[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest- project finished

I'm quite busy in this period, unfortunatly not for painting but for professional reason.

But I've found the time to finish Valeros for the GGS painting contest. I'm quite happy with the final result, less about the quality of the picture. In fact it has been the most difficult part of the project because I have not good equipment to do picture. I've spent 3 days just to shoot my mini and find the better position as possible.
I've tried different lightning sources, even the natural light. But at the end I've decided to take the pictures made with a light box I've improvised at the last moment.
Hope you'll enjoy my work on Valeros.
You can see larger pics on my gallery on coolmini:

[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest- Painting Valeros.

I was in holidays at home during the last weeks. I've catched the moment to work on Valeros for the GGS Contest. I have to say that the paintjob has been exhausting. The mini is full of details with several stripes of clothing and all sort of equipments.

 But finally I've quite finished the overall painting. Now I'm going to switch on the last details, probably repaint the sword (i'm not happy at all with the NMM of the blade), work on the atmosphere and the general colors hue between the figure and the base.

[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest- Painting Valeros (flesh)

I've started with the face because it will be the focus of the scene, I wanted to be sure to do the best as possible since the beginning of the process before painting anything else.
Some consideration:
_ The face is very expressive, it means that the sculpture is full of details and wrinkled. It means also that I had to think about how the colors change with the expression. Usually, when you're angry or  under pression, your face is more reddish due the blood flow.  So I've played a lot with glazes to create saturation and contrast not only between lights and shades but also between reddish area versus the rest of the face.
My palette was full of colors, red, yellow, blue, violet trying to create different hue following the area. Warmer around the eyes, nose and cheek, cooler on the down part.

_ As described in my previous article about the base building, I didn't choose the usual zenithal lightning for Valeros. The reason is that the background of the scene is a dungeon. There is no reason the lighting come from above in an closed environment, instead I've choosen a frontal lighting because we presume that the light source comes from the foes facing Valeros.
Yes I know it seems complicated but actually with you watch the draft of the base and how are placed the shadows, the direction of the lights is clearer.

Coming back to the miniature painting, I had to follow the same process and adapt the lightning of the face to the general light source direction. That's why the face seems maybe a little bit brighter than it should because it's fully exposed to the frontal light source.

I have the feeling that this lightning choice will make me crazy with the armour paintjob....

[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest- base painting

I've learned a lot about painting thanks to the articles and videos our comunity shares on Internet.
There is a lot of talented artists but I like especially the guys from Massive Voodoo for the way they live, see and explain the colors.
I've learned that sometimes It's good to do a mess with paints, don't be afraid to play with the colors, experiment and focus more on the atmosphere than on the details.
In the article below, Roman explains how he's painted his dungeon display using the base like a palette, playing directly with brush and colors on the wall and ground. I recommand to watch the video.
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.it/2011/06/creating-dungeon-display-base-part-2.html
I've used the same technique for my base and I have to say I had a lot of fun. Basically I've focused only the choice of colors and where to place them. The darker on the front and the lighter on top of the wall.
On the picture below, we can see the result of the first draft. I've rougly placed the colors and after 10 minutes of wet blending with my big brush, the global overview is quite finished. My palette was composed mainly with ocre, orange brown, warm grey, beige and black.
As you notice, I've also painted the first shadows. In front the foe's shades and on the wall Valeros' shade.  
 



After this first draft, I work with a smaller brush and increase the contrast of the different elements. More black on the shades, more saturated colors on the wall and the wood, higlights on the edges. I have also added some washes (secret weapon) of black green, stones, sepia and dark amor.

I put the mini again on the base to check the general atmosphere and the placement of the shades.
I've noticed that the scene was a little bit empty. The shadows of the foes were not very defined and didn't give the idea of the their presence. So I've added some weapons, arrows and dards. Probably I will come back on this details later to make them more realistics.

Enough of base painting for now. I will finish the details at the end of the project. I' going to start the miniature paintjob to be sure that Valeros matches well with the display.  

[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest- WIP on base 2

Yesterday, I've proceed with the base for Valeros.
First, I've added some elements to fill the space and make the environment more interesting.
The small flocking between the slabs has been fixed with a mix of PVA glue and water. Actually, I haven't pigment to create the dust so I use this kind of flocking instead.
In this phase I've also placed the mini to have a clear overview.
As Valeros is tintled toward the right of viewer, I've placed a piece of wood on the opposite direction to create a triangle. It's a tip I've learned from the diorama makers, the triangle lead the viewer toward the focus point of the scene which is Valeros'face.


Now, my idea for the scene was to use the front of the base to place the shadows of the foes. Because I want to create the idea of the ambush but I cannot place other minis due to the rules of the contest.

So I've made an experiment: as I always use pre-shading techniques for the priming of my bases, I though It could be a good idea to integrate directly this shadows during this step.
I've created a mask representing the foes and place it in front of Valeros.



Then I proceed with the priming of the base following the pre shading techniques:

_ first step, I spray the base in black without the miniature and without the mask to be sure that all the areas are fully primed.
_ second step, I place the miniature and the mask and now use the white colorspray to place the lights. I spray the white only in one direction directly in front of the base. My intent is to place naturally the shadows thanks to the mask and the mini which should let the area behind in black. 
Here the result.

It doesn't work. Actually I have a zone of shades in the front of the base and also on the wall behind Valeros but I didn't succeed to create a clear definition of the shadows.  I think it's due to the distance I spray the white, too far away from the mask to create the effect. I suppose It's the kind of job I should do at short distance with an airbrush.

Ok, it was an experiment, not a big deal because anyway I'm happy with the general lightning of the scene.  I will define the shadows with my brush during the painting process.
Ok, I think I've done with the building of the base. Now it's time to play with the colors.

[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest- concept and WIP on base

I've decided to let my survivors appart and focus on the painting of my warrior for the GGS contest also because the deadline is in september and there is a lot of work to do.
The mini is full of details and will be quite complicated to paint and I have also an idea for the base which will require also some working hours to be finished.


Let's talk about the project.
The miniature of B.Jackson is more than dynamic, actually it's dramatic. This is the feature I prefer and the reason of my choice for this contest. The subject is "present a hero in a  mediavel fantasy environment".  Valeros really seems to fight for his life (or maybe for someone else), not only the position but also the expression intend the idea of a desperate battle.
Originally I bough the mini with the idea to do a diorama with some foes but I cannot take this idea for this contest because I must present a stand alone figure on a smal base (max 10 cm2).



  So I've decided to take the idea of a last ressort battle but without other minis creating the idea of the foes ambushing Valeros throw the atmosphere of the base.
I've choosen a dungeon for the environment (yep, ultra classic choice...but, hey, it's still Pathfinder), slab ground, a wall of brick behind Valleros to increase the sense of the ambush and some features like old abandoned weapons.... and an other detail but I don't want to spoil anything. Let's say it's going to be experimental (at least for me).

I will build and paint the base before the miniature because I want to be sure that everything match with the idea. The other painters of the contest are far away better than me technically speaking so I have to bet on the base to do the difference.

The fundation is mainly made with cork. It's a material easy to use and perfect to simulate the stones.
I use putty filler to create the texture. The slabs on the ground are made with eggs shell covered with the putty. The wood parts are balsa.

[Reaper Pathfinder] GGS painting contest

Gangeek Style (a very cool french site about Miniature and Video Game) is organizing a painting contest to win some Warhammer Quest Silver Tower.
Subject: paint an hero or an anti hero in a Fantasy universe.
The miniature must be in 30 mn maximum scale.
http://gangeekstyle.com/2016/05/ggs-painting-1-2/


It sounds good.
First because the winner price is great, second because it's a good motivation to paint some gaming miniature in showcase quality.
Actually, it's the first time I think to partecipate to a painting contest. I don't even know if I will be able to finish the figure in time (deadline for September the 15th) also because I have first to finish some Hasselfree miniatures for my zombicide sessions.
But let's try, a little bit of challenge is good sometimes.


I've decided to present a classic hero: Valeros, the fighter of Pathfinder adventures.
The sculpture of B. Jackson is very dynamic and accurate to the original artwork of Wayne Reynolds (I love his fantasy comics style).
I have already some ideas to propose an heroic situation...even it would be complicated due to the fact that the contest rules are clear: it's a stand alone miniature. Interesting.