Khorne Chaos Champion

[BarstoolProphet]

http://www.coolminiornot.com/226538

So, like the text says on the link, my very first time entering a big contest, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to withdraw from the contest and leave GD Toronto 2009 very early.
So, I don\'t know how far it would have gotten, or not gotten.
This was the best pic I managed to take of it, while it was still on display.
The first voter gave it a 3, which I think is sniping a bit. *shrug*

 

[Donga]

Right, before I say all this it is all from a positive place trying to aid improvement. I think the current score of 5.3 is a little unfair. The colour is good and the basecoat/placement of colour is good.

The weak point of it is the lack of definition, especially the shading. The highlights are well placed but they need to be blended into the base colour better. Thinning the paint should make life alot easier.

Over-all it\'s a good solid job, I don\'t think you would be lifting the slayer sword. With smoother, better defined highlights/shading you can go all the way.

I\'m not trying to be mean, It\'s sad you had to leave early.

 

[freakinacage]

all in all,not bad. i\'d say 5.5.

thin your paint alittle more to smooth your transitions and, as donga said, up your contrast

good luck with the next comp, you\'ll stand a better chance if you can stay for it!

 

[ScottRadom]

Hope everything is okay Amigo!

Things I see for instance are the skulls on the belt. Could have used a much darker color like maybe chardon granite in the eye sockets and in the mouth areas.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

@ScottRadom: Yes, everything is fine. Thanks for the concern.

@All: Thanks for the advice. For the paint thinning, I\'m already working at 6 parts water to 1 part paint. Will thinning it further still do the job?
I used VGC paints for all of him, and was particularly pleased with his head. I\'m wishing my other angles had turned out as presentable, because I know I mucked up the NMM steel for the axe blade, and really want some advice on how to improve it. I\'ll try to take some useful pictures before the week is out, so you can see how I botched it.
I just don\'t think I got the light angles right. You\'ll see....

Who makes Chardon Granite? It\'s already black in there...

 

[ScottRadom]

That granite color is a GW foundation color. For doing skulls and such they had a tut in one of the WD\'s that used Charadon granite and kept adding bleached bone to the color till it was pure, looks real good.

The skulls on the belt don\'t look like they have enough shading in the eye sockets. it\'s the first thing my eyes caught. A vote of 3 is pretty harsh, and as Donga said (good crit\'s from that man!) the paint is applied well for sure.

 

[NGArtStudios]

I\'ll second what has been said so far.

As far as the paint goes I don\'t think it\'s a problem with it being too thick but you loading too much of the watered down stuff on your brush and it either spilling out once you apply it to the model or pooling up causing the high lights to look washed out. Try wiping off most of the paint on a moist paper towel and keep the lines as neat as possible.

Also what size of brush do you use? A smaller sized brush may be able to give you better control thus resulting in thinner sharper looking high lights.

 

[Trevor]

suggestions to improve.

I would avoid NMM, use metallics, they are more forgiving.
Push the highlights and shading.
Practise smoother blends/layers.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Sorry that you had to withdraw, and hope that everything is OK.

In regard to the mini there are several things I think you need to address.

Firstly there are a number of \"Blank\" patches on the mini, The legs, the waist and the left arm holding the shield. As someone who\'s been in the fortunate position of judging minis I can say with confidence that they would be \"eye catching\" and detract from the mini.

Also as Trevor has suggested NMM doesn\'t always go down too well in GW competitons, but when it does, it does need the extra \'eye candy\' of good contrast and (for want of a better description) light modelling, where the Light and Tonal regression from the \"Flare\" are smoothly defined into shaded areas.

On the Waist skulls I have to agree that the use of GW Charadon Granite would be a good starting point as would GW\'s Deneb Stone. (Both Foundation Paints) From either of those starting points you could easily add tiny amounts of Bleached Bone (I prefer Vallejo Ivory) to raise the highlight levels. In addition thin glazes of GW\'s Graveyard Earth can add a touch of subtle shading around the Skull Temple indentations and teeth.

On the face, which needs to be the focus of a mini the, painting and attention should be really precise using careful changes into the highlights and really gradual shadow transitions.

Lastly and one of my own downfalls is the base. For competition mini\'s the base is as important as the rest of the figure and needs to be considered as an integral a part of the mini as, for example, the cloak. My biggest fault with bases is to not give them enough depth of shading and contrast. In that I\'m not suggesting wash over with Black but think about tones of dark brown (Vallejo German Camo Black Brown) as the shade in the crevices.

I hope that this lot helps and you have better fortune in the next GD.

 

[Joek]

I\'ve been a fairly recent convert to weathering powers (well, the cheapskate\'s version anyway: artist pastels ), and it\'s amazing how they can transform base work - especially using colours you simply wouldn\'t dare try with acrylics. Greens, oranges, purples all just seem to \'work\' with a little bit of effort!