Projects Galore

Happy Miniature Monday! So much has happened since last Thursday. Wednesday night I became ill and suffered chills, body aches, exhaustion, etc. I felt like I got hit by a truck and had to take the next two days off from work. On Thursday afternoon, I was lying on the couch miserable, when the Dark Sword Masterworks DVD set featuring Jessica Rich arrived in the mail. Perfect! Watched Discs 1-3 while I was stuck in bed sick. More thoughts about what I learned as soon as I finish the set of 6 DVDs (approx. 20 hours). She's one of my favorite miniature painters and I've been blazing through it so far!

I also backed the Dark Sword Kickstarter featuring the artwork of Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, an accomplished fantasy artist. Check out her prolific body of work here. I think her whimsical illustrations really tell a story within the world she creates; one can really get lost in those beautiful, painterly images. As of today, there are 5 days left in the project. The Dark Sword interpretations are absolutely stunning. I can't wait to own this new line of Dark Sword miniatures-- Patrick Keith did an excellent job with the sculpts! 

As far as actual painting goes, once I was feeling better, I did some work on Tish & Drak, both from the Reaper Bonesylvanians line. Both are coming along and I hope to have Work In Progress pictures of them soon!

I also finally, finally finished Lord Ironraven. This poor Reaper mini sat on my Shelf of Shame for years before I mustered the courage to paint the swath of silky cloth & large amount of metal armor. I practiced my TMM (True Metallic Metal) techniques on him and even attempted to paint some scratches on parts of his armor. I'm happy to report that he's finally based and no longer a member of the Shelf of Shame, where unpainted or partially painted miniatures await completion. 

I also find that metallic paint is especially hard to photograph. I tried two different backgrounds to try and photograph the miniature without washing out his face while trying to capture the metal highlights. It's not perfect, but I'll figure it out eventually!

Lastly, I was able to take somewhat decent (but not great) pictures of my vampire miniature. I'd like to make a few changes & touch ups to this miniature, but he too can join the ranks of finished miniatures. Huzzah!

...which reminds me: Only one more week to finish Jen from Hasslefree miniatures for the next #speedpaintchallenge! Better get to work on her tomorrow-- even if it's just cleaning and priming. I better have something to show on Thursday or else I'll be rushing at the very end. While it's four-hours-or-less speed paint, it's never a good idea to paint when rushed. I'll have to make some time for her this week. Hopefully I'll have a WIP photo or two to show in my blog Thursday post. Until then!

Reaper Artist Conference Day 2

I'm back with more Reaper Artist Conference information! I love my "Best Vampire" trophy with the sculpted chattering vampire teeth conversion-- so much that I created a new Instagram account so I could start sharing videos. If you can hear it, my giggle at the end of the video is proof that I'm genuinely amused. (For some reason, the sound only works when I open the Instagram link on my phone, but not in my web browser).

While I finally have pictures of my miniature, they're washed-out and awful. I'm glad Christmas isn't that far away-- I sure know what I'm wishing for! I'm also in the process of building/acquiring a light box. I'll need to take some better pictures of him before I feature him on my Work page. I originally painted him for our Halloween-themed one-off D&D game, and I'm glad I did!

My "Best Vampire" Reaper Artist Conference trophy just makes my day

A video posted by Mocha (@mocha_minis) on

mocha_minis's video on Instagram

First up on Day 2 of RAC was "Crafting Creepy Halloween Trees" where Julie Guthrie showed us how to create trees using some wire, glue, and pliers. I love it! While I'm not familiar with basing (but I'm eager to learn), this class was a great bridge between basing & sculpting. I felt like I was able to make something creative without graduating to the intimidating green stuff. I'm also convinced Julie's hands have magic in them. Armed only with paperclip and some pipe cleaners, I'm sure she could find a way to sculpt something interesting and unique! Looking forward to using this technique to create a tree base for all the great Halloween minis I bought at the event.

Next up was Bob Ridolfi's "Crafting Your Own Graveyard Base" where we used simple materials to craft a spooky base ready for a Halloween-themed miniature. Of course, my finished base will look much different once it's primed and painted! I especially enjoyed Bob's sense-of-humor and his fun approach to what I now call "resourceful basing". Found objects really do make the best basing materials! I also had my first experience with "green stuff" and I'm happy to be learning more about sculpting & basing in small increments-- baby steps!

Lastly, Derek Schubert's "Freehand Painting Techniques" class. Derek broke down the intimidating prospect of freehand painting into approachable steps. I was able to take a photo of the demo example miniature (though it's a bit blurry). This was the largest class that I attended at RAC with attendees of all ages & experience levels. Derek did a nice job passing around examples of his work While there's no substitute for experience and practice, I'm far more likely to try my hand at this technique on one of my next miniatures! 

As with these miniature events, I found wonderful things to add to my miniature hoard. Reaper has recently come out Bonesylvanians, a line of chibi-style Halloween-themed miniatures. They're terribly adorable with their big eyes & I just couldn't help myself. Needless to say, I now own them all. I've already done some work on Gus, though he's still a work in progress. Hoping to finish him and paint a few more on Halloween! 

Basing Blues

I admit it: Basing terrifies me. I can't explain why. It's like one of those mental blocks that keeps you shackled to your comfort zone-- like why I've had the same [lack of] hairstyle for 3+ years because I'm afraid if I change it, I may not like it. Needless to say, I'm not a risk taker and I like to stick to what I'm good at. For me, the fear of being bad at something often keeps me from jumping in and trying something new.

Today, after some encouragement and courage-gathering, I decided get over myself and give this a shot. A few weeks ago, I ordered some bases from MicroArts, bought some Milliput & a micro drill at the local hobby store, and purchased some Loctite super glue on a recent trip to a hardware store. Wish me luck!

[fast forward 15 minutes] 

Ok, I know I sound dramatic, but this... THIS is why I don't take risks: fear of failure suffocates me and I just now choked. I was attempting to separate Maralise from her metal base and my hand slipped and I pretty much cut off her feet. I ruined her. I shouldn't have tried basing this already-painted mini. I should have left her alone and now I'm battling a minor panic attack. I don't know how to sculpt. I don't know how to fix her feet. I'm chalking this up as unsalvageable until I know more about basing. I'll figure it out another day-- maybe base her & hide her feet in tufts of grass. I won't give up, I just can't look at this objectively right now and need to walk away. 

 Argh, I'm so incredibly mad at myself right now. I should've known better. I need a drink.