My Quest to Become a 'eavy Metal Painter (maybe...)

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iron wrench

New member
Axel91 said:
High quality mini's but unless you're like 16 and haven't peaked your artistic skills I can't see you becoming an eavy metal painter. Sorry :p

Keep posting mini's though really nice!
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Axel91: While I don't agree with your opinion I can concur that there is such a thing as "artistic talent."

You can very much study art. It is a learnable craft, but you can also have a knack for it. Almost like a natural boon. Some have an eye for color others composition. Whichever is your calling card the only way to find out is by doing.

I suggest before working on natural elements you research them. The best subjects in life are real.

>>Go on Google or other search engines and scan for pictures that are precise or near to what you prefer.

Try: Animal Horns and Antlers, Horns and Antlers, tarnished metal, graphite, fur texture, leather texture, and anything that you think might help.

Good luck and keep your chin up!

~Natasha~
 
-=Lazuli=-

-=Lazuli=-

New member
Necroghast said:
I like everything except for the back of the cloak. You can tell that it's just been very heavily washed. I'd say you should add in some darker reds to the shading in there instead of the quick jump to black, it would make it much more realistic. The use of black and white often lead to something looking quite flat, thats why color is important. So yeah, more red.
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Thanks, I will add a darker red.

Hard Cover said:
Word. Art isn't a "Natural" tallent. It's a learned skill. Or so I learned going to Savannah College of Art and Design for 6 years.
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I think as Natasha said, you can have a talent for it, I think you just have to really like it as anything else like sports.

cheelfy said:
I like your chaos guy but I agree with Necroghast that the back of the cloak only looks like ifit had received lots and lots of washes. I think you should highlght your shades (is it very clear?) to soften them. A good solution is, as Necroghast said, to use darker reds instead of black. You also can mix red with dark blue.
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Thanks, it's actually shaded with purple too (very slight)

CreganTur said:
I'd highly suggest getting a bottle of Vallejo's Black Red- it's perfect for doing very dark reds.
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Ok, I'll be sure to order some Vallejo colors sometimes, I hear good things about them.

Hard Cover said:
I really liked it a lot more when it was just highlighted with the blue. When you can back and dry-brushed the white you kind of destroyed that instead of accenting it.

Also don't you think the horns and furs need to be brightened a little? I know you're going for an "In the dark" motif here, but those things are usually pretty light colors in the day, at night they should still be lighter than the rest of the mini.
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I did too, I redid it highlighting it with light ice blue and space wolves grey.

Necroghast said:
Or make a warm shade with red and green. (Complimentary colors)
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I might try that. Thanks.

iron wrench said:
Axel91: While I don't agree with your opinion I can concur that there is such a thing as "artistic talent."

You can very much study art. It is a learnable craft, but you can also have a knack for it. Almost like a natural boon. Some have an eye for color others composition. Whichever is your calling card the only way to find out is by doing.

I suggest before working on natural elements you research them. The best subjects in life are real.

>>Go on Google or other search engines and scan for pictures that are precise or near to what you prefer.

Try: Animal Horns and Antlers, Horns and Antlers, tarnished metal, graphite, fur texture, leather texture, and anything that you think might help.

Good luck and keep your chin up!

~Natasha~
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Thanks! I try to use real picutres but mostly 'eavy metal examples :)

Working on some Rackham Wolf Model thing that I have no idea what it is.

Also anyone know a good tutorial for NMM Silver? I get gold, but can't do silver :(

Oh, still need SM command squad pics for requested.

C & C welcome! The Chaos guy will be worked on again tommarow. The pics don't show up the horns and fur too well. I was afraid it was too light.

Oh and decided on doing aa Blood Angels army. In a high quality like 2 or 3 hours + per mini :)
Should the BA be on Temple/church bases (http://www.dragonforge.com/Painting service/for sale/base_sets/sci-fi/ancient ruins.htm ) or cityfight w/ graffiti decal like here: http://armorcast.com/store/index.php?cPath=117 ?
 
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Stewsayer

Stewsayer

New member
Hi Lazuli,

Great to see you have a goal, also to see taht you models look better each time you post one.

Check out this link for NMM colours for various metals. http://homepage.mac.com/thminiatures/Sites/anglais/html/astuces/couleursnmm.html

Have a look at the Join a Rackham WIP thread and the response to my fledgling NMM steel effort from Genrulpoleaxe. BTW my steel is looking much better will post a new pic soon.

Keep working at it. I started this crazy hobby 12 months ago. I'm 34 and plan on winning a Golden Demon sometime soon. The best advice I can give (given my newbieness) is to challenge yourself with each model). Try something new and difficult and it will pay off. Also read a lot of tutorials.

Cheers

Stew
 
Necroghast

Necroghast

New member
-=Lazuli=- said:
I might try that. Thanks.
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Yeah, "warm shades" are really useful. If you use black to darken your colors it often makes them look very flat, adding a compliment instead will really make your colors more natural. (This is why you often hear about artists not wanting to use black) I often limit myself from using black (and white) for as long as I can while painting a mini.

Also, have you taken any painting classes? Like at your school or something? If you haven't I'd sugest you do, I've found that things I've learned in my painting classes can easily be applied miniature painting. It's also just a lot of fun and very rewarding.
 
-=Lazuli=-

-=Lazuli=-

New member
Necroghast said:
Yeah, "warm shades" are really useful. If you use black to darken your colors it often makes them look very flat, adding a compliment instead will really make your colors more natural. (This is why you often hear about artists not wanting to use black) I often limit myself from using black (and white) for as long as I can while painting a mini.

Also, have you taken any painting classes? Like at your school or something? If you haven't I'd sugest you do, I've found that things I've learned in my painting classes can easily be applied miniature painting. It's also just a lot of fun and very rewarding.
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I'm going to use a warmer shade on him. I always thought that the darker goes to black. I'm taking Art I right now, not learning anythng really. I signed up for Art Painting for next year.

And I used to highlight with white but now I'm using Bleached Bone or Space Wolves Grey.



Tagamoga said:
Oh, i like the last model...

unfortunatelly, the photo is very dark. Perhaps it is the reason why the shadows on the skin seem to be very "hard". I would suggest, that to blend them smoother. Is the metal already finished?

NMM-Tutorials:
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/phpBB2/kb.php?mode=article&k=175
http://www.jenova.dk/NMM.htm

Greetings, Taggi
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Sorry, bad picture again. The skin I'm very proud of.

Stewsayer said:
Hi Lazuli,

Great to see you have a goal, also to see taht you models look better each time you post one.

Check out this link for NMM colours for various metals. http://homepage.mac.com/thminiatures/Sites/anglais/html/astuces/couleursnmm.html

Have a look at the Join a Rackham WIP thread and the response to my fledgling NMM steel effort from Genrulpoleaxe. BTW my steel is looking much better will post a new pic soon.

Keep working at it. I started this crazy hobby 12 months ago. I'm 34 and plan on winning a Golden Demon sometime soon. The best advice I can give (given my newbieness) is to challenge yourself with each model). Try something new and difficult and it will pay off. Also read a lot of tutorials.

Cheers

Stew
Click to expand...

Yup, I think I've read about every tutorial on the internet :) O got the wolf guy form the Rckham thread. Thanks, maybe I'll get to compete with you in GD


And now a terrible picture of the Wolf. The blue is WAAAAY off :(
 
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SkelettetS

New member
just want to add; im in my 30s and still havent "peaked" yet! :D just keep on pushing it and have fun experementing you'll continue to evolve. keep on practise practise practise :)
 
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Chrome

New member
Yeah, I definitely believe that there is no such thing as a 'peak' when it comes to art, we will always learn, grow and evolve as long as we are able to and interested in the subject at hand.
It's when we think we have 'peaked' that we really have failed since we hinder ourselves from acknowledging the fact that there's always more to learn.
 
dshavers

dshavers

New member
I'll throw my 2 cents in. I'm by no means a professional painter, but I think the important take home point is to just love what you are doing and have fun with it. It's great to have goals as it keeps you focused on getting better, but the only way to get better at painting is to continue doing it and love doing it.

Artist talent can be "taught" to a certain degree, but there are some things that just come nauturally. Pay attention to everything around you. The subtle colors, textures, and form of objects as light falls on them. Some of the best types of subjects to study from are from how other artists, such as the ones on here, and other sites, both in miniature and traditional form (2d,3d), use color and form.

One more point to bring up, is that "sometimes" doing something that you love doing so much as a job can sometimes get repetitive and not necessarily boring, but could possibly lead to some of the fun getting sucked out. If that makes any sense. In other words, you won't have the pressure of deadlines and restrictions when you are painting for yourself.

Basically just stick with what you are doing, and focusing on other techniques. Learn as much as you can from others on here, books, or even some of the DVD's floating around. You WILL get better the more you paint. I was involoved in some form of art from a child all the way to the present. I studied art on my own through grade school, and even went to college for art. I honestly learned more on my own just doing what I loved every day. School just kept me focused. I finally landed some small jobs in the industry and after 12 years finally landed my dream job at Pixar Animation as an artist. It's a great job, but after being in the industry for so long I got burned out a bit, so painting miniatures let's me be creative with no boundries.

My 2 cents.
 
-=Lazuli=-

-=Lazuli=-

New member
SkelettetS said:
just want to add; im in my 30s and still havent "peaked" yet! :D just keep on pushing it and have fun experementing you'll continue to evolve. keep on practise practise practise :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Skelettet, I read through your log, and I was amazed.

Chrome said:
Yeah, I definitely believe that there is no such thing as a 'peak' when it comes to art, we will always learn, grow and evolve as long as we are able to and interested in the subject at hand.
It's when we think we have 'peaked' that we really have failed since we hinder ourselves from acknowledging the fact that there's always more to learn.
Click to expand...

I agree.

dshavers said:
I'll throw my 2 cents in. I'm by no means a professional painter, but I think the important take home point is to just love what you are doing and have fun with it. It's great to have goals as it keeps you focused on getting better, but the only way to get better at painting is to continue doing it and love doing it.

Artist talent can be "taught" to a certain degree, but there are some things that just come nauturally. Pay attention to everything around you. The subtle colors, textures, and form of objects as light falls on them. Some of the best types of subjects to study from are from how other artists, such as the ones on here, and other sites, both in miniature and traditional form (2d,3d), use color and form.

One more point to bring up, is that "sometimes" doing something that you love doing so much as a job can sometimes get repetitive and not necessarily boring, but could possibly lead to some of the fun getting sucked out. If that makes any sense. In other words, you won't have the pressure of deadlines and restrictions when you are painting for yourself.

Basically just stick with what you are doing, and focusing on other techniques. Learn as much as you can from others on here, books, or even some of the DVD's floating around. You WILL get better the more you paint. I was involoved in some form of art from a child all the way to the present. I studied art on my own through grade school, and even went to college for art. I honestly learned more on my own just doing what I loved every day. School just kept me focused. I finally landed some small jobs in the industry and after 12 years finally landed my dream job at Pixar Animation as an artist. It's a great job, but after being in the industry for so long I got burned out a bit, so painting miniatures let's me be creative with no boundries.

My 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Wow, a pixar artist repling to my log! Thanks!


Work on theflesh eateris stalled. Did a quick BA Dread. C &Cwelcome, although its not the best ever.
 
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cheelfy

New member
It is a nice dread but I think you could add him some weathering and maybe some mud on the base and his legs.
 
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cheelfy

New member
Nice but some highlights on the first guy look a bit too orange for me. Also the freehand on the shoulder pad of the last guy look like you had painted it bigger than it is now and that you corrected it with only one thin layer as I can see a brighter colour than the rest of the shoulder pad just beside the freehand.
 
-=Lazuli=-

-=Lazuli=-

New member
Thanks cheefly. The pictures look like crap becuase the bulb was right up next to them. I'll post better pictures, the freehand color you see through was a highlight to the armor along the design. I should fix it though.
 
-=Lazuli=-

-=Lazuli=-

New member
Finished Ork warboss for someone.
And also need some advice regarding commissions. I painted some Eldar for a guy, I did 20 warp spiders for him and he was quite happy with them, and recently he commissioned me to paint some Eldar Storm Guardians at a lower quality. Paying $3 per mini, the black was drybrushed instead being edged. Also I did not block in the tiny eyes (although I admit I should have). I have offered him to send them back I and would fix both those things, is there anything else I should do? I don't want to lose him as a customer and he has attracted other customers to me. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance. C & C on the Warboss too! the camera show the block colors, but it is actually blended, I need a new camera...

the picture of the commissioned guys are there too.
 
-=Lazuli=-

-=Lazuli=-

New member
No one replie, but I post anyways. Had 1/2 day at school so I finished a broodlord and 80% of a tervigon.

Also arrayed all my imperial miniature armies...
(that's alot of guys!)
 
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