Light Miniatures

Never be afraid to paint outside the lines

Month: May 2015

Tribe Chief Morrow—finished

May 30, 2015 / / 1 Comment

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I only made a few changes since the last workbench post, the most significant being the addition of a plinth. This was done by a friend of mine, and it came out great. Thanks!

I managed much better photos this time, which is kind of amazing since I never take good photos. I’m still kind of shocked by how well they came out. So I did something I never do, which is upload really high res pictures. You can see all the brushstrokes!

I also entered him into the painting competition at KublaCon, and was thrilled to take home best in show, despite some other very nice stuff in the case. Now I have a cool dragon trophy.

Tutorial: True Metallic Metals

May 17, 2015 / / 8 Comments

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In the miniature painting community, there are two broad types of approaches to representing metallic surfaces, “non-metallic metal” (nmm) and “true metallic metal” (tmm). In non-metallic metal, the painter represents a metallic surface without using metallic paints by painting the reflections by hand, in the manner of 2-dimensional art. True metallic metal, in contrast, involves the use of metallic paint, which contains little bits of mica or other reflective material to gain a metallic look. I have no interest in debating which is “better”; the two techniques have very different aesthetics and lend themselves to different styles, but both can look amazing when done well. Personally, I have used both in my work [tmm, nmm], although generally I think I get better results when using metallic paints.

In this article I will share my standard technique for painting metals with metallic paints, by painting all of the metals on a bane thrall from start to finish. (Why do all of my tutorials seem to be on Cryx minis?)

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Convention classes

May 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

I will be attending KublaCon in a couple of weeks, and Gen Con this summer. I will be teaching a couple of classes at both conventions.

  • Two-Brush Blending [KublaCon] [Gen Con]
    This is a great technique, because it is a very fast and fun way of blending once you get used to it. Because it’s so fast, it’s very useful for army painting, but you can also use it for display quality painting if that’s your thing.  In this class, I will demonstrate this technique, and then provide tips and guidance as students try it out. By the end of the class, you should be able to start using this technique on your own miniatures, or have improved if you’ve used the technique before. I taught this class last year at Gen Con and it was a big success!
  • True Metallic Metals [KublaCon] [Gen Con]
    In my experience, people learning to paint with metallics go through three phases. In the first, they do little shading (maybe some washes or drybrushing), and expect the metallic quality of the paint to do most of the work. In the second, they realize that metals need to be highlighted and shaded just as any other surface. In the third, they realize that metals need to be highlighted and shaded differently from other surfaces, in order to properly convey the look of metal. In the first part of this class, I will demonstrate how to paint metals the third way, using a combination of metallic and non-metallic paints. In the second part, students will try the techniques out while I provide tips and guidance.

I’m a big fan of hands-on classes, so both classes will be hands on.

I would like to give a big thank you to Privateer Press, who are sponsoring my Gen Con classes with miniatures and paints. Thanks also to the convention organizers!

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