Mako Posted May 25, 2014 Report Share Posted May 25, 2014 There's some nice work here! I'm a particular fan of the beckoners' eyes, they look really bright and glowy and it contrasts great with their skin tones. But all four crews are nice, you've got really decent brush control (The nurse's eyes, graves' pinstripes...) If you're looking for things to work on to improve (beyond the usual thinner layers, more of them, and a ton of practice... I should get that as a rubber stamp lol), I think you could push your shades and possibly highlights on your skintones a bit more. Maybe on your paler colours too. I do the whole midtone - shade - midtone - highlight thing, which is great when you get the hang of it and have really thin layers, but it takes some getting used to. A good way yo adjust to that (if you want to) can be to start making your base colour a little paler, then using one carefully directed wash/glaze for the shadows. It can make it easier as you're not going from the middle down, then middle up, but from almost the full shade quickly down, then back to the usual shade to highlight process. That's how I started with it, I'm now at a point where my midtone is a little more towards my shade than my highlights, but that's slipping slowly towards the midpoint.Slow adjustments are easier to handle as they don't cause quite so much damage to your painting! In terms of actually finding that sweet spot of contrast for things, I have a couple of vague rules I try to follow (though I fudge them regularly, because they're kind of vague): Glossy stuff like metals always goes from black to white (or pure silver), with fairly small highlights and shades by the time you get to the extremes. Matte stuff (cloth, skin and all sorts) aren't as extreme, but I tend to push them a tiny bit further than seems entirely natural. My usual range for skin is about a 2:1 mix of bronze fleshtone and dark fleshtone as a shade, and bonewhite as a highlight. It is one of those black arts in some ways, but going from the midtone helped me - If I need more shading, I can add more without having problems with the highlights getting too close and losing the midtone.You can sit there and go back and forth from highlight to shade as you want until you get what you're looking for. Hopefully there's something vaguely useful in there! It sounds really corny but wanting to push yourself is the key part of getting better at it, then it's just experimenting with things to see how they work out. You can take the big dramatic change (and time to recover your painting standard) approach, or the gradual shift. Either one will make you feel a bit (or a lot) like you're going nowhere until you get used to it though... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zFiend Posted May 25, 2014 Report Share Posted May 25, 2014 Good looking McMourning and co! Straight from a horror flick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorlucky Posted August 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 Again thank you Mako! I was totally wrong about my shadows going well. I thought my highlights are the issue, but I'm pretty sure it's the shadows. So MOAR Shadows! Part of the Hide and Seek Crew uh oh...paint splatter....BRB. Overhead Lighting for Chompy and starting gremlins while finishing alps Anyways I'm working hard starting at the midtone, highlighting, shading, glazing back some midtone, shading, shading, and making things smooth. Comments and tips really appreciated! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaiuri Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 What's that effect on the Dreamer Crew's bases? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorlucky Posted August 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 it is simply "opalescent" origami paper found at Michaels. Punched out, edged black, glued down. I wanted a simple ethereal surreal trippy base for the dreamer crew. It is a bit hard to tell but it changes color depending on the light hitting it and the angle you are to it. super simple but I really like it. I tried sealing it like if I were to do a water effect, but I didn't like it as well as this. It covered too much of the color change. LCB is standing on mosaic glass blocks from Michaels. I broke some up to make it a bit more interesting. I then did a very thin teal glaze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaiuri Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 Very interesting, thanks for sharing! Its given me some ideas for when I get my own Dreamer et al :-D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectrehorseman Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 Wow, just found your thread and I am impressed! I particuarly like all the streaking highlights you put into Chompy. The glowing eyes a few posts back on Canine Remains was cool to. Looking forward to more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viruk Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 It's a great looking crew and those bases go very well with Dreamer's theme. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorlucky Posted October 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Haven't taken pics for a bit- here is all my new stuff! C&C welcome! Somer! Slop! These are inspired by a certain Guardians movie- yadoo Thanks to Mako's chronicles article: Thanks for looking! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGHTHATER Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Doctorlucky, I spent a while looking closely at your models and sent you a message. Nighthater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigmar3 Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 I think Mako has given you some great advice. Also, I feel you can see how much you're enjoying painting these and it shows on the models. Your painting is definitely improving, just have fun with it too. Looking forward to seeing more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorlucky Posted October 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Little confused to what you mean by your post- I'm having a great time painting up the new plastics otherwise I wouldn't be painting at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigmar3 Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 That's what I mean lol, sorry. Sometimes you can just tell how much fun someone is having by the quantity and quality of the models they are painting, and the enthusiasm they show. You are painting loads to a really nice standard, it's great to see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorlucky Posted October 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Haha thanks! Thats what I thought you meant, but then it reads both ways and I wanted to clarify lol. I am having a great time and I am working on a laundry list of things to improve- its all just for my personal fun and enjoyment. Like many I'm self-taught and I don't have anyone in my area that paints up malifaux or hosts mini painting stuff so I appreciate any and all feedback from here. Somer's crew was pretty much the first actual bases that I have made so I am just getting into the fun of how to make a neat base. I've stuck to simple embossing and stuff before. Looking forward to creating more! Next up on the block is Bete Noir, some canines, hanged, doppleganger (really excited to put my anatomy classes to work- hopefully it turns out how I want it to), and HOPEFULLY the Carver as I heard he might be released this month. Then Lucius- whom I'm very excited to paint up but am waiting on some happy sepiku stamps that I am getting for xmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorlucky Posted October 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 More done from Gen Con goodies: On this set I focused a bit more on exciting bases, might have overdone it for one of the dogs... Also focused on some different skin tones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viruk Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Great stuff all around, I particularly like the Bloody Bete 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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