I've wanted to start a thread showing how members have progressed in this hobby for a long time now...so here is my chance.
I found one of my first ever painted models in one of my parts boxes and figured I would stand him up against one of my newer models. The Warrior of Minas Tirith was painted in/around December of 2004 and my Faramir conversion was done around 2010-ish, I wouldn't say I've progressed much since then, I've kinda plateaued out.

It bothers me when I hear how someone puts down their work in the painting challenges because they don't think they can win or don't deserve to enter. Everyone starts a the beginner level. I would love to see how you guys have progressed, and hope that you would join me to help encourage other newer members in this hobby to not feel down about how they may view their paint jobs when stacked up against some of us veteran painters.

Hey, I still have lots of areas to improve upon...look at his eye!

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No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

This is a great idea - I will add my contribution 2moro when i dig out the first ever model I painted and post a pic next to a current. Topic sticky'd

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Commission Availability : BOOKED SOLID (again lol)

More of my work at

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Too bad I repainted my Elrond for a challenge, that was my first ever hero.
Insane that I remember exactly when I was painting my first model.
A Men of Gondor with sword, painted with Revell paint which was like goo.
It came out of the fellowship of the ring starterset in 2001, 11 years ago, I was 12 years old... jeez.

Posting pics tomorrow, great initiative!

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Operation future in full swing.

Well said Dave!

Here's one of my first painted models (probably painted about 8 years ago now, it shows just how little attention I put into my painting when I first started the hobby):



And here is my most recent painting on an Orc Shaman on Warg though due to my impressive procrastination skills it is still unfinished:




And here is my most recent completed painting (August 2011):

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Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Jake

I paint for the table top. The varnish protects the figures and it makes it hard to photo them.
I painted these in 1987

I painted these the year the Two Towers came out

I painted these the year the Two Towers came out

I rebased these for WOTR I am sure I painted the bulk soon after the Fellowship

I painted these the year the Return of the King was released. I repainted the fort last summer.
I really don't take a lot of close ups of figures.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

There are 56 photos in this album. I made it as part of a bet I won. A person that will forever have egg on his face did not believe me when I told him I had them all. I still don't have the sambuca orks but they were not part of the bet. I also have all of the LOTR figures with the normal exceptions of the very special non releases. The very first Metal Miniatures I painted were for Star Trek. They are in storage.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Here is my progression starting with a witch I did back in 1984, the a Ral Partha "Wulfgar" i did in about 1988-89, then a Dwarf I did in the mid 90s, followed by Aragorn who I painted as my first GW Lord of the Rings figure, then the recent Gimili and finally Treebeard. I've defintely grown over the past 20 plus years of painting . . . but I still have lots of room for improvement.

Earliest Miniatures from the 80s:


Miniatures from the 90s and early 00s


Where I stand today . . . (on the back of giants):

Men of Gondor, Fellowship of the Ring starterset, 2001.
Boromir, traded, 2012.

Despite the fact I had no clue what highlighting and shading was in 2001, i think it's a pretty neat paintjob all things considered.
The base... well that flock used to be green

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Operation future in full swing.

This goblin is one of my earliest models from when I got back into the hobby in 2003 after a gap of seven years. It would appear none of my childhood skills stuck



And here's my latest model painted 2012:

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My website
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Wow, your painting is very good, amazing how it has developed!

This could be a great new stand alone topic, like you have done, people put up a then and now photo! Brilliant!

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Harfoots-The first of the Hobbit people to cross over the Misty Mountains and enter Eriador.

No pictures available but I too painted originally for the gaming table with gloss varnish over everything - there are a heap of Citadel/Games Workshop lead/pewter minis including one that I will swear was based completely on Gandalf but circa 1982-1984. And some space-skeletons... (not in a cupboard - I thought I would cover that pun before anyone else availed of it).

My next painting session will be 1:100 scale WW2. Lots and lots of sandy colours...

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Published ebooks:
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More to come!

Hi there,

The Rohan warrior on the first picture is the first figure I painted, that I didn't repaint over the years. It's also one of my first, including the repainted ones. There I painted with oil paints, and I didn't even mix colours, I just painted the clean colours I bought on the figures. But after a few figures, I decided to try something and I mixed colours. It's just a big experiment of trying things, but at the end you develop great skills. I am painting around 2 or 3 years now. And what I still get better, at making eyes, doing freehand stuff. But not only painting, also making terrain and stuff to make your board complete. At the beginning I was way better at making terrain than I was at painting. I made the watchtower out of skewers, a couple of weeks after the Rohan model. For a twelve year old, I was very pleased with the result. But now I'm 15, I've become better at making terrain as you can see on the last picture of my balsa wood Corsairs Ship.







I have developed my painting skill in general, but also painting terrain. And my making of terrain has developed too. As it is for now, I think I'm now as good at painting as I am at making terrain. So don't worry, you'll get better. And as counts for anyone here, there is still a lot to learn.

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See more of my work?
http://www.youtube.com/user/whgamingnl?feature=mhee

What a great idea for a thread! It's wonderful to see how much better everyone has gotten!

Here's some more insane progression for you



First up, the core of my army - High Elves. I sucked.




And secondly character painting. I started out at maybe 13/14, I don't remember. The good old days with reasonably priced metal miniatures ^_^

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Namarie

Great idea Bilbo!

Goblins, although the pictures aren't the best I hope you can still see the difference my earliest Goblins first (2003?) then some Goblins I repainted a year or two ago (2010/2011), and finally my latest Goblins (2012). Unfortunately I don't have any of my 2007 Goblins to show, as they were the 2010 Goblins before I washed them.

These were just flat colours (I was about 7)

These were flat colours with a wash (I was about 14/15)


These were layers and blending (16)



The most important thing I've learnt is to be patient and take your time (and also several thin layers are better than one thick layer (which ties in with being patient as it's more time consuming)).

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C.A.P.T.A.I.N. = Crazy And Proud To Admit It Now
http://chrisgomhobbyblog.blogspot.com/

I too have come a long way in painting. Or so I like to tell myself.

I believe my first models were the Mines of Moria Fellowship models. I tried repainting them at the time but the many layers of paint just obscured the details. I'll just have a few members of the Fellowship here, just so you have an idea.

The Fellowship:



Progression of Legolas:

Just look at that base! What a mess!



Gimli:





Frodo:





Sam:





Over the course of just over 4 years, you can go from horrific looking models to models you're proud to field in battle.
And once your skills grow and get better, you start to let your imagination and creativity explode and show in your work.
Don't ever give up! Never stop! Keep going. Look to success in the future and you'll find it.

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My WIP page: Click Here! -->So It Begins

Current Project: Ringwraiths - Haradrim - Mumakil

Elf captain 2003:



Haldir 2011:



Cloak Blending 2005:



Cloak Blending 2011:

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You don't have to be great to start. But you do have to start to be great.

Fortunately, I don't have any of my first goblins to scare you with but here's probably my oldest painting:



This was about a one and half years ago ago:


Simply imagine it with a lot more messy bits and 100% no highlights or washes. Thats roughly about how bad I was




and heres IMO some of my best recent paintings:

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'Though my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior'
-John Newton

The WoMT is from when I first started painting around 10 years ago. Legolas was earlier this year. Why yes, that *is* a solid coat of Mithril Silver.

This wasn't the first mini I ever painted, but it was on of the first I had done when I really took off with the hobby. It was painted a little over two years ago.


And here are two of my most recent, and most proud of miniatures.



I've still got plenty to learn, and lots to work on, but I'm very happy with the progress I made in the last two years.

-PoW

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My WIP thread: http://one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=18247

Very good to see how people make progress... Gives me hope .

This is not my first ever miniature, but it was in my first ever batch, a French Napoleonic captain in 1812 uniform (sort of):



And some of my most recent painting:
Gandalf - Painting Challenge october 2012


Uruk Reaver - Painting Challenge september 2012:

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings