Excellent, clean painting as always... the face has more detail and character than stuff some people paint on big canvasses (is that the proper plural of canvas!?).

But... (and you know that one was coming, eh?)

...the matte colors don't work for me. He looks very pale, lifeless... might be the picture, but the black is more a green-grey than black, and it somewhat lacks contrast, nothing really stands out. It doesn't pop, yet. But this is WIP, so where are you going to take this guy? What will be the focus points of the minis, where do you want us to take that extra-look?

I could imagine some nice marble-stairs (maybe even b/w checkered?) - maybe blood dripping from the chainaxe down the stairs? Something to add a bit of color-kaboom to the scenery?

Scrolling back and forth from my little text here, up to the mini... the face is just awesome, you really mastered that! Perfect!

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Hiking Metal Punks Forever!

Hmm...
Well,he's certainly not done yet,and the black areas will be Chao Black so that should bring out all the metallic trims,and add some contrast.
I've worked to get all the details toned,and i know this is a very different way of painting to what you prefer I certainly dont think he's lifeless...i wanted a feral and savage looking model,and i thought the bits i've added reinforce this...im not a photographer,so maybe the lighting hasnt helped me here! People who have seen it in real life havent said its boring,but i may go ask the for harder critique,possibly they were just being nice.
The base shall be steel plating,i hope that the silver will show him up better.
Blood...wasnt sure on that,as the axe already has green and orange on it,im wary of putting red on it,as it might look too messy...no pun intended.
As for key points,i'd list the skulls,Imperial Fist helmet (out of shot i think),the axe and gun,and the 5 litanies,theres the Undivided one on his belt,and each of the 4 Gods are represented about his person,one litany per limb...
Ben

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All the artistic talent of a cluster of colourblind hedgehogs...In a bag.

Ahh, okay - so it will be real dark black, that's good... the green-grey makes him look, I dunno, "dusty" like he was covered in clouds of sand and dirt at some point....

Yeah, I wasn't gonna mention I like my highlights really "in your face", but I just feel your model might be too muted (as it is now, might be different once black is added to the mix) - I dunno how to put this, even the shiny bits are pale, desatiated - it's like someone sucked the color out of him. And for a monochromatic approach, there is already too much variation going on.

Boring isn't exactly the right word (and your painting skills are awesome, I cannot mention that point enough!) - just not popping, I miss the points to focus on. Like, for example if you had all dark armour, and made a brighter head, the head would just get more importance in the eyes of a viewer, due to contrast and what not. The way your model is now, all the focus points and the not focus points are too equal in viewing-importance for my taste, the way you coloured it doesn't exactly lead me to the "highlights" or "extra cool bits" of your model - I dunno, does this clarify what I am trying to say? If not, I have to try harder to explain. I think watching the model from some distance might help, it shows that things blend together too well (maybe) and that focus points get drowned because they are surrouned by equally colored areas.

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Hiking Metal Punks Forever!

I agree he's very tonal,but thats what i wanted,i wanted a guy that looks like he's centuries old and has been about,and to this end,ive tried to age things appropriately,so the armour is chipped and rusted,as is are the rivets and the axe,that i imagine takes a lot of beating and so i worked hard on that...The axe heads themselves are marble,which i think is an interesting detail to start with.
To break up the browns and greens,ive tried at other things,like the gold and bronze has verdigris,so theres light blue detailing there.
To maybe give you some idea on how bight some of the bits ought to be,the litanies have final highlights of Bleached Bone with a little white in,and the skin goes up to the old Pallid Flesh.The skulls also have final highlights of Khaki and white.The silvers go up to Mithril.
As to the black,its the last thing i do,as most of my initial work is drybrushing and glazing,the black tends to look a right mess,as it normally gets hit by everything i slop on! There IS rust about some of it,like between some of the plates,but it should look a more solid black in the end.
I reckon my photography is most of the fault though...wasnt particularly bright this afternoon,but i tried anyway lol
I will give some thought to your words,and ask others...maybe you have seen something i just cant...coz i've looked at it too long
Ben

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All the artistic talent of a cluster of colourblind hedgehogs...In a bag.

I too think he looks a bit pale, but (and that's more like my own coloring stile) I think that gives him the more Chaos look. Liveles servants of the gods so to say. Anyway I think he looks very good and has some awesome details on him. though he might looks a bit overloadet with throphys...

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Heroes are dreams of times long past, so let me be your dream.

I do prefer a pale skin.
The trophies...they arent too bad i dont think,they are the new skeleton bits,so they are a lot smaller than you might think if you havent seen them I tried to space them out,which will be easier to see when i get all round photos,and i added a few heads and a Space Marine helmet also to break up the skulls.
I think they are comparable to the bits in the plastic Terminator box anyway...
Ben

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All the artistic talent of a cluster of colourblind hedgehogs...In a bag.

Ahh, a pity I cannot see this guy in person... I am pretty sure my perception of it would be different... I can't believe he's highlighted up to Pallid and Mithril... that's REALLY bright (and should accentuate things really good).

I dunno if I have seen something you have not (since I only have this photo to see stuff on) - and the more I think about it, I tend to agree the photo isn't exactly the best (if I remember correctly, some of your other works were shot by a professional photographer with better equip, right?) - I guess, as you said, it's mostly a light-issue that changes what this guy looks like for real, into what I see now (or don't see, for that matter ;D).

Maybe a real good close-up shot might help clarify things (I'd love to see the details on the face).

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Hiking Metal Punks Forever!

Seriously lol some of the final highlights are those colours stated!
Ive taken all my own photos,the earlier montages were put through the Photoshop treatment by my friend,but all the recent pictures have been me...i just try for good natural light and i dont think i had that this afternoon...it was bright but...maybe not quite enough!
A close up of the face you say...maybe i will try and get that at some point,in some better light
Ben

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All the artistic talent of a cluster of colourblind hedgehogs...In a bag.

Okay, have you p-shopped this picture as well? Maybe it's just missing a bit of color-correction with curves?

Oh, yes - a close-up on the face would be great, I mean this guy looks better/more real than my real-life grandfather XD
I just would like to see it really close to understand your brush-strokes to achieve this great face (and have my jaw-bone hitting the floor, realizing that this head is like... VERY SMALL XD)

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Hiking Metal Punks Forever!