WIP Blance from Hasslefree

I'm painting this figure for a friend to be used in Frostgrave as a Necromancer, hence the choice of skin tone.  The skin tone was created from a mix of Reaper Dusky Skin, Reaper Rosy Skin and Citadel Liche Purple.

Thus far only the first layers of shadow and highlight have been applied.

Blanche is from Hasslefree, stands at 35mm and was sculpted by Kev White.

One more painting session then she will be based.  Following that I will take a test photo in order to make final corrections.

Christia the Chaste-Red Box Games

With this figure my goal was to try some more advanced techniques.  I did the armour in green NMM and the shield design in gold NMM.  Further this was my first attempt at using realistic water on a base.

Although I am not a display painter, I liked this figure enough to do more elaborate basing.

This is Christia the Chaste from Red Box Games, sculpted by Tre Manor.  She is diminutive, standing at about 25mm.

Currently on the painting table I have a female Necromancer from Hasslefree Miniatures and some Lesser Undead from Red Box Games.

Tradkarl-Red Box Games

The painting table is full of figures from Red Box Games at the moment and I am working through them, albeit slowly.

This is Tradkarl, sculpted by Tre Manor.  He's a hefty fellow, standing at 35mm.

He has loads of character and was a real pleasure to paint.

My next two projects involve painting females, something I tend to avoid as they are more difficult. However, they do present more opportunities for playing with colour and experimenting with skin tones.

Bernard, Jack and Arvid-Red Box Games

Currently I am working on a series of figures from Red Box Games and I must say that I am absolutely in love with these figures.  I prefer figures done by sculptors who have a firm grasp of human anatomy, who can lay down clean lines and create detail that is crisp and clear. Tre Manor is just such a sculptor.  Further, the casting is nearly flawless.  There is very little flash and I have yet to find discernible mold lines.  A painters dream.

From left to right is Big Bernard, Ugly Jack and Hawkeyed Arvid.

The next figure up is Tradkar who could easily be used as a tracker in Frostgrave.  I'm in the final highlighting stages and should post him next week.

Myrianna-Red Box Games, Complete

I completed this figure several months ago, but life got busy.  One week of not posting turned into two, turned into three and so on.  It's so much quicker to just post to Facebook, but I do need a place to organise my images in such a way that people can easily locate the work.

Again, this is Myrianna from Red Box Games sculpted by Tre Manor.  The detail is exquisite on this tiny figure and the casting is flawless.  Quite a joy to paint.

I have three other figures from Red Box Games that are painted and photographed.  They should be posted tomorrow.

Myrianna-Red Box Games, WIP3

After completing the final layer of highlights on Myrianna,  I took what will be the last test shot photo prior to basing the figure.

The decision on what colour to paint her dragon was a difficult one.  Normally I would choose to paint the dragon a subdued red.  With this figure being so small I did something a bit unusual and decided to make that dragon really pop by using a bright blue and coral palette. Whilst this may not be the most harmonious choice, it does make the dragon visible.

After looking at the pictures I can see that there are a few areas that need a little more work.  When I get to this point with a figure I set it aside for a few days and work on basecoating another figure in order to give my eyes a rest.

The next step is to sculpt the base.  Due to her diminutive size in comparison to the rest of the war band, I will have to build a base that elevates her.  Myrianna should be complete and ready to post next week.

Myrianna-Red Box Games, WIP 2

Progress on this piece was hindered due to my being out of town for several days.  Upon returning, I promptly came down with a dreadful sinus infection.  On Saturday we had a sudden storm with 60mph sheer winds which took out our power for nearly 24 hours. In the midst of all this craziness the only thing I could think was "I just want to paint my mini!"

So today for you I have only the beginnings of highlights on the figure.

Taking photo's at this stage is quite useful as it helps me to see where things need to be tweaked before I go any farther.  For instance, the shading on her face needs to be deepened, the highlights on her dress are too low and lack depth of colour.  These I will glaze down with the base colour then reclaim the highlights and bring them up several notches.  The highlights on her cape are sloppy and will be glazed down with the base colour and the highlights will then then being reclaimed and tightened up.  Also the grey trim needs quite a bit of work as I have merely sketched in the roughest of highlights. And of course the staff, the gemstone and the dragon need to be completed.

In the following photo you can see where she was at last week and where she is now.

I plan to have her completed and ready for a final test shot before weeks end.  At this time I have not made a decision on how to base her as she is to be part of a ten figure war band.  This being the case whatever base I design is one I will have to repeat nine more times, so I need to make something I can tolerate doing repeatedly.