Blood Raven Captain

[Vent]

*phew* Done... That backpack nearly did me in... I was so unsure what to do color-wise that getting my head around it to actually paint it was something of an accomplishment unto itself... I'm sure everyone has days like that... And I'm sure the two coffee's and a red bull didn't help my painting out today... But at least I painted it mwahahaha… I have taken ten photos from all angles, but only five are posted (Really? duh...). If you want to see all ten my flicker photostream is located here.

Wow! I also just realized that I have now been doing this hobby for two whole years!! WooHoo! Go me! ^_^

Done today:

Backpack: The backpack comes from the Death Company box. I filed away some of the markings, but felt the tear-drop gem was ok left, especially since I was going to paint it green... (And with the amount of caffeine in my system painting it was a feat...) The colors are all found on other parts of him. Nothing knew used here. “Faith” seemed to be a Blood Raven word. I was tempted to try “Knowledge”, but that space was pretty small… The ‘H’ looks a little funny… I might redo it… But I doubt it…

Base: Base was quite simple when I found what colors Roleplayer uses. Basecoated, then layers of drybrushing. The cork gives lots of good little ridges to for the brush to catch, so it has that good stone effect.

Colors:
Stone:
Battle Grey Foundation as base
Black wash
Battle Grey for first drybrush
Codex grey for second drybrush
fortress gray for third drybrush
White for final.

Earth:
Calthan brown for base
Devlan mud wash
Calthan Brown for first Drybrush
Snakebite Leather for Second Drybrush
Bleached bone for Third Drybrush
Each drybrush should be lighter, building on the colors that come before it.

Freehand? What’s that you ask? Where’s the freehand? Truth be told, my freehand skills are abysmal, and I’m rather happy with this guy. If I can think of a pattern which might be easily done I may attempt it… Especially on the cream part of his cloak on his bottom right, that space looks little flat… I was thinking maybe some small purple swirl thing… But that’s something to ponder in the next few days…

As always I would love to hear some feedback and constructive criticism. What you do like, what you think I need to work on… It all helps me when I start something new, so please help me improve. Oh, and if you like / don’t like the constant updates where I go into detail of how I do things please tell me. I’m trying to decide if I should keep doing them ^_^

[juiced]

love your work vent its always a pleasure to see your mins even if they are not yours

ok i'm going for constructive criticism.
the gold and the bone look very much the same its like the bone is not white enough or the gold not metal enough, it could be the fact that they both are washed the same. that they blend into one another.
or it could be the lighting in the photo.
but i also think it could be the cape. the inside being the same bone as the helmet, shoulder pads, shield,knee pads .
its a bit to much of the same colour scheme. Where the red should be the main colour it gets lost in all the bone.
white draws the focus of the eye.
if it was me i would have carried the purple over to the inside of the cape, and maybe darkened the inner ribbing of the storm shield.
but your eyes and jewel work is really good and i love the deep rich red you achieved on the armour.
i would love to see you tackle a bigger project.like a dragon

your a fantastic painter and your attention to detail is wicked,and i do enjoy the written blog style techniques.
it makes me think how i'm tackling my colour and new things i would like to try.
 again cheers for your work and efforts in posting your minis up.

[Josh]

Very nicely painted. You clearly know how to hold a brush. The paint scheme is very rich and the red perfectly compliments the gold/white. Here's what I'd look at doing to improve the already very nice model.

1) The face of the model should be the focus point, where the eyes are drawn to when looking at the model. If the head/face is done well, one will often overlook other 'flaws'. With this in mind I would look to add another layer or two of highlights helmet areas of the eye brows, cheek bones and possibly the air vent thing on the top. This would also help emphasis the eyes more.
2) The base looks like it's waiting for something else to go on it like a plant, or CSM head or empty shell casings or something. The rock just looks like it's framing an area for something important.
3) The colour of the axe doesn't look finished. It doesn't have the same depth as the rest of the model. I'd add more shadow, but you might get away with just adding some highlights.
4) I like the purple cape, but think you could have made a better choice on colour instead of Skull White to be used as the highlighting colour. I would have added the bone colour used on the rest of the model to the purple which would have increased the richness of the purple rather than making it look faded.

There's a couple of thoughts for you. All in all, it's always nice to see someone post a well painted miniature. I've always meant to get back to dong some single mini painting and am jealous you find the time. One day...

Thanks for posting 

[Vent]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate you taking the time.

I'm going to have to do something more with the base, and a few other people have mentioned that the cream needs more highlighting, so I'll have to get on that as well.

Thanks again guys ^_^

[Lazarus]

From me

I say its spot on leave it be, any more of anything will kill it. I cant really see a fault, maybe a really flash base would look better but the one you have still looks better than just sand.

[NeckFace]

if you wanted to bring more clarity between the bone and gold all it needs is a fine highlight of white on the bone parts.  but i kinda like that they only subtly distinguishabl e.  i usually am a sucker for clearly defined colours on a model, but there's something to be said for subtlty.

but the axe does irk me, its just a little too flat.  it is one of the hardest things i find myself to get right though.  i think i remember you saying you applied some vedigris (sp?) to it, but it doesn't seem to work on a flat grey base.

[juiced]

i have been stunned by the whole non metal metal painting its something to think about vent you prob have the skills to try it out, i'm to nervous to try it just yet but it would look great on the axe.
if ya don't know what i'm talking about check this http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=13300001

[Solarian]

That marneous is amazing.

[Sectiplave]

i have been stunned by the whole non metal metal painting its something to think about vent you prob have the skills to try it out, i'm to nervous to try it just yet but it would look great on the axe.
if ya don't know what i'm talking about check this http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=13300001

Those look the business, I can only imagine it is amazingly hard and time consuming, but it's really worth the effort.

[NeckFace]

looks doable though, just an understanding of blending and a small brush.  you grade an area from light to dark and then outline it with the lighter shade for each segment.  learning to adjust the direction of the grade for reflections would be the hard part, but using those images as a reference point should help

[Vent]

I might give it a go on one of my Sanguinary Guard.

[juiced]

i think the key is chossing from what diection the light is coming from and stick with it plus a magnifing glass would help.....stead y hand,patince of an oak tree..... blah blah blah