Chest of Colors forum

Okay, so I want as much fierce crits as I can get. I am trying for this to be my best ever work, so please help!

Anyway, about the mini. Superb! Cast was clean, smooth, just a joy. One small gripe was the noose at the end of the arm was at an odd angle, and defo NOT thick enough to be repositioned easily. I cut it off, drilled a hole at an angle and am happy with how it turned out.

Anyway, I worked on the skin. I am not doing much with the face as I want it to be all shadowy and mysterious, but I think I should work on the arm. It is a challenge blending that arm as the surface is broken up by all the veins. Fun stuff. Anyway, here's where I am at...

Click to see full-sized image

I based the flesh with Tallarn flesh, then shaded it in about 4 or five steps adding black red to the mix. I brought the base coat back in and then added highlights in about 4 or 5 steps mixing in P3 menoth white base. There's some pure menoth white around the chets and ab's as well. Then I tried to bring some nuances and subtleties into the flesh. I use those terms cause that's what it said in the miniature mentor video I watched. Sounds pretty goofy to me. Anyway, I added some glazes of Green, Blue, and red pretty sparingly around the top of the arm and all across the torso. I wanted this guy to look more burn victim than anything so I had decided before I started to add more purple and ogryn flesh as the final steps. I added that in about 3 glazes of each. Pretty thin though, maybe 5:1 for all the glazes. I used the GW washes for all of that.

So pretty happy so far. I think I am going to add some Black Brown shadows under the hat area just to REALLY make sure it look shadowy and mysterious. The long post about what I was doing is so that I can remember!

Thanks for looking!

tought crits? sure!

first thing: is he alive or not? his skin doesn't like as if he was... strong shing highlights and dark shadows with fine details on the skin make him look like a kind of a monster. like some flesh golem or Frankenstein monster. I know the skin is not ready yet, but that's what it looks like to me now. Probably the photo and flash, which can always kill the best paintjob...

Actually Mahon he is supposed to be some sort of wierd monster. Not so much undead, but def. some kind of wierd demon. I was thinking of some glowy blue OSL on the eyes.

I am gonna work the skin and veins over quite a bit more, but I like your comment. Hopefully as more get's done and I post it comes together a little more apparently. Thanks very much!

Actually I was thinking about my reply Mahon, and I thin kI needed to elaborate to get more advice.

See, he is supposed to be some kind of monster but truthfully I worked the flesh on this guy mostly how I would a traditional flesh and blood type character. So while in this instance I enjoy what you said he looks like to you, I'd like to (If you're game) get some tips for making him look more lively and less frankensteiny. In future I should....

-Less contrast between the extreme shade and extreme highlight?
-Less abrupt transition between the shade and highight?

Or a mixture of the two? Also in terms of color, is there any direction I should go with this model, to reinforce the creepy factor, and any tips for future models to make it look LESS creepy? I'd be super grateful for any tips. I like what I am hearing so far!

After showing it around I think I'd like to try and add some purple blue glazes to the veiny growths, especially on the arms. Also I am going to try and add some color variation on the model. I was thinking some green across the pecs, getting heaviest towards the outside where the muscle meets the jacket, and maybe using some blue and pruple across the abs. I was planning on using more of the diluted GW washes for that purpose. Any thoughts on that?

Very appreciative of the crit's I've recieved on my Scibor Dwarf and I'd love to get more of the same on this guy. Lotsa talent around here for sure.

TY Mahon!

I don't think it has anythin to do with contrast or transitions, it's about colours. Take a look at it - does it look like a natural skin colour? it's very brown-red to me. unless you wanted a native american type of skin, in that case you might be pretty close to it.
I don't really mind it. Unearthly skin and glowing eyes? Man hunter coming from hell / being a demon? Cool, I buy that idea

to me that's a very good concept, too. so if you don't want him to be 100% human - my comment turns out to be more of a praise in fact

the skin just doesn't look like having the thickness and flatness of human skin. it looks more like some film or skin of an amphibian - thin and very elastic.

Yeah, try to use thin lines of lighter colors to mimic the structure of muscles under the skin. Not ultra smooth blending, but a few layers of carefully painted lines.

Marek wrote:Yeah, try to use thin lines of lighter colors to mimic the structure of muscles under the skin. Not ultra smooth blending, but a few layers of carefully painted lines.

I like this idea a lot! Should I perhaps use some near white, then carry on some of the glazing over top of that?

And as I said, I am pleased with the effect the skin has created in the context of this mini, but I probably would have painted the flesh the same way on a more traditional living model. How best should I go about achieveing a more natural look to the skin? If different colors are the answer, what colors are best? What are some of the secrets you guys use? I was pretty proud that it was able to come off even a little smooth, which is fairly new to me, but clearly color selection and choices is an area I have to think about more.

GREAT talk thus far. I hope to do this mini proud!

well, does any of you see lines of muscle structure on our bodies? this might work fine, if you want exaggerated fantasy cartoony style. Otherwise - I don't think it's a good idea. YMMV.
colours - check tutorials on CoC main page. there's a great one by Morsi on painting skin/faces.

Holy Smokes Nameless, that's some tutorial! I think most of it went over my head but I'll try to absorb and practice as much as I can. Thanks for pointing me to it! I'll check out all the Tut's given time. Nice stuff!