What better for a first picture than a picture of my FIRST painted mini?
Here it is, the spider rider champion from the Warhammer Battle For Skull Pass Starter Set.
Done laughing yet?
In my defense, I painted this way back in middle school, when I didn't have a single artistic bone in my body.
Here is how bad I painted the miniature...
This miniature was simply painted in basecoats, no highlights, no washes, no undercoat, no anything. Funnily enough though, the brown feather on his head appears to be washed or highlighted. It has different colours in it certainly! nope, that was simply due to paint running into the recesses from a lack of undercoat. The light grey shows through on the raised surfaces JUST enough to make it appear almost yellow.
Oh, I lied, I guess I did technically wash the figure. I bought black ink from games workshop, thinking it was just a standard black paint. Boy was I wrong. The paint was runny and I didn't know why. Thought it was just a bad batch of paint so I painted anyways. several layers later, I achieved a near complete coverage on the carapace of the spider. Only later did I learn it was supposed to thin and was for a technique called 'washing'.
I keep this figure near my painting desk at all times and often look at it when I feel stuck and don't see any improvement in my painting. It provides great inspiration for me and makes me realize I have grown a lot as a painter.
If you asked me what my favourite paint job was for any figure I have painted. Part of me would want to say this one. Part of my loves the childish paintjob and all the beginners mistakes that came with it. The other part of me would be realistic and say one of my more recent ones (which I will show you all soon)
There you have it, if any of you have a more pathetic/embarrassing story about how they got into the hobby, please, do share! Now you guys really don't have an excuse for leaving the hobby thinking you are not good enough.
So the title of this post is 'How Far I Have Come' so many of you are probably wondering what the answer to that is. well here is the answer. dozens of minis later with very inconsistent painting habbit (Have stopped several times for nearly a year) I present to you... Penda from Mierce Miniatures!!
There is actually an error in the title on this link, should be 2013 painting comp.
And, if you don't mind me bragging, I think I can claim the title of painting the first fan painted Penda. The only one painted before me was a freelance painter hired to paint the studio model.
I know it is still not the best standard out there, but I don't think I have ever held so much pride for something I have completed before then I felt when I finished this figure. It is definitely better then my first miniature and uses multiple techniques: washes, highlights, blending, layering, even a VERY subtle directional light source (from his front left) I don't even think I notice it anymore though.
Already, I am improving past that though. Should see the improvements I have made already on the new miniature I am painting. but that is for another time ;)
It's always nice to see where you started, isn't it? Gives you a good perspective on how far you've come. I love the work you've done on that Mierce mini. It's an extra treat to be the first, or at least one of the first published, examples of a new mini.
ReplyDeleteHey Matthew,
DeleteYes, it is nice. Often times - not so much anymore - I find myself wondering if I really have gotten better, all it takes is one quick glance at the spider rider to quickly realize I have!
As for the mierce mini. Mierce hinted that I was the first person they shipped penda to; 2.5 months before the other kickstarter backers. and it is still unavailable on the store I believe. So I made a point of painting it before anyone else did :P
email me at bradster7224(at)gmail(dot)com I may be able to get you a mierce mini if you want one :)
Yeah, they are not that different ... just kidding of course. Great job on Penda.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest mistake when I started out was not cleaning the mold lines. I did not see them while gluing the minis and then I started painting and almost immediately started swearing.
It may be my eyes only but those pictures seem to be a bit dark and slightly out of focus.
Bring on Eirik Longaxe!
Thanks Peter... I think?
DeleteI had much the same problem when I started. Ignored every single mold line for the longest time. Lucky for me most of the GW stuff I painted at first were a) not to bad for mold lines and b)not expensive (just starter boxes mostly)
As for the pictures. The spider rider ones are definitely dark and out of focus a bit. That's probably because it was midnight here and I had poor lighting, just threw some paper behind him to hide the mess :P was not meant to be professional at all. Do you find the Penda ones dark and unfocussed too?
I will hopefully have a WIP of Eric up by the end of the weekend.
Yes to be honest, Penda seems a bit dark, and pictures are focused on something else than my eye would naturally focus on. It's got to do with depth of field and focal distance and other stuff I don't know much about.
DeleteI can see what you mean, I honestly didn't think they were all that bad. Like I said, I have poor lighting in my house and had to really improvise for Penda, I will need to look into buying some better light bulbs or something.
DeleteI don't think it was anything to do with camera settings.. I am a decent photographer and that was the best I was able to get without cranking the shutter speed up but that would be even worse for focussing. I will look into more with Eric though.
Thanks.
I don't know, they both look pretty good to me :)
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks John. You should put some more work up! haven't seen anything from you in a long time.
DeleteI believe the last was blunt-claw?
Ive seen far worst first figures, mine were from the original heroquest game and they were far far worse.
ReplyDeleteI think there are points in our painting lives where we make big leaps normally when we find a great figure and spend more than our usual time on it. I've found I paint less figures now but at a much higher standard.
I will admit there are not much painters near here for me to compare my first model with. And while I am sure there are worse out there, it still shows how little lack of knowledge I had (painting with a wash) coming into the hobby.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have found my skill would jump and then level off for a while until I am comfortable with what I know. At which point I tend to leap forward as I try a new technique or something. I still make time to try speed painting, in fact I am working my way through my 15mm battlelore set. I try to increase my skill level and then work on bringing my speed up, then work on skill again etc.