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Author Topic: Moshes Fantasy Stuff  (Read 5357 times)

Offline Moshes

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 35
Re: Moshes Fantasy Stuff
« Reply #30 on: September 24, 2016, 07:26:02 AM »
And two more pics.  8)

Offline psullie

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 239
    • Paul's Blog
Re: Moshes Fantasy Stuff
« Reply #31 on: September 24, 2016, 06:58:10 PM »
lovely eclectic mix, and I like how you still get a unit feel with your choice of colours

Offline Moshes

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 35
Re: Moshes Fantasy Stuff
« Reply #32 on: September 25, 2016, 08:19:42 AM »
lovely eclectic mix, and I like how you still get a unit feel with your choice of colours

Thank you, psullie.

(Next is my POV about colouring the models. It is my personal opinion and I not want to critisize any modeller style or approach, all are valid to me as a viewer. These thoughts I share with you are only meant to explain my own personal style, and how I define it. No offense is intended to any of the superb artists of this community. And, beware, I know I can get boring sometimes, so I warned you  lol)

Regarding colour, I think there are two schools of thought, both equally valid and both equally pleasing to the eye. One is made to highlight the model using contrasting colours, often using complementary ones, like red and blue, green and yellow. This palette goes to the brightest tones in the highlights and tends to put interest in shape and contrast. One can, with this method, easily see from across a room large areas of a miniature, sharply contrasting things like clothing, armor and shields. There are plenty of examples of good painters doing it with gusto, and I usually like the results.

The downside of this approach is overcontrasting tones and unusual choices for certain areas. Brighter colours are not suited for campaign live, and degraded fast under sunlight. Constant washing helps dulling the colouring, as seen many times in colour fotographs of troops and other people who work outdoors. For me, it results in a suspension of disbelief if the effect is too pronounced. Take for example the napoleonic reenactors, and how the highly coloured plates and paintings of the uniforms donīt match the real ones. Blue often goes to black or grey, white for ochre, red to a madder tone, and so on. Even in a context of fantasy, more low than high, these things have to be considered.

The other objection is related to the classic Citadel style of painting models, as developed from the 80īs to the 90īs and continues to exert its influence. The question arose when one has to paint groups of minis, and must reduce its palette for speeding the process. In that case, you take a colour, paint one area, move to the next mini, and paint another one. Rick Priestly expanded on this in 5th edition WHF and the Citadel How to Paint Miniatures. This is coherent with the overall image of the unit, and very convenient to economize time, but came at a cost. If I start painting goblins, and you choose red for the boots, and then move to the next mini, and applied red to the clothing, and the same red to the weaponīs shaft in the next, and so on. Seems correct, doesnīt it? Well, and this is my opinion, this method lends poor results in large groups, say 25 or 50 men strong units. It maybe work for fewer minis, or skirmishers who are spreaded out, but only at first glance.

Colour is a function of the material the object is made. Leather can be coloured, but with a limited extent. Metallic arms and armour too, as they are made of very few materials, namely iron, steel and broze, for the most part. Clothing can be as flamboyant as one desire, but the grim reality is that they tend to be made dull or get dull as time passes. Having say that, it is pretty much incoherent to paint one model boots in a shade of red (soft leather) and then apply the same tone in another mini shaft (wood) or clothing (wool, mostly). And the brighter the tone you want to apply the more weird the effect is. Donīt get me wrong, the overall visual rithm is mantained, but the individual models end up as something akin to a carnival. Same goes to another combinations, as you can see wood and leather on the shields painted as clothing, armour painted as soft textiles, semi rigid leather painted like another kind of clothing, and so on. I am pretty aware that there are historical examples of fanciful colouring about there, but I always made the same caveats, as hard evidence tends to be elusive.

Thus, what is it up to me? Well, I really choose the colours in relation to the material the object is made. This is why all the metal is painted the same, being it bronze or steel, or the hard leather, to say a few. With the years surprisingly I have reduced my choices only to clothing, which is not allways so visible under the equipment, and shield patterns, although in this category I reamin a bit silly. Even with these items, the duller the better, for me, with really not very bright colours in any model. In practice it translates as a constant pattern in painting, which depends on the materials:

Soft leather-Reddish brown (webbing, pouches, shoes) or Ochre yellow (Buff, bandoliers).
Hard leather-Dark brown (armour, boots, heavy gloves).
Wood-Cork brown (shafts, shields, missiles).
Heavy wool-Dark grey (cloacks, mittens, robes).
Weapons-Steel (metallic bits, weapons heads).
Armour-Steel or Bronze (Steel for heavy armour, bronze for lighter pieces).

Having said that, the only real choices left are tunics and pants in the majority of minis. And even in these areas, the palette is reduced by not using any of the colour listed above, nor using any industrial based tone. Modern colours which were rare in ancient times tend to set me apart, as well as cold tones (blues, greens). And thats all, no worries about choice of colour, save the shields and nothing more.

So... What could this be helpful for you?

In two words, realistic blending. Although I must admit that I miss more time that I hit the target,the goal is always the same: how to blend a disparate number of minis from many different manufacturers and styles (and heavily converted in most cases) into something visually coherent. And being disciplined in colouring the minis, in addition to reasonable conversions (trimming off oversized bits), helps a lot. The result is what now you are watching. It is helpful for me, I am happy with it, and I have found that I am not the only one who finds this approach interesting.

Please, forgive my overextended rambling, but I hope it would be of reference for the community.

Next time I swear I will post pics of the minis, not only text.

 lol


Offline Moshes

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 35
Re: Moshes Fantasy Stuff
« Reply #33 on: November 26, 2016, 08:52:53 AM »
Greetings, gentlemen!

After being busy in the right sense, I bring you some of my latest minis that I have been working on. Also I have added a sample of what I like to do with the dwarves to "enhance" their mobility.

Enjoy.


Offline Reed

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 691
  • Once bought, must be painted.
Re: Moshes Fantasy Stuff
« Reply #34 on: November 26, 2016, 09:22:57 AM »
Very clever conversion. I'm tired of seeing dwarves always portrayed as stumpy beer-bellied knee-less dudes.

 

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