Synthet - my work

[synthet]

Ok, here´s something i recently painted, it´s my first attempt to do some NMM, and it was much harder then I could ever imagine, so I´m pretty happy with the result. Here´s where you folks come in. I need help on how to improve on about everything. I hope that you could give me som pointers about thecniques, colors or anything you feel can be done better.
Thanks for your time.

/Denniz
Click to see full-sized image

[arctica]

For me some of the metal NMM the highlights are too abrupt and some glazes will help smooth out your blends in that respect. It's not a bad attempt at NMM for the silver and gold but both need smoother blends and more contrast. I found when I first started painting NMM that I had too much base colour and not enough of the extremes so I think you have a similar issue too. Try making your highest highlights a sharp edge or a very thin small area, and darken some of your mid tones to give you a sharper colour change.

Other than those issues for the NMM you're a neat painter but I see on the cloak mostly edge highlighting, now that works for GW and tabletop painting but it isn't always helpful in trying to create a display model A nice start anyway , what's next under your paint brush?

[Maru]

state the level of punishment you whana endure from soft to over kill

then we will give you a sugestions end CC

BTW - Welcome on Forum ejoy your stay

[synthet]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions! I can see what you mean with the NMM area, and the cloak too. It was a great tip about the NMM and I will surly try it out! I haven´t been usin glazes more then onece or twicebut I will give it a try! I found a turorial about glazes on this forum so I will read it and give it a try.

About the state of punishment, give me your best shoot! I know that I have a long way ahead of me if i want to became a good painter, and the only way to get there is hard work, lots of practise and advices/critizism from you people. Conclusion: I want all the stuff, both good and bad.

Next thing will probably be some Cryx for Warmachine or some orks for Wh40k (being a wargamer I´ll always trying to finish some stuff) but I also working on something that will only be for display. My first attempt to do something I wont be gaming with.

/Denniz

[ToMaZ]

I think the contrast in your silver NMM is pretty good, but it lacks smoothness and the highlights are too bold and broad. Especially on the sword. You really need a pretty smooth gradient between a really dark colour and a colour that's (nearly) white. Probably the easiest way to create a very smooth surface is painting with really thin almost translucent layers, downside is that it takes a lot of time.
Your gold NMM looks better in smoothness. Still the shadow areas could be a tad darker, and the reflective area a bit smaller.

Like arctica said the rest of the model is neat. There is enough contrast but it lacks a bit of smoothness.(I like smoooooooth painting )
Another pointer that I can give you is to keep a light source in mind. Easiest and most popular nowadays is a zenithal light source. It will teach you to look at surfaces and various areas of the figure differently. What catches most light, what is darker, etc... If you highlight and shade that way, it will look more natural than if you highlight in the Games Workshop style.

Hope it helps a bit.

[synthet]

Postby ToMaZ » Yesterday, o 23:01
I think the contrast in your silver NMM is pretty good, but it lacks smoothness and the highlights are too bold and broad. Especially on the sword. You really need a pretty smooth gradient between a really dark colour and a colour that's (nearly) white. Probably the easiest way to create a very smooth surface is painting with really thin almost translucent layers, downside is that it takes a lot of time.
Your gold NMM looks better in smoothness. Still the shadow areas could be a tad darker, and the reflective area a bit smaller.

Like arctica said the rest of the model is neat. There is enough contrast but it lacks a bit of smoothness.(I like smoooooooth painting )
Another pointer that I can give you is to keep a light source in mind. Easiest and most popular nowadays is a zenithal light source. It will teach you to look at surfaces and various areas of the figure differently. What catches most light, what is darker, etc... If you highlight and shade that way, it will look more natural than if you highlight in the Games Workshop style.

Hope it helps a bit.

Thanks ToMaZ for your advice. I can clearly see what you mean. I haven´t thought about how the light would fall on a mini before, having GW as a referece on how to paint, well there is really not much focus on that kind of thing. It´s almost like I got a sort of wakeup call, of course I have to think about how the light falls not only the edges! I will try it out on my next mini.
So to summarize all your advice: the using of glaze for a smoth surface, the kontrasts in the NMM and I should think about how the light falls? Thanks again for all you people taking the time to healp me out.

/Denniz

[ToMaZ]

Yup that's about it

Oh and if you're going to start with painting through glazing, make sure you have a uniform basecoat down. Because when you paint with translucent layers every little fault in your basecoat will show up and be hard to fix!

When you start a new mini, just post some pics in the WIP section and people will go you advice as you progress through your fig

[Corvus]

I think the coat, pants and hair are the strong points of this model. The gun as well.

The weakest bits are the sword (looks like you painted a grey, blue and light grey line next to each other there) and the face (looks like only one layer of highlighting).

In general I think you need more layers and thinner paint. The rest of the technique is already there I think. What about some other angle photographs?

[synthet]

Thanks for the response! I agree with you that the sword is the weakest point (were it should be one of the strongest) I will try to thin my paint even more and smoothen out the highlights on the sword and the coat. The face has actually three layers, but I´ll try to make stronger contrast between them. I´ll take some pics from another wiev and post here later.
Thanks for the advice once again! I really appreciate it:)

[Blue Claw]

Looks good, my only criticism is the color choice of the plates that are the same as the hair. You nailed the hair and gives the model a ton of character, but it is reduced by sharing the same colors on the plates.