Mike Blank will be teaching a full Weekend Workshop (17 hours of tuition) the last weekend of November at Black Sun Studios. Not only is a workshop by Mike a thing of rarity it will be the first ever Weekend Workshop, he has taught here in the UK. Mike is one of those painters I have a real soft spot for and I thought, why not do a little write up all about Mike and his place within the community and at the same time show you some of his incredible work. So here we go! Mike was born in
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Thought it would be nice to put together a post about what has been happening at the studio since June 4th when I started my new role here. So I am going to write some words about Weekend Workshops at Black Sun Studios. Let’s start from the beginning. Black Sun Miniatures has been around for a while now but took up residence in its current address almost five years ago. At that stage the store and studio was a distant dream, the building hadn’t even been built. A dirt patch was a very humble beginning. The idea had always been
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Hi, my name is Davide Brugnettini, I am a big movie fan and figure painter! I have previously appeared in The Figurementors Magazine and this is my first tutorial here on the official website. I hope you will enjoy this little piece about how I painted Snake Plissken from the cult classic Escape From New York! In 1988, due to a 400% increase in crime, the US government turned all of Manhattan into a maximum-security prison. The inmates, all sentenced to life imprisonment, are left to fend for themselves. In 1997, Snake Plissken, a decorated former war hero turned criminal,
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Hello fellow miniature painting enthusiasts. BaM here again gracing the pages of the greatest miniature blog presenting my Deathworld Deathguard Tutorial. The “deathworld deathguard” was my entry for this year’s Brush Beast online painting competition. I’ll specifically explain how I achieved that type of rust that has become caked up and flaking and almost along the lines of looking pixelated and cracked. Now first let me say, there are plenty of techniques that showcase how to effectively simulate rust and weathering on our models. There are videos, SBS articles, plus even stylized techniques that artists use on their miniatures. I
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Hello ladies and gentlemen, it’s me BAM back again for another step by step! This time I want to show How I paint Weathered Armour. For this one I am going to show the steps used to achieve a very battered and corroded look to plate mail armour using the skeletons from Underworlds by Games Workshop! You can also see a more in-depth tutorial of mine in Issue 32 of The Figurementors Magazine, Fantasy Edition! Step 1 So as usual, I’m starting with a black undercoat. From there I applied some “Bolt Gun Metal” by GW or you can use
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Okay folks, BAM here with a quick Step-By-Step on How to Paint a Black Templar Base for my Black Templars Unit. This time I will be using Unreal Wargaming Studios highly detailed resin bases from their Sacred Ruins line. I will begin from the first base colour. For everybody who has read my other Step-By-Steps, the first phase is always cleaning and washing the bases in warm soapy water. Then I apply a black undercoat with a rattle can primer (I use mainly Citadel Black Standard primer). Any other standard matte Black primer will work as well. So after prepping and
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Welcome readers, unless you have been hiding under a stone recently, then you will have heard at least a little about Dave Taylor Miniatures – The Art of …. Allow me to fill you in on the details and bring you up to date! I have regularly seen posts and snippets from within our community regarding a series of books about miniature painters by Dave Taylor. It wasn’t until this latest Kickstarter that I began to pay serious attention, as I know and love the work of all three painters, Chris Suhre, Seyni N’Doaye (both who have appeared in
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Hello everyone, welcome to my little tutorial on how I apply Gory Blood Effects. I have made quite a name for myself with my gritty and realistic way of painting. I love applying special effects. There are lots of different steps and techniques in my work. Here I will talk about one such technique I use. I think it gives great results and its quick and easy too! This is what you will need: Blood For The Blood God by Citadel Tamiya Clear Red Black Paint Blue Paint Glass or Ceramic Palette Sharp Blade GORY BLOOD EFFECTS – THE
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Top 5 Favourite Colours – An Introduction So, deciding on a top 5 colours is no easy thing. I think rather than picking colours like ‘Red’, ‘Orange’ or ‘Blue’ I will talk about paints from a specific brand. Of course I feel like all colours defined by brand or not are important and the beauty and breadth of colour variety is breathtaking to behold. There is really an infinite level of complexity and combinations that can be used to create beautiful things. So let’s take a look at My Top 5 Favourite Colours by David Colwell! I will keep my
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Creating Corrosion Effects on your Warhammer Figures and Vehicles – Introduction In all my years, and all the painting sessions I’ve sat through and enjoyed, I have come to a conclusion. There are many, many, many ways to Creating Corrosion Effects on your Warhammer Figures and Vehicles! It is possible while using several different weathering products to achieve the same results. For this Step By Step I am going to show how the use of two different products can achieve corrosive textures on scale models. The two products are: AK Interactives Corrosion Texture Vallejo Weathering Effects Thick Mud (specifically Brown
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Ulfenwatch – using special effects! – INTRODUCTION I recently caught a glimpse of Roman Lappats Ulfenwatch miniatures and I was blown away by the brilliant modelling effects he had showcased on his group of armoured revenants. My eyes kept coming across small bits of vegetation that looked like it was alive, on and about the skeletons. So, I decided to write a tutorial about How to model Mould, Moss, and Vegetation with your figures. I always keep my own step by step in the back of my mind and this reminded me that this would be the perfect time to
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John, Theory and Tutorials.
massive voodoo, Moss, Mould, recreating plant effects, roman lappat, textures, Ulfenwatch and Vegetation.
massive voodoo, Moss, Mould, recreating plant effects, roman lappat, textures, Ulfenwatch and Vegetation.
Hello followers and fans! This weekend The Figurementors Magazine Celebrates VE Day with 20% OFF any and ALL purchases made from today up to Monday. Don’t miss out! Maybe you are looking to catch up on back issues or branching out into a new genre? Perhaps you have an eye on one of the Best of Volumes? You may even be finding our site for the first time ever! The Figurementors Magazine Celebrates VE Day with 20% OFF – What to Expect? The team at figurementors believe we offer some of the most informative and inspirational content currently available! We
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Hello, I would like to present you with the Staining Cloth Miniature Painting Tutorial. Staining Cloth Miniature Painting Tutorial – Introduction. For this tutorial I am going to go over staining using a model that has been primed with Zanduri Dust by Citadel. You could just as easily use any type of light brown primer. For the base coat, I used Liche Purple also by Citadel. In fact all paints are Citadel unless stated otherwise. Then I added a little bit of Abbadon Black to equal parts of Liche Purple. I used this mix to shade the recesses to give
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INTRODUCTION Creating Corrosive Textures on our miniatures does not need to be super difficult. A relatively quick and easy technique can produce additional visual interest to your miniatures. This is a step by step practical approach. Not so much about the painting aspect of corroded armour but how I get the texture of the corrosion. I am beginning with just a Green base coat on this particular example. I go no further with highlights or shadows, just focusing on the corrosion. The first step in creating corrosive textures is to map out the shape of the corrosion. I use a
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Hey everyone, so its that time of year and Figurementors have a Black Sale! That’s right. You can now catch up on your favourite figure painting magazine with 20% your purchase when you use code blackwk202020 at checkout! Whether you’re interested in the historical or fantasy genre, perhaps even both. It’s all here at the cheapest price ever! Take a look HERE! Over the last couple of years, we have worked very hard to bring our followers a great looking site, a library of free content and two of the best digital figure painting magazines on the market. We have
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This short tutorial titled TOP SECRET – A simple technique for gap filling will show you a quick and simple technique for seam filling. When it comes to filling gaps and those pesky seam/join lines that hobbyists often find themselves having to deal with, I am sure we all would like a simple solution! Look no further! I had the pleasure of attending a class by the renowned artist, Meg Maples. The class covered a wide variety of topics from two brush blending to how to paint eyes. It was amazing to learn her insights if you get a chance
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INTRODUCTION Hey everyone, this is my first post at figurementors since I joined the team. And I am a little scared. So, I wanted to show from the off what I love doing, painting and weathering units of beasts, robots and warriors. In my first post, I will show you how to paint Necrons, supported with images. So hopefully, you can clearly see what I am doing. You know I love Necrons and therefore I thought it would be a cool starting point for me. This is all totally new to me, so I hope I can get my message
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INTRODUCTION – Converting a 75mm Fantasy Figure For some time I’ve wanted to paint a figure based on an online show I enjoy, Critical Role and that means the need for converting a 75mm fantasy figure. However, for those of you not familiar it’s a show ‘where a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons.’ Might sound like an odd premise for a show, but this past year they also kickstarted their own animated series which the critter community helped to become the highest funded film or television project in Kickstarter history. So, it’s got
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This article aims to show you how to use certain behaviours to enhance your miniature painting!
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SCALECOLOR ARTIST Acrylic Paints – A Review I don’t think anyone that’s active in our community and on Facebook has failed to notice Scale75’s Kickstarter campaign for their new line of paints, the ScaleColor Artist acrylic paints. When I first read the description for these paints, I was very intrigued. I’ve been experimenting with using traditional artist acrylic paint for miniatures for a while, but I’ve had trouble finding a brand that worked for me and these paints sounded like a middle ground between the specialised paint for miniatures and Artist paint. So, after some calculations, I decided to go
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Figurementors 2.0 is LIVE Figurementors 2.0 is LIVE! Well it has been a crazy couple of months at Figurementors. There seems to be no let up in the amount of work, effort and investment in keeping the site and the magazines going. The team aren’t looking for sympathy lol but sometimes it feels that it is a hard slog. Every day life, mental health, work and family all need to be balanced to keep everything afloat. We had been wanting to update our site for some time, but where to start, what did we want to achieve and how did
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WHERE HAS MY MUSE GONE? So recently I had lost my muse and I have spoken about losing my mojo, to which I think I mean, inspiration. I believe we’ve all been there in some way or another and the longer you’ve been doing ‘your art’ the more certainly you’ll have found yourself in a bit of a creative lull. My Facebook friends regularly suggest various ways to get the mojo back whilst others insist on a break, to clear the head. I think in the past couple of days I have had somewhat of a moment of clarity regarding
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Golden Demon Winners Challenge – PRELUDE Last year, I was lucky enough to win a gold demon at Golden Demon Classic at Warhammer Fest with my Hell pit Abomination of all Hell Pit Abominations. In the summer, I went to the Golden Demon Winner’s Day at the GW headquarters in Nottingham, a yearly celebration of those, who won demons that year. There we were all invited to take part in a new project at White Dwarf. A challenge… as readers of White Dwarf may remember they have had ‘Eavy Metal challenges a couple of times before, where members of the ‘Eavy
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It seems like I can’t stop painting in light and colour or at least I keep coming back to it. Well to tell the truth, all painting is either in light and colour or monochromatic, but I tend to make pieces that somehow emphasize the light and colour, where the light sources themselves are the main characters. Here I have composed a little tutorial on creating a night scene only lit up from within by colourful light sources using slightly Fluorescent Paints. Using Fluorescent Paints to Achieve Light Effects with your Figures – the Prelude After a conversation with a
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Legend of Raistlin – the PRELUDE A flash of nostalgia – Raistlin Majere is one of my all time favourite characters from fantasy literature and is obviously my inspiration for the Legend of Raistlin. I remember reading Dragonlance where he is one of the main characters, many years ago, it was one of the first fantasy novels I ever read. I played a lot of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons back then, that’s where I started to paint miniatures at first, they were gaming pieces for that. I also got a lot of inspiration from the paintings of Larry Elmore, he
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Worn Leather Texture – the PRELUDE Lately I’ve been giving more attention to how I can create the look of different textures on various parts of my figures. For a long time I used to focus on just getting extreme enough highlights and shadows for good contrast and then a smooth blend between them. As I started to feel more confident there, I turned my attention to making the various parts actually look like the materials they were supposed to be. A wool coat looks different from a satin leather and both of those look different than a shiny piece of
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Regrowth – the PRELUDE I bought the Selvambi miniature from Aradia last october, I think. I really like the sculpt by Olivier Bouchet, it is very much alive I think. The tiny Sprite like creature has a certain animalistic vitality to it, her face resembles that of a fox and a deer at the same time, as well as hooves for feet. I think it is quite a feat to include these animal features, yet still keep her fairly human. At the same time Selvambi has a distinct female vulnerability to her. This duality in the sculpt spoke a lot
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Napoleonic Dragoon – the PRELUDE This article will present a walkthrough on the painting of a 54mm scale Napoleonic Dragoon using acrylics. The specific figure is Pegaso Models’ Imperial Guard, Empress’ Dragoons Officer, 1806-15. Napoleonic figures are among my favourite historical subjects to paint. Of all the different eras, they have some of the most colourful and detailed uniforms. Of the various Napoleonic units, the Dragoons may not be the most colorful, but there is something about their slick uniforms that draws me to that subject. The Empress’ Dragoons, also known as the Dragoons of the Imperial Guard, were formed by
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Object Source Lighting – the PRELUDE My newest piece Valaska Sin is both an exercise in working to a tight deadline, so my painting was forced into a no-nonsense mode where I had absolutely no time to stop and think, and a study in source lighting, mood and ambience. These two exercises work surprisingly well together, because alternative lighting and moods are much better achieved when you work in an intuitive and spontaneous way rather than over thinking and analysing everything, which can easily happen when you set out to do something different and have too much time to do
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Kristian.
acrylics, anatomy, Building a scenic base, creating ambience, Fantasy, figure art, figure painting, figure painting tutorial, glazes, Hasslefree Miniatures, Historical figure painting, Kristian Simonsen, miniature art, miniature painting tutorial, mood, object source lighting, OSL, resin, sci fi painting, secret weapon miniatures, setting the environment, skintone, step by step and Weathering.
acrylics, anatomy, Building a scenic base, creating ambience, Fantasy, figure art, figure painting, figure painting tutorial, glazes, Hasslefree Miniatures, Historical figure painting, Kristian Simonsen, miniature art, miniature painting tutorial, mood, object source lighting, OSL, resin, sci fi painting, secret weapon miniatures, setting the environment, skintone, step by step and Weathering.
Kristian Simonsen – the PRELUDE I am the newest member of the figurementors team. You may remember me from my article last year on my piece “Before the Battle“. I come from Denmark, I am 43 years old and the proud father of two teenage boys. When I am not painting or modelling I am a train driver working evenings and nights driving the commuters of Copenhagen home. I have been modelling since the tender age of 6. I grew up in the eighties building tons of WWII plastic kits. This has founded a deep interest in history that has been
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PRELUDE I think it is really important to remember and respect those master painters who were the trailblazers for our world of figure painting. It is something that has resonated with me even more since I dictated the interview with Alfonso Giraldes (to be published soon), where he spoke of the importance to know our history and that one of the reasons why figure painting is not considered an Art at present is because it has no history, no text on what came before now, no one remembers who started which trend or created the techniques we now take so
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Painting a Shiny Black – PRELUDE Black is one of the colours that many people find difficult to paint with. If you’re not careful highlighting it, the colour can quickly turn from a black into a grey, and as it’s already so dark, how does one shade it? While I hope to write a more thorough article on different ways to deal with black, for the moment I’m going to focus on a specific variety: painting a shiny black. Think of glossy black hair or shiny black leather. Sure, you could use a gloss finish over black, but that never
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Painting of a 54mm Saxon Warrior – PRELUDE I’m always excited to paint kits from Raúl García Latorre, one of my favourite sculptors. This article will focus on one of his old kits, a 54mm Saxon Warrior, 5th Century. The kit was originally released some time ago from his old company, but looks like it will be re-released through MProyec so you can still get a copy if you want! While this step by step will focus on a specific figure, the information is applicable to a wide range of kits including many historical and fantasy barbarian figures. I’ll touch
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Knight of the Holy Sepulchre – PRELUDE This article will be a walk-through on my painting of a medieval knight on horseback. At the time I was looking for a good competition figure. I settled on this beautiful 54mm kit from Pegaso, a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. It’s a great dynamic sculpt and the large surfaces of the cape, shield, and banner provided plenty of opportunity for freehand embellishments. These features make the kit a great display or competition piece. Although I wanted to treat this as a historical kit, the sculpt could be just as easily used in a fantasy
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“Before the Battle” – PRELUDE A couple of months ago I set out to make a big piece to bring to the Monte san Savino show. I worked with an idea that had been in my head for quite some time that had never been realised. This is not really a step by step but more of a look at my thought process and the transition from thought to realisation of the idea. With this piece, I wanted to achieve several things; being a painter and modeller of both fantasy and historical subjects, I wanted to bridge the gap between
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Painting Tartan Patterns – PRELUDE If painting designs on your figures makes you nervous, taking on a tartan might seem like a nearly impossible task. Well, the truth is, if you can paint (mostly) straight lines then you can paint a tartan. In this tutorial I’ll breakdown the pattern and show you how to build it back up, one simple step at a time. The only other trick is trying to keep those lines uniformly spaced and of uniform thickness. The more uniform the lines are, the better the tartan will look, so I’ll be sharing some tips to help
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Method for Painting Eyes on Busts – SIMPLE BEGINNINGS Eyes can be tricky, but I’ve got a multi-step process that can hopefully help you out. My focus here is on larger scale figures (busts and 90mm figures), however for smaller figures I use a simplified version of the same process. I’ll say a few words about that at the end, but first up is my more detailed version. Step 0: Before starting on the eyes, I like to add the main shadows to the skin around the eyes. Easier to do this first so I can be a bit sloppy
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My Experience Painting OSL – PRELUDE Object-Source Lighting (OSL), is probably one of the most intimidating techniques in miniature painting. I’m intentionally not calling this article “How to Paint OSL” because I feel like I have a long way to go before I come close to mastering the technique. That being said, I think I’ve had success at applying it… so hopefully that is enough to justify me wanting to share my thoughts. GENERAL SKILLS TO HELP WITH OSL This is something I don’t often see discussed in other OSL articles, but I feel this technique really builds off of
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Painting Orc skin – PRELUDE A few years back I painted an Orc standard bearer from Forgeworld who I christened Nagrus’z Strongarm. Hopefully this will complement the work David did in his article HERE! Anyways, I hope some of you will find this useful! OVERALL COLOUR SCHEME So initially I was thinking about how I wanted the piece to look, as I had decided to go with a cooler colour in purple for the dragon hide banner, I decided to go warm for the Orc’s skintone. The metal would also be cold in temperature value, framing the skintone and drawing
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First Time Painting Historical Figures? Here’s Some Advice – INTRODUCTION This site is not focused on any one genre of figures. We hope to expose people to all sides of the modelling hobby. Speaking for myself, sometimes it feels like there is a disconnect in the figure painting community between the fantasy/Sci-Fi crowd and the historical crowd. Certain sites, shows, and clubs seem to cater to one or the other. In my experience, groups and shows are generally accepting of any genre of figure. But there’s not as much overlap as I would expect. While a lot of the top
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Painting regular skin can be tough, but it is something that is covered in numerous other tutorials. So instead I’d like to go into a topic I find even tougher… painting unnatural skin. To start off I should clarify what I mean by unnatural skin. I’m not talking about orc or demonic skin. I’m referring to skin that should look human, but which is not quite right. Maybe it’s a vampire, perhaps an evil sorcerer or chaos warrior tainted by the powers of darkness. Or a look similar to the Borg from Star Trek or one of the dark elves
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