You know there are lights made for painters? I bought one years ago. Has a true natural light, balanced to match the light of the sun. Think I paid like almost thirty dollars back about ten years ago. It was quite expensive in my eyes, but I needed something to over come the problems you described. Can't remember what it was called now, but i got it because I remembered it matched the 5500 degrees of the sun. My daughter has absconded with it, but every now and then I get a hold of it until she retrieves it again.

Since she took it, I have started to use those Reveal lights. They are pretty cheap and have a pretty close color balance to my daughter's $30 bulb.

The brand I know for true light is OTT. I don't have one, but have a mix of warm fluorescents & an incandescent that together do ok -- our gaming space is in a store that has garish fluorescent lighting, so I'm painting in conditions similar to the exhibition hall!

Steve

You are exactly correct, it is an OTT light. One time I tried to replace the one my daughter snagged with a new one from Michales. I had one of those 50% off coupons. The light was one of those items not covered by the coupon. Was so bummed.

mmmh those full spectrum bulbs seems really nerdy... i like them!^^

pet shop here i come!^^

I have been working on a group WIP that is going on over at the Reaper boards (here) and am finally posting pictures of this weekend's work. I am not sure if I am 100% happy with my color choices so far, but we shall see how it turns out. Here is a front and back shot of the unprimed (but I did wash) Bones Ogre Chieftain. I have been using the MSP paints for most of this one.

I think a LIGHT brown wash will bring that down nicely.

The flesh color is on track (at least I think) due to the brown wash I plan to use. I was second guessing the other choices. The metallic gold and accessory colors aren't solid yet, but might seem better once I figure out what to paint the remaining parts.

Not bad!
I would use a lot of devlan sud or similar dark brown wash. But it's my personal taste.

Brown or black wash on the metals would do a lot with that. Maybe a brown wash on everything and a touch of black wash on a few of the metals.

this weekend i've finished 2 reaper minis.
sorry for the Photos on the black one, i had the sun shining on it... i swear it's not that "sweaty" and lucid in normal conditions!


















ah i see that the albino werewolf seems to have the fur in pure white in these pics... actually it's grey in the recess and semi-drybrushed in white....
ok smartphone isn't good for taking photos... and my gf would kill me if i buy a whitebox just for this!^^

Every once in a while I would paint a mini that would turn out much better than I expected. Turns out it was because of color choices. Next trip to your local Michael's/Hobby Lobby/whatever, pick up one of those $1 color wheels. They are surprisingly useful.

Get some foamboard and tape it together into a 3 sided box. Its not as good as a lightbox, but it certainly makes a big difference.

Progress ensues. I am pretty much finished with the base coating. Tomorrow night will be some touch up and then washes.

VERY nicely done.

Looking great, sir!

Thanks guys. I got home later than usual tonight and am hoping to still get in some paint time, but we shall see. A few of the colors are mixed (the greenish wrap and the metallic silver/gold combo, for instance).

Good going! Keep up the great work. I cant wait to see it when finished. I love how the kickstarter has gotten some new people interested in painting. Its always been alot of fun for me. Although it is getting a little harder as I get older and the eyes start to go, but still fun. I gotta post some stuff I've been working on lately.

one idea that popped in my mind for that mini:
scarifications!

you could improve the details of the minis using a dry or semi drybrush over the scars! (especially on the shoulder)

i suggest to a bit of red OR brown on the base skin tone to get respectively a fresh or an old scar.

A BIT...i'd say a 4/5-1 proportion (it depends on how strong is the red or brown u are using)
u want a transition in color that still reminds the skin tone

I took a break from GW2 to put some wash on this guy. Thoughts?

Much more depth, great wash. I might suggest adding a bit more to undersides of the model to create shadows on the flesh, a bit more in the eye sockets and on the hairy bits. Looks great.

That last was just marvey - I can only hope to attain that level of artistry. (And with the KS Bones I got I'll have plenty to practice on!)

The more steps I put into this, the more I find little things to do. I could call it good...or I could go back and highlight/touch up.

Calling it quits could mean working on a new mini though...

Talae, you have found the same problem I run into when I paint minis. The paint goes on and it starts to look good. There comes a point when I just don't feel like going past that point of diminishing returns. Since I am not trying to impress anyone, especially some judge who puts his minis on a shelf behind glass. My minis get played with, sometimes a bit rough by kids who have no idea how long and the amount of skill it takes to put the paint on the mini.

Once the mini looks good enough to you, call it quits. There are times when you will just need to go a bit further just because you want to. That's fine, I have those too.

I see what you are saying and worked on it a little last night (and maybe later today), but I am calling it quits after this weekend for that mini. His base has some paint on it but looks like crap and I did some touch up work/drybrushing/washing. I might try my hand at highlighting and his eyes were lost in the wash.

I figure since I am still learning that I should try and push myself each time I paint a mini. After this I am starting the Reaper Learn to Paint Kits (I have #1 and #2) and will try and follow the directions closely so I pick up on any hints they give.

For bases on gaming miniatures I usually go VERY simple. I put down a thick coat of some sort of olive green, then I sprinkle turf blend flock onto the wet paint. Make sure the paint everywhere else is dry though. Looks fine from a short distance, and makes the figure look finished.

I do much the same as I do on the rest of the miniature: start with a dark brown base (burnt umber or similar), drybrush on a mid brown (usually cinnamon or rust red), and then drybrush on a light brown (red earth), followed by a heaping helping of a custom mix of static grasses (some brown, mostly green), brown train ballast, and red/orange/white flocking for a smattering of flowers. If you're in a rush, you can just do a thick brown base and then a quick dip into the static grass, but I like the results better if I do the full job (it lets me show more of the base as exposed soil instead of covering the whole of it).
Considering that a bag of static grass can be had for as low as a couple of dollars (or ~$10 for a big-ol' bottle of the stuff), it's well worth the investment for painters.

A good example of the end result:



Magius out.

I haven't gotten into more elaborate basing yet. I was just referring to painting the broccoli base. I am planning to stay very basic for now - grass green with a brown wash.

Also, got a little painting done today. I started the Reaper L2PK#1 and have only primed and done flesh tones so far. I am now debating whether to paint or play GW2 with my time tonight...

Do you guys keep a resource of miniature images? I am thinking of starting one. I am finding that I prefer certain styles and color choices when looking at other people's minis, but not accomplishing it in my own results. For instance, here is a link to a poster on the Reaper forums that I have seen and love his color choice. They just POP off the screen for me. If you do something like this, I would love to hear about how you organize it and how you specifically use the resource (tutorial purposes, inspiration prior to painting, for looking at while painting, etc.)

You could always use the GuildWars character creation to experiment virtually with color combinations for figs before committing them to a physical paint job.