WIP and Introduction

[frayedbrush]

Greetings everyone. I am a newbie at CMoN, but not totally new at painting. I used to game and paint a lot back a few years, but my tastes and interests changed and minis took a back seat for awhile. Recently, I\'ve been involved in a couple of pen-and-paper RPGs and I have even busted out my old Space Marine army a few times for some small skirmishes. A friend pointed out this site, and I decided to dig out the old paints and see what I can still do with them.

So, this is my take on one of the Confrontation Wolfen Hunters. I\'m at a loss on the blade part, not sure if the blue tint is going to end up working or not. I have thought about stripping it and starting over with a normal metal-type look, or I might add some detail work to the current blade (maybe scrollwork or something Celtic like).

Other then that, I need to finish up some detail work like the skull and the feather on his ponytail, and try to tone down the black between his fingers. Then time to fix up the base and he should be good to go. I might give him some extra red tribal markings as well, maybe something on his shoulder...

I wouldn\'t mind some feedback on the figure as is, good or bad. And figured out the thumbnail trick.

 

[Jas]

Good Stuff!

Hello there,
So you want some feedback eh? I am a \'n00b\' here too so don\'t feel lonely...

I really like what you\'ve done with this Wolfen, the drab tones really suit the mini. I like the odd splashes of colour you\'ve added too, very effective. The blade on that weapon looks a little bright to me but thats just my opinion, I\'d go for a slightly rusted steel look myself. I quite like the strong shading on his fingers, his mouth looks awsome but his hair/mane looks a little rough, perhaps some more highlights? The skin looks a little bit grainy, so maybe try thinning paints more(which is an artform itself!) However your pics are very close-up which tends to bring out things not normally visable.

Great stuff all in all!
I would score it a 7 as it stands but you could get it up to an 8 with a little more work...

 

[Primeval]

Looks like you are off to a good start! I would offer the following suggestions: thinner paints, and go for a few more layers in your highlights.

Let us see how you are coming along!

 

[Calavera]

Brilliant ! I love the paw mark in the snow.. excellent idea ! I would say the mini in overall is good, as Primeval said, thinner paints are always good, even if you have to paint 2 layers. Not sure about the blue blade.. you could repaint that part if you don\'t like.

And don\'t be afraid of taking the highlights a bit further.

 

[airhead]

First, get a blue/white fade background. Your desk is very distracting from this nice mini. (Finn, got that link handy)

Second, thin your paints a bit more. Notice the \"bumpy\" look on the chest? Paint too thick.

More highlights. Think stage makeup. Gotta go a little over the top to make it look right. Look at the photos and notice where the highlights are. Now paint them in.

OK, if it was all that easy, we would all have perfect 10\'s. But you are off to a great start.

 

[Spacemunkie]

Good stuff!
Welcome to the forums - a great way to lose your social life......

 

[tidoco2222]

Welcome to Cmon, the mini looks good so far I can\'t realy add anything different than other previous comments so keep us up to date with your progress.

 

[Calavera]

Here\'s that blue to white fade gradient..
http://www.dragon-miniatures.com/images/bluetowhite.jpg

Be sure to check out Mayne\'s galleries out too ! Great wolfen stuff there.

http://www.dragon-miniatures.com

Oh and welcome to the forums !

 

[frayedbrush]

Updates

Wow, thanks for all the replies, I have been popping in and checking things out, but haven\'t had much free time to reply or post anything new the last couple of weeks.

First, thanks to everyone who pointed out the paint being too thick. Yea, there is definitely a problem with being too thick, it\'s a combination of the paint I am using and my blending technique as well. I tend to stipple the brush between the shadow and highlight areas to blend the paint, which tends to create a texture from the brush strokes (this also tends to destroy brushes really fast). Another factor is that I use Liquitex brand acrylic paints, since I share my paints between minis and other projects. They are great paints, but they do tend to be thicker/more concentrated then mini-dedicated paints. For my last session, I tried mixing the Liquitex with a combination of white drafting ink and a \"slow-dry\" liquid to help thin the white paint out. I think the white highlights are much smoother now, although there is still some underlying \'texture\' that will never look 100% smooth. The highlights on this mini are much, em, higher now as well.


So, what else is new here.... The big thing is I am working on a tree armature for the base. The wireframe part was finished up last night, and I think it is going to look good when I get to fleshing it out. I tried to get the angle of the tree low enough so that it will both mimic the direction of the spear blade, and also horizontal enough so I can pile some snow on top of it for that extra winter time effect.

I also finished up the majority of the base, the rocks and ground are 95% finished, although I will eventually add another layer of snow. I am thinking about mixing some white paint with my glue this time around to help \'brighten\' the snow up a bit. Does anyone have any other snow making hints? I am using generic hobby store terrain snow, and was planning on using a finer dusting for the final layer (corn starch or baking soda probably).

I started with the coloring and highlights of his mane (hrm, technically a werewolf would have a ruff of the neck eh?). I am finding out that the fur and the earring gold color are very similar, I have added extra shadows to highlight the gold, but it still blends a bit too much. I also found some inspiration for the blade coloring, though I am not sure how it\'s going to translate to the mini. Looks like I am going to stick with the \'frozen ice blade\' motif, more on that next time around.

Thanks for the compliments Jas, I may still go with the rusty blade. I am currently thinking of solidifying the winterly scene, but if the blue turns out to be too much, I\'ll switch over to the metal look.

Primeval, airhead and tidoco222, thanks for the push to get my paints thinner, I think it not only helped for this mini, but it will be an asset for future minis as well.

Calavera, thanks for the link to the Blue-white fade sheet, I will definitely be using that for my final pictures. The minis on Mayne\'s site look damn good, will be great inspiration as I have a couple more wolfen minis to paint here. Glad you picked up on the paw print, this was added on a whim when I was working on the first layer of snow, I wasn\'t sure if anyone else would pick up on it. I do need to highlight it a bit more for the final.

Spacemunkie, thanks for the welcome, hopefully I won\'t end up spending more of my limited time here then I do on actual painting.

Trying the Thumbnail thing again...

 

[tidoco2222]

Coming along fine

Still looking good and the base looks great so far too.
Just a quick question and I\'ll probably get told that I am wrong.
Your wire frame for the tree looks like the roots go into the rock. Is this the intended result as I would think that the roots would head for softer ground where they can spread more freely?
When you flesh it out will you be sculpting the roots down to the soil part of the base?

 

[frayedbrush]

Roots

I drilled holes into the base to securely anchor the tree. I plan on using putty to sculpt out the smaller tendrils of the roots (the parts that will go to the ground) since the wire just isn\'t flexible enough to lay properly along the ground. I was also thinking about carving out a fissure in the rocks across one of the drill holes, to give the impression that the roots are wedging themselves between the rocks. To be honest though, a lot of this will depend on how things work out when I am actually putting the putty in place.

 

[tidoco2222]

I know what you mean, I have been thinking about making a tree for my Wolfen Prowler base but have strayed away from the idea as I don\'t have the confidence to sculpt the putty.
Maybe one day I will pluck up he courage to do something along that line.

 

[airhead]

FrayedBrush, if you are using Liquitex, that stuff is like toothpaste. You need LOTS of thinning.

Try airbrush medium or glazing medium. LOTS of medium to a small dab of paint on your pallet. Basicly if you can cover it in one coat, it is too thick. If it takes 2-3 OK, more than 3 for coverage, too thin, now it is a wash/glaze.