Trial and Error - a starting painter's struggles

[Nykolae 88]

Hi all!

I've finally made the decision to show you guys 'n gals my progress in painting up my models. I've not been very confident in my painting ability, and it always seems like other people's work looks a whole lot better, but I guess we all need to start from somewhere.

I'm currently totally re-vamping my Mason's with an entirely different theme. First off, I was thinking of making the Lannister family (with Marbles as The Imp! ), but I quickly found that I would really need to start working on resculpting figurines. As I've never did that before, I quickly let go of the idea and started brainstorming on a new one. And then it hit me...

Many moons ago, I was an avid World of Warcraft player. For those that know the game, I was greatly fond of the Death Knight class and just the whole feel of the Icecrown area of the game. So that's where my inspiration has come from for the Mason's. For those that don't know; Death Knights are basically corrupted Paladins. So no Holy Knights, but Unholy Knights.  Within the Icecrown lore, there are also beings called (Dark) Val'Kyr, based off of the Norse Valkyries. And of course there are Frost Giants. So...

• Hammer will become a Death Knight (and when I finally get to sculpting or find some usable bits, he'll be made into the Lich King himself!), and Mallet, Flint and Tower are his fellow Death Knights.
• Honour will become the commander of the Val'Kyr, with both Harmony's and Chisel also becoming dark angel-esque beings. (Again, whenever I feel like my sculpting gets on a decent enough level, I will also make black angel wings for these ladies.)
• Brick and Granite can be considered as 'giants', so it felt natural to make them into the Frost Giants of the team, with Wrecker being their little pet.
• Of course, undead forces needs ghouls... Enter Marbles!
• Last, but not least, Lucky. With him being a dual-Guild player, I'm thinking of giving him a kind of Two-Face feel, with one half of him turning into the Death Knight, and the other half still being alive and in the Brewer colours. Of course, his clothes aren't entirely 50/50, but I'm hoping that the colour schemes I have for my Mason's and eventually my Brewer's will blend together quite nicely.

So, without further ado...

The base of the Goal Post. It's still a work in progress, as I'm thinking of adding an arch and the Mason's logo later on.

The 'Lich King' himself, ready to crack another skull!

As I've not yet put anything in varnish yet, things can be added/changed quite easily. I'm open for any form of (constructive) criticism or ideas!

-Nyk

[Malritch 270]

Nothing wrong here! Glad you shared... love the base and the theme is cool (long time WoW player here).  Keep at it! Like all of us who have just sorta started the hobby portion... you just get better with practice, practice, practice. (I haven't been doing that in the last couple of months as much as I would like... but a free weekend awaits me... so I am off to pick up a couple new brushes after work!)

[Mako 1,364]

That’s looking good! I think the only thing I’d suggest (aside from practice, as @Malritch said - I’m still doing that after twenty years of painting...) is to maybe try increasing the contrast between light and shadow a little more. Really it’s the trousers on Lich Hammer that I’m thinking of, a touch of gentle drybushing in paler grey and maybe a dilute wash in blue-black might make them bulk up a little more. 

But to be honest it took me several years to be able to paint eyes in accurately like that, so you’re doing really well!

Oh, and you’ll always be the harshest critic of your own work - you know where all the tiny mistakes or bits that weren’t entirely to plan are, when most of us won’t spot them

[masterkdog 317]

Welcome to the painting forums. As stated above, practice makes perfect. Can't wait to see what your conversions are going to end up looking like.