Pics of a few of my mini's (2/20/03)

I had started with him months ago and did not like his cloak color, so he has sat on my work bench untouched. I will use Pinesol to remove all of the paint and then paint him with a cloak similar to the raging fig, but more brown and less green. He really is a bad ass fig and I should motivate myself to paint him.

Right now I am working on some of the black guard swordsmen from Reaper. I am trying a new tech with painting and these swordsmen make the perfect guards or common brigand/soldier. I like to practice on these because I don't really care how well they turn out, they are just cannon fodder anyway.

I am also painting an elf from Reaper and trying my first NMM on armor. So far it is not working out that well, but I like it better than plain silver with brown or black washes. My wife is taking a knitting class tonight, so maybe I will be able to get some more photos done.

I went and saw my second viewing of the TTT and I kept looking at how the armor reflected light, but I cannot mimic it on the small surfaces of the figures armor. I will try and get help from some people I paint with on Friday nights.

Here is the back of the raging human

Here is a paladin fig. These pics are a little blurry. I did not get along with my camera for some reason.

I was so angry when I noticed the metal paint flakes in the red of his clothes.

Back of Paladin

Here is an elven ranger by Reaper

Here is a tribal warrior by Confrontation

Very nice work.

I've been anxious to try some NMM, but havent gotten a chance yet. I have religiously been collecting pics of stuff by the top artists so I will have lots of digital reference when I get back into painting again. Perhaps soon, the painting room is almost set up.

Anyway, though you said you didnt feel the Ogre was your best, I think he came together very nicely. He has a continuity which says to me that you are comfortable with your technique. The NMM doesnt have the same comfort-level it looks like, but thats the only thing I notice. (Hopefully it is useful for me to critique, you were very kind to my figures and I wouldnt want to overstep here.)

Is the Elf also a later figure? I cant tell if thats NMM on his sword or not, but he also looks "comfortable" to me; the way the greens and browns work together on his clothes etc.

Also, are you Dull-Coting your figs to protect them, or are these guys raw? The look very vibrant and clean.

Yes, I am getting much more comfortable with the dry blending of colors as with the elf, barbarian and ogre and NMM is still very difficult. You can see how heavy it looks on the axe, but I am refusing to use metal paints anymore, so eventually I hope to get it down. I am really struggling with the NMM armor.

I really want to find a mini that inspires me to try to take my painting to the next level. One where I don't feel, lets get this done instead of hey, If I thin this paint out and then highlight it for a few more layers to make it look awesome.... The elf came close, I really enjoyed painting him, and he was my first and only finished base.

Theres a long article on coolmini about NMM, I'm not sure if it as helpful as just looking at peoples work.

Here is a knight with lots of NMM, the best part being the work on the helmet. Since the helmet is flat, you can see the reflection of the horizon in it, which is cool. The ogres axe blades are also flat, though I doubt Senor Ogre polishes his equipment as much as Senor Knight. In any case, its a really smooth mix, you can see it a little also in the armor plates on the mane of the horse. The artist has a great sense of where the light is coming from.

One thing I did wonder about NMM, since it really seems to work a lot like free-handing, is whether is looks good only from a few different angles. Ideally, you'd want your real light source to line up with the way you painted light falling on the figure so there is no discontinuity.

Just musing. I cant wait to try it out myself. ;-)

-edit-
This picture is even clearer. You can see how every single peice of armor reflects the horizon line. Wow.