i_was_like_you Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Finally here's a Reaper mini that I got a year or two ago and eventually got around to painting. Her sword isn't great but I'm pleased with the rest of her. This was also my first attempt at OSL That's the model I use as a proxy for Kaeris. Looks good. The OSL isn't overpowering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted February 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Mr Goggles - thank you! I think the sculpt is really beautiful and benefits a lot from subtle painting, as well as being suited by the whole earthy wood elf thing. I'll be interested to see if I can pull off the alternative colour scheme (currently planned as dark blues and cool greys) that I have in my head. I'm glad that you also think this version looks good. i_was_like_you - I really like this Reaper mini. I'm quite tempted to get Kaeris in some ways, but I think this figure has a greater sense of motion than she does. It's great to hear that you think the OSL worked out ok as I spent ages trying to work out how intense to make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I finally managed to take photos today of what I've been up to. No idea when my next update will be as I'm working seven day weeks for the next month - maybe I'll just call in sick one day. Ah well. Apologies for the image quality as the only camera to hand was the tablet. I'll try and find some more time at some point in the future to take better photos. First up is Shimmer by Hasslefree. I'll be the first to admit that being made into Harley Quinn doesn't really suit her. A friend suggested it to me and I thought I'd try it out, and although I'm pleased with the result I'm almost considering stripping her as it looks a bit weird. The base was a bit rushed as I wanted to actually finish something for once. I've also started on a Gandalf figure. One of my friends has been buying me LOTR minis for the last couple of years and I've painted a grand total of 4.5 so far. This is still very much a WIP but I'm reasonably pleased with how it's progressing so far. Any comments and ideas for improvement on any of my work would be hugely appreciated as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProtoZoo Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Very nice stuff here! I really like the way you paint cloth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viruk Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 The Shimmer model actually looks quite interesting. I just can't really make out all the details with the small size of the pics you uploaded. Nice start on Gandalf too, like the various shades of white you're building there. I painted this one a while ago and it was a bit of a challenge. Keep up the great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Yeah, the photos of Shimmer aren't particularly great. I promise I'll try and take some better ones soon. I can make out some of the details in them because I know what I painted, but it's impossible to see much. I wonder how long it will be before I loathe painting white! I'd like to see how yours came out Viruk. And thanks ProtoZoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordgimpet Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 while i have been absent for a while, catching up I am blown away how each one of your projects is better than the last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Aww, thank you! I'm hoping I can get some better photos taken tomorrow. That'll probably be the best I can manage until my next day off work in 11 days time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) Right, here are bigger photos if not necessarily better ones. Hopefully at some point I'll manage to get out lights and things rather than just relying on what sunlight there is. Shimmer: Shae: Edited March 5, 2013 by Wings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 I've only managed a couple of painting sessions in the last month, this time working on an Oiran. She's now covered in paint but still needs touching up - if there's anything that really needs work please tell me! I've gone for a chrysanthemum pattern on the back of her clothes but am having difficulty making it look ok. She's probably going to have to take even more of a break shortly as I'm painting aLilith for a friend, but I'll get back to her as soon as I can. Any c&c would be greatly appreciated as I want to make her as pretty as possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilbleachman Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Your stuff all looks pretty neato. I still enjoy that elf lady the best. Really well done. Your Oiran actually looks pretty cool. The only thing I so not like that much would be the metallics on her. I am sure you highlighted them and make them look pretty good, but it is hard to tell on photos (and in general, imo). It kind of comes off as a simple coat of metal and that's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 I'm rubbish at painting metals! There's some shading and highlighting but (a) it isn't showing up in the photos, and ( it's rubbish. I'll focus on that first next time I get to paint her! And thanks for the complements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilbleachman Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 I knohow those metal paints work. Its the reason why I dislike using them, more and more. I started to just 'attempt' NMM on my malifaux models, since I cannot stand the metallics. You can achieve great highlights by staining metallics with inks and washes prior to ighlighting. But that is pretty much the only tip I can to offer an effective and visual highlight of the metallic paints. Keep your head up though! You're doing a great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 I personally paint a non-metallic colour on, shade with a non-metallic colour, and only use metals in my highlights. So steel would start as grey, be shaded down to blue-black, then highlighted up to a nice bright metallic silver. That way you're only putting the reflective particles that are in the paint on the raised areas, rather than trying to cover over it in the shadows with washes or shading. That's much harder to do. Effectively, its painting true metallics in a non metallic style, sort of TM-NMM. And I'm liking the chrysanthemum pattern! Nicely painted and impressively even all the way round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilbleachman Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Mako. You genius. When are you going to write a pocket book of Mako's wisdom and awesomeness!? <3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Eh, I prefer to spread it out over the chronicles. It looks bigger that way! You wouldn't need very big pockets for all my wisdom :-P I've just skimmed backwards a bit in the thread, you really have a way with blonde hair Wings! That's a tricky one to get right and yours looks dead on. What do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 That sounds like a much more effective way to paint metallics. This had paint mixed with the metallic paint for the shadows and pure metallic paint on the highlights, so there should be some transition from slightly matt to very shiny. But I shall try doing more NMM! Thanks for the praise for the chrysanthemum Mako. That means a lot coming from you. I figured the hardest part was going to be neatly painting the shape, but it turned out to be working out how to highlight it... As it's a mostly flat piece of fabric I can't work out how to make it look more interesting than it currently does, or if I should just leave it alone. And I second the idea of a pocketbook of awesomeness. ---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 PM ---------- I love painting blonde hair. Unfortunately I can't remember properly what colours I use - there's a lot of checking how my own hair looks in a mirror and guessing. I think I normally start off with a base colour of bestial brown, maybe add some purple for shading, and then add varying amounts of yellows and ivory until I end up with a look that works. If I cycle back and forth between the colours and glaze it down every so often it ends up looking cohesive and not too yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 I'd just follow the shading you have on the fabric. If there isn't any because it's a flat surface, then don't worry about it. If there's shading on the fabric, glaze some shading onto the freehand in the same areas. No sense trying to do too much with it, when you have a nice pattern it's best to keep the shading simple! Going from fully non-metallic colour as a shade means the camera can't pick up the metal flakes and totally wash out your efforts, as well as upping the contrast. NMM is a mare, getting it just right takes ages. Worth learning though as it really forces you to understand how light behaves, and then you can use that on other stuff (and potentially get bored of NMM and go back to TMNMM like I did). You've hit on a really neat process for blonde, you're vaguely similar in recipe (and I'd say equal in results) to a GD winner I know who specialises in female skin and hair... I'm going to pinch bits of it *wink* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Ooo, that's exciting. I look forward to seeing the next blonde you do! Thanks for the tips for the metal and the freehand. None of my friends paint particularly so help is hugely appreciated and I can't wait to try out the new ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilbleachman Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Finally got my 'Thank Yous' again for the day. Smack! Also Mako, gib us dat book of knowledge. Regardless of size the value of its content will be immensely huge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted May 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 I've managed some time off work again so have been able to spend a day painting. Here's aLilith. I painted her up for a friend of a friend and so was given a vague colour scheme, and painted her up in a couple of sessions over the last two weekends. Sadly I wasn't able to take better photos with a decent lights set up as the rest of the table was being fully used. She's now been packaged up for a trip to France but any help on how to improve (or if I need to steal her back) would be most welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Ned Posted May 5, 2013 Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 Maybe a touch more colour on the base to balance with Lillith on top. Other than that, I can't offer much advice on this excellent model. The haor in particular is brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted May 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 And here's my progress on the Oiran. This is my first real attempt at NMM so it's very much a trial run and I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing. I thought I'd paint it up in pure NMM first and see what needed fixing before attempting to throw metallic paint into the mix. ---------- Post added at 10:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 PM ---------- Thanks Big Ned! I thought about adding more things to the base but couldn't find anything that would work and stand up to a fair amount of travel. I wish I'd taken a more top down photo as the leaves stand out much more that way, and as they're a similar colour to her hair they bind the base to the mini a bit more. Her hair is really annoying to paint... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Ned Posted May 5, 2013 Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 I don't know what I love about the Oiran more, the beautiful freehand kimono or those eyes... Wow! Plus, your first attempt at NMM is a good one. Nice and smooth which is always the pitfall with that kind of technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings Posted May 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 Thanks again! I've been working on painting eyes a lot so I'm glad it's paid off. I'm not looking forward to practising NMM further as it takes a lot more time and is more obvious, particularly when it doesn't work out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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