Okay... these are basically my first attempts at painting (technically, a friend taught me painting on a GW dwarf, but these are first minis I've painted on my own):
I've sorted them chronologically, with the leftmost one being the first (on the first picture).
Minis are here
I cannot draw a face, because I'm utterly unable to paint the eyes with accuracy... but I'm practising. It get's better. As well as my drybrushing and washing techniques. And yeah, my photographing.
Tips, constructive criticism or helpful advice?
Additionally: Thanks, pogre, for ypur great minis and advice threads... they were as inspirational as helpful! (in fact, I've seen the lich there the first time and decided to get it!)
Cheers, LT.
Last edited by Lord Tirian; 15th October 2007 at 01:11 AM..
Reason: Put pictures in sblock! And here are more than my very first ones...
If these are your first minis, I see no reason to complain. I for one don´t like drybrushing, prefere to paint the highlights, and then use a darker wash even it out.
If anything I think your minis could use more contrast between light and shadow. Especially the blue robe and the two wizards faces. In any case they look really good for a first try at painting and should look good on the gaming table. My own first steps looked terrible.
Okay... these are basically my first attempts at painting
Not bad really for the first attempt. I notice the first mini has a fairly accurate eye, (you might not think so, but if you see good eyes they are typically done in the exact opposite way you might think they were done) and that's good. We can go into a number of techniques and stuff and ideas, but really the first step is good brush control.
I guess I would be remiss if I didn't add the mantra "thin your paints." (Yea but I thinned my paints so much it started eating through the primer!) It all dpends on the paint of course, but if you really really thin your paint you can create a "wash" which you can apply after the regular paint. Basically you can over highlight and over shadow and tone the whole thing down with a neutral wash.
Another thing is that detail on a mini really helps you in painting. Look at the first mini on the left. The details on the light blue are on the borderline of being observable to a casual observer. Here is where a light highlight and shadow can do a world of good.
Always remember that the odds are if there are 10 things on a mini, you will only see 9 of them. On the red guy with quarterstaff, there should be some "wood" where his hand is as there appears to be two wraps not one where his hand is.
The skeletal guy is very good by the way.
__________________ "In a world of black-and-white distinctions between good and evil, killing innocents to save yourself is an evil act. Sacrificing yourself for the good of others is a good act. It's a high standard, but that's the way it is." Monte Cook - Book of Vile Darkness - Pg 10
I guess I would be remiss if I didn't add the mantra "thin your paints." (Yea but I thinned my paints so much it started eating through the primer!) It all dpends on the paint of course, but if you really really thin your paint you can create a "wash" which you can apply after the regular paint. Basically you can over highlight and over shadow and tone the whole thing down with a neutral wash.
Oooh, thinning paint: I'm thinning a bit, but probably I should thin waaay more! Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tzor
Always remember that the odds are if there are 10 things on a mini, you will only see 9 of them. On the red guy with quarterstaff, there should be some "wood" where his hand is as there appears to be two wraps not one where his hand is.
Oops. I need to be more observant... probably, I should search for more pictures of miniatures to paint. It was pogre's mini of the lich, that made me aware of the exposed bones.
You are way ahead of the game. These are outstanding for first minis - you should be very encouraged. Solid basework and good color choices. I like the eyes on your lich a lot.
Blending, etc. will come, but for now just keep on painting.
Well done!
EDIT: Go back and fix your title - these are not bad at all.
Some new stuff... both are Reaper minis, the wizard was found in a bargain bin for £1, so I couldn't resist.
Pictures are here
The photo is worse, because it's another camera, and in my flat here, I don't get decent lighting. Well... at least I figured out how to paint proper eyes on the wizard. And dabbled a bit in blending for the purple part of his robe.
Oh, and I still have to put them on a proper base... but I'll do that later.
Cheers, LT.
Last edited by Lord Tirian; 15th October 2007 at 01:04 AM..
Reason: Changed pictures a bit...
Having seen my friends start up painting and improve with each mini, I have to say you are way ahead of most folks' "first minis".
Hmmm... I guess I had somewhat of a headstart, since I've used to paint with acrylics (albeit on canvas, instead of miniatures) sometimes. Well, since today was a Sunday (i.e. a free day), I could pour about four to five hours into another miniature - one of my favourite critters, a mind flayer!
Mind Flayer
This time, I've went through much more layers for the blending and I'm quite content with the result.
And because I could find an extra lamp for the picture, I've shot the knight and wizard again, with better lighting and updated the post above.
Alright, I paint a lot of miniatures, or have over the years. I've seen a lot of painted miniatures as well. Yours look great. I've seen some first time mini's that are awful, but if these are your first mini's, they are great. I see no problems with the faces or the eyes. keep up the good work.
Your basing is good too.
__________________ "It's because you're old. Life's like a roll of toilet paper - the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes." Impeesa My name is Jay, and I'm a gamer
One standard trick for eyes: paint the eyes first. Allow the whites to slop over the eye socket, then paint the pupil as a vertical black line across the eye (generally easier to do than trying to precisely place a single black dot). Then, when you paint the skin tones, you can cover up the slopover as you paint around the lids/eyesocket, and unless the mini has huge eyes or your black line was incredibly thin, only a "dot" of the black will be visible.
__________________ - She Who Loves To Gallop Through The Wind And Rain
- Kicker of Evil Trees
Okay... some of them were already painted last year, but I never got around to take decent photos. Now I could be bothered to do that, so I guess I'll post them now!
Additionally, I've discovered the macro-mode on my camera and how to correct the lighting levels properly... so the photos are a notch better than the last ones!
As always, they are ordered chronologically in the order of painting.
Ranger
Okay, this one was a nice one, though I still have to paint his wolf companion. I also think that the colour combination (grey and purple) is very odd. No clue why I have done it that way!
Angel of Shadows
The sculpt is a personal favourite, but my paintjob isn't as good as I wanted it to be. Probably because I liked the mini and was on-and-off with painting it. But I have still no clue what to put on her base... :/ ...so feel free to suggest something.
Elven Paladin
While this one is my favourite paintjob so far. I'm very happy how the blues turned out!
Dark Cleric
I like this guy... and it was my first try light sources. It failed, especially on the scroll. ANd the skull looks illogical for something glowing... but it could be worse!
Spined Devil
I scored this guy from my FLGS about half a month after the D&D Day... too much promos left over. It was mostly an exercise in doing an interesting base, though I've touched up the DDM paintjob a bit as well.
Thanks for looking, and I always dig criticism!
Cheers, LT.
Last edited by Lord Tirian; 1st March 2008 at 05:30 PM..
"In a world of black-and-white distinctions between good and evil, killing innocents to save yourself is an evil act. Sacrificing yourself for the good of others is a good act. It's a high standard, but that's the way it is." Monte Cook - Book of Vile Darkness - Pg 10 
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