lighter/darker. You're seeing the shading and highlighting because you've been looking at the model and you know where you put what colors. When someone else looks at the model, they haven't seen all of this work, so their eye doesn't make the adjustments automatically. Since I've started using some of the exaggerated highlights (stick to the parts that should be getting the most light, of course), I think my painting has improved a bunch. Remember: finish the highlighting, then go 2 steps more.

[matty1001]

Go four steps more if you are photographing it lol

[Jubilee]

Go four steps more if you are photographing it lol

Or if you're putting dullcote on - it is notorious for washing out highlights =)

/ali

ps. With my last few minis, I have gotten the mini to a point I feel is "finished" and then put it on my workbench shelf for a day or two and then gone back and added another shadow and highlight. I think it has helped me improve from my subtle ways a bit..

[EricJ]

just go all the way to pure white and black! take out the guess work

Most of what I have been thinking about this model seems to have been covered. But I figured I'd repeat a point. The goggles are an exceptional place to do the lenses with a little "bling" so to speak on the lenses and draw the eye up to the face of the mini.