Miniature Monday · October 19

Happy Miniature Monday! I did some work on Lord Ironraven this weekend & updated his WIP page. I never thought he'd turn out well enough for me to want to finish painting him. Honestly, he was just supposed to be a practice in silky fabric texture but has turned out to be much more!

Not only have I practiced silky fabric & TMM (True Metallic Metal), I'm trying blue/black hair and painting jewels on this mini. Below are the steps I took to paint the jewel on his shoulder armor section. [Click on the image for a larger view]

I'll need to get creative in how to make a respectable base post-paint job (shame!), but otherwise, I'm really happy with how he's turned out so far. I usually only try one or two new techniques per mini, but Lord Ironraven has been a study in silky fabric textures, TMM (True Metallic Metal), blue/black hair, and painting jewels on flat surfaces.

Today also launches the next Speed Paint Challenge! This time, the miniature suggested & chosen is a Hasslefree miniature: 

HFSF 103 Mystical Warrior Jen

This time, the Speed Paint Challenge timeline is a bit different: we'll have one month to order, ship & paint this miniature for anyone who wants to participate. Everyone is welcome! On Monday, November 16th, we'll share our results through social media (using the #speedpaintchallenge via Twitter) and I'll be posting my own process here on my blog. The rules are still the same and we'll have four-hours-or-less to paint. I'll be ordering my Hasslefree miniature on Monday-- more information to come!

In other news, I'm relieved to report that the saga of the stray dogs has continued on to its next adventure. Over the last week I helped shelter two young strays from two powerful storms that blew in, and drove them across town to a vet who would examine and hold them for three days while I tried everything I could to find their owners. Sadly, it became apparent that they were abandoned, so I dipped into my miniature savings and paid for basic vet exams, flea medications, and admittance into a local, reputable shelter. I admit, I wish I could have taken them in and/or adopted them myself and it was so hard to say goodbye. One day, I'll have the means to foster & help more, but in the meantime, I know I did everything I could to help them. With a little more luck (which they've had plenty), they'll soon find their new & loving forever homes! 

Dracula · Work In Progress

I was able to paint a bit last night after a whirlwind of dog rescue madness. Long story short, these pups still don't have a home and we need to find out what to do with them fast. Trying to get in touch with rescues that may be able to foster them. In the meantime, we've taken them to the vet to get scanned for microchips (no luck) and get basic exams. Fingers crossed that if they are indeed abandoned (which is becoming increasingly likely), we'll be able to find a new loving home for them as soon as possible. That way, I can revert what little free time & energy I have back to painting :)

This Castlevania-inspired Dracula is a work-in-progress. I've been setting aside at least one hour every Wednesday so he'll be complete before Halloween! Here's what we've got so far:

Murphy's Law Mondays

Usually Mondays are Miniature Mondays. However, this Monday is a Murphy's Law Monday. My phone crashed this morning and has to be restored later. I lost a good amount of my work-in-progress Speed Paint Challenge photos for this post-- boo! I'll be posting finished pictures later today, though I do have these photos from 1 hour in:

This weekend we had some furry new friends follow us home from a morning walk. Sunday, my day for painting, was hijacked by these two cute (and destructive) surprise guests:

Since the weather's been so bad and we can't let them inside, we ran to Lowe's to buy a tarp and made a temporary rain fort with bungee cords and ground anchors. Each time I sat down to paint, I'd heard thumping or banging and would have to break up a tug o war with a shoe or digging or rolling in the mud... the list goes on! 

Shoe! Yum! (Notice the abandoned tennis ball sitting right next to the black pup)

Since these two stray buddies didn't have collars, I'm doing everything I can to try & find their owners while keeping them safe & dry in the meantime. Another storm's blowing in today and I hope their fort holds up! Our backyard is now an undeniable mud pit. Yikes! More miniature Speed Paint Challenge pictures to come this evening... 

[updated] a crazy storm blew in and it was all we could do to keep the pups safe & dry. The lil black pup chewed through our internet cables and air conditioning unit. Rough 48 hours. On Tuesday before dawn we're taking them to get scanned for microchips. I'm dipping into my miniature savings money to have them examined so we can find a rescue who will take them. Speaking of miniatures: here are front & back final shots of our Speed Paint Challenge dwarf, inspired in part by our friend's quirky character from our D&D Halloween-themed adventure! He took about 2.5 hours and I had a fun time painting his funky purple beard. I think I'll name him "Murphy".