NMM week 2.3

Right. I'm putting down the first sister of silence! Amazingly fun models to paint, but I've made some mistakes that would simply be too hard to come back from. Using an old can of Testors to undercoat to start with! I may as well have used a trowel. Just destroyed a lot of details and edges that would have been useful to paint with. Seems a shame to chuck this model, but I'll stick it in some cleaning fluid over night and see what I'm left with and if it's salvageable.
But this is how it ended up.

Not too bad for my first concerted effort on a character.
Happy painting all! Next up is a full Custode in shining gold.

Henry

NMM week 2

My love of learning NMM and struggle with NMM-Gold continues in week 2!

After picking up the burning of prospero kit at the weekend, I immediately assembled a sister of silence and started painting. 

I have loved the thought of the sisters of silence since John Blanche illustrated them ages ago. And now they fall into my lap just as I'm learning a technique that will compliment them perfectly?! The fates have been kind. 

Happy painting!

Henry

Riddle of steel!

NMM (non-metallic metal) has always been a pain in the arse. Gold would look like wood, silver would look like blue wood. And if I spent too long on it, it would end up just looking white. Horribly frustrating and difficult. So to get back into the swing of blogging and painting again I am determined to get good at this technique.

Day 5: Steel, Gold and Silver.

This subject has hundreds of tutorials all over the internet, you can find reference for every type of metal and material on google, and facebook has pages dedicated to teaching it to you. So I don't think my views on it will help So here's a couple of things that I've found out from the first week of doing this. (I've not set myself a time limit for it, I'll just keep going until I can do it in my sleep)

1. Don't worry if it doesn't look like metal. Until the final highlight is down and dry it won't look like metal. Even when it's finished it won't take some pictures and pick it back up. Your tricking the eye into seeing something that isn't there. These are shades of grey and blue no reflection is happening. So stick to the reference and then come back to it. 

2. Don't paint with anything other than a matte medium. This might be a personal preference but using a flat matte medium to mix my paints stops your eye being drawn to anything other than the reflections I am painting with. 

3. Dont be precious about perfect lines. Razor sharp lines in reflected light may seem to be a good idea to aim for but I've had much more success with something  more abstract. implying the armour or metal isn't a perfectly flat surface, but more of a hammered used material. 

4. Don't practice on a full character. Grab some unused weapons or chunks of armour, spray 20 of them black and stick them on corks. The idea of painting a full character in this manner is daunting, and when you first set out you'll be improving so fast that by the time you finish it you'll want to start again. 

Here are a few WIP pics and tests from the first 4 days.

It's a blast to be back! And for any who are interested I am still working hard at ILM. 

Happy painting! 

Henry

Blood Bowl: chaos dwarfs

I'm not posting any of my 30k stuff anymore due to its possible implications of being inspired by my current work. So now for something completely different! 

I'm painting a lot of white scars on the regular, but everyone needs a break from their big projects. So here is the blood soaked black iron of the Hal'Tzan Gore Hoofs! 

And the bull centaur Qqi'Valtan The Taken. 

I'm converting the whole team from the Forgeworld chaos dwarfs and making hobgoblins from something else from GW. Not sure what yet. 

Happy painting!

Henry. 

An aside

I don't talk about my life outside of this hobby that much, some of my regular readers might know that I am a visual effects artist. I've been an industry professional for about 8 years now and worked on some big films. Gravity, Harry Potter, Guardians of the Galaxy. And as such I am usually quite relaxed about starting at a new company. No matter what you do. As with any job you get tired and run down by the hours, or the pay, or the work. 

But recently I accepted a position as a senior artist at Industrial Light & Magic. And while I can imagine many of my peers in the visual effects industry rolling their eyes at this grandiose delectation saying "it's just another company" or "just another job". But this means a lot more to me. 

ILM is not only a fore runner for visual effects but it's practical effects and miniatures department is second to none. 

And that's the crux. From every Star Wars film to Laberinth it's been an important part of my childhood, and it's pretty special for me to land this job. A company that respects the hobby that I love and the skills that I've spent my life learning. 

Needless to say I won't be talking about what titles I've been working on, but this will explane my absence on this blog for a while. Thank you for reading and enjoying my blog. And as usual. Happy painting. 

Have a drink on me. I'm living the dream ;) 

White Scars character finished.

Finished!

White scars freehand.

I think it's finished. But will probably tweak it a little as the project progresses.

I've got books and all sorts out to help me get a good feel for the horse tribes, and Mongols, and Japanese, and Chinese, and all sorts of influences that I wanted to get across. 

First step is outlining what you want to do with nuln oil or other thin black paint. That way you can sketch with paint rather than lay down thick lines. 

 

The gold is a very simple process. Do a line of brown, then a line of yellow over it where there is a bulge in the cloth, and finally a smaller line of a mix of yellow and white. And a final point of white. 

 

White Scars character wip 02

Im about there with my White Scars character now! Going to re-do the spear head and loin cloth. But really happy with the super sharp highlighted pipes. I've always thought of them like the horse tribes of the plains. They may look shabby and battered, but everything that is used is perfectly maintained. Not sure about the flaming skulls yet. But they are growing on me. 

And started the freehand for his bikes banner. Based off a Kuniyoshi illustration. Blocking in with inks.

Happy painting all!

Henry 

White Scars character WIP

After the heresy weekender I was all about starting my White Scars. And I wanted an independent character to kick start the project so I tore apart loads of kits, and shuffled them around with green stuff and it came out. 

And here's a couple of early WIPs. 

And on his removable base! It doesn't have to be just scenic Forgeworld!!

Peace!!

And happy painting all!

Henry. 

Selling red book 2! With working link

Thought it would have my legions in but nope. Everyone but white scars! Haha so I'm not selling it for hundreds like other people but a reasonable price. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/222021492879 

Golden Demon 2016

Second time I've entered Golden Demon. And this time I was in it for the pin. That was the goal from the start. Do my best in the single miniature category. And god damn it I got a finallist pin. Down to the last 5 but piped to the post by some fantastic minis. A hard fought battle. 

I'm coming for you slayer sword!!

Happy painting!

Henry