Help with masterclass painting

[Furyhound]

Hi everyone,

I started painting almost seven years ago. I collect mainly GW products.
Golden demon UK is near and I want to participate. It\'s probably the only chance I\'ll get to join and I have a brilliant idea of a duel coversion (Unfortunately I can\'t share it).
The problem is that my painting skills are only good and nothing beyond that. I guess that if I\'ll enter my best models to CMON they\'ll get about 6.8-7.9.
That\'s obviously not golden demon level. Time is against me and I have no one in a radius of hundreds of kilometers to help me. I can\'t send pictures to show my progress and my problems since I don\'t have a good camera. I just started using the method of wet blending, it was ok but a catastrophe for GD standards.
I read all the intermediate and advanced and expert articles. They helped but I need more than that.

As you can see, I have no idea how to improve and improve fast.
What to do??
I just thought that this is where the masters are, so I figured here is my last and best resort

Thanks ahead for your help

 

[Klute]

\"I guess that if I\'ll enter my best models to CMON they\'ll get about 6.8-7.9.
That\'s obviously not golden demon level. \"

Dont be so sure about that. Especially the 7.9. Getting that on cmon means you have a very good paintjob well worth a shot at a trophy. The UK GD might be harder though as its the one that attracts the highest quality.

As for your problem you seriously need to get a digital camera and post photos. If you cant get a mentor in person then online is best and the camera is essential for that to get constructive feedback.

 

[james sequeira]

dont go solely on your cmon score as people snipe
get pictures on wip threads that way everyone can comment on the progress

 

[Modderrhu]

Right. What Klute and James said. There are some golden daemon winners collecting only 8\'s on CMON, and bronze (or even runners up) getting 9+. My best is 7.6, but if I could enter a GD, I would.

Wet blending might be quick, but in my experience, it\'s damn hard to do. Perhaps a slower, but more sure, method of blending would do the trick?

 

[penguin]

Hi furyhound, welcome to the forums my user is macaque on the GW forums, I have seen you round there. Anyway... a camera is essential, yes. Reading on the site will help. And don\'t worry about your scores :bouncy:

 

[Dark Seraphim]

I\'m also gonna (hopefully) be a first year entry in GD UK. I have had my worries about entering, as I didn\'t think my skills were high enough, but I have been proven wrong on many occations. And checking out the web has been the best descision ever.

I belive that I could rank, even if it was for a bronze, with one of my entries. Belive in yourself, and you will succed.

And I refer to my sig for a comment on scores

Most importantly, post your pictures with a CMON link in the Discuss Submissions thread. The comments come faster and more abundant there, as they don\'t need to be moderated and it\'s alot faster.

Good luck! And belive in yourself!

 

[krom1415]

The only help I can give you is paint lots and read the articles,
Paint lots of minis to the best standard you can. By doing this you will learn how to achieve, what is written.
Paint slow, be exacting on the details, and look how the sun would hit the models.

Good luck at GD, I wish I had the guts to enter, and the lotr section is usually the weakest!!!!!!!!

 

[Furyhound]

Thanks guys for the comments.
I think that some of you thought that I entered models and got grades, but it was just a rough evaluation. I really should get a good camera and I\'m curious to know which ones do you use? (Company, model etc.)
Here is what my camera can achieve, its obvious that the minis look sooo much better in real life:
http://www.bundypics.com/furyhound/3.htm

Actually the camera is so bad its a disgrace for the minis. Only the pics would lower them to get a 5 maximum.
So all I need is a good camera for help

 

[Dark Seraphim]

Originally posted by Furyhound
Thanks guys for the comments.
I think that some of you thought that I entered models and got grades, but it was just a rough evaluation. I really should get a good camera and I\'m curious to know which ones do you use? (Company, model etc.)
Here is what my camera can achieve, its obvious that the minis look sooo much better in real life:
http://www.bundypics.com/furyhound/3.htm

Actually the camera is so bad its a disgrace for the minis. Only the pics would lower them to get a 5 maximum.
So all I need is a good camera for help

It\'s not too bad, but I see what you mean, specially if you try to take a pic of more than one fig.

Get a background of either a white sheet, or with a printed out sheet with a gradient on it.

I can make you a A4 printable sheet, that you can download if you want. Best colour is either white to blue or white to grey imo. If your shooting a blue mini, use the grey anything else, use the blue.

I\'d vote the demon at 7 btw... Love the skin, looks like it\'s crawling

 

[Talonicus]

practise, practise and practise. Its the only way to get better, you may know how to do all the different techniques but if you handle a brush like a broom all the knowledge in the world wont help.
Enter the GD with your very best work and see how you do.
Check out the work of others and if you dont succeed first time then you take away with you a better understanding of what you need for the next year.

Good luck.

 

[Ritual]

This is probably not what you want to hear, but... it\'s the cold, hard reality. Reading tutorials and articles is great and you should do that as much as you can, but you must practise a lot before you\'ll get anywhere with it. There\'s nothing I or anyone else can say that can make you paint 9+ paintjobs just like that (not that I think that\'s what you expect... ). Also, without photos it\'s hard to give detailed advice.

So... the only advice I can give at this point is to use the techniques you feel most certain of for the GD entry and then continue to practice new techniques. If you can get a camera or borrow one, that\'s also helpful.

 

[Furyhound]

As I said, (Besides shooting techniques like using sheets, special lighting and such) If I knew which cameras you guys film with, I would be more then happy to know what they are and buy one and show my works.

 

[tidoco2222]

Just my tuppenceworth, I agree with Anders(Ritual), however where abouts in the world are you, is there someone near to where you live who is a good painter (or at least someone you tink could help you) or a club where you can sit and paint with other guys. Reading the articles will help as will posting pics but there are somethings I feel that only sitting down and practicing with another painter will truly get it home.
I have tried some things after reading tutorials that whilst they have helped I would realy like to sit with someone who has mastered it and then see for myself and talk it through with them to give me a better understanding and also pick up hints and tips as to what I can do to improve.
Having said that the article library is a valuable resource of information, my painting has improved no end since I first joined Cmon.

 

[Furyhound]

LOL, When I said there is no one to help me in a radius of a few hundred kilometers I meant it.
The miniature community in my country has just started and there are a hundred people in it. There is only one guy better than me, but he is simply a good painter who knows how to drybrush brilliantly, meaning he\'s not aiming much higher.
He hates blending and feathering and has a very rough style that I don\'t admire. With him I won\'t go far.
Other than that, all the countries around us are not THAT friendly and I never heard of miniatures in these countries at all.

 

[tidoco2222]

Ahh ok it is difficult to get an idea when you are not sure where someone is in the world, I guess your stuck with us then

You might want to consider setting up a webcam link to a willing painter somewhere as that is also an option, I can also recommend the Painting Tutorial CD produced by Kaple and available from his website.

 

[SebastianRushworth]

Most digital cameras will work out ok, as long as you know how to use them. I think you can take good pictures with a 2-3 megapixel camera, and most new cameras are way above that.

Since you asked, my camera is an Olympus Camedia C-7070 7.1 megapixel, but I think you can get away with something much cheaper than that.

 

[Ritual]

I have an OLD Nikkon Coolpix 5700 2.1 Mpixel camera. I have taken all photos in my gallery with it and while not great the photos are still OK.

 

[DaN]

Would love to help, but need more info...
I understand you don\'t wanna tell people your idea for the duel, but as we don\'t know WHAT you\'re painting it is hard to give specific pointers...

What armies are you using...?

Marines versus chaos?

Orks versus Tau?

Each army has their own style and therefore giving tips would be easier if we had a rough idea.

 

[Furyhound]

Ritual and Sabastianrushworth, your pics are in a very good level in my opinion, and I\'m sure your camera models should do fine.
Well, I\'m off to buy some cameras!

 

[Furyhound]

To DAN
Its a fantasy duel.
I can\'t reveal one side. The other is a classic evil necromancer, you know, black robes, red gems, skulls and that.
What I need to improve is a lot: My color tones, technique, painting black (My delicate highlights of grey make the whole model grey), NMM, painting flesh - and for the trickiest part: Sculpting a whole model from scratch.
That\'s about it.
As I said, when I\'ll have a camera, I\'ll send pics of models that Iv\'e tried those techniques on, and we\'ll start from there.
On my previous message I wrote I\'m about to buy a camera so until then there isn\'t much to do.