Eye Spy a Challenge

Costume design reference

Ah, poor Rosie. I wanted to paint her up for ReaperCon, but she was one of the miniatures left by the wayside as I scrambled to finish the miniatures I'd already started. This sculpt reminds me of Kaylee from Firefly (one of my very favorite shows) so I decided to research a few costume design pictures-- I think I'll paint her clothing to match! It sounds like a fun challenge since I'll need to paint freehand flowers on her shirt sleeves. I also want to try some oil spatters after taking the "Weathering Effects" class. I paint everything pristine and I want to try painting dirty things. I mean, she's a mechanic, y'know? She'll eventually be holding a wrench in her raised hand that extends behind her head, but I don't want to attach it before I paint the back of her hair. Excited and nervous about this one-- it seems a pretty big challenge, but I'm always trying to push myself to try new techniques. 

While I want to jump right into the freehand and weathering techniques, I have to start with the eyes. First, I painted a few light coats of brush-on primer on Rosie. Since eyes are one of the most important parts of a miniature for me, I often don't want to move on until they're "just right" and I'll be distracted from the new techniques I want to try (or just give up since no matter how good the rest of the mini looks, if her eyes suck, it kills my motivation). Silly, maybe, but I know myself well. The Shelf of Shame is littered with my previous eye painting failures. 

Here you can scroll through my initial process with painting eyes along with a more recent picture where her eyes are complete and a few of her outfit shapes are blocked out in dark liner. (It may look messy now, but it won't when I'm done with her!) And yes, I included my nails in the photo crops because it's rare when they look nice-- honestly, it's for pure vanity and to prove I actually paint them once in a while. So without further ado:

 

Reaper Miniature #50016 · Rosie, Chronotechnician · Sculpted by Bob Ridolfi

Add a dash of color + a spot of pure white = voila!

 

Okay, okay, it's not that easy :) In fact, it took me three tries to get these white dots right and they're still too big in my opinion. Anyway, if I mess with them more they'll get too chunky-- so they're good enough for now! Some days, I'm never happy with the eyes I paint. I make the mistake if over-working them until the paint builds up too much and I have to start over. Other days, I have "good days" and end up with stuff like this:

Arnise Work In Progress - click picture to zoom

Andromedan Hunter - click picture to zoom

One day, I think I'll try a detailed eye painting tutorial blog post now that I have a decent camera to capture details more easily. The photos above were taken with my sad little phone and it shows :( Once I figure out the lighting, it's only a matter of time before tutorials will be an option! Studying how different painters approached various painting techniques was extremely helpful to me as I began miniature painting. It remains useful and interesting for me today-- there's always something to learn from everyone! 

Do you want to see tutorials here? If so, which ones?

ReaperCon Prep - Part 2

Last night I started panicking. I finally unboxed enough of my miniature supplies to set up my painting desk after the big move-- and I realized just how much I have to complete in less than a week. The good news is, after staring at my desk in wide-eyed horror for longer than I care to admit, I got it into gear and developed a game plan. This year, I want to enter a few things into the competition. Here's my plan:

  • Reaper Mini Diorama - 2 minis; technically a "Vignette" but it still qualifies for Diorama Category
  • Reaper Mini Mechanic - 15% done
  • Hasslefree Mini - done
  • Dark Sword Mini - in progress
  • Infinity Mini - mostly done
  • Group of Reaper Bonesylvanians (2 down & I'll paint as many as I can before the show)

Here's my Dark Sword mini progress so far!

ReaperCon Prep - Part 1

I've made progress! It's not a lot, since painting is still emotionally taxing given everything the family's still going through, but it's enough to make me proud. I finished one of my competition entries! Behold, Hasslefree "Mystic Warrior Jen" (the first picture is for scale):

I also finalized my ReaperCon itinerary today. It includes advanced painting classes, basic sculpting, advanced basing, airbrush classes, and two evening banquets and plenty of unscheduled free time. Last year, I took several full days of back-to-back classes which resulted to little time to socialize and relax. I shuffled quickly from class to class for eight hours straight and absorbed as much information as possible-- totally worth it (for me). I enjoy binge-learning things I'm passionate about. While I don't recommend over-scheduling one's self during conventions, I found that cramming that much information into my head (and taking plenty of notes) improved my painting ten-fold. 

While there's plenty to look forward to at this convention, I'm most excited to see the friendly faces I met last year. Some are accomplished, full-time professional painters, others are casual hobbyists-- many of whom won multiple medals last year in the painting competition. I was inspired by their knowledge, graciousness, and encouraging words. In fact, one of the friendliest of the bunch is teaching some classes for the very first time! Since I don't currently have a "Blog Roll", I wanted to list a few of the talented folks I met in person at last year's convention. These individuals have positively influenced me in the past year (apologies if I've missed anyone!) and I encourage you to check out their websites and/or examples of work. In no particular order, here are the people I can't wait to give a great big hug to when I see them in two weeks!

Jessica Rich "The Brushmistress" 

Michael Proctor of "Clever Crow Minis" 

Rhonda Bender a.k.a. "Wren"

Kuro Cleanbrush (check out his Youtube tutorials!)

Cash Wiley of "The Wiley Brush" 

Shannon Stiltz of "Queen Penguin Productions"

Andy Pieper a.k.a. "TaleSpinner" 

Max Styles a.ka. "Hot Chicks Jeff" (my own personal nickname for him!) 

Now I'm working on my newest Reaper mini I hope to enter in the competition, with my future color-scheme inspired by the character Kaylee's costume design from the show Firefly. Right now I'm still working on her face and blocking out shapes with liner. I have far too much to do with several works-in-progress during the next two weeks. Trying not to panic!