WIP Critique First Miniature Project in 12 Years.

[AndrewJax1983]

Hi All.

I'm new to the forum. I posted a brief intro in the welcome section a few days ago. Here is my first painting project in 12 years. Hulk from Atomic Mass Games' Marvel Crisis Protocol.

I relied on Vallejo paints exclusively, simply because that's what I know best. I followed a tutorial from the Orcs & Goblins paint set they produce (link below; it's 30mins long). I couldn't tell if the painter was layering and glazing, or just layering. Nor could I really understand what I was doing. I have a basic grasp of highlights closer to the light source, shadows farther away from the light source, and that's it. I'm not really sure what is meant by painting volumns, or even how to do it. Brush control is obviously an issue too, but that will improve with time as I practice. If anyone has any tips on how to improve brush control (other than paint more minis which is obvious) I'd love to hear what those are. Honestly, though, I'm just going to paint more minis anyway haha!

He's almost finished, but I would love some feedback on how I can improve on the work I've already done before completing.

I've posted on Facebook (sigh.... Facebook Why do I bother...) and I did receive some feedback that I'm uncertain of. Uncertain in the sense that I'm not sure which to try.

Teeth: 1) Base coat with brownish/ochre tone, then build up with white or ivory. I used ivory initially. 2) Sepia/Grey/Black wash and then re-highlight with white/ivory.

Green: Too light in the shaded areas. I need to create more contrast, but there are a number of options. 1) A wash made of the base colour, in this case Vallejo's Heavy Black Green. I can add a matt clear layer if I'm too nervous about just going in with the wash, that way I can wipe it off and try again. 2) Glaze with a purple. Build up over many thin layers to create a subtle transition. 3) Wash or glaze with a mix of green and purple to create a more dull shadow in the recesses.

I also need to push the highlights one more level to really make them stand out. Then any wash I apply will smooth things out.

Purples: Push the highlights one more level, then apply a wash to smooth things out and create more contrast in the shadows. Would a green wash work here? Should I stick to a wash made of the base colour instead? Should I try to glaze?

General advice: When painting muscles think of them as spheres and follow that logic when applying shades and highlights.

Nothing was said about the base, other than people like the bricks. Honestly, that's my favourite part of the project. The bricks have a couple of errors on them, but generally I'm happy with the result.

Link:

That's all I've got for now. Thank you all in advance for any and all feedback.

 

[franck edet]

welcome aboard !
for a first i would say this is yet promising, from what i see, here are my constructive comments :

you actually have done what we call a "sketch" meaning that you have placed all your lights and shadows, now you need to refine them by blending them all together, this will be achieved by
the use of glazes you could use some very deep blue for the shadows, and add more yellow in the lights for example.

as you said : there's no magical trick, only time and practice will improve your skills. for now you have yet understood the basics of lights, which is really a key in our hobby

as for brush control : the tip is used for fine details, for glazes or washes use the side of the brush. and use the bests brushes you can afford. there'S a world between cheap brushes and very good ones.

hope this helps !

 

[AndrewJax1983]

welcome aboard !
for a first i would say this is yet promising, from what i see, here are my constructive comments :

you actually have done what we call a "sketch" meaning that you have placed all your lights and shadows, now you need to refine them by blending them all together, this will be achieved by
the use of glazes you could use some very deep blue for the shadows, and add more yellow in the lights for example.

as you said : there's no magical trick, only time and practice will improve your skills. for now you have yet understood the basics of lights, which is really a key in our hobby

as for brush control : the tip is used for fine details, for glazes or washes use the side of the brush. and use the bests brushes you can afford. there'S a world between cheap brushes and very good ones.

hope this helps !

It does help, thank you. The blue for shadows and the yellow for lights, do you mean I'd be glazing down into the shadows with blue, and up into the highlights with yellow, in order to blend the layers together?

Also, thanks for the pointers on brush control. I had no idea that's how we're supposed to do it.

 

[DaddyO]

Morning and welcome onboard

I'll echo what Frank has already said in that you've got nicely sketched in highlights and shadows. the next step is smoothing them in and adding further contrast as required.

First a quick note on how I understand terms (if I may)
A wash is applied to a whole area with very watery colour. A glaze is thinned colour applied to a specific area such as the tip of a nose or cheek.
If you're using Vallejo paints I'd add a bottle of glaze medium to your selection of paints (There are lots of other mediums that can be used as well, but this one is very useful) This can be mixed with the colour to thin it out without loosing the colours intensity (thinning with too much water causes the paint to break up giving a speckled appearance) It also slows up the drying time slightly.

If you've got a couple of spare mini's you can use to practice with that would be useful and will save worrying about working on this one.
To blend two areas together you can mix an intermediate tone and paint this where they join which will give an optical blend (ie when you look at it your eye tricks you into thinking the colours are blended smoothly, but when magnified you can see the bands of colour) By thinning this new colour with a bit of water or glaze medium you can make it less prominent. You'll probably need 2 or 3 coats to soften the join between the colours if the mixture is right; it shouldn't be too strong. You are aiming to build up the transition colour till it looks right.

Another way is to use a very thin darker glaze and working on one area at a time paint over the whole muscle working over the highlights into the shadows. This will blend everything , but you'll probably then need to go back and work up the highlights again

These steps do take time so don't rush them and make sure that the paint has dried properly before adding another layer. (When you add a watered down or glaze of colour it's very difficult to tell how it will look until it has dried fully)

Hope that helps a bit.
Paul

ps - If you haven't tried one a wet pallet is useful to stop your mixes drying out too quickly so you can go back to a colour you've used and tweak it a bit if it's dried with too much contrast. Hopefully Nap (moderator) or someone will chime in with how to make one to see if it helps

 

[Nap]

Wise words from Franck and Paul

Good start from you on this

Definately recommend a WP for acrylics these might be of use

https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/cheap-and-easy-wet-palette.303482/

https://www.fauxhammer.com/tutorials/how-to-make-a-wet-palette-for-painting-miniatures-models/

 

[franck edet]

do you mean I'd be glazing down into the shadows with blue, and up into the highlights with yellow, in order to blend the layers together?

yep, at this stage you have to increase deep shadows first, then you'll go for your highlights important point with glazes : you do it in one pass only, let it dry then add more if necessary. do not "play" with the brush while the coat is not dried, you'll just make the pigments stacking in the place of their choice

 

[AndrewJax1983]

Morning and welcome onboard

I'll echo what Frank has already said in that you've got nicely sketched in highlights and shadows. the next step is smoothing them in and adding further contrast as required.

First a quick note on how I understand terms (if I may)
A wash is applied to a whole area with very watery colour. A glaze is thinned colour applied to a specific area such as the tip of a nose or cheek.
If you're using Vallejo paints I'd add a bottle of glaze medium to your selection of paints (There are lots of other mediums that can be used as well, but this one is very useful) This can be mixed with the colour to thin it out without loosing the colours intensity (thinning with too much water causes the paint to break up giving a speckled appearance) It also slows up the drying time slightly.

If you've got a couple of spare mini's you can use to practice with that would be useful and will save worrying about working on this one.
To blend two areas together you can mix an intermediate tone and paint this where they join which will give an optical blend (ie when you look at it your eye tricks you into thinking the colours are blended smoothly, but when magnified you can see the bands of colour) By thinning this new colour with a bit of water or glaze medium you can make it less prominent. You'll probably need 2 or 3 coats to soften the join between the colours if the mixture is right; it shouldn't be too strong. You are aiming to build up the transition colour till it looks right.

Another way is to use a very thin darker glaze and working on one area at a time paint over the whole muscle working over the highlights into the shadows. This will blend everything , but you'll probably then need to go back and work up the highlights again

These steps do take time so don't rush them and make sure that the paint has dried properly before adding another layer. (When you add a watered down or glaze of colour it's very difficult to tell how it will look until it has dried fully)

Hope that helps a bit.
Paul

ps - If you haven't tried one a wet pallet is useful to stop your mixes drying out too quickly so you can go back to a colour you've used and tweak it a bit if it's dried with too much contrast. Hopefully Nap (moderator) or someone will chime in with how to make one to see if it helps

Okay, you've given me a lot to consider here. I've put Hulk aside for now, and started a new project (got bored), so I'll try what you're suggesting on this model, then do it again on Hulk when I go back to him next. Thank you for the feedback.

Wise words from Franck and Paul

Good start from you on this

Definately recommend a WP for acrylics these might be of use

https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/cheap-and-easy-wet-palette.303482/

https://www.fauxhammer.com/tutorials/how-to-make-a-wet-palette-for-painting-miniatures-models/

Yep, already have a Redgrass XL

yep, at this stage you have to increase deep shadows first, then you'll go for your highlights important point with glazes : you do it in one pass only, let it dry then add more if necessary. do not "play" with the brush while the coat is not dried, you'll just make the pigments stacking in the place of their choice

Excellent! So, I'm on the right track. Gonna work on a different model of a while, just for something fresh, then come back to Hulk in a week or so. Thank you