Miniature pictures!!

[kellinator]

The Reaper miniature painting day at the War Room last weekend went terrifically and we're hoping to make a monthly event of it. And one of the attendees was kind enough to take some pictures of my minis! Furthermore, I actually figured out how to put them on the web all by myself. I'm so proud I could pop. The War Room isn't really the best environment for taking photos (the gold isn't quite so loud in the actual minis), but I believe you can get the idea from these.




This was the first mini I painted (well, finished at least), the infamous Martina the swashbuckler. Painted during February, I think. And I had to get LJ-less Marie to do the eyes. This is before I knew you were supposed to thin your paints, plus I messed up on her face several times (tip: don't do detail work when you're really not sober) and had to paint over it, which is why her nose is so huge and her face looks spackled on.




After learning from the Reaper boards and various websites about some of the finer points of mini-painting, I decided to give Martina another go. I'm really pleased with how she turned out, though I'm sure in a few months I'll try again. I did all the work on this one myself, eyes included. Thinning the paints makes all the difference -- you can see much more of the detail on the mini, especially in her face. She's still nothing compared to most of the work I saw on Sunday, but I think she's a pretty significant improvement for only a little over four months.

I think you can get a better view of what she actually looks like from this picture:





And here are a couple of my other early minis -- flawed, to be sure, but not bad for a beginner, I think:









Comments and painting tips appreciated!

Comments

awesome job!

[jenbibi.livejournal.com]

you rock! my fiance and his friends have a ton of them and your job is much better. shhhh...don't tell!

Re: awesome job!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon! and don't worry -- it'll be our secret! ;)

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

The first and only mini I've ever painted was at a gaming convention, and it was a speed painting contest. Boy, did mine suck! heehee. Yours are great!

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

I think they look awesome! You've got a talent!

[snowelf.livejournal.com]

They look gorgeous, you are really good at this! I think the improvement is absolutely awesome in such a short time too.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[neoijlc.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone else, those look really nice. I ordered some models like these from a import shop not too long ago, but I haven't dared to touch them- The last time I did something of this nature I really ruined it. I just can't paint something that small.

:(

[tall-man.livejournal.com]

Drybrush. Wash. Layer. You've got a good (nay, excellent) grasp of the fundamentals, your minis are wonderfully colored-in. But, they look "flat," because of the way that light works at scale differences. Take, for example, the folds in Martina 2.0's shirtsleeves. If you make a very, very light grey-white (heck, even a linen-white) mix, and mix a wash out of that (with Reaper paints, a roughly 10-1 water-paint mix, IME), you'll darken the folds to make it look more "real." Then, drybrush the highlights with a brighter white, to bring out the contrast.

Same goes for faces -- I've discovered with caucasian faces, doing an overall layer with Caucasian and drybrushing on Fair Maiden brings out the details amazingly well. It's an extra like 5 minutes, but it makes such a difference, it's amazing.

Oh. And, for photographic purposes, you might want a matte finish, not a glossy. You reflect too much light with the glossy, it makes everything look coated in glass (or ice).

For a host of great tips, check out CoolMiniOrNot (http://www.coolminiornot.com). The message boards have some of the best painters in the world on them (at least as far as GW stuff is concerned -- most of the "good" painters have a Golden Demon or two under their belts), and they share knowledge well.

[orfeo517.livejournal.com]

Great stuff! How did you do this?

I also like the "Princess Bride" reference. Have you ever read the book? It's by William Golding, and I read it just after I saw the film. There are things in it that put the movie to shame, but that goes for most books made into movies. I used to have a copy of the book, but I think I left it in California.

[stevietee.livejournal.com]

Nifty! :)