How Long

[RobH]

Hi Julie

Another reason why Bill Horans and Mike Blanks figures stand out is due to their originality. As you say Julie, seeing the massed ranks of similarly painted figures at Euro isn't helped because many of them are the same figure. This is where Hardy shines, because he has developed very much his own style, and even amongst the same figures, they still stand out.

Hardy has been very generous sharing his techniques on various sites, and in the next MilMod will reach another audience. i'm sure it wont be long before we see some "Hardy Method" clones out there!

So above all, paint what you want how you want. Learn from others, pick and choose what works and what makes sense for you. There's certainly no formula!

And it was very rewarding to see Bill Horans work at Euro this year! I appreciate his work all the more for seeing it in the flesh.

I certainly have wanted to emulate Bill Horans work for years, but the artists like him provide me now with inspiration. (as do regular visits to this site)

Merry Christmas

Rob

 

[Robin]

Hi again

One of my friends is Dave Ashby, not many will know him hes a really nice guy, and a phenomally good painter though yet to win a Euro Gold, this year he didn't do aswell as last, my point in mentioning this he took that on board and scanned the ranks of figures at Euro searching and looking at the Gold winners to see what was different between his figures and those, the main thing he decided was the shading and how it was laid down, now hes busy practising that, not emulating using the gold winners to identify the way forward for his painting, thats talent, being your own biggest critic.

Talent is a handy thing to have but is no substitute for practice, and a few good lessons, nobody just paints well because of talent, they learn to use skills,how to place the light, the stop sign rule(thanks Shep), complimentary shading and so on, My eldest son is a really good drawer, but he only really draws well what he likes drawing and what he draws alot of,(lots of power rangers pictures in our house) no one draws perfect first time, they practice it.

I think you will find that Bill, Mike and Hardy work just as hard if not harder learning technique as they do trusting their obvious talent, also I would doubt they would not read an article by another artist just in case they could find something that will improve thier figures just a nats more.

If anything the really good painters I think are more open to learning others tehniques maybe not to copy buy why, why does it do that and can I use that.

Maybe I am wrong, but thats how I see it

Robin

 

[quang]

Like someone said, talent is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.

So where does a beginner start?

By copying his mentors' work. It's a laborious and tedious but nevertheless necessary task. But it's only when you've acquired the skills (and that they've become a second nature) that you can break off the mould, spread your wings and show your originality (which is nothing but the expression of your true nature).

Let's face it. There are people who spend all their life trying to acquire the skills. There are others who are very skillful but are also reluctant to push further (why would they? All they want is the medals). And then there are those for whom the skills are just a spring board to something else (Art?).

Needless to say I find much more merit in John Egert's valiant (and psychedelic) chromatic ventures than in the impeccable, award-winning and constipated renditions of an icon painter artist.

Get-togethers like this site are great for emulation and incentive. But originality is a lonesome turf. You're out there on your own. That's what makes it so rare and so precious.

In any case, keep the fire burning

Quang

 

[bobparker]

Hi Julie,I have been in this hobby 30+ years still trying to master it ,but happy with my lot, have judged Hardy's work at local shows,and am striving to copy his face painting techniques which i think are the best ,searched high and low for colours he mentioned in an article recently,and am practicing all over again its great.
There was a very good lady painter laste 70s early 80s Helen McHugh who as a horsewomen favoured mounted subjects and i remember her series 77 mounted mountain man was unreal.
best advice is Enjoy what you do and be proud of what you acheive.
Bob

 

[bobparker]

PS Hope that by copying Hardys colours it dont qualify me as a "hardy clone" ,I doubt that i could achieve his quality ,just like the skin tones he gets.
Bob the clone.

 

[RobH]

Hi Bob

No copying Hardys colours certainly would not mkae u a clone! I copy colour mixes all the time, but paint it how I like!

I'm into comics and there was an artist who's style was incredible, and led to a lot of imitators; in one case total plagerism. However, that artist eventually established his own identity and became very successful later....

Rob

 

[Hardy]

Really interesting thread Julie, thanks for starting it. I have to agree with some of the other posts, my style is an amalgam of all my favourite painters. The idiosyncracies that make my painting different (not better) than other painters only came after I had mastered the basic techniques.........through emulation and practice. I do think nature rather than nurture comes in to it to a point though.


Its great to have a differing view, and refreshing

 

[frank h]

Hi Julie
I have been painting figures for over twenty years. Painting them well
and developing a technique, based on studying the work of other painters
probably only in the last five years.

I believe there is so much more information available together with a
willingness to offer help and advice from the current great exponents
of the hobby/art.

Frank

Welcome to the Planet

 

[bobparker]

Originally posted by RobH@Dec 18 2003, 08:02 PM

I'm into comics

Rob

Could this be why you swept the board at the clubs xmas quiz show this week, did you manage to get your wine and chocs home safely, will have to ensure next years quiz has a canine theme!!!!! Bob

 

[btavis]

I have been painting figures for six years. I was a 2D graphic artist before that in both fine and commercial art. I have always been attracted to the world of miniaturization since I was a child as there is something magical about it to me. I tend to stay away from larger scale figures (120mm and above) primarily because I get a bigger rush out of the smaller scales and the challenge is great. 54mm is probably still my favorite but I will do 75mm and 90mm as well if the figure strikes me. I even painted 1/72 figures for awhile early on. I will probably stay with these scales as long as my eyes hold out (thank God for the Optivisor!).

I was an avid model builder until around the time I was fifteen years old and then quit to pursue art, music and other things: namely a career and family. Despite such a long hiatus I think I still have the same level of enthusiasm towards the hobby as I did when I was younger perhaps even more so. However, I have much more discipline than I did then and I also acquired a lot of knowledge from being an artist for so long. The greatest aspect of the hobby to me is going to shows and meeting with other artist/modelers. Second to that would be forums like this which serve well between shows and the small hobby club I am a founding member of here in Dallas.

Just to relate how engrossed people get in this hobby, Doug Cohen lives but fifteen minutes from me and the only time I ever get to see him is at shows.

If I was to try and aspire to any other painters it would be along the lines of Greg DiFranco, Al Safwat, Rick Rutter and a few others. However, my absolute favorite modeler is Fletcher Clement and he is the one I would choose to emulate. Not just for painting but his entire approach to modeling and the subjects he chooses to render.

 

[johnegert]

I have been painting figures so long, it sickens me to think of it. But I have sat by the river long enough, and have watched it alter course a number of times. Four eras stand out-- the early painters who split from toy figures into the "Military Miniature" genre- personified for me by Don Burgess. The use of oils,a painterly style using 2d oil painting methods' and a Romantic Era perspective set the tone for a number of years. The Coming of Bill Horan drove a stake into the heart of this ideal. All ot once, everything seemed to fall into BB (before Bill) and AB. A near photographic realism became the icon, with Horan's enamels creating a less glossy, smooth, surface and those astonishingly realistic skin tones. Improved casting and the Rise of Resin furthered this ideal, and it seemed that nothing could derail this Lilliput Express. The Third big deal was the production of acrylic paints in textures and colors that allowed the young painters to push this Realist phase to amazing levels. And then.... from Hell it came.... the Russian Revolution! The Hobbits of the Shire ran in panic as figures of amazing sculptural quality and impossible painting appeared from the East. It was widely believed that some brutal figure gulag existed, where emaciated artists were forced at bayonet point to sculpt and paint, fed only rancid borscht. Crazed rules were devised to keep them out of shows for their own good. Legions of painters went back to European art roots to find inspiration, and a schizoid style developed-- it was common to see a Horanesque figure with an elaborate flag or herald which would do credit to a lacquered russian box.
So here comes Ms Julie into a miniworld where a desire for realism and a need for artistic impact are boiling in the souls of the brusheads. The next chapter will consider the Future-- wither it comes and wyeth........ unless you ingrates can find a way to block me out.......
john

 

[Edson]

Welcome to these wonderful place Planet Figure, i hope you feel in home like me.

I have one year in the hobby so, im a rookie yet, but i still tryn to improve whit the tips and comments, from all these wonderful guys, and my teacher of course.

Again Welcome

Cheers
Ed

 

[johnegert]

OK -- here comes part two of my idiotically provincial cyber-birdcage liner. I'm trying togive Ms Julie a place to bring her artistic urges to bear on this limited genre, using my own little perspective.
When I saw the realism being achieved by the After Bill painters, I was dismayed, in large part because I knew I wasn't talented enough to play in that league, and also because I had come to love that painterly, Romantic style and the materials used to achieve it-- squeezing those sensuous oil tubes, getting ripped on turps fumes,etc. So I knew my path lay elsewhere. I broke out books and looked at paintings and understood why the AB work didn't move me. Some questions came to mind--- If we are shading clothing folds, why aren't we honoring shadows? Anyone who claims to be using the "stopsign method" who does not paint a shadow on the face of any figure wearing a cap/helmet/shako/etc., isn't being true to the method. And what about the effects of light source on color? The old forums were obsessed by color formulae, but I got interested in the time of day the figure lived in, or the season his uniform depicted and the light qualities that season imposed. I began to realize that we were hamstrung by the stopsign and the light halo method. I picked up a cheap copy of an N.C. Wyeth book, and was blown away, as I had been as a child. That led to a fresh look at other illustrators and artists-- I developed a new respect for Charles Russell, for example. So now I started painting adding the effects of light and shadow and found my niche--- this was the beginning of the purple haze, as Quang called it. Oranges and yellows for highlights , blues and purples for shadows, late afternoon sun angles--- I love all this stuff. Many European and UK painters had periodically used these techniques, but I wanted to carry them to wretched excess, and they've never let me down. So get in there and tear 'em a new one, Ms Julie--- explode the bonds of stupid convention and let your artheart tell you what's "real".
john

 

[btavis]

I think flat painters like Greg DiFranco, Peter Ferk have always deal with some of the more painterly qualities you mention (i.e. shadows, time of day lighting, artificial light, etc.).

 

[johnegert]

Yeah, I greatly admire that work. And correct me if I'm wrong, but these guys have won a number of Best in Show's, and, more important in my view, routinely were most popular among show patron surveys. This always indicates to me that there is a MAJOR emotional content being missed by us 3d people, and that color is a way to summon it.

 

[quang]

Bull'seye like usual, Johnnie-san.

The "MAJOR emotional content" is precisely what differenciates the 'painters' from the 'decorators'.

If competition judges would (or could) put as much interest in emotional impact as they do in brushmarks or blending, then it would be a totally different ball-game.

In the current state of the 'art', Vincent Van Gogh or Matisse just wouldn't stand a chance. :lol:

Quang