Finally returned to painting

[Doomhippie]

After long months of absence from my painting cave I started a few days ago to once again get busy there (no small thanks to all these wonderfuls pics I've been seeing here).

So this is what I finished.



This is the first such animal I've tried. So feel free to give me some hints, as I am not completely satisfied with the result.



These two gentlemen will hopefully see some action soon. I know the time for tropical adventures lies a little bit in the past by now (what with the Atomic Cafe lurking) but nevermind that.



Again, my first attempt at a croc. Any advice would be nice. Then again any "Great job, man" will certainly keep me painting... 

[Operator5]

These two gentlemen will hopefully see some action soon. I know the time for tropical adventures lies a little bit in the past by now (what with the Atomic Cafe lurking) but nevermind that.

Not in the past at all. I am hard at work on many things "Atomic Cafe" but most of my energy is being spent on Darkest Africa right now. In fact, there is another game planned for tomorrow night using our In the Heart of Africa rules.

As to the painting. Your croc is my favorite. I love the green effects you got on him.

As for the leopard, he seems a little flat, like there needs to be some highlighting. Same holds true for the natives. I see the base coat and black shadow on the skin, but no highlight.

[warrenpeace]

That crocadile looks absolutely superb.  Your bases are excellent.  The cloth looks terrific.  I'm more comfortable with black people without highlights than Operator 5 is, especially when there is enough glossiness to the finish to reflect light, creating a different kind of highlight.  The leopard looks good too, but should probably be hit with some dull coat.

Keep it up, Doomhippie.  Your painting juju is strong.

[former user]

Your minmis are great
especially like the jaguar
You might want to try to blend the belly into the coat colour - I usually do this by dabbing, to simulate hair
like here http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac61/former user_the_anarchist/Allesshya/P1020210copy.jpg
don't have a pic of my tigers at hand, but they are done similar

[Galman]

The croc is great, a perfect keeper.  I will agree with Op, the jag is needing something to make it stand out alittle, but very well done, alot better than I can do for sure.

The natives have a great start, just alittle more highlights.  I usually start with a Darker Flesh, followed by a brown wash, then dark Flesh/brown on the high rises, then brown/bone color again on the rises and usually works well.  Of course there are a thousand ways to skin a cat 

[bc99]

Personally I think they're great. I think maybe the pictures aren't doing the minis justice.

The Jaguar looks fine, and so do the African guides. I especially like their clothes, good shading well done.

[d phipps]

Very nice!    I can't give any hints as I think you've done much better than I would have.  

[Doomsdave]

"Great job man!"

[AndyRix]

That Croc is very nice indeed, lovly work

[Doomhippie]

Thanks guys.

On the croc photo is this casting line, which I honestly have not noticed while painting the beast... tsts, my eyes aren't what they used to be.
I admit my photos are not best quality, that's why miniatures tend to look differently from the peinted mini. The skin of the two bearers looks a lot darker here. However, I might have added a highlight or two more to them. I'll try it out on the models I recieved today: Indians of South America. I'll see how they look with more highlights.

[Hitman]

Hey Doomhippie...great work. Now I need your advice. What steps using what colours did you use for the crocodile...It is fantastic. I have a whole army of Crocodiles to paint from Crocodile games, but I have hesitated painting them until I could figure out how to paint them using which colours. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance, and thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Hitman
 

[silvana]

Great job - I especially like the crocodile.

[Doomhippie]

Hey Doomhippie...great work. Now I need your advice. What steps using what colours did you use for the crocodile...It is fantastic. I have a whole army of Crocodiles to paint from Crocodile games, but I have hesitated painting them until I could figure out how to paint them using which colours. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance, and thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Hitman
 

Man, if I only knew...
Okay, I used dark brown as a base color Vallejo SS-Camo Brown). Then I inked the beast with brown ink.


Next is a drybrush of Goblin green mixed with Snakebite leather. In between I did another brown wash followed by yet more drybrushing with pure Goblin Green.


 I mixed a little yellow into to the Goblin Green to drybrush the highlights.

Finally I paonted the bony ridges on the back once again in dark brown and used a mixture of pale sand and dark brown for the highlights.

My basic assumption is  that crocs are a lot more brownish than we realize. I tried to get a green-brownish overall effect on the kritter.

[Hitman]

Thanks a lot for the help. The critter looks awesome. I agree that crcos look more brown than green. Looks like GW is going to get some more of my money for some paints.

Thanks again for the tutorial!!  Keep on painting...they all look great.
Regards,
Hitman
 

[Calimero]

Great job indeed. I like them all!