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. 

Work in Progress: Maralise

Works in Progress are fun. It's great to see the progression as you go along-- or in my case, see how many times you've reworked the same section! Here's "Maralise Moonscythe" a Reaper miniature. She's perfect. Want to know why?

  1. I can't find a picture of her painted on the manufacturer's website = free reign!
  2. She's perfectly flawed (see "How I Approach Painting") & lost her rapier over time.
  3. She's been a staple in our 3+ year DnD tabletop campaign.
  4. She's a celebrity look-alike.

Maralise has rolled around in our bag of pre-painted minis forever and has worn many hats. She played a druid named Kallisti who gave us our first adventuring quest and has made appearances as "oh-what's-her-face" the Random Female NPC on several occasions. She's never been painted and at one point was poorly primed by yours truly. A few weeks ago, I stripped the mini of primer and started from scratch-- and scratched-up she was! I don't know what kind of brawls she got into in that bag of DnD paraphernalia but she was pockmarked and needed some celebrity-worthy spackling. 

Maralise went from wide-eyed beginnings (like really wide) to a little beauty I'm now quite fond of. While I'm not done painting her, I have to brag on her long-lived campaign career. She's stood the test of time, just like another celebrity you may have heard of. Total accident, I swear!

I've chosen to practice my brighter-and-lighter colors on Maralise. She prefers bright blues, greens, and soft, light-colored leathers to show off her fair complexion. While she's dressed in her go-to travel ensemble, she sports many high-end accessories (including a jewel pendant necklace) and not one, but two designer bags on her hip. #MaterialGirl

The Results are In

Ok, so I know it's not Thursday yet, but I'm posting a day early:

After some encouragement from a new painting friend, I jumped into the Reaper Miniature Forum's Works In Progress thread. Basically, I needed help. I had more minis that I started painting than minis that I had actually completed. Two weeks went by and I'd been going back & forth between painting 6+ miniatures, with no apparent focus-- only adding miniatures as I got stumped by another. Coincidentally, this mirrors my former WoW play style: Bored? In the Outlands? Not enough time for a full dungeon crawl? Make another alt character!

With the helpful votes of my fellow forumites, the next miniature I will complete is Reaper Miniature #14028 - Gargoyle (or as I now call him, Scruffy):

He's missing a weapon & has suffered some chips. I'll be patching him up and his projected completion date is May 31st. While I wanted to complete it within one week, I failed to consider that within that time frame, my husband graduates from dental school, we'll have friends & family in town this weekend, I work on Memorial Day, and I have an out-of-state work day trip planned next Tuesday. It's the worst week to try and finish a mini but no need to start making excuses now :) Let the painting begin!