Drak · Work In Progress

I've been traveling the past 24 hours for work and other than setting a new personal record for most severe motion sickness on a plane, I've accomplished little else. However, I did make some initial progress on Drak on Monday night, another mini from the Reaper Bonesylvanians line. I knew his eyes would be the most fun & challenging part! 

I took a tip from the Jessica Rich DVD and used some of the Reaper white brush-on primer since the rainy weather was too humid for spray on primer. Boy, is it stinky! Maybe it's just me, but goodness it smells like skunk who rolled in wet, moldy newspapers. Luckily, despite having a sensitive nose like Toucan Sam, I just followed my nose to the next base coat color-- after a few layers it wasn't an issue anymore! 

I also blocked out his eyes in an off-white color. I knew it would give me a much more vibrant eye as I glazed in thin layers of Clear Red to for his base red eye color. Here's where the struggle began!

I knew I wanted his eyes to resemble gems-- just a fun, stylistic decision. However, once I laid that red down & shaded up with a range of darker red/brown color gradations, I realized he just looked too odd. I tried a few different things and realized I was building up unwanted texture with each additional paint layer. I changed my game plan and gave him just a bit of sclera on either side of his humongous eyes to make him a bit less creepy & a little more cute. I'm not sure I like it as much, but I think it gives him more personality. Now he at least looks like an angry French Bulldog. Can't wait to paint his eyebrows and distinguish the leathery sections of this mini (like his wings) from the furry texture (like his back). No idea how exactly I'll do that yet, but I bet I'll find out this weekend!

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!

Tish · Work In Progress

A few days ago, I started Tish, one of the Bonesylvanians from the Reaper line. I'd already finished painting Gus, and she's up next. She's super cute with her little vampire teeth and I wanted to paint her a bigger, more dramatic mouth. I may have gone a little overboard, but if I paint her some dynamic eyes to match, I think we'll be good.

I started off cleaning her up with my files to rid the sculpt of any mould lines. I noticed a small little pockmark on the bridge of her nose. It looks like she may have been a victim of a minuscule mould bubble, and I wanted to fill it in before I primed her. Since it was so small, I was hesitant to use Green Stuff or Milliput, so I used some flowable composite, basically super-glue that cures with light. I knew it would adhere to the inside walls of her little pockmark so I filled in the hole, stuck it under a lamp & left it to set overnight. 

The next day I primed her, and realized there was a bit of texture leftover that shows through the primer. I should have used some of the tiny files to smooth out the nose beforehand. Oh well, live & learn! Hopefully once I paint in her eyes, hair & eyebrows, it won't be noticeable. Next up, I base coated her robe gown in a dark grey, painted the inside of her cloak a dark green to differentiate it (for now), and started on her face. Being a vampire, she should have a fair complexion and dark, dramatic eyes & lips. I may go back in when her face is painted and lightly glaze the shadows with some grayish green if she still looks too healthy. 

Here's where the fun part comes in! While I haven't decided on which color & direction to paint her eyes, I knew I wanted to paint Tish a wide, toothy smile. First, I painted her teeth in an off-white and blocked out her new mouth shape in a dark red. I extended the lines to the outermost edges of her mouth sculpt. Then I cleaned up the edges with skin color in places that needed it and chose a brighter red. Painting in layers, I kept the bright red color on the inside of the dark red shape and focused the pigment toward the center of her mouth, where her lips are the fullest. Lastly, using Pure White, I highlighted her lips where I imagine light would reflect if she was wearing shiny lip gloss. 

There's plenty more to paint, and I can't wait to do some more work on her eyes. Hoping to make some significant progress on Tish this weekend!