Quarterly Challenge
Now that we're safely past April Fool's Day, you all will know this challenge is serious business (my bad). Many minipainters are fans of animation and drawing and we're going to bring them together in this challenge. Comics and similar mediums are a terrific masterclass in control of your colors and composition. They also provide perfect reference images where you can easily see the colors used for every detail. Here's an example of the same model painted in more of a traditional style v.s. a comic book style.
For the second quarter of 2023, paint a model using a comic-inspired style. This is most often areas of solid opaque color with clearly defined edges (no blending required!) featuring saturated colors. However, there are many graphic artists that use light and dark, saturated and desaturated, hard edges and soft edges to define their personal style. If you're not sure if your style fits, find an example from a published work.
Comic style makes us think of classic DC and Marvel superheroes, but graphic novels, manga, anime, and other animated shows feature incredible artists demonstrating expertise in this style in every scene.
When does it need to be finished by?
June 30th
Can I use models already painted?
No, these models need to be new in box or assembled and/or primed. If you plan to repaint the parts you're using, that's fine too.
What scale can we choose?
You can choose any size and scale. Go nuts!
Do I have to paint a comic character or scene?
No! Use your creativity. Want to paint a cell-shaded space marine? Go for it. Want to put your Age of Sigmar crab in a Dragonball Z fight? Make it go super saiyan!
For the bonus, how close do I have to get to my reference image?
Make an honest shot at color matching and getting close to the composition of the reference image. If your color sample is a dark desaturated green, don't grab saturated forest green and say it's good enough. If the reference image has strong shadows, attempt to replicate them.
B-b-b-b-bonus points! This quarter’s bonus is designed to help you get started and follow a recipe provided by your favorite artist! You just need to do a little leg work to get the details.
Use a reference image to get the colors and style for your model.
- Find a reference image you want to replicate. It can be a page from a comic, manga, or graphic novel or a screenshot from an anime or cartoon, you can probably even find work from a digital artist that fits.
- Use a color picker tool to get the colors from the image and make a larger paint splotch on the side to see the color more clearly. Repeat to get the exact colors used for highlights, midtones, and shadows for different parts of the image.
- Find or mix paints that closely replicate this color. Apps like paintRack have great color matching tools. Ask in the quarterly challenge channel if you’re stuck.
- Use those colors to replicate the style in your reference image.
- Post your submission in the quarterly challenge channel with the finished mini, your reference image with color swatches, and a simple list of the paints you used.
If you need a refresher, here is the point system: http://bit.ly/miniac-point-system