My first attempt at directional lighting and ethereal (wraith)

[Velmates]

Hey, guys!

It has been a long time since I last posted a pic of a new model but at the moment I am working on a ghoul horde of 40 models and since I am a very slow painter this takes some time.

Nonetheless I came up with this wraith. It was a gift from a fried who saw it on the internet and ordered it along with some other stuff. He wanted to see how I would paint it.

So, this is what I got after 2 hours of brushing:

I saw a guide on how to paint ethereals (I think it was somewhere here in this forum but cannot remember exactly who posted it so sorry for not giving you any credits^^) and liked the result. The above model seemed ideal to try this one out. I started with a black undercoat and painted the upper half of the model dark grey. With the same grey I drybrushed the lower half. Then I painted the upper third of the model with a lighter grey and drybrushed down to the middle. The top of the model got a white layer. I used the white colour to drybrush down to where the lighter grey layer ended. Even now the model started to look really good. But I wanted to get a somewhat blueish tone to the whole thing. I watered down Hawk Turquoise and used it as a shade. To finish the Wraith I used white once more to highlight the top of the head and some wrinkles.

I wanted to get some light on the sword and the tombstone as well as the sand on the base to get the effect of a slightly glowing ghost. I have never used directional lighting so this was a premiere for me. I drybrushed the mentioned parts with Hawk Turquoise and white. Honestly, I was stunned with the result.

Any questions or suggestions for a directional-lighting-noobie? Please share your thoughts!

- Velmates

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Got to say, like the work.
Model looks well painted, really nice basing and the skull is a nice touch.
The light effect on the model where it changes tone is great as well but not 100% on the model choice, reminds me allot of Lord of the Rings Ring Wraiths when in ghost form if you can see where I cam coming from.

Looking forwards to seeing you get some larger units with the same effect done, if you keep it up to this standard I think it will look great.

 

[Tawg]

So, I have to agree, the model is painted fairly well in and of itself but your "Directional Light" (Usually called OSL, or Object Sourced Light, as in from an object on the model like a torch or the ghost itself) is Sooooooo faint. At first I was a little confused about what you meant by the title, and I think Duke missed the point as well? (Maybe he got it?)

It's suuuper faint though, I really almost didn't notice it, and only barely did on the Enlarged tombstone picture. From farther back, you can not see it nearly at all. Maybe it's my monitor, but I feel like perhaps you went a little lighter than you need to?

I do know when painting mini's a big part of it is drawing out contrast to make up for the fact that true shadows can't be cast by lights on the mini, so you need to use techniques and tricks to help fool the eye into seeing what we want it to think. I feel like you have it done fairly well, but the blue is a bit too faint to really be noticeable. On the sword it's nearly imperceptible, even knowing that it should be there; On the stone it's a bit more pronounced but, still not something that a passing eye would catch.

Looks good, and you certainly have the skill to execute the technique I'm sure, I just think you may have erred on the side of caution here with how much to accent it with.

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Don't worry.
OSL is a big fancy of mine but I can never get it right.
Also it is noticeable on the grave stone but weak and thats not a bad thing as things that shine too bright ruin the effect, my main concern though was over the model itself.

But no if you look I was saying I like the painting and the work, just did not think the model does it credit.
Just did not feel the need to go into it in any greater depth.

 

[Velmates]

Don't worry.
OSL is a big fancy of mine but I can never get it right.
Also it is noticeable on the grave stone but weak and thats not a bad thing as things that shine too bright ruin the effect, my main concern though was over the model itself.

But no if you look I was saying I like the painting and the work, just did not think the model does it credit.
Just did not feel the need to go into it in any greater depth.

I wanted to say something similar. Not long ago I painted highlights a bit too extreme and afterwards I had the feeling I ruined the whole model with it. Over some time (and some models) I reduced the highlights and stuff and came up with my current approach. I had the feeling that my miniatures look good at home but my local gaming store has a much brighter atmosphere and they look somewhat dull and dark. Not much and since it is still a vampire army it isn't that much of an issue but I don't like it anyway. I have to pay attention with my high elves ;-).

Maybe I was a bit over-cautious with the OSL but as I have said it was my first attempt and I didn't want to do too much. The truth is, in reality it looks a bit better. I forgot to mention this but I recognised it myself. I have a good camera and I am a bit of a hobby photographer so it annoys me but I can't get it on a picture exactly as it is on the physical model...

@Duke: sorry to ask but I don't know exactly what you want to say. Do you think the sculpt of the model is bad?

- Velmates

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

The model is not bad but not good either.
Its mediocre at best and suits things like LOTR's much better than fantasy.
It has near no detail, just a hood and one hand with a sword and it majorly lets it down just on that as you have no real detail areas to draw the eye.
Essentially the model is suffering from the dreaded bed sheet ghost syndrome

 

[Velmates]

A sword and a good pose is more than GW ghosts have. ^_^

 

[count kill alot]

Awesome paint job for an awesome mini, really love the work 10 out of 10

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

A sword and a good pose is more than GW ghosts have. ^_^

For a spirit host it is better than the GW ones but in the title and base size this is a wraith not a SH.
Its like saying I am a better man than Gadaffi..... Still does not sound very good....

 

[Constant Drachenfels]

Well if that's what you get after 2 hours of work, I'm quite impressed. A single model usually takes me about 2-3 evenings or a weekend to do. A zombie can paint faster than me.

 

[Velmates]

As I've said, I'm a really slow painter. Maybe 2 hours was a bit optimistic but it definitely hadn't been more than 3. The techniques used are quite easy and fast to apply. Hence I was even more impressed of the outcome.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I appreciate each and every reply and take the critique into account for my future models. There are 5 hexwraiths waiting on the desk to be painted....