Tentacle Time

Back in September, I did a Hasslefree Jen Speed Paint Challenge. However, I never completed her base. I glued her to a Micro Art Studio pre-cast base and set her on the "I'll get to it soon" shelf. Six months later, I finally got around to it. I struggled with how to paint tentacles (which I later realized these are meant to be vines but oh well. Creative license!) I found little success in my previous attempt to paint them a dark Nightshade Purple with a few spot highlights here and there. A fellow painted suggested to paint them as skin with more subtle shading and blending. Bingo! 

I decided on a more saturated red violet to contrast with the lavender purple I'd been using for other parts of the miniature. Since the speed paint challenge called for a limited number of colors, miniatures can be reimagined and added to after the challenge & picture sharing is complete. My hope is that her hair appears more grey, while it works well with the "glowing runes" she's standing on. 

My biggest challenge was to make the tentacle-like vines appear shiny-- difficult to do with matte paint. While I didn't want to resort to paint-on gloss varnish (I don't care for things that are too shiny and distract from the rest of the miniature), I settled for a paint-on sealer than falls in between matte and semi-gloss. Without it, the tentacle-vines appear too chalky and stone-like. After two thin coats, I was happy with the results! 

This miniature's meant to be simple in her dusky, unadorned robes and natural facial features. Despite her simplicity, her belt beckons for a bit of freehand detailing. The raised, curved stone at the bottom left edge also has the potential to be an additional area interest. I don't want to get carried away just yet, so for now, I'll call her done as soon as I fix that "glowy rune" section I missed-- can you spot it? Yep, it's driving me crazy too. So close, yet never quite done!

Matte Tentacles

Matte Tentacles + 2 Coats of Varnish

Matte Tentacles

Matte Tentacles + 2 Coats of Varnish

Goodbyes

Life really sucks sometimes. 

I lost my second dad last Saturday. I've been a part of my second family for 7-8 years and, during that time, I came to know a great man who called me "darlin" and met me with big, warm hugs and smiles whenever I saw him. Over the last five weeks, I've watched the people I love suffer, hope, and ultimately mourn the loss of a husband, father, brother, and friend. Goodbyes are incredibly difficult, but what comes next is even harder. Trying to move on after losing someone so special is a heavy burden that only time can help mend.

I was painting when I received the news of his death. Picking up a paintbrush only results in emotional breakdowns and, though I try, painting through teary-eyed, blurry vision is just impossible. I know he wouldn't want us to hurt, and I try to be strong in order to support those I love in their despair. In the meantime, I'll continue my attempts at painting while listening to the classic rock music he loved so much. While it hurts like hell, patching one's life back together after such a loss has never been easy. All I can do is focus on Reapercon 2015 in three weeks, where I'll need to paint a competition-level miniature. I honestly don't know if I can do it, but I'll give it my best effort under the circumstances. I miss him so much. 

Marching On

I cannot believe it's March. In the last month, I've experienced both gut-wrenching despair mixed with stubborn, blind hope. We take it one day at a time. Today I'm happy to report that Dad-in-law is stable and has woken up from his coma. We're grateful for every day we have with him. While we've been told his prognosis is "hopeless", he's proved the doctors wrong when they told us each day for a week that he wouldn't last through the night. So we're marching on with fighting spirit-- we're not giving up and neither is he!

That reminds me of a funny prank we used to pull in middle school on March 4. One brave soul would ask, "Teacher, what's today?" He/she would reply "March fourth" and we'd all stand up from our desks and "march forth" out of the room. It never happened of course-- even once we got the desired response, no one wanted to be the first to stand up and march outside. The teachers were usually too smart for that anyway. They'd reply, "What's today? It's Wednesday". Darn. 

I finally was able to get some painting done (more about that below) and was able to fit in a few social gatherings in between. I tried delicious Tonkatsu Ramen for the first time at a local sushi joint as well as Sweet Potato Gnocchi from a "Regal Raviolio" food truck in Austin, Texas the week before South-by-Southwest (SXSW) concert-goers flooded the town. 

Once home, I continued to paint red skin and practice gold NMM on a Reptus Skullbreaker Reaper mini:

I made some great progress on my Infinity Hacker. It's been a long time since I painted her and I wanted to try my hand at armor. She's a beautiful sculpt and I can finally claim that she's 75% done. I reworked a few parts of her and focused on her helmet, arms, and knee pad armor. The blending takes a long time, but the results are worth it! Without further ado: