The shining skull

Recently the makers of The Edge Awakening created some wonderful new objective markers.  These can be used for all kinds of fantasy and sci-fi games!

This is the first of six which I have painted.

Here's a banner from the campaign, showing a few more markers...

These next few images will give you an idea of size.

Here it is with a few Red Box Games minis for scale...

When big gets BIGGER!

Here's a truly massive monster from Rothand Studios.  It is made entirely of resin, and actually comes in some very manageable pieces.

It is quite the hulking beast, standing quite tall.  Here's a link to a painting article on the figure:

Part one:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/05/playing-with-fire-part-one-painting.html

Part Two:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/05/painting-with-fire-golem-continues.html

The base is also part of the figure, in case you were wondering!

Here's the final touches on the big guy:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2013/05/more-of-painting-with-fire-rothand.html

It was certainly an ideal subject for using those filbert brushes!!

Here he is next to a typical 28mm figure.  Yup... he's a biggie.

One last time!

Critter Crunch!

Here's my two latest Mierce Miniatures beasties... side by side for a size comparison.

In this image, we have MÓRANNACH, BEAST OF CILL CHONN BOG, and THACALDĀN, MOUND BEETLE.

Each of these monsters is mounted on an 80mm base.

Each of these guys required a very different approach.

The Bog Monster had a wide range of interlocking colors, from very warm greens and tans to very cool blues and grays.  In contrast, the Beetle had an extremely limited palette.

In both cases, there was very specific concept art, forcing the issue as to palette choices.

The basing was also going to be extremely restricted, further limiting my choices.  As you all know, basing is something that I love, and I enjoy letting the basing itself decide where some of the color choices end up.

Putting contrasting colors on the base can accent what is done on the figure itself, or provide a nice source for reflected light or colors.

The Beetle had to be placed on a base that was to represent a typical green meadow/pasture in Ireland.  This meant that the foliage was going to be a more intense green, and make the deep reds seem warmer or lighter than desired.

Yes, basing can make all kinds of critical differences, so choose wisely!

In contrast, the foliage of the Bog Monster tends to dull down many of the colors on the figure.  This was an advantage on that particular figure.

Even the "low slung" mounting of the figures directly to the base made me change several things.  I love my bark and branch style basing which elevates the figures above the profile of the base edge, making for more dramatic posing and even provide more ease of painting.

I hope this exploration into the consequences of basing methods and its effect on a figure is helpful!

More Elites

Winter continues to hang on here in more ways than one!

It's snowed at least a trace amount nearly every day for the last few weeks... that is, when it's not raining!

That means more wintery barbarians for you. :-)

This is from Red Box Games, as most of the figures have been in this long project.

One aspect that has been a little different are the bases, which I have been making with tree bark.  Instead of the pre-cast resin bases, this has allowed me to create unique bases for each figure, that fit the footprint much better.

The piles of snow are a combination of heavy gel medium and gesso.

Making your own leaves

Now to the final part of the grand experiment!

We were fortunate enough to get in on the restock of the Green Stuff World leaf punch, and this seemed to be the ideal opportunity to try it out!

I began by making some quick ivy/vines along one edge of the mural wall using the Hangar 18 leaf product which you have seen a number of times already.

I was just about to punch a number of leaves, when I realized that I could make my life a LOT easier by painting the paper first!  Also, by painting it different shades, I could have a very nice selection of colors to choose from.

It's much easier to paint them here than when they are glued to the surface... especially on a fragile vine!

You must be sure that the paper is thin enough.  I learned the hard way that thick paper cannot be cut.  Also, it's not a bad idea to paint the paper on both sides, so that you don't have to turn them all over.

In a matter of minutes, I had a great collection of leaf types and colors.

First I glued them to the floor, mixing the lighter and darker shades together in clumps.

This is the crucial part... getting them onto the vines.  I wanted to get more color variation on these vines, and some size differential as well.  In this instance, it is quite important to paint both sides of the leaf first!

I even glued a few stray leaves to the wall, trying to add as much interest and texture as possible.  If I wanted to spend more time refining this, I could go in and paint veins on these bigger leaves.

One quick preview shot of the completed wall, mural and vine!  Now to finish off the two miniatures...

Stay tuned!

Painting the Mural

Now things are going to get very interesting!!

My original thought for the mural was going to be the usual angelic visage, painted in the classical style.  While this is something I would have enjoyed very much, a random thought crossed my mind to try something quite different.

Given the kinds of documentaries which had been playing in the background for all the endless hours of preparation for Adepticon, Byzantine architecture had been featured on more than a few of them.

As a result, I thought that a more stylized art form would be more interesting in appearance, and certainly a greater test for me.

A quick search revealed a number of great images, but I had to choose one that would be more simple, and less iconic.

I had to sketch the design out quickly, making sure that it would not only fit, but be large enough to translate with the two figures in front of it.  If the image was not taller than the two minis, that could be a visual nightmare.

The first colors were blocked in, as I would do on any miniature.  I was not sure if the red would have to be taken out for another color... perhaps even white.

The only red on the two Elohi is the flaming sword at this point.  What little cloth they have is blue, to match the robes of the mural.  I still was not sure at this stage, but that is the advantage of the Shaded Basecoat technique, even in 2D!

Slightly more definition emerges, and the idea of putting some actual metallic gold comes to mind.  That works very well from the start, and it expands to other areas besides just the halo.

That touch of metallic will create an ideal center of interest, boosting the already high level of light and dark contrast of that spot.

More details are pulled out of the wings.  The side benefit of this color is that they will now look very similar to the miniature's wings.  Both figures are holding flaming swords, which are casting reddish glow on the wings.

Just as I would on any miniature, I work in more shadows, and hit more highlights to build shape and substance.

Some slight blueish gray color is added around the head and wings to sharpen the contrast, and make the character pop out from the wall a tiny bit.  I am working on the face area in more detail as well.

I decided to put a scepter in the right hand, using gold there as well.  The face gets even more detail.

I started working in more depth on the hands, which was very difficult.  Instead of painting them as 'normal', I had to stick with the more stylized versions, in a way that was very alien to me.  It's very strange how some parts of this were easier than anticipated, and the oddest parts proved challenging.

I guess that's the whole point of experimentation!

From this point, I had to begin considering how much contrast to put in the "clouds" the character was standing on...

I thought this view might be interesting for you.

I decided to boost a few more light shades on those clouds.  That kind of grayish blue should make a nice backdrop for the flaming swords, but also mimic the colors of the armor on the minis.

I used that Secret Weapon dark paint again to re-weather the surface of the mural.

My original plan was to try the crackle medium as well, but time and my allergies kicking in meant I would be more limited in scope.  Watery eyes, sneezing and scratchy throat was a challenging enough environment.

That is still a plan for future murals such as this, and perhaps even on some vehicles.

We're not done yet, folks!!  Stay tuned for the next episode, where we get some foliage and even our own custom cut leaves to finish off this piece.