What I felt after being in the nominations, was "was I really up to the level required... or do I have a shiny a Forgeworld Army". I think it was a blend of it being 1) Elysians 2) I painted them quite well... but not perfect and finally 3) I was with Tim, a previous best army winner with his Deathwing.
Obviously I have had the thought... Am I really good enough? I think personally the answer is no. Me and Tim have had a good chat about it and come up with a potential screamer of a problem. I currently paint at nearly arms length in an almost comical fashion, as when I hold it closer I struggle to see the model. The answer is possibly glasses. I'm going to try and arrange an eye test if I can this Saturday.
Aside from that, I've ever truly worked on ensuring I have a clean, smart and tidy paint job in my life. So after taking some inspiration from Ron (FTW) and Dave (N++ Wargaming) I decided to go "Back to Basics".
FTW Back to basics
N++ Wargaming Back to basics
So I present efforts so far... Smurf #1
This first image I have applied black undercoat, and base coat of 50:50 black and regal blue and then another layer of 50:50 regal blue and Ultramarines blue.
In this second image I've appled line highlights of ultramarines blue, followed by an edge highlight 0f 50:50 ultramarines blue and space wolf grey. I've also notice I've taken some paint of the toes... Next lesson is painting on a handle.
C&C welcome as this is going to all about improvement.
7 comments:
personally i think you are being over critical of your paint job, and whilst glasses are possibly a good idea if nothing else to ensure further deterioration, i don't think you need to worry about the progress you are making.
your style has massively improved over the last five years and especially so since you began the elysians.
one thing that i noticed with your combined army is that you and tim have very different styles which alone look good, but together may appear at odds. Your Valkeries with the weathering job did seem to tie the two together though.
back to basics may be a good refresher, but don't be too hard on your ability bud!
???
Not a lot of love here then...
It's certainly not pressuring myself to go back to basics and try and improve areas I feel are weaker... If anything by doing so and hopefully improving it will on make my enjoyment of the hobby greater. :)
As for what I'm good, it's there... However if I can put some good stuff in at the front end before I get into weathering... The end result should be superb.
@Drax - thanks for the encouragement, I certainly do feel as though I've progressed in the last 5 years. Now to finalise is challenge :)
Agreeing with the above. I am a fan of dirty, natural paint schemes and when I see clean stuff like the smurf above I just don't like it.
(says the man painting a very crips and clean grey marine army... need to speak to you at some point about a little weather powder tutorial)
You are certainly been too critical of yourself. You painting skill is more than adequate. You just need to find an army that appeals to people to win the votes.
15 years of going to tournaments has taught me a few things about what wins best army:
1. Conversions, lots of conversions. And when I say conversion I mean over the top and in your face, not subtle ones you need to look for. Orks or Chaos are perfect (and therefore very common winners) due to the limitless ammount of conversions you can do.
2. Avoid Counts As. I don't know why but counts as armies rarely win. I have can only remember 2; a crone world CSM army and a Legio Custodos army. But both of those followed the first point to extremes.
3. Colour scheme. It needs to jump out of the table and grab peoples attention. That is not to say muted tones, weathering and the like can't work. But you need a BIG accent colour (or seveeral) that grab the eye and stop people just glancing over it.
4. White. If you can paint a clean, crisp and smooth white then you are on to a winner. Over the years I have seen countless pure white armies win again and again. Again weathering and the like does not have to be ignored but you need to get the balance right and make sure the white stays daz-brilliant-white and not turn dirty.
Hope that helps you both.
And when are we having that bloody game!?!?!?!?
very good "how to enter best painted cat guide!"
I love the style on your Elysians, bro! While I'm a fan of always trying new stuff and learning new techniques, you have no need to be hard on yourself - your Elysian army is inspirational stuff! High class!
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