Skya Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 It's been some ridiculously long time since I've updated my webpage so I finally got off my ass and spent the day on it. I have to say you guys here have seen a lot more of what I just updated then anywhere else, as Iron Painter entries make up a good chunk of it. You tell what I've been spending my time on. I'd really been hoping to do do a major overhaul instead of just an update, but the couple of people who offered to help me do that have been rather slow, so I figured I might as well update it. I will note that I currently cant find my copy of the Baskerville Bold font, so some of the newer award listings and the title on the Diorama page are a bit odd looking at the moment. Here's hoping I have it on my old hard drive and can fix that problem shortly. I've been debating pulling down some more of my older pieces that aren't representative of the quality of my work these days, but I'm not sure. I'd love input on that. Skya's Website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moavoamoatu Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 The site doesn't load at all..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skya Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 :banghead: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 The site doesn't load at all..... :ripped: Doesn't load for me either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goblyn13 Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Skya's awesomeness took down the server couldn't handle having that much awesome in one place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moavoamoatu Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Skya, If you tell me how to get the first place in Iron Painter contest (or tell me how much the bribe was and give me Supervike's Paypal address) I will help you to fix your website..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinton Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Sorry; doesn't load for me either. Maybe it's a sign that more Elfquest needs to be scanned? Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supervike Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Skya, If you tell me how to get the first place in Iron Painter contest (or tell me how much the bribe was and give me Supervike's Paypal address) I will help you to fix your website..... I'm surprisingly cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skya Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 (edited) And yes apparently the server is down. I cant get at anything else on shadowdragon either. Why does this only happen when I update my stuff? *sigh* @Hinton: Dude, I'm more then a month ahead on the scanning and I finished the letters/editorial pages for the Original Quest yesterday as well. I think I'm allowed to get some actual work done. @Moa: The secret to winning Iron Painter? That's easy. Do the absolute best work you've ever done every time and let the theme inspire you to try something new that you wouldnt have otherwise. I think you've got potential, but it's a rough contest. You've got to churn out top notch pieces every three weeks, but if you can keep up it makes you into a damned good painter. I've improved more in the last year specifically because of Iron Painter then I had previously in the three years before. Edited May 7, 2008 by Skya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moavoamoatu Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I'm surprisingly cheap! You are my favourite goblin..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderhawkerMinis Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Seems to be working now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skya Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Woot! The guy who hosts my website rocks. I didnt think he'd be able to do anything till he got home from work, but one email and 20 minutes latter and viola! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moavoamoatu Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Very nice miniatures on your site and I discovered that you are an artist too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waghorn41 Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Well Skya I've just looked at your website and I'm glad I only entered IP5 for the fun of it. Your work is awesome.I don't have enough years left to get to that level! Made me think about deleting my galleery here on Wyrd but then thought, what the hell give everybody a laugh... How about a bit of advice as to the best paints to use? Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skya Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 How about a bit of advice as to the best paints to use? Ian What paints you use tends to be very specific to how you work. What I can tell you is which paints I use for what techniques. I started out using Citadels and didnt really like the plasticy texture that they tend towards ( I also hated the fact that they dry out in the bottles in 6 months flat.) but they do cover very well and have a handful of browns that I just cant find elsewhere. Vaitalla and Paintminion introduced me to Valleyo Model Color paints. They have a wonderful selection of naturalistic colors that just arent available in most of the paint lines in this hobby. They also have a very creamy buttery texture and thin very smoothly. I tend to use these for wetblending and German Camoe Black brown, Ivory and Pale Sand are three of my stable neutral colors. The disadvantage to these is that unless you dullcoat regularly thin layers that are put down will tend to peel up when applying new paint over them, and while they do need thinning out of the bottle, they usually take a couple coats to do a full basecoat. Then of course Anne went off and made Reaper Master Series paints. I love these. They are my main paint line these days, even though I still use a lot of my Valleyos. They go on smooth, straight out of the bottle. They dry amazingly hard. They are thick enough that I've occasionally used a few layers of these paints to "resculpt" areas on a figure's face that didnt look quite right to me, yet they thin down into amazingly cohesive glazes. I have found that after a few years some of them separate a bit and or turn a nit granular, but that's a hell of a lot better then the 6 months that GW paints last, and it's worth noting that most of my bottles are from the very fist batch and many of those kinks have been worked out. The new reformlated ProPaints look to be another set of paints I'll use a lot of. Mostly for base coating. Unlike the old ProPaints there's no chalkiness to them, however much like the old formula they go on in one coat out of the bottle and they are wonderfully opaque. Not I expect something you'll want to do glazes with, though I havent had a chance to try yet, but still well worth it for their other properties. I've only tries the Rackham paints once while speed painting and they reminded me a lot of traditional acrylics only a bit gooier. Not great for speed painting but I cant tell you a lot more then I didnt like the texture. P3's I'm not that fond of either. They remind me too much of Citadel's plasticyness. I have at least on friend who swears by them for wetblending, but they're not my thing. I've also tried Adiken paints, hated em, and Valleyo's Game Color line. It's very liquidy out of the bottle and while I could see that being useful at times, it's just not something I tend to use. I like being able to control exactly how thick my paint is and if it's already dilute that becomes not really an option unless I'm using them for glazing. So, here's hoping that was helpful to you, and good luck. Trust me when I started I felt the same gulf between my painting and that of the people I admired that you do now. Dont give up, it really only does take time and if you put your mind to it and just keep painting you will get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moavoamoatu Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 In France Vallejo is distributed by Prince August. The numbers on the bottles are different but the paints are the same. They have a Games line of paints which are the same colours as Games Workshop and you can find most of the GW browns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubbdog Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Just saw your site and like the things I see. I didnt realize you had been at Reapercon 2006. Means that I might have already met you and dont remember it. Which means both my memory is already shot.. or just scatter brain... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v22TTC Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Gorgeous, gorgeous work [goes all dreamy eyed...]. I would personally not delete your older pieces - I think it's always nice to see people's progression on these sites; so you've got the inspirational top stuff and the `see, this is where I started' earlier pieces so folk don't get too disheartened. And it's not like there are any `bad' pieces in there. Thanks very much for bringing some extra beauty (and inspiration/motivation) into my morning! Waghorn41: Please don't delete your galleries (I know you were only joking) - there aren't many of us in this hobby really and we need all the folk (with their different ways of viewing the world/interpretations) we can get to keep it fresh and constantly evolving. I'm kind of just starting, myself, so what I'm tending to do is devour these types of galleries, think `right that's where I want to be going' and if I see a particular effect I really like, log it away in my visual memory or take notes and try to replicate it - keeping on trying until I've cracked it - then move on to the next effect/technique. [Though this doesn't lend itself well to getting stuff finished, hence why I'm in IP, and I do have a 2D art background to draw upon]. The folks round here are very nurturing and supportive and - most importantly - are willing to give honest and none-snobbish C&C and share techniques: they won't laugh and you just have to keep on improving when all said and done... and I'm saying all this to myself as much as to you, by the way!... Practically, what I've found improved my game massively was to always mix my paints with medium and a little retarder, have a fine spray bottle to keep my paints wet on the tile, have a damp brush by my side for feathering and the like, and painting nearly everything with a Windsor & Newton Series 7 No 2 brush (only using a smaller one for the teensiest of details, and rarely even then) plus a good brush cleaning soap... hope this might help.... [i mostly use Vallejo Game Colour by the way but I thin my paints down so much that it hardly matters what paints I use - I just love the speed and convenience of the dropper bottles. Will probably replace them with Reaper Master Series paints as they start to run out.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skya Posted May 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Just saw your site and like the things I see. I didnt realize you had been at Reapercon 2006. Means that I might have already met you and dont remember it. Which means both my memory is already shot.. or just scatter brain... :weirdo: Dude, I'm kinda hard to miss. I'm 4'9", have ridiculously long brown hair, wear glasses and half the time I'm in a friggin wheelchair. It's ReaperCon, it's tiny. I'm sure we've met. Here have a current picture: Facebook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skya Posted May 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 [Though this doesn't lend itself well to getting stuff finished, hence why I'm in IP, and I do have a 2D art background to draw upon]. It's amazing how much difference a solid art background can have. I cant believe they dont teach even the basics of a color wheel in school these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v22TTC Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Yeah, it gets you off to a good start, though it didn't actually teach me very much, other than `just keep practicing/experimenting' - there's minimal theory involved (what: golden section, perspective, colour theory, composition, only use black paint for very specific effects).... I honestly have to say that I've learned more about how to paint properly from six months of reading on-line tutorials and comments on minis sites than in years of college and practice though... I admire that generous sharing of knowledge found in `the hobby'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wren Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 have ridiculously long brown hair I cut off about a foot of hair a couple of months ago, so I'll be curious to see if I'm no longer ridiculously longest hair this ReaperCon. The updates look great! I love your pieces with textured cloth, and you have some super stuff with reds that really struck me also. I'd keep the older work in, but if you're concerned about people confusing the quality levels of older stuff with how you paint now, maybe create a separate gallery section just for it and remove it from the manufacturer/size galleries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skya Posted May 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Not a bad idea. When I to the how pictures are viewed update I'll look and see if that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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