Pics or it didn't happen!

I completely forgot to update this thing!

I've actually kept myself very busy for wargaming.

Here's a commission painting for a friend of mine:

Not too shabby for my first airbrushed model. I'm also painting the rest of his army like this, maybe a bit more of the bright red highlight since I didn't like how the flag and right shoulder came out compared to the left shoulder. The shield and left shoulder seem a lot more vibrant and make that yellow just pop!

Now here are more pictures I took this morning. I painted this Hsien a couple months back:

This was my first real attempt at non-metallic metal, and I think I did okay. I felt the sword hit the mark but I missed with the gun. This was also my first attempt at using a bright yellow, and I got excited when I figured out the mix. I can't believe I never used oranges in my yellows - I smacked my forehead out of sheer stupidity when I mixed the two. I had always used browns in my yellows, which is nice but oranges make it extremely vibrant, especially when next to a darker tone. My base was a huge disappointment, however, but since I already tried numerous schemes I settled on a rust that at minimum makes you focus on the model and provides contrast.

Here is a picture of my favorite Trollblood caster and the bane of many armies Madrak Ironhide:

I painted him way back in December of 2012. This was my first attempt at Object Source Lighting just around the eyes. It was also my first attempt at a tartan design wrapped around him. I was disappointed with the way the green came out, but I'm not bothered enough to even think about retrying the attempt on him. I also used an old technique on the brass, but I may touch it up again to make the metal pop.

This was also my first model that I used Lahmian Medium (I think it's just like any mixing medium) for shading and highlighting. Once I discovered this tool it completely changed the way I paint and has created much smoother blends. I used to do a mix of layering and extreme highlighting - which makes your models a little above tabletop standards but isn't quite as impressive. I used to do such extreme changes to show shading and highlighting that it would be almost black as the shade, then layer a bright basecoat, then layer an almost white tone of the base color then extreme highlight white - this made quite a shocking look, but from the distance between standing and the table it attracted a lot of attention. Upon closer inspection, however, most people became unimpressed (well, I became unimpressed. I am my biggest critic after all!).

I will post more updates soon (hopefully). I've not been painting as much since I went on a crazy shopping spree and have since bought enough for 2 troll armies, 2 Yu Jing armies, and a Mercenary army! Goodness me, I need to just stop buying and start finishing! But I have an extremely addictive personality... plus for some insane reason I got back into Magic TCG again... cardboard crack is bad...