NEWS: Runic Miniatures

[Frustrated Father]

Looks like Jakob Rune Nielson is having a go at his own miniature line here in the very near future.

http://www.jrn-works.dk/


http://www.jrn-works.dk/pics/misc/seer1.jpg

http://www.jrn-works.dk/pics/misc/anya1.jpg

http://www.jrn-works.dk/pics/misc/Lisa1.jpg

[green stuff]

Hum ... when's the cliché contest? Paintwise, there's nothing to say except that it's JRN's usual quality, but sculptwise they don't do much to me. They are technically clean but I find the themes a bit poor.

And that first one has design problems IMHO. The second one leaves me purplexe : what's with the teddy?

Basically, the line is a good beginning but it needs work on it.

[EricJ]

I've got to agree with cedric here, although there is a lot of potential here, we know he has the tallent :)

will be interesting to watch

[Ritual]

I think these are all mediocre! Plus, the middle one, with the gun and the teddy bear, seems somewhat of a rip-off on Hasslefree... I won't be getting any of these.

[sebrushworth]

Yeah, I'm not particularly impressed with these either. What's up with everyone deciding to start their own miniature line all of a sudden?! (not that I'm complaining ;) )

[green stuff]

What's up with everyone deciding to start their own miniature line all of a sudden?!
I figure it's the democratization of sculpting thanks to the Internet. A bit like painting I guess. I think the change started about when Privateer Press came up. Rackham proved that it was possible to take a fair share in the market and PP explored new territories (themewise). After, I'd say there are two types of sculptors. People like JAG and Allan that have proven their talent via GDs and love the hobby enough to make it their job, and people like Cyril who are artistically talented but prefer to keep the usual job because they know that the business is a tough one (but wich one isn't :P?) so they just sculpt every now and then.

[Ritual]

What's up with everyone deciding to start their own miniature line all of a sudden?! (not that I'm complaining ;) )
You can see the exact same thing within electronic music, for instance. Computer technology and Internet have made it possible for basically anyone with a computer to make music and this has had the effect that the market is overwhelmed by artists, record labels, magazines etc. etc. and almost everyone seem to want to start his/her own recordings/label whatever. It's what I call the 'me too' effect!

In mini-painting you start to se this effect too.

I'm not judging anyone, mind you. This 'me too' effect has both positive sides and negative sides. Some people bring good things to the market, while others just makes the market more crowded. In the end, people will have to chose for themselves what they like. The selection of products gets bigger and peoples demands get higher.

[supervike]

I think the 2nd one is the best sculpted. The first ones arms are too short (elbows should be closer to the hip line).

I guess the thing I don't like about them the most is the lack of character. I can overlook 'non-perfect' sculpting if the mini has character (see my superfigs thread), but none of these really do. Static, cliche'd poses...no life to them.

But, it is good to see new lines popping all over. There seems to be a more and more wide array of choices, eventually the one who benefits the most from these sorts of things are painters and collectors!!

[Spacemunkie]

They're not good when compared to stuff that's available, but as a first batch of sculpts, then you have to give the guy a bit of credit.

Dunno whether I'd bother casting them myself mind....

As for everyone having a go, why not? The cream will rise and the crap will sink without a trace. Hopefully.

[Spacemunkie]

A rather worrying bald woman fetish...... :wacko:

[Celtic Lilly]

The top woman seems as if she is balding or has a receeding hairline. The second one is somewhat cute due to the paintjob, but she doesn't have enough to keep her interesting. The third is very manga-like, I like this the best of the three, but all of them sort of lack any spark.

[Jakob Rune Nielsen]

Hi guys,

Just noticed that someone was deep-linking to my images. :)
- Funny how quick news travel in the online miniature world.

I find the various comments about my sculpts very valuable - and the critical ones are usually most beneficial in the long run.

The sculpts are actually from Spring (Anya, Seer) and Summer (Ninja-girl) and I have been wanting to show them in public for quite a while now. Last week seemed to be "Teddybear week" (Hasslefree's Alyx, Wyrd Baby Kade), so I thought it was time to go public.

Since Golden Demon UK I have been trying to finish as many of my other projects and commitments as possible to be able to do more work for the project, but there is still a little way to go before I can commit myself fully to sculpting. But instead of hiding my first sculpts I would rather show them now, and then be able to show progression in my next sculpts.

I will keep everyone informed about the process of Runic Miniatures on www.jrn-works.dk (http://www.jrn-works.dk/) and naturally post a link when the site is ready. Things should begin to get interesting in the new year.

Cheers,
Jakob Rune Nielsen

[Ritual]

Hi Jakob! :wavey:

Nice to see you're taking the criticism in a good way. It's not meant as a stab against your sculpting skill (which is way better than mine...). It's just that if you're aiming at selling minis commercially you'll have very tough competition and there's just LOTS of great looking minis from a quite large amount of companies. I think these three sculpts would have a hard time... That's all.

[Drake Farstrider]

Well while they are not the best sculpts out there, they are most definetly 100% better than I can do. :thumb: The middle sculpt is the best of the bunch, IMHO.

One thing that sticks out to me is the very noticable collar bones on the first 2, I might tone those down on future sculpts. The staff is nice on the top sculpt. The boby on the last one may be the best, but the armour ruins the sculpt for me.

Good luck with future sculpts.

[vincegamer]

I like the last one best. I've commented elsewhere that I liked that sculpt.

The middle one has a great head, but the arms are frightfully too short.

Don't like anything about the top one. Looks like a flat.

As to the teddy, it's not ripping off Hasslefree. It just seems gun-toting girl with teddy bear is the newest cliche. I've had the one from Fennryl sitting on my desk for nearly a year now waiting to be painted.

[EricJ]

I think Anders is probably right about these, although now I'm curious what you have in store for next year, improvement is more fun to watch than anything else :)