I'm currently working on a special project for a badass lady who plays badass barbarian fighters in her Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. I'm even painting it in her image, complete with tattoos I will attempt to freehand (this will be a first for me!) Since I needed a character with lots of skin, I chose Reaper's "Viking Girl" sculpted by Bobby Jackson. If I were to enter this mini into a competition a year ago, I'd surely name her "The Cold Doesn't Bother Me Anyway" when the "Frozen" movie was still relevant ^_^
I started this mini two years ago and had to strip her since I just wasn't happy with how she was turning out. I'm now at a point where I feel more comfortable painting her and I'm no longer intimidated by skin, fur, or hair (of which there is a LOT on this mini!)
I paint primarily in Reaper paints, and I chose Highland Moss & Pale Lichen for the cloak which I purchased at ReaperCon. You can see the progression in the works in progress photos, where I've started with a shaded basecoat that includes purple in the deepest recesses and folds. After taking Rhonda Bender's "Level Up" class, I've decided to experiment with more interesting shadow colors in my minis. In the past, I would have chosen a dark olive green for the shadows of the cloak, however, this time I've mixed the mid tone Highland Moss with a touch of Nightshade Purple. After the basecoating process is complete, I start to layer in more of the midtone color mixed with Pale Lichen. I blend as I go and make my way up to Pale Lichen on the highlights of the folds. I may go up an additional level of highlight, I'll see how much contrast I have on other sections of the mini once I'm 90% done.
I keep my lining very clean in between sections of the miniature, and oftentimes I'll go back and clean up things I don't need to, only because it makes me happy to do so :) I'm still using the Windsor & Newton Series 7 brush I accidentally dipped in super glue less than 2 weeks after I received it in the mail. It's painful, but I just can't bring myself to replace it. I waited so long to buy another and I have to use it as long as I possibly can before truly retiring it. Yes, that means my details aren't as clean and paints are harder to blend properly, but I feel like it's a fitting penance for ruining a perfectly good brush.
Without further ado, please enjoy my work in progress photos below and stay tuned for my next blog post where I join Paul Filion and Antoine Bergeron from the Geeks of the North podcast! Have a fantastic Miniature Monday ^_^
