Verthandi - Red Sonja

[Ana]

Hi, I have a new model... but not on my shelf because it is sitting packed for shipping, but for me it's enough to have it in my gallery
In some time I would probably find so many flaws in her that I might lose the whole sentiment for her.

I must say that it was super cool to paint, even though I was scared of its size.
But I got to like it very much - it's less exhausting for my eyes, there's more room for nice blending... oh, it was so enjoyable!
OK, time to end this day-dreaming. I've just finished painting the Millennium Knight and am preparing two GW models for painting - both in Tzeentch theme. There will be more of it, but not all at once...

I am curious about your comments.

Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image
Click to see full-sized image

I think the photos are a little too big to see her comfortably and one gets distracted easily. But such photos reveal the technique and errors much better

I posted two articles about her to my blog:
https://paintingmum.blogspot.com/2011/02 ... g-ice.html
https://paintingmum.blogspot.com/2011/02 ... ering.html
And in two days I will add a report from the process of painting her.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask

[ainuin]

Hello. Overall as always.

From my point of view. Legs are little too dark.

Now about her cloak - leather part of cloak is best painted part of this mini but I say no to hairy part ( it looks cheap ).

All kneel before queen of leather capes Ańa !

[pae]

Beautiful work as always.

I've been wanting to try a 54mm figure myself, but I've been intimidated by the size. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one.

[ToMaZ]

Beautifully painted Ana!

It's hard to critique, but here it goes:

As Ainuin mentioned, the upper legs are too dark. They have nearly the same colour as the lower abdomen while they should catch more light when you use a zenithal light source. I don't like the weapon, but that's a matter of taste. Personally I think that NMM on a historical sized fig is a bit of a waste because you have so much surface to make true metallics really shine. Then again it is a fantasy model...
One thing I don't really understand is why you picked a colour with a purple tone for the gloves. Everything has a natural and mostly warm colour, and I don't think the gloves fit in that scheme. It's really a nitpicky point of critique though

Oh and the cape really blew me away. It's by far the best part IMO. It looks so smooth, really soft and real!

[Midnight Lurker]

I actually like the choice of NMM over TMP here. I agree that most of the time TMP is best for 54mm, but I think it works here and is well executed. The subtle blue tones in the blade are a nice break from all the warm. I would have liked to see a little more blue and purple tones in the stone beneath her feet to tie in and help the overall harmony.

I've been seeing a lot of semi-monochrome (monotone?) looking 54s lately. I understand why 54mm pieces need less contrast than 28-32mm, and I know it makes them more realistic, but I'm just not a big fan of all the brown. Brown skin, brown leather, brown boots, brown base. For me it's just a little too much. Even with proper shading and blending (which is beautiful by the way- simply gorgeous) it leaves me confused about what to focus on. I want to focus on her face but all I keep seeing is hair, shield, blade... hair, shield, blade. Perhaps if you had gone a little paler with her skintones overall I would like it more. I tend to think of redheads as being fair skinned with pink undertones, and even when tanned they don't get that brown. Golden maybe, but not bronzed.

All that being said though, it's a beautiful piece. Smooth, evocative... Very well done. The leather effect on the cloak is amazing. I always look forward to new things from you. Thanks for posting it!

Jen

[Pandadosmares]

I love this mini, and i love Conan and Red Sonja so im a bit biased but anyway i will give my opinion.

Overall the paint job captures Red Sonja in all its glory, in the comics she usually has a dark skin tone (yes, even for a red haired ) to me this one is what the original should have been, and on other words a huge improvement on the Original paintjob and the best paint job i've seen on this mini.

I agree the right leg is a bit darker then it should have been, but to me the only lighter part should have been in the top near the "panties thingy" (armour) not on the entire leg, that way would exist a light flow from the belly to the tie. (this needs to be corrected and edited, since the opinion was based on the 1st photo only, and in the last picture my point is stated, so just a and a from me )

And thats the only thing that it might be a overall improvement for me. (not my opinion anymore based on the above state)

For once again a great paint job ....

I love everything, do i agree that in large minis TMM well done is very impressive, the NMM in the axe does make a pleasant change and once again brings the comic books feel to it that i really like.

The hair is great (im waiting for a tutorial), the skin viewed in my machine has a warm with some reds and greens that look very realistic, so once again cheers for a lovelly job.

Shield is great, and the leather is very realistic

I like the gloves and the colors used since to me they tie everything with the base.

in one word (even do i used a lot ) wonderful

Thanks for once again a woderful mini

[Ana]

Oh, thanks a lot, guys! It's great to receive such helpful and insightful comments!

@ToMaZ - regarding the gloves your opinion agrees with Mahon's. my concept was that she is equipped with stuff collected from defeated enemies or found during her adventures, so it doesn't create a coherent equipment. All the 'cold' elements on her (gloves, axe, fur) were supposed to remain in contrast to the overall warm paintjob (especially the hair) and to match the colder paints used on her base. I also wanted to avoid using greens for shading because I was afraid it could make her look like a person living in woods, like some kind of Robin Hood, and that was something I didn't want and I chose to try to make her look cleaner.

@Panda - wow, I am really impressed you noticed the thing about light on her legs!! you must be the only person who analyzed all the pics enough.
I understand the criticism I am receiving about her right leg looking too dark, because people can only see flat photos, while the model is not flat. the right leg is placed a bit backward in comparison to the left one, so it is like a bit in shadow. the 'panties' cast shadow on the right thigh because I directed light from above her left shoulder toward right-bottom direction.

Click to see full-sized image

Unfortunately the first photo, which makes the first impression shows the model looking flat, so I cannot blame people for not knowing this. If it was painted only for the purpose of photos, I might have done it different, but I painted it with the purpose of looking good in reality, so I hope the choice was right (with the purpose in mind).

@Midnight Lurker & Ainuin - thanks. noted, will take into account!

@Pae - try 54mm scale, it's so enjoyable!

Once more I thank you all for comments. I will consider these issues in my next paintjobs!

[Trovarion]

Unfortunately the first photo, which makes the first impression shows the model looking flat, so I cannot blame people for not knowing this. If it was painted only for the purpose of photos ...

what? are you saying there is people who paint minis only for fotos? how sad is that

[mahon]

Trov, if you paint a miniature for an online contest where only photos are entered, you need to paint the mini in a way which will look best on the photo.
Or maybe: you don't need to do it, but taking it into accounts increases your chances

So, even though it seems weird, you cannot assume there are no such people...

You surely know some minis look better on photos than others. For example Demon Color's works used to be painted in a way which was very good for photography but not as impressive when you could see the real thing. No retouching involved - just the style was something that cameras liked...

[pae]

I suppose quite a few of the figures painted for Reaper a few years back were only painted for photos, since the back sides were only basecoated. This was when they were still producing data cards for their Warlord game.