So, I just got into IA, unfortunately it appears at end of life so I'll be probably spending more money than I want to make sure I get the things I want. I've decided to try my hand at painting to add a little more excitement to the game and seeing so many other works of art has been a real inspiration. I've looked at countless images on the forums, instagram, etc to come up with ideas and realize what I do and don't like. Although I appreciate most forms of art, I have never been an "artistic" person myself. Give me a set of directions to build things whether it be Legos or Ikea furniture and I'm happy, lol! So this is going to be quite the adventure. I don't expect to produce amazing pieces right away or even quickly but hopefully with practice and studying other pieces my work will improve.

Like so many others it seems like my first introduction to painting was through @Sorastro 's amazing videos. While I may be cutting down a few steps to start with, these videos have given me a great appreciation for the artistry as well as instruction on certain techniques. There are so many other great pieces on here but @Fourtytwo and @Utforskarn have really amazed me so hopefully I can model some of my work after theirs while keeping it unique. My current goal isn't to try an make artistic pieces, must semi-realistic pieces to enhance gameplay.

My first pieces were the Imperial officers. I went with an ISB officer as my elite. This was my very first piece and I'm not really happy, but will probably keep most of these as is for the time being just to track improvement. I hate faces, lol. That is the one thing that will eventually get fixed.

Next up was Jyn Odan as I was using her in the tutorial LotA tutorial campaign. I really started feeling a little more comfortable on this one and used it as a way to play around with some various techniques for shadows/highlights.

The last one that I have completed was General Sorin. This one I was really excited to try and am actually quite happy with the result for my 5th attempt at a miniature.

My next one will be Gaarkhan, who is already in progress and then either some Rebel Troopers or Stormtroopers. Between the Core, Stormtroopers add-on, Blaise and the Jet-Troopers who will be arriving today I will have plenty of those guys to deal with. It is definitely more exciting to jump in and paint the characters I like the most, but at the same time I kind of want to push some of them off until I have improved my technique.

Thanks for looking. I'll post more as I go. Even though they aren't as masterful as most of the others on here, maybe they can still provide some inspiration.

solid work on these. ^^

Those are some top-notch jowls on Sorin.

32 minutes ago, ArtemisKnab said:

Those are some top-notch jowls on Sorin.

Thanks, I have quickly learned how valuable ink washes can be in helping with shading.

It's never too late to get into this amazing game, and it's always better to paint your minis, whether you are a beginner at painting or a veteran. So: Keep it up! There's no right or wrong way to paint your minis - the only right way is that which works for you and is enjoyable. Sorastro is a great primer for your first steps, painting basics and also advanced techniques. I also recommend Vince Venturella's YouTube-series 'Hobby Cheating', which is also very inspiring and encouraging.

I always light up when beginners at painting simply start painting and are not shy to present their results. If you enjoy the process, keep painting and experiment with the various techniques and methods out there and you will improve and eventually find your own method.

👍

Great work, man!

Pretty **** nice for your first five (!) minis ever. My first couple of minis were so bad they are now nothing more than ”test-minis” that get experimented on yours are far better.

I really like Sorin, nice brushcontrol and his face looks great. The imperial officers are tricky to get as good since the sculpts just aren’t that great to begin with.

I’m looking forward to more pics!

44 minutes ago, Fourtytwo said:

It's never too late to get into this amazing game, and it's always better to paint your minis, whether you are a beginner at painting or a veteran. So: Keep it up! There's no right or wrong way to paint your minis - the only right way is that which works for you and is enjoyable. Sorastro is a great primer for your first steps, painting basics and also advanced techniques. I also recommend Vince Venturella's YouTube-series 'Hobby Cheating', which is also very inspiring and encouraging.

I always light up when beginners at painting simply start painting and are not shy to present their results. If you enjoy the process, keep painting and experiment with the various techniques and methods out there and you will improve and eventually find your own method.

👍

Thanks! I saw one of your other posts recommending "Hobby Cheating" and took a peek at a couple of the videos, hopefully will get a chance to view some more. There are so many though that I think I will need to focus on certain techniques I'm interested in.

Spent my afternoon getting some more painting done while catching up on Netflix since next week will most likely be a bust.

Got the finishing touches put on Gaarkhan. Still haven't figured out what I want to do for basing on most of these so that part will stay incomplete. @Bitterman 's method for eyes actually worked for me this time!

Decided that the next group to start was the Imperial Guards. Once I've spray varnished them I'm going to gloss varnish the hoods to match their look in the movies.

Decided to play around with some lighting and my makeshift backdrop so here's Sorin and Jyn again.

Nicely done!

gaarkhan is looking great and you really nailed the eyes. I find these forums are a great way of sharing and learning painting techniques just like @Bitterman did with painting eyes.

The royal guards are looking very good too

Gaarkhan's eyes look great! 🙉 😍 Nice work!

I ended up finding a fair amount of time to paint this week although it was more sporadic. I got the rest of the Core Heroes done along with Vader, the Vipers, and one squad of Stormtroopers.

Not particularly happy with the Stormtroopers but I figured that until I find a technique that works well for me and I like the results of I would just do one squad at a time instead of a huge assembly line.

I kept the probe droids pretty simple: a black base, a dry brush of gun metal and color to a couple of lenses. I decided to do the main lens red on all of them and the secondary lens a color that matches that of the unit markers.

Vader I also kept pretty simple and just went for some mild highlighting. Figured I could always go back later.

Out of the Heroes I was most interested in Fenn and Mak so I put more effort into those and am satisfied with how they turned out. Gideon also wasn't too bad. Diala, I just didn't have much interest in so a lot less effort went in. The wraps were quite annoying for me.

The gang's all here..