razzaminipainting

Farseer Stage By Stage, Part 1

2012-02-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hi all, i thought i would try and paint a miniature for myblog but rather than just posting a finished picture i thought i would be agood idea to try and take as many stage by stage pics as i could as thepainting goes on. I chose an Eldar Farseer to paint for this as i believe it tobe a real painters miniature, by this i mean that it is clean, open and wellcomposed with lots of nice areas for a painter to have fun with.

Having had a think about what i want the overall finish ofthe paint job to be i decided to go with a “romantic” look for the Eldar, basedaround the Uthwe craftworld. The plan isto have rich colours on the cloth areas of the miniature and NMM gold in place of the yellow of Uthwe.

So far i have painted the skirt on the farseer, as i said iwant rich vibrant colours on the cloth making it appear like silk, so i chose anice purple/violet colour for this tocompliment the rest of the miniature. I kept in mind that silk is quite areflective material so the highlights can be pushed a little further than usualwith cloth. I also wanted to give the silk some depth by changing colour as ihighlight, to do this i shaded with blues and highlighted with blues whichgives a nice finish to the silk. You can see this better in the palette mix-

Here are the stage by stage pics-

Stage 1 – Base coat mix of warlock purple and regal blue70/30

Stage 2 – shade with thinned mix of warlock purple and regalblue 30/70

Stage 3 – shade further by adding a touch of black to the above mix.

Stage 4 – layer a highlight of warlock purple with a littleice blue added.

Stage 5 – highlight by adding more ice blue to the above mix

Stage 6 – add space wolves grey to the above mix

Stage 7 – highlight again with more space wolves grey added

Stage 8 – add a final highlight of pure space wolves grey, ialso washed a little thinned chaos black into the deepest areas.

The back of the farseers cloak will have the same colour asthe skirt but i will do this last, the next part i will be painting is thearmour, i am planning on doing this a highly reflective black with a glossylook. I hope to get some more pics very soon.

Thanks for reading! Darren.

Arjac Work In Progress...

2012-01-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hi all, after my Arjac Rockfist post i was asked a few times to show a pic of the miniature before it was painted, showing the conversion work, so here it is....

As you can see it's not the best pic in the world but you get the general idea of what's going on. The big difference between this and the finished miniature is the shield, in the above pic he has a round custom made shield and the painted fig has a slightly modified plastic shield. The reason for this is originally i really wanted Arjac to have a round "viking" style shield so i found a suitably sized button (yes, a button!) and added the detail over this with green stuff. BUT when it came to painting this shield i realised that it wasn't going to work, i was half way through painting it and i knew something wasn't going right. The problem was that the detail i had applied didn't lend itself to the figure, i then decided to scrap the shield and revert to a plastic terminator shield with a pelt added to the bottom to add some movement.
The pic also shows the other green stuff work and detail that was added, a lot of time was spent on the legs bulking out the thighs and raising the feet. The shoulder pads had a layer of green added to give him some width. The conversion did take a while to complete, i was going to paint Arjac straight after converting him but i was a bit sick of it after all the effort of making it, the miniature then sat on my desk gathering dust for about 6 months until i decided to do the right thing and paint it!

He looks quite different with a coat of paint on him, here is a close up too...

Thanks for reading guys!
Darren.

Arjac Rockfist, The Anvil of Fenris

2011-11-21T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
Here is my latest miniature, this is my own vision of Arjac Rockfist the Space Wolves character from the current codex.
I constructed this miniature early this year using many different marine components, plasticard and green stuff. I added extra height to the feet, bulked out the legs and torso and added bulk to the shoulders. The main aim was to make him much bigger than a regular Terminator as he is described in the codex.
After a long break I decided to finish painting him over the last few months, it did seem to take a very long time to get the miniature completed, I’m not sure if this was down to its size or that fact that I’m not painting full time now, either way it was a fun project but I’m happy that it is finished and I’m pleased with the finished result.
Any comments welcome as always!
Cheers, Darren.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/292211

He's one ugly...

2011-09-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, i managed to get a hold of a copy of this fig a while ago and i knew that i HAD to paint it. This miniature was sculpted by Brian Nelson and is one of the new plastic characters from G.W. A few of us in the studio are painting the fig and doing slight conversions on it, i decided to do a simple head swap on mine. As it was made by Brian i looked at the other kits he has also sculpted and came across the corpse cart. A few of the zombie heads on it worked but the one i went with seemed to fit really well with a tiny amount of green stuff to fill the neck and add a nurgly tongue!
The painting was all about contrast, the green had to be a different tone to the skin and also a different warmth of colour, when the skin and armour where both finished i went back and added green into the skin areas and warm colours into the green armour to tie the figure together.
The base was a nightmare to do, the first attempt was some kind of pier with green sludge under the wooden platform but when i added the resin it had thousands of bubbles in it and ruined the base, not a good day! I then decided to try it again with less resin and a simpler base, i think it worked ok in the end.
I hope you like it and any comments are always welcome.
I'm currently working on a marine paint job, inspired by the new Space Marine game. i will post pics very soon!
cheers all! Daz

Goodbye 'Eavy Metal

2011-07-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, here is a little update of what's been going on in my world over the last few months.
For a while now i have been trying my hand at sculpting miniatures and i found that the more i did this the more i enjoyed it. With a little encouragement and help i decided to pursue the sculpting as a potential career instead of painting miniatures.
As many of you may know i have been part of the 'Eavy Metal painting team for quite some time and after showing my sculpting work to the powers that be i was offered a 3 month trial as part of the design team within the studio. So for the last 3 months i have swapped my paintbrush for a wax 5 and set about trying to impress and secure a place over in miniatures design.
To cut the story short the 3 months went very fast and i was asked to stay within the miniatures design department full time, great news!
Working as part of the 'Eavy Metal team was always a big dream for me, i joined when i was 21 and didn't know what to expect. I felt lucky to work with some of the greats, Martin Footit, Dave Thomas, Seb Perbet and the unsung hero of 'Eavy Metal Neil Green. It was from Neil that i learned most of my painting within the team, being a cocky, confident and annoying (Martin will agree) 21 year old i thought i knew it all when it came to a paintbrush. Neil soon set me right and helped me loads in my first years, big thanks Neil!
After many years and many paint jobs i worked my way to the position of lead painter, leading the team was and still is one of my proudest achievements, it was a tough job at times but i enjoyed every second of it.
When i think about painting miniatures now i feel that i have reached a point when i really want to seek out a new challenge, and sculpting is that challenge now. Going from a place where i was really happy with my work to being completely new to it all is very nerve wracking but i know that i am in the best place to learn, i have to say a massive thanks to Seb Pebet who has helped me with my sculpting over the past 3 months, cheers Sebbadon!
Thanks to all the 'Eavy Metal team for putting up with me, they are now in the very capable hands of Joe who now leads the team, well done mate, you deserve it. Thanks again to Nibz, Anja (lasagne), Mark, Dave, Kornel (Korny), Joe and Matt.
Thanks for reading all, I'm still painting in my spare time and I'm looking at it in new ways so I'm sure i will have lots to show you in the future...
Thanks again.

Kaldor Draigo

2011-06-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Hi all, i painted this guy while the children where off school on half term holidays. I chose this miniature mainly because i really like the pose and all of Juans marines look awesome. I wanted him to be similar to the studio version (by Joe) but with a blue blade and a bit more freehand on the cloth areas. Hope you like!

http://www.coolminiornot.com/280038

Prince Yriel

2011-05-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hi, yes..yes i know i've not posted for aaaaages but i have been pretty wrapped up with my new role as a sculptor, sorry. I promise to try and post more regular updates. :)
I decided to go through my old p.c the other day and found some alternative pics of my Prince Yriel that i painted a few years ago, having looked at them and comparing them to the ones i used at the time i decided to put them out there for all to see. I really like how the colour has come out in these pics and i think they show the miniature off much better (why i didn't use them at the time i don't know).
anyway, take a look and let me know what you think, i'm still pretty proud of him. :)

The Sanguinor...done!

2011-01-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Here he is finally finished, i found some time over the Christmas holidays and I'm really pleased with how it has turned out. let me know what you think please.

Still painting...

2010-12-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Just another quick post to show that i haven't given up the brush completely, here is a little tease of the sanguinor that i have been working on. he still need quite a bit of work and I'm hoping to get it finished over the Christmas 'break'.

As i have said, this is a copy of the studio version that i did but without the stop-start stage by stage painting involved.

cheers! Daz

razzaminiscupting!

2010-11-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all, just a quick post to show you what I've been busy on. Not painting this time but a bit of sculpting. This was a practice piece by me and is a copy of the mordhiem freelance knight. Any comments are welcome! cheers, Daz

Time for Arwen's close up!

2010-08-29T07:43:00.001-07:00

Hi all, just thought I'd put up a couple of close up shots from the Arwen miniature.

One is of the horse, i hope you can pick up some more of the textured detail and the second is her face, painting female faces is always a challenge so i hope she stand up well to a close up! :)

any feedback would be great, cheers again! Daz

2010-08-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
Sorry for the lack of posts, this is mainly down to me not painting anything! :(
Here is my latest miniature, Arwen from LOTR fame.
This is by far my favourite miniature from the LOTR range, Juan Diaz did an incredible job capturing the actors likeness from the movie.
This figure is from "the chase" scene in the fellowship of the ring, Arwen wears blue in the movie but i thought i could place her on a hunt in an alternative costume.
I chose a warm purple and pink for the overcoat and continued this through to the makeup on her face, this helps tie the miniature together.
All though you can't really see it in the pictures i have painted the hair texture on the horse with fine "dashes" of the tip of my paint brush. Adding texture on a miniature really gives it another layer of interest and adds the realism that is difficult to achieve with flat colour.
I hope you like her, any comments are welcome!
cheers, Daz

Inspiring Stuff!

2010-05-02T01:14:00.000-07:00

As it says above, i want to also showcase work by other artists that inspire me, this miniature is one of those inspirational pieces.

Sigvald the Magnificent painted by Joe Tomaszewski (aka brokenblade). It is no secret that Joe and i work together so he and i have quite a similar style of painting. I guess that's why i really like what he has achieved with the painting on this miniature.

First off the blending is flawless, from the turquoise armour to the shield the entire figure has a consistent finish. The colour choice is really nice, contrasting purples and cool turquoise work really well to make the miniature visually exciting. Joe has also added some chaos iconography which helps set this guy in the place to which he belongs as a slaanesh chaos lord.

Finished with a wonderful base and there you have it! Well done Joe!

Here is a voting link for this miniature-

http://www.coolminiornot.com/249012

Glaze update

2010-04-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hi all, I've found some time to put the sculpting tools down and get some painting done, so here is a quick update! :)

I have now done a white highlight and added the glazes to the armour, the glazes where done with acrylic matt glaze medium and inks. The thing to remember is that glazes are used to enhance and change colour and washes are used to shade colour.

First i used a 50/50 mix of yellow ink and glaze medium with a little water and washed it all over the armour. I then did the same with baal red but concentrated in the recesses. To finish i used a little leviathan purple in the deepest areas.

It really adds the colour you need for the gold quite well, it is easier to add this at the end as yellow tends to have a weak pigment.

Next is to add a final white highlight and the armour is done! :)

Hopefully you can see the difference in the picture!

More updates soon!

Daz

Sanguinor - Work in progress

2010-04-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hi, just a quick update to share with you all what I'm working on. After painting the studio Sanguinor and now that the Blood Angels are finally released i thought it would be a good time to paint my own!
Now, this is Sanguinor number two for me so i am aiming to make it slightly different to my previous paint job. I initially want the overall finish of the gold armour to be a touch lighter and richer in colour than version one. I would also like to refine some of the highlights and blending on this one, the original Sanguinor was done as part of a stage by stage masterclass and this stop and start painting can be tedious and break your painting flow.
The pictures here show a couple of in progress shots, the first is at a highlight stage of snakebite leather and bleached bone mix, the second shot is just after a chaos black and badab black shade.
I am now working up the gold armour with white and then i will begin glazing with yellows, reds and purples. To finish the armour i will use pure skull white for reflection lines and hot spots.
I will take some more shots as i go along and keep you updated on how it's going.
Cheers all! Daz

Night Goblin Boss

2010-03-14T01:22:00.001-08:00

I painted this guy for fun, it was one of those figures that i just kept picking up now and then and adding a little more to. I really like the character of the miniature and the expression on the little guys face is great.

The only direction i had with painting is that i wanted to use a skin tone i have not used before and try out some new metal techniques. the skin had a lot of blue in the shades and i used desert yellow in the highlights to contrast, to add to the character i also gave him a red nose!

I'm not too sure if I'm happy with the finished metals, i washed over a boltgun base coat with reds, purples and greens to add colour and then picked out details with a cool blue for contrast.

Metals can be difficult to get right, sometimes more difficult than NMM, which is why my next miniature is going to be covered in NMM goodness!

Cheers! Daz

Njal Stormcaller

2010-02-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all, this is my latest commission work. the customer wanted a classic paint job on this miniature, he requested no battle damage and no snow on the base. This threw me a little as most space wolves you see nowadays have extreme chipping and damage and are also covered in snow, With this in mind i reached for the old and original space wolves codex for inspiration for the colour palette.

I wanted the new Njal to be instantly recognisable as the character from the first images shown, so i kept many of the key features the same colour and tone such as the beard, belt, raven and most importantly the wolf that he has upon his back.

One of my big inspirations when painting space wolves comes from an old white dwarf article showing a glorious space wolf army painted by Kim Syberg. The power armour colour and bright use of spot colours is something I've always liked and wanted to recreate on the new Njal miniature.

With the painting i mixed in browns to shade the power armour and warm khaki tones to highlight, this 'knocks' the purity out of the shadow grey and space wolves grey that are used as the basis of the armour mix and gives a more rustic and worn in look. Glowing eyes and runes helped give the face focus and add to the fact that this guy is a psyker.

My favourite part of the painting was the large wolf skin on Njal's back, i used real life reference gathered from the net and started with a base of khemri brown. this was then worked up with greys added in through to pure white with many glazes of brown and black to give the natural dark line down the wolf skin.

Hope you like the finished result, cheers. Daz

Deathmaster Snikch

2010-02-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

This has to be one of my favourite miniatures of all time, a superb sculpt by Seb Perbet.

After painting the studio version of the deathmaster i wanted to do one for myself, but using the nmm technique.

I kept the colour palette the same as i felt it best showed the miniture, blues where added into the black on the cloak and blended through by adding in khaki to the mix, this helped give a natural look to the cloth. The things that really works on the painting side though is the balance that the green poison and the centre warpstone bring to the overall finished result.

Also, i couldn't resist giving him red fingernails! Just as a nod back to the original painting....

Hope you like, Daz