havok's painting log

[havok100]

Hey Folks,

Looking for feedback for the various pieces I complete. Throw out any and all comments / criticism you have. I need to get better!

To start: Daemonic mount for a chaos lord. Lord to come soon.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ahiqkRT2DBA/Teb6iShEb8I/AAAAAAAAABY/z4Om__tVuaI/s1600/036.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3A3Xnd70geE/Teb6l5atojI/AAAAAAAAABc/JODYXcfrivw/s1600/037.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aGkXcGCBjU0/Teb6pXu9PII/AAAAAAAAABg/6wA1xmp3UuU/s1600/038.JPG

[fuzzbuket]

a fairly solid paint job! however improvement in painting is simple: paint paint and paint some more!

there is no 1 day SHAZAM cure but it all is about time and patience. for that model

1) l the chain mail could use a wash and POSSIBLy a wash in the shadows of the armor

(note washes dull blending so try to glaze but not wash)

2) try new techniques (osl ,nmm,freehand ,glazes) on a 'test model'

3)PAINT find you groove and work from there


4) the blends could be smoother: aka experiment with HOW smooth you blends can be (p.s. thin yo paints if trying this and get something: old gameboy, angrybirds, patience, book to stop you rushing blends)

5) to paint as well as you can army painting is a bad idea, instead of splashing out and trying to get a army done in a week, buy a single model and spend as long as you can

6) find your 'style' painting is personal, what colour of undercoat, what clours to shade, metals or NMM and how thin you paints are is all personal preference,.... aslayer sword winner said in a GW magazine that he worked on each section of armour seperatly, for him that works but for others it would look odd, do you experiment in a cartoony style or as realistic as possible? only painting as much as you can will help

7) PAINT PAINt PAINT, every time you paint your brush control gets better and your 'feel' for the paint and brush will improve (heck with my GK termis they all look different and the last is noticeably better than the first!)

8) did i tell you to paint some more?

9) have a model just to paint ( and dont burn out paint something different wash time you paint!)

10 PAINT

oh and pop by cmon for insparation (or my blog if you want to see some Nmm) i hope i didnt ramble too much!
-fuzz

p.s. PAINT
p.p.s did it tell you to PAINT SOME MORE :P
p.p.p.s is this for a GD? if so im in a similar spot (aka this is the last year i can at least hope to win a statue!)

[Chronowraith]

As inane as it sounds, fuzzbucket is right... the best advice is to just keep on painting. Just as importantly though, keep pushing your boundaries. This is why army painting isn't the best practice as you pigeon-hole yourself into a routine painting the same colors the same way.

Pick up a figure you like, but don't own an army for, and paint it. Try new colors, new techniques, new weathering, whatever you are interested in learning. If the model doesn't look perfect, shelve it and move on, and revisit it in the future. Each model should be a learning experience.

Now to the specific model at hand, fuzzbucket hit the highlights. The blending is rather stark and obvious (but that will change with PRACTICE!).

I think the best bet for the metal is to add some standard white glue to a watered down wash (glaze). Just a small amount as it will go a long way, and this will take the shine off of the metal.

Also the branches (which look like dryad arms to me) should be a much more distinct color than the horse. Keep what you have as a base and either work to a lighter yellow-brown or a darker red-brown. Right now the brances blend in with the mount too well (at least in the photos).

I'm not a fan of the random stone spike either, but that's just my personal choice. I would try and avoid real obvious bits just placed where they are readily noticeable.

Nice job on the rest of the base though. I like the stone and snow. Looking forward to seeing the Lord.

[havok100]

Thanks for the comments thus far.

@fuzz - I am no planning on burning out anytime soon. I'll have this log for anything Fantasy related, and another one for 40k related stuff. I am working towards the GD level of painting for next years GD Canada. In terms of shorter goals, I will start posting on cmon, and aim for a 1 point increase every quarter. But what do you mean by your last comment and the last year that you can win a trophy?

@chrono - I picked up Liquitex's fluid retarder to help with the blending. In terms of the spike, I ended up covering more of it in snow so its much less obvious. The trees are dryad arms, but I lacked the knowledge of different tree colours. Have since looked at more photos. I don't think that I'll repaint this piece, but this is exactly the kind of feedback that I am looking for.

@anyone: In terms of glazing, how have people found it working out the best? Mixing some pva glue into it and watered down? Some other medium for the mix?

[Chronowraith]

Thanks for the comments thus far.

@chrono - I picked up Liquitex's fluid retarder to help with the blending. In terms of the spike, I ended up covering more of it in snow so its much less obvious. The trees are dryad arms, but I lacked the knowledge of different tree colours. Have since looked at more photos. I don't think that I'll repaint this piece, but this is exactly the kind of feedback that I am looking for.

@anyone: In terms of glazing, how have people found it working out the best? Mixing some pva glue into it and watered down? Some other medium for the mix?

Okay, so I wasn't going crazy regarding the branches. Still, I like the use of that bit and it's not immediately noticeable to anyone who doesn't play or regularly play against wood elves.

I really just use water with my blending. The key it to use enough paint and definitely use a wet palette. If you don't want to buy a wet palette then you can make your won very easily with some paper towels, parchment paper, and a foam or wax coated paper plate. This will prevent your paints from drying out as you work and make it much easier to blend.

For glazes it's pretty much the same. Just use more water and make the paint really thin. You really shouldn't need any of the glazing mediums out there. Most of those mediums either make the paint glossy or have other issues associated with them.

Only use PVA if you want to flatten a color or metallic effect. If you want bright colors or shiny metallics, don't use PVA. When used on metals it can literally make them look non-metallic.

[fuzzbuket]

glazes are REALLY Thin paints. its like if you want say a nose to have a redish tint applying several thin glazes will keep the original highlight/shade but change the tint... a good glaze mix is that it it is liquid and has almost lost colour but still has a tint

the massive voodo chaps have a good guide: http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2009/12/tutorial-working-with-glazes.html

oh and about trophys this year will be my first GD and last chance to enter youngbloods (in britan the other categories are obsessively hard! :P) so im going double or nothing :D ( but i will have a fun diorama entry too!)

-fuzz