So my first competition level figure is finally complete. "Complete" being a bit of a relative term, mind you. There are still quite a few freehand elements I'd love to put into this miniature. However, I also know that I need practice free-handing details on a fig, so rather than mar the finished figure with practice, I'm leaving it be so that it doesn't potentially hurt the overall figure if I do the freehand poorly.
The roller coaster ride of painting this figure took 4 days in total.
Painting Day 3 - 4 hours
Ugh. Getting started painting at 10 pm is never the best way to start out the night, let me tell you. What I accomplished this night was the final highlight on the reds, the face and hood, as well as the gloves, boots and staff.
I ended up glazing the boots with a little thinned Devlan Mud because the blending and highlights came off a little too bright.
The gems on the staff were a bit of a challenge. I think I pulled them off, but I also think they could be better. Believe it or not, the quickest part of the night was the face and eyes. I also used a thinned Devlan Mud here to tint and shade the face, and the eyes only took me two tries!
Painting Day 4 - 8 hours
The Cloak and Base, the last two parts to finish on this.
With the cloak, I painted the interior with it off of him, then once I had the blending to where I wanted it, I glued it on. The red and fur and final highlight on the interior were all painted with the cloak on him. The cloak itself took maybe 2-3 hours. Once I had that done, I figured I'd get to bed earlier than I thought since the base shouldn't take too long.. right? RIGHT?
Nope. The base took from 10 til 3am. Ah well. Total time spent painting him was approximately 22 hours.
As I finished writing this last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, it was 4am, and the pictures were just taken. While removing the figure from it's temporary base, I cut myself, and bled on the staff, which then had to be touched up. So yes, I can honestly say that I bled for this figure.
Painting one single figure for competition has taught me quite a bit. Especially how I'd change painting certain parts, with what kind of painting process, etc. However one thing I can say for sure is that I'm pleased I finished it, and no matter how well or poorly it does, I'm happy with the figure. Would I change something on it even now? Sure I would. But I'm happy with it.
I'll plan a more in-depth post about preparing a figure for competition for the near future.
- Tim
There's a lot of really great stuff going on with this fig. The pose is a bit static, but I think you did a good job invoking movement with the cloak and the servo-skulls. I love the base, and I really think it's the best part of the miniature.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, for Golden Demon free-hand is practically a necessity to get to the next level. Your technical skills are pretty honed, so I think it's well within your abilities with some practice. My only real complaint with the finished piece is some of your color choices. It could simply be the photography and/or lighting, but the colors are all very cool, and I think the overall effect is to wash the whole piece out a bit. There's nothing that really pops or draws the interest of the viewer.
Nonetheless, 4 days for a competition-level miniature is pretty damn intense. Good luck!
Wow, just found your blog through FTW.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous stuff man, this Inquisitor is awesome.
And the templars are fresh.
Looks Great Tim! Thanks for the email and letting me know about your blog!
ReplyDelete