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was inspired by my Job to create some Mini Level References.

Again, Im posting to offer support and suggestions.

For these three levels, the difference is not apparent enough. Yes, there are more highlights, yes you stay in the lines better in 2 and 3, but they all have the same poor base, and 2/3 have a lot of the same rough looking highlights and 3 doesnt necessarily do the job of making itself worth the extra cost over even the level 1 paintjob.

Honestly, I would at this point in your painting and commission career endeavor to make level 3 your standard for painting and start trying to offer paint levels above that. That may mean you have to take a break and really commit to practicing the fundamentals of commission painting.

Good for you for trying and posting your stuff even after a lot of harsh criticism, I just honestly think a focused few months of painting with a focus on consistency with quality would go a long way.

I agree with the above.

 Zach wrote:
Again, Im posting to offer support and suggestions.

For these three levels, the difference is not apparent enough. Yes, there are more highlights, yes you stay in the lines better in 2 and 3, but they all have the same poor base, and 2/3 have a lot of the same rough looking highlights and 3 doesnt necessarily do the job of making itself worth the extra cost over even the level 1 paintjob.

Honestly, I would at this point in your painting and commission career endeavor to make level 3 your standard for painting and start trying to offer paint levels above that. That may mean you have to take a break and really commit to practicing the fundamentals of commission painting.

Good for you for trying and posting your stuff even after a lot of harsh criticism, I just honestly think a focused few months of painting with a focus on consistency with quality would go a long way.

Now you see I kinda disagree with aiming at higher end work. It gets very competitive at that end, and work is usually appraised quite critically.

There is most definitely a market for those level 1 and 2 jobs - commission painting to high standard means lots of time. That makes the living cost comparison very stark between competing studios. I simply cannot work the same number of hours for the same amount of money as a place in Poland, SE Asia, Russia. Can't do it.

At the higher level, it's your particular style that you're selling. People like it like that, or don't. Some people collect stuff from many different artists.

At the low level, it's all about process efficiency. How quickly can you crank out 10 guardsmen or 20 grots and have them look 'good enough'? For bigger armies, there's a premium for fast turnaorund too - so it can be a double win as a painter if you have the discipline to keep the paintjob simple (that is MUCH harder than it sounds) and have a great process worked out for a decent result.

So again, there are two additional pieces of information you need to include with your reference - first price, second turnaround (minimum batch / how long).

I do notice a whole bunch of folks charge for assembly / basing. This kind of 'hidden cost' sucks IMO. Just include it. Working from pre-assembled models can cripple your ability to make a good job and if for example you're airbrushing fatigues all one colour why would you want the heads on? It's usually (in my experience at least) easier and faster to assemble to whatever stage you're comfortable with yourself.

So, OP identify your market and identify yourself to it - if someone wants 20 marines in 2 weeks, I'm not their guy. You might be, and could well capitalise on that. If someone wants those 20 marines done for $200, again, I'm not their guy, but you might be.

If you want to be charging more than about $25 a figure, then you still need to up your standard and presentation considerably.

Edit: Big thumbs up for fixing the logo and sticking at it. Once you battle through the initial criticism and find your feet it does get easier. Good luck.

Edit2: Try better lit photography on a white background. White makes colour adjustment in photoshop pretty easy (you just adjust brighness/contrast to make the background white, and knock down saturation if necessary).

These are much better examples of painting than some of the other stuff you've previously posted. Only gripe is you're still not staying within the lines on such a simple model. Takes all of 2 seconds to touch up the fingers you've painted the tips of on level 1 for example...

Now i'm actually going to defend the bases.

Yes they're crappy, yes they've not had much effort put in, but for some people they look for that in a commission so they can base them in the same style as the rest of their army. Much easier to finish something like this, than having to cut away and remove a fully detailed cork and flock base.
Would be interested to see what kind of detailed base you're able to do if a client requests it though.

I agree with Winterdyne.

I do commissions jobs for my local gaming group. I do things like Magnus, Glotkin, Triumvirate, etc. I'm decent with an airbrush and have steady hands so people want me to do their center pieces.

I'm better than average but not anywhere near Winterdyne's level. There is huge demand from our gaming group of about 25-30 people to do mass painting, which I refuse to do.

My turn around time is not fast, and I've not had a fully painted army of my own in 20 years of gaming.

With all that being said there is a guy who can get a ton of work done on troops, that are honestly worse than any of these 3 examples, and people still pay him. I'm talking, spray can color, maybe an edge highlight, and basically dipping or all over wash.

Muggami, I suggest brightening your photography, and spending just a few more minutes on your level 1 to clean it up. But if you love what you do, and there is demand, keep it up!

All three of those are better then my level of painting but the pictures could use some work like others have said

Don't let the crtitiscim hurt you I remember going to a tournament with an army I painted and got horrible comments about it but now looking at some of those models and my current guys I see what they ment practice and time will make your work get better

TBH the criticism is not what bugged me the most, it was the one gentleman who said to stop working and come back when my stuff was good, , the high level painting studios is just not my taste, i prefer table top as that is what most Tournament Junkies will pay for. but i do appreciate the constructive criticisms

Siege40k wrote:
I'm better than average but not anywhere near Winterdyne's level.

That is a large swathe of painters. Winterdyne is a yardstick I try not to hold myself to... lest I get discouraged!