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Painting styles ?

All aspects of Historical and Fantasy Miniatures are under discussion: including creating diorama's and vignettes.

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Ellis Kendrick
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Painting styles ?

#1 Post by Ellis Kendrick »

I've been painting 1/6 figures for quite some time but lately some of the smaller scale (1/24 and smaller) figures have become an interest to me. I have noticed that often they are painted not 100% realistically, but seem to have more artificial contrasts and lighting actually painted right into the figure itself. Is that style of painting more "correct" for the smaller figure scales? Would it being done or not done influence judging in any contests?
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Re: Painting styles ?

#2 Post by android »

The smaller the figure, the more shadow and highlight you have to add to make it look natural.

That said, some miniatures are overdone in my opinion, especially gaming pieces.

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Re: Painting styles ?

#3 Post by kevtk135 »

That style seems to be the "norm."
I was watching a vid on YT by "Tabletop Minions" and he sort of off-handly mentioned that minis are painted that way they are so the details of the mini can be see from 4-6ft. away - as you're standing above and it's sitting on a gaming table.

Sounds good to me.

I paint as if I'm going to hold it at arms length or less. If you hand me a mini to look at, I'm not going to put it down and take a step or two back... I'm holding so I can see it. I don't play (just like the figures) so I'm sure my stuff would look dull and drab on a game table. Just my 2¢.
Anyway, that's my take on the high contrast and lighting.
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Re: Painting styles ?

#4 Post by Ellis Kendrick »

So, gaming style painting aside, there is no set "miniature style" unless one or the other would be a viewer's or judge's preferred style ? Understand I'm not talking about the "super minis" used in tabletop gaming but say around 1:24 scale.

Thanks to both of you for the input !
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Re: Painting styles ?

#5 Post by pzcreations »

I think your more referring to how the historical size miniatures and related fantasy figures are done, I see it alot at the figure shows . I agree ,some of it is over done. myself ,I dont make my shadowing and highlights as bold as most, but its really just a personal taste. try it out and see how you like it.. some look really great with super high contrast . its especially helpful when painting figures that are suppose to be holding a lamp or have a close source of light . is this bold painting a requirement ,or the norm ? not really, and its not a criteria in judging either, only the technique used is judge, ie..if its sloppy or not blended well .
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Re: Painting styles ?

#6 Post by kevtk135 »

pzcreations wrote:I think your more referring to how the historical size miniatures and related fantasy figures are done, I see it alot at the figure shows . I agree ,some of it is over done. myself ,I dont make my shadowing and highlights as bold as most, but its really just a personal taste. try it out and see how you like it.. some look really great with super high contrast . its especially helpful when painting figures that are suppose to be holding a lamp or have a close source of light . is this bold painting a requirement ,or the norm ? not really, and its not a criteria in judging either, only the technique used is judge, ie..if its sloppy or not blended well .
Agreed. Sometimes you see 4 or 5 highlights on a figure to where the top one is almost white. That's just not me. Tho I suppose it might fit in better with a fantasy figure, droid or the like vs. a historical figure.

There was this French guy "Romain" who used to (maybe he still does behind the paywall) paint for Beasts of War. He would do the 3 tone primer setup - black from underneath, gray spraying down at a 45° angle and white, directly down. But somehow he got the white spray (can) to spit tiny dots to give what comes next a little texture. He would then make his paints almost glazes so the light, texture and shadow primer still could be seen thru the paint. I kinda liked that approach. BoW used to have a bunch of his vids on YT. Wish they would do that again. He was entertaining to watch.

Now, I like watching "Ian E's" videos. He sorta takes the same attitude toward color, tho his layers are a little heavier than a transparent glaze. Anyway, FWIW that's where I am...
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Re: Painting styles ?

#7 Post by timetraveler »

One thing I noticed (and I'm not sure why this is) is that the figures like you see posted on Coolmini and similar sights photograph really well. Is it mostly the painting style/technique or the the photography that makes them seem so rich and vivid?

As far as achievement in painting historical figures, I am very impressed with Olga Zernina. :bow:

I am used to mostly 1/8 to 1/6 scale figures. The detail on those 54mm-90mm figures is phenomenal and is proving to be a real challenge in painting!

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#8 Post by sivousplay »

Just like w/ garage kits, there are many styles. I haven't painted minis in a while, but that's how I got started in this hobby and just slowly gravitated towards bigger pieces because I like how they look on the shelves!! :)

I played a lot of D&D and when I was the DM, I would create a bunch of minis to represent the "important" characters in the world. I like high fantasy, but I also like my heroes to look like they've been through a fight or two. So, less clean, and a little more gritty. Here are some of mine if they help. All but the final one are roughly 32mm ... the last demon is more like 54mm. I chose a few with some source lighting so that you can see how I chose to do it.

I think one of the best ways to make a miniature stand out is to create an atmospheric base for it. At the smaller scale, it's not the huge undertaking it is for a 1/6 scale piece. So, you can really be creative.

If you have any questions about what I did, I'm always happy to share tips.
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Re: Painting styles ?

#9 Post by kevtk135 »

VERY nice collection of minis, Jim. =D> =D>
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Re: Painting styles ?

#10 Post by timetraveler »

Thanks for that most impressive and inspiring gallery of minis. Beautiful display of color utilized. Were the bases custom made for each figure?

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Re: Painting styles ?

#11 Post by sivousplay »

timetraveler wrote:Thanks for that most impressive and inspiring gallery of minis. Beautiful display of color utilized. Were the bases custom made for each figure?
Thanks for the super-kind words. And, yes every base was custom made.

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Re: Painting styles ?

#12 Post by sippog »

The last time I went to a modelling contest - Euro Militaire, admittedly not garage kit orientated - I thought the figures would probably look better in photographs than 'in the flesh'. I don’t actually like the very precise, almost cartoon-like, way that many prize-winning figures are painted, often using over-saturated colours. The other extreme is equally bad too: muddy tones, chalky colours, but I do prefer the middle ground realism that you really only get when you go above 54mm in scale.

Once upon a time there was a clearer divide between a low-contrast ‘military’ and a high-contrast ‘fantasy’ style; exemplified by the so called ‘Golden Demon’ standard. Now it seems that high-contrast is gaining ground, possibly because acrylics have become the more popular medium to paint with. But acrylics don’t have to be laid on in such a jewel-like, perfect way; the techniques of painting with them have advanced a lot since the 80’s.

I suspect another reason is that the European painting teachers, the one's who hold masterclasses and probably the only ones who come our way in the UK, favour a high contrast style. I went to a class held by Alfonzo Giraldes - very good, very useful - but his message is all about ramping up contrast and saturation.

But maybe the bottom line is I'm personally not a neat enough painter to paint in that style. My ancient eyes and palsied fingers aint up to it! :lol:

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Re: Painting styles ?

#13 Post by Warped Speed »

I see a lot of miniatures, especially 1/35, painted in a style that's been around for years that look like dead clowns. Actually I don't mean that humorously, they do remind me what a clown would look like at a wake! The highlights are just WAY too obvious. Another thing that gets me is the way some paint the lines either side of the mouth (laugh lines?) as an overly dark line in the name of shadows. To me with the dark, dark laugh lines and very light highlights is where my comments come as "dead clowns". Not sure if this makes sense of not, if it not...then never mind. :(

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#14 Post by kevtk135 »

Taking points from Sippog and Carl, I've also seen that a lot. If you watch some miniature painters - I think YouTube is a gold mine for both good and bad painters willing to share - but I've seen too many times that the smaller the figure is, the more highlighting you need to give it. Not to say 3 of 4 layers of highlighting, but bigger jumps between shades. There's a woman out there that does 28mm military minis. O think she's very good but almost every time her top highlight color is either a warm or cool white. If the figure is dressed in green, how do you get to white w/o having gone too far...? Once I noticed this I had to unsubscribe from her YT channel. It got annoying to watch.

with the styles it's also easily seen in the paints, if you buy a Vallejo model color red you have red, but buy the Vallejo Game color red and it's so bright that it's like a punch in the nose. Sadly I think too many ppl mix highlighting with saturation.
every once in a while I fall for it with my smaller minis, but usually try to keep myself under control.
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