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Hi guys, BlackMagicBrushworks owner/painter/only guy here.

yeah, I know we aren't well known, or know of at all to be honest. But over the two years i have been up and running, I have had a few commissions drop in; and this one has definitely been the most challenging and the most fun.

I had to turn a beat up old contemptor dreadnought, that had been 'painted' up as a follower of the night lords, into a world eaters contemptor.

i have to say it was pretty hard work, because i had to completely disassemble the model and clean off all the super glue and greenstuff.

but after all that was done, i did some fairly basic converting and sculpting. I added some khorne symbols in green stuff to the legs and shoulder, then added blades to one of the CCWs, and extra plating to the other.

And here is the finished result






















and that is me finished with my current work load, so feel free to send me a PM if this has interested you

...someone paid you to do that???? Sorry paint looks thick, bullet holes still look like drill bit holes, sorry you ruined a perfectly good model.

wow, talk about constructive criticism!

well, the client has seen it and is happy with the paintjob. it was designed more to blend in with the rest of his army, while being at a slightly higher standard, without looking grossly out of place by being at an obscene level.

obviously i can't do much about the paintjob, as the client likes it; but feel free to offer advice about how i could make the bullet holes look more realistic

Well first off, you can see the green stuff holding him onto the base.





Second, the paint looks really thick and you didn't paint any details on the arms. That's about all I can pick out. It's not horrible though, easily table top quality.

Phyrexia wrote:Well first off, you can see the green stuff holding him onto the base.

Second, the paint looks really thick and you didn't paint any details on the arms. That's about all I can pick out. It's not horrible though, easily table top quality.

I think it stepped on a Gretchin xD

haha, nice one Luna. you do come up with some great stuff sometimes. but yeah, i had been meaning to cover that up, but it kinda slipped my mind.

personally i'm not seeing how the paint is too thick, it's all flat panels

Maybe its just the kind of paint you used. Are you going to had some highlights? or some weathering? Or is this done? Its great as is. But like all things, it could use a little more work on the details. Great job man.

Its nice, but the paint does look a bit thick.

The red is a bit blotchy looking, but not out of place for a World Eaters army. It actually looks blood red! That said, it is on a little thick; I'd use a matte medium/distilled water mixture to smooth the paint a little. I find the medium really helps keep the coat consistent and smooths a heavier coat remarkably.

As for the bullet holes, I have to disagree to an extent. Some of them do look more like drill holes, but most look pretty spot on. You might use a hobby knife to add a modest amount of scoring to the holes, but I think you did a pretty good job. Props.

My observation would be that the rivets are the same color as the rest of the dread and I'd rather see them picked out in boltgun metal or dwarf bronze. It would break up the monochrome of the red somewhat and provide an accent color.

The basing looks pretty nice, but what is that white dusting I'm seeing in the last pic? Is it snow effects? Is there any way you can take another pic of the full base so we can get an idea of what you were doing there?

Are the Khorne symbols greenstuff?

@Gavin
i'm applying the red with an airbrush, so it should be pretty thin. it was probably the primer, i'm still getting used to the vallejo white, it's damn hard to get a good coat without it coming out like pollyfilla.

i will probably go over the rivets now that you mention it, the red does need to be broken up a little.

the dusting is just where the primer is showing through the paint i think, it is much less obvious in real life, and i'm not sure where it came from.

and yes, the khorne symbols are greenstuff

@papapiggy
yes, this is done. but i have a fair amount of time until i see the client again, so i can still make additions


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, after the response and advice from the past few hours, i decided to make a few updates

My honest opinion is that you get what you paid for.

The green stuff Khorn marking could have been more refines and on less putty-like. They are awkward and misshapen. The green stuff on the boot looks as if you seen the glow was not working and you were looking for a quick fix.

The Paint job is another story. Airbrushing the model with a color and call it done is not a good way to start. Zero highlights that can be seen, if any. Glossy to the point of being tacky. The gold on the Khorn symbols bleeds on to the red of the model, which could have been fixed with a simple touch up.

And finally my personal favorite, I can see model lines.

well. i never disclosed how much was being paid, so you can't really make that assumption, can you?

I'm not sure what you mean by "looks as if you seen the glow was not working and you were looking for a quick fix." There was no glow on the boot, the green stuff was there to provide a contact surface for the glue as is dried, there was next to no contact from the tread on the boot against the hull of the chimera. i guess that as it dried, the weight of the model pulled the green stuff back, despite the support, and i didn't notice until it was pointed out to me.

as for the paint, there are highlights, just not sharp edge highlights, as i feel they didn't really fit with the subtle gradients i created from the airbrush. the photos don't really show it as well as i would like, but the red does actually transition from scab red, up to blood red. the same can be said for the glossiness, the photos make it seem much more than it actually is, though it is still a satin finish.

and could you please point out the mold lines you are referring to? i made sure i had removed them all before painting; but, being human, i could have missed one or two and would like to know where so that i can fix them

With the bullet holes it might not be a bad idea to put some green stuff in them. Take a look at some old WW2 wreaks and you will see that some of the shots will just melt the metal and leave a concave dent with a ring of melted metal around the edges

First picture is at table top quality, but I wouldnt pay some one to do that.

second picture is better...

Think it looks alot better with the rivets picked out , maybe also pick out the blades on the hand/fingers? and the blades on top of the arm? , I pinned my contemptor to the base might be also be an idea rather than greenstuff.

Keep at it , long as ur client is happy

T-M

yeah, i know most people aren't interested in table-top quality, which is why i don't usually paint to it. however some of the gamers in my area can't paint very well at all, or don't have the time/drive to paint their armies, as well as having too much spare cash. this works out in my favour, as they usually just want me to paint just above their standards.

it is a very nice break when they commission me to paint at my best, though that usually ends up going out of their price range (damn early-teens)

Truth be told, if you post your work here, you should be ready for people to give their honest opinion based on the information you provide.

Additionally, when you let people know you are charging money for your work, you should be ready for their honest opinion AND a healthy dose of EXTRA criticism as they will be judging it on a different scale.

Generally, I personally wouldn't consider the work you posted good enough to commission. Looking though your other posted work in the gallery, I can't really see anything that shines. I can't even really see anything I'd call table top quality. That doesn't mean you don't have a customer base, or that your don't do well financially with your commission business, but, it does mean you'll pick up some critical comments from people to whom you show your commission work. I'd be graceful about the comments, and maybe take some of them to heart because you definitely could improve by leaps and bounds and give your clients a better product.

i completely understand what you're saying, and i have had this happen before. and each time i have taken it as a task to improve my painting.

though i would love to see the standard of painting in the areas these guys come from, because from the sounds of it, it is a lot higher than where i am. though that is probably because half of the players in my area are under the age of 15

The skill of commision painters seems to vary wildly as do their prices, that said you seem to have a solid base here and perhaps some highlighting would give it a bit more of an edge and finished look. I know what you're saying with the photo not capturing the real beauty of the model though, I've lost count of the times that I've finished a model I love only to take a picture and have it capture everything in the wrong way.

Best ways to improve that is keep on working through and developing your painting further, you're solid but it's a huge curve (that I'm still sadly near the bottom).

See if photos under different lights can capture the model how you see it. (great pictures will vastly improve customer base)

And keep posting pics! Seriously Dakkaites will tell you the truth, but nothing helps more in improving painting than someone telling you honestly what you do great and what needs work. (Plus that extra motivation to show them how skilled you are )

Keep on working at it.

edit: not sure why I said half of the time, weird

thanks for the encouragement, i will probably upload some more pics tonight, as i have a few more things i want to do after hearing the thoughts of others

Try these shots for a general idea. Of course this model is painted up without all the battle damage and what not, but it should give the basic idea.
The paint in nice and thin, so the model doesn't start to look too soft around the edges, the blocking is very clean, the finish is fairly matte, and the wash is subtle enough
that it doesn't appear as if it's slathered on wash. I'd consider this to be a very solid, if not overly simplistic table top quality.





Now, this image is more in line with what my local crew would consider "Good" tablet top quality. This is a solid base, like the dread above, but with the "little extras" that make
good table top. Highlighting on all major edges, the details have all had solid three stage attention paid to em. This is about the lowest level I'd expect from commissioned work.

Without going into too much detail, or repeating things already said.

I would surgest that next time try experimenting with higher contrasting gadeints, and consider applying the airbrush coats in a zenithal style. It's quick and very effective. Just because it's "table top" quality doesn't in my eyes mean boring, poor or flat. It should mean and indeed reflect the time spent in each peice.

A quick note in the your choice of 'primer'. Just because it's red, doesnt mean you have to base in white. Try black, then build up the layering with different reds, this will give you much more depth and the contrast I mentioned before.

As for the pictures, I suppose it's not so important if you client is seeing it in person, but if not...

It's not nessasary to have a great camera or any special lighting to take good pics, here's an example of a photo taken with a phone camera:



The trick is to pic a suitable back drop colour and make sure the lighting is right. If you want any advise feel free to pm me.

On a final note, please don't take this as an offence as I am just being 100% honest with you. Having taken a look through your other pics I would say that you have a little way further to go before I would recommend you as a commission artist, although you do have a solid footing. Saying that, the only way to improve us to keep painting and if you can get people to pay your way, well good on you.

P.s. appologies for any weird grammar/spelling, I'm typing on my phone.

Wow that paint is wicked thick and the model looks very un finished, Khorne symbols look bad also.

Well on the more positive side, the white looks quite well done in my opinion; seems clean enough.

The red does seem just a tad thick, however, it's not noticeable enough that it makes me think "Omfg it looks like you slapped it on", but it is noticeable enough to warrant a paint-thinning next time.

The gold could do with a touch-up, maybe darken it down a bit so as to not 'compete' with the red for attention.

Overall though, I like it. I wouldn't pay money for it, but I wouldn't pay for anyone to paint my stuff so that's fine

Iranna.

WAAAAGGHH-god wrote:
I had to turn a beat up old contemptor dreadnought, that had been 'painted' up as a follower of the night lords, into a world eaters contemptor.

i have to say it was pretty hard work, because i had to completely disassemble the model and clean off all the super glue and greenstuff.

but after all that was done, i did some fairly basic converting and sculpting. I added some khorne symbols in green stuff to the legs and shoulder, then added blades to one of the CCWs, and extra plating to the other.

So i think the reason the paint looks so thick is that you painted over the original paint. That would probably explain it. If it wasn't stripped there isn't much you can do to make it not look thick and gunky.

However, the lack of detail on the limbs made it look really dull, it looks much better now that you picked out the rivets.

Put some more dark red ink on the armor.

Very nice.

I wouldn't pay you and I'm honestly quite surprised you're still trying to push yourself forward for commissions without apparently having improved (much if at all) from the last time we saw a piece from you.

Even on a budget, there are things on the model that aren't corner-cutting for speed; they're just poor technique. The greenstuff work in particular is not good, when stuff like that has to be done well for tabletop or not. The paintwork is also, well, not good. You've sprayed far too much on, and gotten runs / pools around the rivets - basically drowned the model. There's no gradient in the paintwork evident.

Honestly, I could get my 7 year old to paint better than that, without touching the tools myself. It looks rushed and careless. Almost a crime on a nice model like that.

Do yourself a favour - learn some basic techniques and get those nailed. Correctly working greenstuff to get straight lines / sharp edges. Proper use of your airbrush. Better brush control and spot detail techniques (hint: paint rivets a dark colour before spotting with silver, make sure you JUST hit the rivet with silver).

Wow, people come down hard on those that venture into commission work.

I do have to back up some of the comments made, but personally it's the pose that does not work for me.

well i'm sorry that you feel that way Winterdyne. and i know i could never achieve a standard as perfect as yours. maybe i should just stop trying?

but still, it seems that everywhere has different standards, and in my area at least, i am considered one of the better painters. nowhere near the best, but pretty darn good; i don't know whether this says more about me or the people in my area, but who cares anyway.

if i'm being honest, i think you may have just crossed the line from being constructive into being insulting. painters as good as you should aim to bring people up to their level, not give them a slap in the face while telling them what they did wrong.