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Thanks Feltmonkey for your comment, the cloak was somewhat inspired by your Dark Angel Chaplain you did for a challenge entry a while back!

Thanks to Nev, Para and MG for this, it's always fun participating when I can.

Congrats to the winners as well.

Big thank you to JoshInJapan, Tyranid Horde, Midget Gems, and feltmonkey for taking time to comment on everyone's entries. It's helpful for all of us to hear critiques, both positive and negative. The hourglass was the part of the model I was most unsure of how to paint, but after seeing a few examples online I decided to base it on those and it came out good. Overall, I can see why my model didn't get very many votes. It kind of looks like I phoned it in. I'm really at a loss at this point for how to make gold metallics pop well. I shade them and highlight them, I swear I do, but they still come out looking more or less flat, at least in the photos.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Big thank you to JoshInJapan, Tyranid Horde, Midget Gems, and feltmonkey for taking time to comment on everyone's entries. It's helpful for all of us to hear critiques, both positive and negative. The hourglass was the part of the model I was most unsure of how to paint, but after seeing a few examples online I decided to base it on those and it came out good. Overall, I can see why my model didn't get very many votes. It kind of looks like I phoned it in. I'm really at a loss at this point for how to make gold metallics pop well. I shade them and highlight them, I swear I do, but they still come out looking more or less flat, at least in the photos.

White balancing your photos might help? They look very muted overall.

Mostly I just base/shade my golds. Using contrast paints for the shade these days over a base of shining gold. If I’m feeling it needs more, I give it a little edge of the base gold again to undo some of the glazeing. Extra effort actually gets some silver on the bright points.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I'm really at a loss at this point for how to make gold metallics pop well. I shade them and highlight them, I swear I do, but they still come out looking more or less flat, at least in the photos.

Metallics are hard to shade. Lately, I've been laying down a basecoat of Vallejo Tinny Tin, with Vallejo Old Gold as a highlight. It's a pretty big jump between the two, but that's what it takes to make the highlights visible. I'm just starting to experiment with NMM, as well.

Great work as always this month.
Thanks for all who said nice things and voted - I really enjoyed painting these guys this month, and it's good to feel that way again.

I voted for half a dozen entries but my favourite this month was Freya's model and I agree with felt that it was deserving of more votes...the colours were fantastic and really well executed.

Well done everyone and see you all for the open month!

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Big thank you to JoshInJapan, Tyranid Horde, Midget Gems, and feltmonkey for taking time to comment on everyone's entries. It's helpful for all of us to hear critiques, both positive and negative. The hourglass was the part of the model I was most unsure of how to paint, but after seeing a few examples online I decided to base it on those and it came out good. Overall, I can see why my model didn't get very many votes. It kind of looks like I phoned it in. I'm really at a loss at this point for how to make gold metallics pop well. I shade them and highlight them, I swear I do, but they still come out looking more or less flat, at least in the photos.

Try shading them with purple and highlighting with pure silver. Or you could always try a different brand of paints. The Vallejo Metal Colour range are pretty amazing, but it a particular way. They are really really shiny. You could check out a youtube video or something and see what you think. I actually don't think your golds look terrible or anything, but I appreciate the desire to take aspects of your painting up a level or two.

Congratulation to the winners (well done Chris, Feltmonkey, Ezki and DV8) and to all who finished their entries.

Big thanks for the comments and votes, Ezki, Midget Gems, Feltmonkey, Tyranid Horde and JoshInJapan.

Feltmonkey

Modock - Looks great. You said the armour was the first time you've used oils, right? Amazing job in that case, it looks fantastic.

Thanks Felt. Yes the armor is done with oils except egde highlights. I like the characteristics of oils, I'm gonna delve more into them in the
future projects.


Also thanks to Nevelon for the work with the challenge!

Thanks everybody who commented, and congratulations to everybody who entered. I didn't have the energy for comments this month, but I gave gallery votes to everyone who linked to it.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to JoshInJapan, Tyranid Horde, Midget Gems and feltmonkey for the comments.

Congrats to Chris56, Feltmonkey, and Ezki, and congrats to everyone who once again made a dent in their legion of grey! It's always cool to see people's different interpretations and approaches to the theme!

My votes in no particular order other than the order of the OG post:

Chris56 - Severin Steelheart's Warband

I really love the color palette and vibrancy of this entry! Well done! I think the blue wings are a bit of a let-down compared to how tightly polished the other areas are, however. But the freehand on that shield is boss!

feltmonkey - Saint Hazael

Simple color palette, and the marble base is nicely done.

Modock - Roman Centurion

Nice and clean. Although not as tight as your Infinity work, I appreciate and applaud that you're achieving this while experimenting with new mediums. And that smooth base trim!

JoshInJapan wrote:DV8: I like your choice of off-whites and ochers for this model instead of the usual white. It feels like he's really in the desert, with sunlight reflecting off of the sand.

Yea I really like the warm look of the piece, very Kingdom of Heaven inspired. Plus I picked up a couple new colors from Vallejo and I wanted to give them a try!

Tyranid Horde wrote:DV8: Lovely work, I like the subject, theming and the gradient on the shield looks fantastic. The base is very well done too.

Thank you!

Midget Gems wrote:DV8 - Like I said in the main thread I really dig this one. Model on first glance looks simple but if you look into it you can see the skill and thought that has gone into the painting,

For sure. I really wanted to focus on the simplicity of the figure, and while I think I could have spent a bit more time smoothing out some of the blends, particularly in the back of his robes, I wanted to keep the painting quick and visceral.

feltmonkey wrote:DV8 - Not as eyecatching as some of your other entries, but still beautifully painting. Your understanding of light is exceptional.

Thank you! I don't disagree, it's no a terribly eye-catching piece and not one that I was 100% enthusiastic about. But what I did love about it was how free of clutter it was, and it really let me get down to just the basics of simple form, and light and shadow. I honestly haven't been in much of a painting mood, I've been army-grinding since March/April and honestly suffering kind of a painter's burnout, so I've been spending most of my time just modelling. This piece gave me the opportunity to paint something simple and not overly complex within the confines of the theme and that I didn't absolutely hate (which sometimes happens!)