THE BLOG OF MINIATURE PAINTER AND GOLDEN DEMON WINNER PETER RIDLEY-BROWNE / BLACK DAGGER

Tuesday 24 December 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hello guys Merry christmas to all blog readers and blog freinds around the world !

Wishing you all merry christmas and a happy 2014 just a quick post as things are very busy around this time of year, ive updated the gallery for the blog with some better images, there is still some work to do on it but its nearly there. 
check out the gallery at the top of the page.
The brushes will rest for a few days so more to come soon. merry christmas to you all. 
peace

Monday 2 December 2013

DEATHWING and Fun ! !

Hello guys just a little post to show you my latest mini, a deathwing  terminator from the dark vengence box game buy GW.

I was working on the necromunda girl and this mini was just calling to me, i was painting like a mad man and finished it in about 8 hours. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out considering the time spent on it.

Sometimes its nice for me to paint a little faster to be more expressive and let the paint flow faster from the brush. i find it a lot more fun and i will be painting more this way in the future. my normal way of painting is a little more rigid if you get what I'm saying i think i need to not worry so much about getting the mini perfect and tidy every time and just enjoy the painting for what it is. To have fun is best  !!


So my brothers and sisters have fun and enjoy your painting.

keep up the good work

Comments most welcome peace!

Monday 25 November 2013

Hello fellow brush lickers!
                                       I've started work on the neromunda girl its been a little strange to paint after almost 2 months of not painting, the brush feels a little strange in my hand but making slow progress. After all the gd stuff i guess i needed a little break, i really don't know how army painter dudes paint none stop army's all day! I think my brain would melt.
Anyway here's a  few pics of my progress so far, is a little messy but i will tidy it up. Like i said a little out of touch but i feel the flow returning slowly.
  I|was thinking with this mini to show different ways of painting black! Her hair the leather gloves with a sheen and paint the main part of the gun with a worn look. To give the impression of texture.

 sorry for the bad pic by the way i was just a quick snap.
so i will paint some more very soon so more to come

Keep up the good work guys
peace

Sunday 17 November 2013

Necromunda Girl ! ! !

Hey guys
                Its good a last to be free with my painting once again, the last 6 months I've spent working souly on golden demon entry's and working to the rules of competition that can feel sometimes a bit restrictive, so now i can be free to do what i want which is cool.
So here is my next little project that i will call "necromunda girl" for now until i find a better title for it. i was thinking Level 22 or Level one or something like that but i will have to decide once the mini progresses and the story unfolds in my mind.
 The miniature is a classic GW necromunda house esher ganger with lasgun that i got from ebay at a good price.  Now this project will not be exactly a necromunda piece, im basing it very loosly on that world but it will have a bit of real world vibe in there too. i also plan to try some graffiti on the base also and have it looking all weatherd. so things that are fun to paint mainly.

                                                The miniature
Here is where I'm at with the base at the moment, although its been undercoated Ive since been back and added lots more details. screws,cables, microchip parts from an old busted phone,more bricks underneath
in the gutter part at the bottom. there will be pics next post of more details.
I'm planing to start painting tomorrow so more pics to follow soon.
keep up the good work guys,
peace.

Saturday 12 October 2013

The Quest for better photo's

Hey guys I've lately been very frustrated with the quality of my photos, well i say lately it has always plagued me the quality of my pics. Ive tried many different set ups with two lamps, diffused light , the right camera settings etc but still poor photos.
It is no secret that taking photos of miniatures is not easy
Since my last post of the sentinel pics and my complaining, my brother in law has been very kind and lent me his very expensive camera and also was very kind to gift me a mini photo studio with two lamps.Cool 
(Many thanks Leigh) so i now have the potential to make better pics but we will have to looks at the results.


    TEST 1
Manual setting
Exp 0
Day light setting
10mpxl
ISO 80
lamps
and booth to diffuse the light.
Tripod

Now each photo is taken from a slight distance and cropped later. you don't want to use the macro setting as it tends to focus on some parts of the miniature while other areas can be blurry, even more so with larger minis.
Ok so not a bad result a little out of focus or maybe not to sharp. i used the 10sec timer also to eliminate shake.
also might need to be a little closer.

ok problem 1 out of focus
problem 2 some blurry areas
now i must figure out how to solve these problems.

Now this is not meant to be a tutorial but hopefully i will be able to help some of you that are also having some problems. i will try to improve as i progress. its really trail and error and I'm learning as i go.

So i will test some things out and report again soon TEST2,3,4 etc.
hope i can solve this problem and help you too.
more soon






Saturday 5 October 2013

Sentinel more pics!!!

Just took some pics of the sentinel. i must say im terrible at photographing miniatures and too poor to afford a good camera or photoshop, so this is the best i can do. its frustrating i want you guys to see it how you would ''in the flesh'' if you get what i mean. Anyway hope you like . sorry.

Monday 30 September 2013

Golden Demon UK 2013 bronze demon for me!

Hello guys,
                 Just returned from Birmingham yesterday for golden demon. it was a good day and got to meet and chat to lots of friendly people. The standard this year i felt was higher than previous years with many top painters coming from over seas for the day. Also it seamed there were less finalists this year but don't quote me on that as I'm not sure that's true just seamed that way to me.
The only down side was that golden demon was held in a separate smaller hall that was poorly lit making it harder to properly see the entry's let alone photograph them! plus the flights of stairs to get down there to the hall. I think i prefer the N.E.C as a venue like in previous years.

I personally did very well, all 5 of my entry's made finalist plus a bronze in 40k vehicle.

GREY KNIGHT/ 40K SINGLE..... Finalist medal

CHAOS LORD/ WARHAMMER SINGLE..... Finalist medal

SENTINEL/ 40K VEHICLE..... Bronze demon           YAY YAY!!!!!!!!!!

DOOMBULL/ WARHAMMER MONSTER......Finalist medal

THE SCAVENGER (genestealer mini diorama)/ DIORAMA......Finalist medal

So a bronze for me my seconed demon,  very very happy day for me.
Here are many photos of my entrys, there arn't pics of all my entrys as ive not photograped them all yet but here are a few for you to check out.









                               Sentinel /Bronze demon

 Sorry theres no photo of my chaos lord and the pic of my sentinel is terrible but i will take some more very soon.


hope you like my stuff, more soon.
peace out!

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Much better pics

Hey guys just a quick post because I've finally managed to take some good pictures that I'm happy with. Ive been photographing my entry's for golden (finished entry's) ready for the blog in a few weeks and decided to get my dreadnought snapped too. finally some pics of it that I'm happy with. some of you may remember the one that took gold at golden demon 2011
peace out!

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Update!!

Hey guys just a quick update as its been a while since my last post!!
 Don't worry i have not fallen off the face of the earth im just putting in maximum hours on painting for golden demon uk in a few weeks. with work and family stuff its hard to find time to work on other projects that i can show on the blog. But hey i will show you my demon entrys soon so loads to see.

Also ive added another blog to the "blogs i read" section, Masterminis this blog is the hub of our small painting world i belive and ive been reading it alot lately with all the games days happening. Very cool stuff here so if you havent seen this blog you must check it out. lots of links and cool stuff.

So i will be back soon with some cool stuff for you to check out.
Keep up the good work guys
peace!


Sunday 5 May 2013

The Genestealer !!

Hello fellow brush lickers,
                                       Firstly i must apologize for my absence but its that time of year to start competition painting again, and with only 10 hours a week painting time its hard to get much else finished.

So i finaly finished the genestealer diorama (although taking photos has been a pain again) its has been a fun little project to work on, i hope you like what you see? This was created purely for fun, i really wasnt to fussy about trying to be neat just trying things out with weathering. no weathering powders were used on this mini i might add. just citadel paints.  im happy with the results.
i will try and take some better pics soon and post on CMON. as its been a while since i put anything on there so should get that done soon.




keep up the good work guys.

Sunday 3 March 2013

WHITE DWARF & GENESTEALER

Hey guys,
               Some more genestealer for you, but first i must mention i was happy to see my miniature in march issue of white dwarf. its in the golden demon finalists section on page 88 if you want to see ( the grey knight )


Anyway here are some more pics of the genestealer for you. Im about 90% finished with it just a label and some small details to finish. ive added a lot more little touches like the drool from the stealers mouth and more hazard markings and number above the door, plus greating and more rust.

Hope you like it will have to wait a while longer until its finished as im of on holiday for a week.
more soon.
peace...

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Damn snow!

Hey guys some more of the genestealer for you, I'm sorry i haven't been posting much lately but its been chaos at work. The snow has made my job hard work as i work outdoors as a gravedigger, Many long days and feeling very tired and cold so progress has been very slow but finally got some more done.

This little project has been alot of fun to work on, I've not been so worried to get the painting perfect just have fun with it and not be so neat just more expressive and free from serious thoughts about my decisions and colour choice and balance and all that stuff, just fun that was my goal !!!!

Ive still got to add more water effect to the bottom of the base and add some grating to the bottom under the door plus touch up a few areas but its nearly done now so i will have some more for you soon .hope you like it.



sorry pictures are not good. more soon peace.