Gone Shootin' - Cygnar Hunter

[PG_Ghool]

I started this little champ in the video found Here. I had numerous requests to show the completed model, but I was working hard on my Hardcore army and entries for Lock n' Load.
I managed to get him done in the past couple days, and it was nice to just relax and paint a model without making it perfect for a contest, or within any time constraints.

It certainly won't win me any awards, and it was a rather quick job, taking about 7 hours to complete. The freehand was done really quick, and as a last minute decision; I did it last in about 30 minutes; the Cygnus is certainly not perfect by any means, being a little lop-sided. It's certainly good enough to look good on the table from 2 feet away.

I'm hoping to get it on the table next week, and maybe wreck a heavy or two.

Comments and what-not is always welcome.

[Ogrob]

Lopsided? Good from two feet away? I can see why people hate you

[sleet01]

Looking good! It's interesting that the shading on those white shoulders is so dark, but they still appear as white.

[PG_Ghool]

Lopsided? Good from two feet away? I can see why people hate you

The local guys hate me the most; I demo for them often, and the Shredder I painted yesterday to 'tabletop' quality in 2 hours made them sick. I was afraid of getting stabbed on the way out to my car....

Looking good! It's interesting that the shading on those white shoulders is so dark, but they still appear as white.

As long as 50% or more of the surface is white, your eye will still register it as white. The shading can be as dark as you want, as long as that 50% remains white.

[Crate123]

That looks exactly like my hunter, well except for the paintjob...
I can actually see the lopsidedness of which you speak, which makes me happy since that means you arent perfect everytime
Awesome paint job as always.

[inquizarus]

Everyone have their standards i guess, altho your tabletop quality is a notch or two above my finest works that took baby panda souls to complete i can still digg what your saying.

Great work and as usual your painting inspires me to work for better looking minis. It's just that i always seem to go bananas and feel to stressed about getting them complete so that i ruin the models.
Your video on two brush blending nudged me quite a bit into a better standard direction, it's just so quick when you get the basic work done!

Thanks a heap for the work you put in these tutorials!

psst.. whats the next subject? Was it metals or something?

[PG_Ghool]

Everyone have their standards i guess, altho your tabletop quality is a notch or two above my finest works that took baby panda souls to complete i can still digg what your saying.

Great work and as usual your painting inspires me to work for better looking minis. It's just that i always seem to go bananas and feel to stressed about getting them complete so that i ruin the models.
Your video on two brush blending nudged me quite a bit into a better standard direction, it's just so quick when you get the basic work done!

Thanks a heap for the work you put in these tutorials!

psst.. whats the next subject? Was it metals or something?

I've already covered metals in text, and video. Just search around on Hand Cannon for it.
As for my next video, that's not for two weeks, and I might cover some basic stuff; paint consistency, and perhaps some basing techniques.

[Skylifter]

I think you are overdoing the shading on the shoulders, 50%-rule or not. Which is maybe why you say it looks good from two feet away (implying it doesn't look good up close). Maybe you should question this rule of still seeing it as white if 50% is white.
Or maybe your rule is correct, but it is a matter of the angle from which you look at it: if you look from a gaming perspective, you see mostly the upside and part of the front or back, so you see mostly the part that is white and some of the shaded areas. But when you look at it in the picture, you see it from only the front or back, so on the shoulders, I see about 70% shading, 30% white - making the shading look overdone. So if you want it to look white from this angle, you do indeed have to stop the shading further down the shoulders. On the top armour, the shading is good this way, since even seen from the front there is still more than 50% white.

The way you are overdoing the shading is a level of skilfulness which I will never attain, but it is still too much shading imo.

[PG_Ghool]

I think you are overdoing the shading on the shoulders, 50%-rule or not. Which is maybe why you say it looks good from two feet away (implying it doesn't look good up close). Maybe you should question this rule of still seeing it as white if 50% is white.
Or maybe your rule is correct, but it is a matter of the angle from which you look at it: if you look from a gaming perspective, you see mostly the upside and part of the front or back, so you see mostly the part that is white and some of the shaded areas. But when you look at it in the picture, you see it from only the front or back, so on the shoulders, I see about 70% shading, 30% white - making the shading look overdone. So if you want it to look white from this angle, you do indeed have to stop the shading further down the shoulders. On the top armour, the shading is good this way, since even seen from the front there is still more than 50% white.

The way you are overdoing the shading is a level of skilfulness which I will never attain, but it is still too much shading imo.

I find everyone is too timid with shading and contrast, and this is something that just needs to be beaten into a painter's head before they truly understand the concept and purpose. I know it had to be pounded into my brain before it finally clicked.

The reason is looks like too much on the shoulders is because you're looking at it dead-on at the shadows, and not slightly above. It's also because the shading on the shoulder is next to a very bright, nearly white area of the carapace. This happens when two areas with high contrast are placed next to one another; it serves the purpose of separating those areas, and giving each definition, so they don't bleed into one another.
Take into account the angle of viewing before offering such a critical review on my tabletop standard....

In order for white to have depth, and to look good in photos, and from far away, you must have dramatic shading. If you don't, when you put it under the bright light to be photographed, all the shading will disappear. The same thing will happen when you put it on the table and look at it from 2 to 4 feet away.

And trust me, I'm not implying in any way that it doesn't look good up close....perhaps if you're at Lock n' Load next year, we can put our models side-by-side for a close up comparison and critique. I'd be more than happy to let you pick and examine with a magnifying glass any of my models. I'm not sure how many of the severe critics out there would let me do the same, and offer an extremely critical review.

Keep in mind that miniatures have to have dramatic highlighting and shading, otherwise they will look flat, featureless, and unrealistic.

[Coil]

Thanks for posting the finished picture Ghool. The video is great for showing the technique but it is a bit hard to see the finished look in it.

Would you generally recommend a 50% approach to other colours as well?

[PG_Ghool]

Thanks for posting the finished picture Ghool. The video is great for showing the technique but it is a bit hard to see the finished look in it.

Would you generally recommend a 50% approach to other colours as well?

It's my general rule of thumb when highlighting and shading. With white and black, the rule is vital.

[inquizarus]

I got a thought when i woke up today, more a question really.

Do you two brush blend everything on the mini? Even like.. the wrinkles on forheads? I know that i got so frustrated when i painting my doomreaver leader becouse the detailing on the face was so subtle.
Or do you just ad shading with thin paint/glaze then? Becouse i cant get how your supposed to whip around with a second brush at that kind of details. ^^

So, do you blend the face like it would be a flat area and then come in with a glaze to shade the smallest stuff?

[Skylifter]

I find everyone is too timid with shading and contrast, and this is something that just needs to be beaten into a painter's head before they truly understand the concept and purpose. I know it had to be pounded into my brain before it finally clicked.

The reason is looks like too much on the shoulders is because you're looking at it dead-on at the shadows, and not slightly above. It's also because the shading on the shoulder is next to a very bright, nearly white area of the carapace. This happens when two areas with high contrast are placed next to one another; it serves the purpose of separating those areas, and giving each definition, so they don't bleed into one another.
Take into account the angle of viewing before offering such a critical review on my tabletop standard....

In order for white to have depth, and to look good in photos, and from far away, you must have dramatic shading. If you don't, when you put it under the bright light to be photographed, all the shading will disappear. The same thing will happen when you put it on the table and look at it from 2 to 4 feet away.

And trust me, I'm not implying in any way that it doesn't look good up close....perhaps if you're at Lock n' Load next year, we can put our models side-by-side for a close up comparison and critique. I'd be more than happy to let you pick and examine with a magnifying glass any of my models. I'm not sure how many of the severe critics out there would let me do the same, and offer an extremely critical review.

Keep in mind that miniatures have to have dramatic highlighting and shading, otherwise they will look flat, featureless, and unrealistic.

I do understand your reasoning behind strong contrasts and lots of shading. I also was neither saying that this model looked bad nor that I could do better. As such, my post was not intended as harsh criticism, but as constructive criticism. If it came across harsher than intended, I apologize.

Nonetheless, I think that on this specific model, from the specific angle you took the pictures, the shading on the shoulders is too much. Saying I mustn't look directly at the shaded areas is nonsense. That is like me telling you to just not look directly at my own models, cause if you look at my shoulder when I hold them in my hand directly in front of your nose, then you will think they might look neat. Yes, I am sure at a different angle the shading won't be too much, but at this one it is. And since this angle is the one you chose for your pictures, this is the one I can base my opinion on.

[Defenstrator]

Nice. I like the high contrast blues and the Cygnus looks sharp.

[PG_Ghool]

I got a thought when i woke up today, more a question really.

Do you two brush blend everything on the mini? Even like.. the wrinkles on forheads? I know that i got so frustrated when i painting my doomreaver leader becouse the detailing on the face was so subtle.
Or do you just ad shading with thin paint/glaze then? Becouse i cant get how your supposed to whip around with a second brush at that kind of details. ^^

So, do you blend the face like it would be a flat area and then come in with a glaze to shade the smallest stuff?

Two-brush blending almost everywhere.

On really, really small areas like wrinkles on the face, just paint the lines, and don't worry about blending. Things like eyebrow ridges, crow's feet, and wrinkles aren't going to matter once you get more than a few inches away if the highlight/shade is painted as a line.

[inquizarus]

Two-brush blending almost everywhere.

On really, really small areas like wrinkles on the face, just paint the lines, and don't worry about blending. Things like eyebrow ridges, crow's feet, and wrinkles aren't going to matter once you get more than a few inches away if the highlight/shade is painted as a line.

Then it was like i thought.

No need to feel a shamed for me then! *Dance happy painters dance*

[Dawnlord]

The local guys hate me the most; I demo for them often, and the Shredder I painted yesterday to 'tabletop' quality in 2 hours made them sick. I was afraid of getting stabbed on the way out to my car....



As long as 50% or more of the surface is white, your eye will still register it as white. The shading can be as dark as you want, as long as that 50% remains white.

We would stab you maybe just break some bones in your hands... LOL

[PG_Ghool]

We would stab you maybe just break some bones in your hands... LOL

Well, I already split my right index finger like a sausage with a shard of glass. I haven't regained the range of motion in it since. Does that count?

[Loki_333]

Ghool, maybe for your next video you could cover some tips on how to get such clean freehand work. Just an idea.

[kay_dawg]

BAH!! Sooooo Goooood!!!!!

[PG_Ghool]

Ghool, maybe for your next video you could cover some tips on how to get such clean freehand work. Just an idea.

Pssst...NQ #44....

[Temp22]

Awesome as always. NQ 44 you say...

[Temoinlanuit]

No awards?.. are you kidding? This looks great

[baronvonchaos]

Hey Ghool.
This is a good pic to post. Thanks for finishing this btw. It was hard to see in the video... Anywho.

With your 50/50 rule, do you apply your shade 60% of the way up and blend it back to the 50% mark, or do you apply to the 50% mark and blend backwards so the highlight/shade color starts at 50 or ends at 50? Am I being clear? It's a long sentence. With White, did you leave the top menoth white highlight? No further bright whites up there?

[PG_Ghool]

1.With your 50/50 rule, do you apply your shade 60% of the way up and blend it back to the 50% mark, or do you apply to the 50% mark and blend backwards so the highlight/shade color starts at 50 or ends at 50?

2.With White, did you leave the top menoth white highlight? No further bright whites up there?

1. I start at about 70% and push and pull until it's about 50%
2. Just Menoth White Highlight. If I've pulled the shades up too far, or the highlight is looking muddy (very often) I'll just re-take the top with a bit more Menoth White Highlight and blend out the bottom edge.

[RayofPaintStudios]

Just want to say that I really love looking at your work. Like everyone else, it often makes me want to burn my brushes and quit painting forever; but still, after calming down a few days later it leaves me inspired to keep improving.

[AWM68]

Pretty nice. The only problem I see with that Hunter is that he has not been flattened by Mulg yet. Other than that, nice!