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So this Command squad banner is my first proper go at free hand painting, ive painted all of my DA shoulder pad chapter symbols but they aint that great.
Anything you have to say about them is welcome and wanted.

Not bad at all. The "repent" one could use a little more detail work, perhaps some Black Templar style script, but other than that, it's great!

I like the DA Sword/Wings. What I am afraid to attempt and screw up on my current works is the shading of those areas, I can do the entire cloth no problem, but adding the proper shading/curves is what I am stopped by.

Thanks for the replies.

@Lord-Astaroth - Yeah i was thinking that i need to do the repent again. A little neater maybe, i had thought about doing script type stuff but i wanted to keep it simple yet to the point and being the company champ hes the most likey to make them repent.

@theQuanz - I have trouble shading as well. Im really just starting to get into the washes and foundations so your not the only one.

Trollhammaren wrote:First "real" attempt at free hand.

Wait. I'm confused. Is this a real attempt at free-hand, or isn't it? The quotations around the word 'real' in the subject line insinuate that it isn't real at all, yet the body of your post says the opposite.

Either way, pretty good free-hand work. The DA sword logo looks good. Its symmetry looks more or less spot-on. The #3 is well done, if not a little spotty. I suppose it could use another coat or something. An old saying comes to mind right now, though, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The only bit I dislike is the word "repent". Each letter is a different height and thickness and the squiggly bit underneath is pretty uneven, as well. It looks like some dude just wrote on the back of the banner instead of it being embroidered, printed, or whatever Space Marines use to make banners.



Ghidorah

Ghidorah wrote:

Trollhammaren wrote:First "real" attempt at free hand.

Wait. I'm confused. Is this a real attempt at free-hand, or isn't it? The quotations around the word 'real' in the subject line insinuate that it isn't real at all, yet the body of your post says the opposite.

Oh man your completely right. Its so messed up. What i ment is that ive played around doing free hand on the shoulder guards and such but have never committed to doing something of that detail. Its is really confusing though. Way to make me feel stupid.

I have redone the repent banner as well and will upload a pic when i remember where i put my camera.

Overall, very good! The first one looks just about perfect. This is one of my favorite parts of painting minis. Do you draw the designs in pencil first or do you just get right into the paint?

Just a couple suggestions if I may. I would almost want to hit the white on the "repent" and the "3" and maybe even the red on the stripe again just to make the colors a little more solid. You could also use the background colors around the "repent" and the "3" as a sort of eraser and just tidy up the edges on the text. Hope you don't mind the suggestions.

Looking good, keep up the good work!

Ive always heard the pros say when your doing words, always use a paint pen of some kind. Its more natural then using a brush. BUT other then that tid bit, you should be proud, my hands are too trembly to free hand so this looks really good

Agreed, its all good, except for the Repent. I would recommend going over it again both with the white to strengthen the coverage and with black to tidy up the edges of the letters and regularize them.

@Acrux - I do draw it in pencil outline before i paint. First i do stick figure style, then once i have my dimentions i draw the whole thing. After that its the laborious task of painstakingly filling in the outline with codex grey, and then going over that with about 3 layers of white. At first i thought it was a little bit like cheating using pencil beforehand, i came to the conclusion that if it is then, frankly my dear i dont give a damn!

I have gone over the repent and made it neater. I have also added some green checks to spruce the banner up a bit. I think it works.