The just out of reach 8

[bjcLikes2Bike]

Hey folks,

I\'ve been posting here for a couple years and I\'m really thankfull for all the feedback I\'ve gotten, advice, and envy creating paint jobs I\'ve seen.

Awhile ago I saw an article posted about obtaining 6-7 scores on figures, and I though I\'d expand on the request. I\'m a pretty solid 7-7.5 painter. I\'m very happy with my pieces, but I\'m really striving for that mid-8 range.

I know that photo quality is probably one of my major isses (one of these days I\'ll replace my 1.3 mp camera). But what leads a person to vote those upper 3 ranks on a figure?

Just looking for some advice.

Thanks!

 

[Dragonsreach]

Hi BJC;
I\'ve just been through and looked at your most recent posts.
To my eye I think that one of the things that\'s letting you down is the quality of your Photos as they all appear to look a little grainy. Mostly this shows in the background. It could be one of a few things

1. you are taking the pictures on to low picture definition quality
2. you are taking the pictures on too high an image quality and they are being automatically compressed by CMON when you post
3. you could be too close to the mini in the first place.

If you are shooting the mini\'s on a low or medium setting I suggest that you need to raise the cameras image quality to the higher setting. Then you can edit them in an editing program to resize.

If you look in the articles at Honza\'s \"Taking pictures with one light\" you\'ll see that he\'s about 10-12 inches away from the mini. This is the optimum range for a close up feature on a lens to work .

Also try a number of different angles to decide which is the best to post. (I prefer to be on a level when I take pics of my minis and not looking down at them.)

One last thing on your Beastmen there is a seemingly untidy area on the back chainmail, as if it\'s recieved more paint there when drybrushing. It could be a bit of light glare but it detracts from the overall look of the mini.

Hope that this helps.

 

[Mosch]

Oh poor baby, wants an 8 while I would be satisfied with painting in a way I actually like

Seriously, you paint great. I would vote most of your pictures to the score you would like There\'s not much to do anymore....

1. Improve picture quality. Dragonsreach covered this already.
2. Blend even smoother. The smoother the blend, the higher the score - well, not exactly, but smooth blends are usually favoured
3. For an 8 or more, your mini needs something special. Something that goes \"Pazow\". Something that is outstanding, something that is unique or at least looks unique or, failing that, something that follows the current trend Source lighting often scores high, so does well done SENMM. Freehand is nearly a requirement too.

Don\'t take this as an Amen though. the most important aspect is that when you look at the mini, you have to go \"wow\".

 

[AlexDaKid]

You\'ve got two mini\'s that are 8\'s!?!

 

[Mosch]

I suppose he wants to keep it up

 

[Errex]

Originally posted by Mosch
when you look at the mini, you have to go \"wow\".

That\'d be pretty much IT, actually. Technical proficiency will not carry you beyond the mid 7\'s range.

You have to get a technically PERFECT mini, and once there, go looking for trouble by adding freehand, NMM, display bases etc. while all the way keeping an eye on the artistic balance of your piece.

One example of overkill, IMO, would be the insanely elaborate drawings some painters do on the cloaks of their =][= figures. Technically amazing, but not at all fitting the subject.

 

[AlexDaKid]

Originally posted by Errex

Originally posted by Mosch
when you look at the mini, you have to go \"wow\".

That\'d be pretty much IT, actually. Technical proficiency will not carry you beyond the mid 7\'s range.

You have to get a technically PERFECT mini, and once there, go looking for trouble by adding freehand, NMM, display bases etc. while all the way keeping an eye on the artistic balance of your piece.

One example of overkill, IMO, would be the insanely elaborate drawings some painters do on the cloaks of their =][= figures. Technically amazing, but not at all fitting the subject.

If I was gonna hunt daemons for a living, dammit I\'d wanna look fabulous!lol

 

[U4-Welcome]

Actually, I\'d disagree. Technique alone can bring you up to the mid 8s, even over 9 if it\'s absolutely breathtaking. Take cyril, for instance, or to a lesser extent my two Warmachine minis. Nothing fancy, just effort on technique. However, to reap the benefits, you need a good picture and a good sculpt to start with.

Still it\'s true that freehand or other treats can easily give you the few decimals you want .

 

[bjcLikes2Bike]

Thanks everybody for your comments. I know that my camera is one of my major obstacles. It\'s shooting about the best it can unfortunatly as far as clarity. I even took my camera up to a camera specialist and we set up a couple minis and tried to come up with clearer pics than I was shooting before and though we came up with some ideas that have helped, the pics are still a little on the fuzzy side. Camera guy said it\'s the quality level of the camera. I\'m squeezing out the best clarity that 1.3 can do. Just can\'t seem to get the boss to agree to a new one. Wives can be that way sometimes.

I have yet to give SENMM a go around yet. I\'m still trying to get NMM down pat. Freehand...If I could draw maybe....

At anyrate, I\'m actually pretty happy with what I\'ve been turning out as of late, but I\'ve still got some steadiness issues to work out since technically I\'m still recovering from a broken hand.

Thanks again for all the responses, your recommendations have given me some ideas for a DH/WH acolyte I\'m going to start soon.

 

[AlexDaKid]

Originally posted by U4-Welcome
Actually, I\'d disagree. Technique alone can bring you up to the mid 8s, even over 9 if it\'s absolutely breathtaking. Take cyril, for instance, or to a lesser extent my two Warmachine minis. Nothing fancy, just effort on technique. However, to reap the benefits, you need a good picture and a good sculpt to start with.

Still it\'s true that freehand or other treats can easily give you the few decimals you want .

Cyril utilises freehand and nmm all the time...

 

[U4-Welcome]

Message original : AlexDaKid
Cyril utilises freehand and nmm all the time...

But when he doesn\'t use freehand, he still gets high scores (like here. Ok, so he does use NMM, but I\'m not sure it can still be called a special \'wow factor\', now that so many people do it.

Anyway, the point was that with technically perfect painting, you *can* get to the really high scores. On the other hand, getting to that level might actually require more work than just working on the freehand skills, so it might be easier to learn gems, freehand & such to increase your rating. :innocent:

 

[dauber22]

Originally posted by Mosch
I suppose he wants to keep it up

viagra, cialis, levitra, ... lol lol

I\'ve just went and checked your gallery and I\'ve voted 7 & 8\'s on most of your figures already, but...

I agree with both U4-Welcome and AlexDaKid The way a usually vote, an 8 is normally as high as I give on just technique alone. To get a 9 - 10, it needs some kind of pop or \"wow\" factor. In Cyril\'s case, his technic is so phenominal that IT becomes the Wow :wow: factor itself. In most cases though, well-done freehand, SENMM, source lighting etc. will get you the extra attention.

That said, it\'s actually not nearly that tangible for me. After all, we are talking about creativity as well as just \"technical merit\", like the way they score ice dancing etc. I tend to give \"extra credit\" for wittiness, unique uses or interpretations of common figures, explanations, fluff, etc.