I recently had a request to commission paint a few D&D figures. Having not done one-off figures before, I had to do a pricing figure, and decided to actually display, with models, an idea of what I consider the different painting levels. I won't tell prices here, because it depends a lot on the models chosen, and how well I know the person, but the levels remain fairly consistent.
I decided to demo on a conversion for a 'Dreg' for Mordheim, since it'd give me skin, clothing, and gear all in one shot.
First up is "table quality" - or the type that looks good from a distance, but not necessarily up to close scrutiny. No eyes painted, no great detail on the wooden staff, clothing's fairly roughly highlighted.
Next up is "Hero" quality - typically for the leaders of a squad, or people that'll receive a bit more focus. You can see the metal's been cleaned up, the wood on the weapon gets actual grain, and he has real eyes! Skin usually also gets a few more coats. Basically in "Hero" quality I pick out a few important locations and detail them a bit better, since the eye will gravitate there anyway in all likelihood.
Finally there's "General" quality. Not meaning what I generally do, or anything like that, but this is what the General of a force should look like. Everything's detailed fairly well, multiple layers, proper shading, I've added all the detail I can think of to hair or face, including scruff, and in this case, he's clearly holding some pouch of wyrdstone that is making his hand glow.
There's also what I jokingly refer to "wtf" level, which is most of what you see on this blog. Wtf level means I don't give a price beforehand but a cost-per-hour, and I go to town. This level is exclusively for models I think it'll be worth it for, and will argue 'down' to General quality if I don't think I can do things that'll push the painting over the top. (I do want to be fair after all!)
So back to that commission:
Can you tell who requested which levels?
