Anna Valerious & Vlad Tepes

[Michael Robert]

Flashcad
Another thrilling presentation of your figures. You know how much I admire your painting.
Just this one is too dramatic for me. The figures lose their class in this light and flashy background.
But hey, different tastes do exist and it makes our world only richer
Keep up your cool work
Cheers
Muchael

[Flashcad]

Flashcad
Another thrilling presentation of your figures. You know how much I admire your painting.
Just this one is too dramatic for me. The figures lose their class in this light and flashy background.
But hey, different tastes do exist and it makes our world only richer
Keep up your cool work
Cheers
Muchael

Thanks for your feedback and interesting critique Michael. This brings up the potential for a rewarding discussion and exchange of viewpoints.
Sure, I could post photos with a plain black background as if I was trying to sell stuff on eBay.


But then none of my stuff is for sale and especially not that particular figure, which is one of my "Jewels In The Crown" of my collection. Although I have been known to send painted figures to friends in the States and Australia as Christmas or Birthday gifts - and my wife's extended family get any dioramas I'm finished with. They don't care if there's minor historical accuracy errors inherent to the figures or the dioramas, and I certainly don't care either.

The next three photos were taken against a blue background, and it works fine for this 1:35 scale diorama of the USMC withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.






I consider this next one to be, arguably, the best 1:35 scale figure I've ever done, but I reckon the photo itself is pretty boring.


However, place my 2nd version of that Field Nurse into a 1:35 scale diorama with a flat grey backdrop depicting the WW2 Battle of the Hurtgenwald and suddenly both the scene and the figure seem to come to life.






And now here's one of my more whimsical efforts. I love this image, but is it suitable for a forum post? Probably not.


Then there's my attempts to use 54mm and 75mm figures from my collection, and apply some basic image manipulation techniques to try and emulate the kind of fantasy posters I like so much. Are these appropriate for forum posts? I dunno the answer to that one, but again, I like them.








Ultimately it all comes down to personal tastes, which are always subjective...






Cheers the Noo

[Kostis Ornerakis]

I love your work and your photos, but regardless the black background the kimono is mind blowing.
Btw, I have to admit that the black background is the one I usually choose in my projects.

[Flashcad]

I love your work and your photos, but regardless the black background the kimono is mind blowing.
Btw, I have to admit that the black background is the one I usually choose in my projects.

I agree. A plain background is ideal when you want to showcase a figure.
But painting figures is only a part of my hobby. That is actually, with some exceptions, building vignettes with say 2 ~ 6 figures, and small dioramas with around 8 ~ 15 or so figures; and then photographing the results in such a way that illustrates the interactions I try to depict. The vignettes are usually presented on nothing more than glorified bases, although I do generally add a bit more detail to the small diorama bases.
The individual figures are less important to me than the overall scene/mood/ambience, or whatever I'm trying to put across; and obviously I choose the backgrounds that I think will complement the figures. Do I always get it right? No, of course not. It's a constant learning curve, but it's one I enjoy.
Other hobbyists have their own approach, and that's fine. I also enjoy seeing what other people come up with, even if the subject isn't in my immediate sphere of interest.
It's all good and in my opinion it's also good to stretch out a bit and try something outside of my comfort zone at times. Just don't expect to see 20mm figures from me anytime soon. My eyes struggle with anything smaller than 1:35 scale...and even 1/32 scale is challenging these days.
...

[C M Dodson]

Exquisite painting skills and some lovely compositions.

You can feel the cold on the snow scenes and I love the two knights together with the ‘lair’ composition.

Great pictures .

Best wishes,

Chris

[Flashcad]

Exquisite painting skills and some lovely compositions.
You can feel the cold on the snow scenes and I love the two knights together with the ‘lair’ composition.
Great pictures .
Best wishes,
Chris

Feel free to take a browse through the MP4 slideshows on my YT channel.
I deliberately chose to make it non-monetized so I could include copyright audio and video clips.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLG-aEeSXIOyLjBCEIEH_gw/videos

[C M Dodson]

Thank you for the links .

Very creative although San plan pour moi at Borodino seems a bit strange!

Best wishes,

Chris

[Flashcad]

Thank you for the links .
Very creative although San plan pour moi at Borodino seems a bit strange!
Best wishes,
Chris

Yeah, coming hard on the heels of "The 1812 Overture", Plastic Bertrand is something of a shock to the system. I did it for a laugh.
... ...
There's numerous other examples of my evil sense of humor hidden away in several of the slideshows, although I kept the "Frozen Chosin" and "Rage" videos pretty serious, as befitted the subjects.