Morning! I'm in the Hill County on a work retreat with no laptop and no wifi. I'll be traveling later today and posting later tonight. In the meantime, I'm taking a few minutes for myself before the morning activity. Here's my view!
Tentacles
I've been attempting to paint shiny tentacles without resorting to glossy varnish. While a layer of gloss varnish is a great all-around solution for rendering a shiny surface, I wanted to challenge myself in my painting skills. In any case, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning of my personal lack-of-decision-making:
Thank goodness for social media. I needed a second opinion. After that, I took Denniz's suggestion and started on the base of my most recent Speed Paint Challenge #4. I've wanted to finish this miniature I mounted on this base from Micro Art Studio. I really like this base. I'm attempting to paint glowing rune-like shapes & glossy tentacles emanating from her feet, as if she's summoning magical energy to defeat potential foes.
I'll need to consult my Color & Light book for a few tips. The biggest obstacle I have is the two-dimension vs three-dimensional issue. While it would already be a personal challenge to paint the dark, shiny tentacles in a two-dimensional format, I need to paint it where it looks interesting and accurate from most angles. My approach was to wet my brush and give a light wash over the tentacles. This way, I could mimic the natural highlights that the light source would identify. It's not unlike a "Paint By Number", reminiscent of those old children's puzzles I enjoyed as a child. In any case, I decided to once again use social media to reach out for some additional advice.
In the meantime, I'm opening a box of prize loot won from a Reaper forum contest where I won second place in the Single Figure category. Jasper was nice enough to sort & ship miniatures he'd been storing, after his friend closed a miniature shop. The best part? He gave us the opportunity to pick from the mostly out-of-production miniature hoard & he then arranged to have them sent all the way from Canada. So generous!
I'm truly looking forward to giving these miniatures a new home where they'll be lovingly painted in addition to having a "Cool, where'd you get this one?" story. These minis are classics and easily date back to the early 90's. While it's exciting to paint recently-released miniatures that are newly popular in the industry, there's something rewarding about the knowledge that you're probably the only person on the planet painting this specific miniature at this one point in time.
In the meantime, if you haven't watched the new Star Wars trailer, you should. After chuckling at the light saber that sprouted hilt-like additions (What?! That's not a thing!) and the fudgesicle land speeder, I admit this has more potential than I initially thought. Some of my best childhood memories revolve around the original trilogy, so I'm keeping an open mind, despite being an enthusiastic, reasonably discerning critic when it comes to Star Wars. Many of us have been traveling over this Thanksgiving weekend, so if you haven't yet seen the Star Wars trailer, enjoy!
Dark Sword Kickstarter
Happy Thanksgiving! Today, we stuff our faces with food & give thanks. What am I thankful for? Kickstarters (and other stuff of course). But mostly, today, I'm excited about the very first Kickstarter that I backed: a line of Dark Sword miniatures inspired by the artwork of Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, an accomplished fantasy artist. The Dark Sword miniatures, sculpted by Patrick Keith, are absolutely stunning. I've been a fan of Patrick's work for quite some time. I've painted some of his early work and it's amazing to see his evolution as a sculptor. I love his pension for creating curvaceous, dynamic female forms and his faces are a joy to paint (hello, eyes!). He captured the whimsical spirit of Stephanie's art and sculpted this series of beautiful three-dimensional figures for Dark Sword. And what's even better, the studio models are painted by one of my favorite miniature painters, Jessica Rich. All in all, a truly successful partnership!
Image taken from the Dark Sword Kickstarter page
Image taken from the Dark Sword Kickstarter page
Image taken from the Dark Sword Kickstarter page
I'm incredibly glad the project was funded-- and in only 95 minutes! I jumped in with the basic core set pledge & from there, it was just a carnival of optional add-on features and free bonus miniatures. Some of the optional add-ons included diorama pieces, discounts on instructional painting DVD series, themed bundles miniatures from other Dark Sword lines, and even some special edition miniatures that aren't available through their website. As I fill out my Reward Survey to identify the particular add-ons that I increased my pledge to include, I'm thankful that the expected delivery date is January 2015. I can't wait to paint some of these miniatures! While the Kickstarter is a wonderful platform for, well, kick-starting project concepts, my selfish impatience kept me from pledging to other KS projects in past. For me, it was hard to justify dropping $100+ on something that wouldn't be completed for another year or so, assuming the process would be successfully completed. So many things can go wrong in these projects, including failed personal & business partnerships, manufacturer set-backs, underestimating production costs, etc. I'm glad Dark Sword arranged the key pieces well in advance. I feel confident investing this project launched by an already successful company in partnership with a fantasy artist and sculptor I truly admire!
After I complete my post-pledge survey, it's back to the kitchen-- the turkey's in the fridge after sitting overnight in the brine and I'm about to set my game plan for the sides. In addition to the turkey I'll roast, there will be mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green been casserole, roasted brussels sprouts with a spicy sriracha kick, cranberry jelly, and cherry pie. Oh, and I just may enjoy a mimosa or three during this epic cooking process. Wish me luck! Have a Happy Thanksgiving :)