My FF entries

[cdukino]

Well like more people in here I want toshow, or rather comment on my entries for the FF competition. Not really fishing for more comments (though comments still are welcome), I got a lot in the gallery First of all thanks a lot for that :) It's one of the best things about this competition.

My entries were:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/photopost/data/511/angel-freebooter.jpg

This gorgeous sculpt was a pleasure to paint. But then again I am a bit biassed as I really like angels. I was self rather chuffed with how the dress came out. Best part of the mini I think.
I agree with the comments about the wings. They could use another highlight and they did get less attention then the rest of the figure. I will work on that a bit more on this fig before taking new (and hopefully better and better lighted) pictures. I'm pretty pleased with the face too (she has blue eyeshade to mirror the blue nails of the same colour) but that doesn't really show in the pictures.

And I also entered this one:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/photopost/data/511/Libby-on-tigress.jpg

Gorgeous sculpt. She was a blast to paint be it more work then I initially counted on. The tigress was a challenge. I never painted a tiger before so i went through a ton of reference pictures to get the makings right. I deliberatly went for a darker more brown orange colour then sand like. Fot no other reason then me liking that colour and it giving me plenty of possibilities for contrast.
The first paintjob i saw of Libby had her breasts bare safe for the metal cups. But looking at the miniature there were lines sculpted and what I saw as fabric folds. So I was pretty sure there was ment to be fabric there. I chose to paint it red to catch attention of the viewer and guide their gaze to Libby as the tigress seemed to overschadow her a bit. Some might find the red to eyecatching and bright. I like it though. But I have to admit. Though i like how Libby came out... I like the tigress more myself then Libby (though in unpainted state it's the reverse).
The light with the picture taking was a bit to stark unfortunatly (something I'm guilty of doing more often as my old camera refused to take worth while pictures with less light). But still despite some parts the overall picture does give a honest view of how the mini looks in real life.

[orkydave]

Both fantastic entries Cindy, and congratulations on winning with both of them! I like the red bikini on Libby and think a splash of colour is welcome on her.

How did you make those little trees on the angels base? they are great!!

[Duende]

I thought these were great as well. Libby was actually one of my votes for Best of Show.

And although I'm horrible at guessing who painted what (Jubilee was the only one I could regularily call right), I knew the angel had to be yours after I saw the bunny on the base. I thought "It's got 'cute' in it, must be Cindy's." :D

[Wren]

I figured the angel for Cindy's because the etched brass foliage looked similar to the stuff she did on her recently posted Wasabi. :)

[Stupidcow]

Hi Cindy. First of all congrats on your winning entries. I'm more than happy to comment more on your entries but forgive me if I sounded like I'm nitpicking. If I remember correctly I did comment on the hair and the wings being not as carefully painted as the dress. As for the dress, I'm not 100% sure if its suppose to be silk or some see thru fabric, mainly becos the belly button is showing but other parts like the knee doesn't have that see thru effect.

For Libby, her helm could have some hotspots since that's where most light should hit, as you have shown on her face. If you have painted the metal parts on her more striking, I'm sure the tiger would now be as overpowering as you think. Also you can then drop the red bits which is more distracting then attention grabbing I feel.

As for the tiger, some of the stripes are well painted but some stripes are too straight eg. on the front legs. They should be more jaggered. Some highlights are abit harsh but I think you have already done a tremendous job. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get anything close to that or even dare to try.

[Skya]

Love em. The angel in particular was one of my favorites.

On the critic side the angel really felt like the wings weren't up to the quality you did on the dress. Another highlight or two would have really helped make the piece. For Libby, I relly like the tiger, a little smooth for fur, but it works. Like something out of an old painting. Libby herself looks a little plasticy to me. Mind you I've no idea how to fix that as I cant exactly put my finger on what's causing it.

[mahon]

You know I already criticized thw wings, but now - looking at the minis again, I gotta say these bases are so great (if I haven't told it already...)

[cdukino]

The bases were fun... well the angel one I can take credit for as i made that one myself. The one of the tigress came with the figure.

The plants with the angel are bass etched plants I bought from hasslefree. They are brilliant. I did thicken the trunk of the plant on the left of the picture and sculpted roots. The palnt was to big to look natural with the almost paper thin brass. Works for the leaves ofcourse and small plants get away with it if you twist the stem a bit. But big plants look fake then.

[Malebolgia]

Awesome stuff Cindy, but I already told you that ;). Why don't show a picture of the angel with the new camera...that one was even better than this one :)

[Wren]

What did you use to thicken the trunk on the plant? And I'd be happy to see photos with your new camera also!

[cdukino]

I used procreate to thicken the trunk of the plant. I will take some new pictures of the angel tonight. Play around with the camera a bit. Bit first a bit more highlighting on the wings. Might as well take a little sneek peek picture of my IP entry as well.

[callumrice]

Great work Cindy, I think I commented well on both entries. (its hard to remember, there were so many!) Can I just ask for a wee tip? How do you paint NMM gold? When I try its shocking, yet on the helm and the breast plates its great. Really well done.

[cdukino]

The warm brownish gold I start with GW scorched brown. (for cold gold I use black instead) Then I mix that with Snakebite leather and highlight it. Then pure snakebite. Then I add white to the snakebite and highlight up some more till I'm left with pure white on the hotspots. And usually at the end I go back to the deepest shades and sometimes add a bit of black to the scorched brown to get more contrast and to darkline. Contrast is important and darklining helps make it pop more. Smooth blending is important as well as good placement of the hotspots (and not overdoing them). I still have a lot to learn and practice myself there.

[callumrice]

Cheers Cindy, Ill give that a bash tonight, I have a perfect part of a model Im struggling with at the mo.

[EricJ]

Cindy, your painting just continues to improve, it's really fun to watch your progress. :)

[matty1001]

They are both stunning! Great jobs!

[cdukino]

Bigger pictures. Face is still blurry though a bit. Colours are more honest now I used defuse light.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/cdukino/angel-freebooter-big.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/cdukino/angel-freebooter-big-back.jpg

[Wren]

Lovely! You can really see the smooth highlighting on the skin of the arms in these photos, and the colour of the dress is gorgeous.