Samedi

Thanks for your input, TGP! Usually I take the "real" pictures with a camera and use the phone only for quick documentation snaps. So I didn't think about editing with the phone really, never done it before. Just found out it can be done - and it's really easy. Here's a better pic!

Here is the famous scene from Hamlet, reenacted by a vulture. Painting it was a bit weird: I started with a completely different color scheme in mind (cool whites, blues, gold), but somehow the mini wouldn't let me and I ended up with this version. I am happy with it, though. I am here to learn, so c&c is very welcome! Especially the second c! Enjoy! (Sorry for the picture quality, I don't have access to a good camera right now, is's just my phone).

Love your color scheme!

I think your parrot bear concept works even better with the sculpt than a regular owl bear. I absolutely love it!

Hi cmorse, my last post was not meant to complain about the instructions. I tried for a light-hearted and hopefully humorous wrap up, being inspired by the fact that quite a few people seemed to struggle with this scroll. The meaning of a post seemed to comes across in a way I did not intend. As english is not my first language, sometimes it is difficult for me to find the right words and expressions. And on top of that my sense of humour is at times a bit weird and does not help at all. I sincerely wish to apologise. I was not meaning to offend anyone. To be fair, the instructions say just to dry brush the book pages (in her bag) and to "touch up" the scroll (not necessarily with dry brushing). I just double checked.

So for now only one question remains: Why were the instructions in the old LTPK2 written in this way? Why drybrushing, when it worked for no one? Here is my take on this (to be taken with a lot of grains of salt ): Anne did it on purpose! The LTPKs are there to help you grow as a painter, and the LTPK2 was all about layering. Why then were we supposed to use washing and drybrushing on the scroll? The answer is: We really weren't. Like a Zen teacher, Anne put a little koan in the instructions - a problem we could not solve. Only by going beyond the instructions we could pass the test. And so Laurana became a rite of passage for all of us who ran into her early in our painting career. Arigato, Anne sensei!

Cmorse, thank you very much, that was the kind of hack I was looking for! Unfortunately, I didn't come back to the thread until I finished with the scroll. But I'll definitely try your method with the next scroll I encounter! Well: Here is the result! It's not perfect, but for my overall level of painting I can definitely live with it. Here's what I did: 1) Very light basecoat with white MSP brush on primer. I did not thin the primer and stippled it on rather than using brush strokes. Ended up with a very light coating that just took the sheen off the metal. The stippling helped prevent the paint collect in the crevices. 2) Basecoating with MSP creamy ivory. I used a combined technique: Around the writing and on the back side of the scroll I painted the basecoat with a fine tip, thinning the paint just enough that it ran smooth. Then I painted over the engravings, using the method suggested by edwick and Rahz. I used the paint straight out of the pot, no thinning, and applied it with the side of the brush. I was careful to use just a little paint every time, almost as if drybrushing. Almost no paint got into the engravings. 3) Took a break to calm down, had some tea and waited for the basecoat to dry completely. 4) Filled the crevices with Vallejo sepia wash using a fine brush, as suggested by Glitterwolf. It did not go as smoothly as I hoped - the surface tension of the wash was still a bit too high for the small crevices. Sometimes little droplets would form. I tried to break them up with a fine brush and used the engraving more or less as a guidline for where to apply the ink. I did not try to hit each place perfectly, it looked a bit like the Laurana from the "Other Side"-Blog (more like lines than like dots). Still, I was fairly happy with the result. 5) Let dry overnight. 6) Tried some shading with the sepia wash to bring it all together. Note to self: Washes are not really good for standard shading techniques, they don't stick where they should on flat surfaces. Still, by stippling the wash on the scroll I managed some shading. Now I finally can paint up the rest of Laurana and get her off my shelf of shame! Once again, I want to thank you all for your help, your inputs and your support. I learned a lot during this process and I could not have done it without you!

Very helpful, thanks!

Tonight I browsed through a few online shops for catholic devotional items and I researched a bit about monks an catholicism in general. The cross at his side is definitely a rosary. Most of the rosaries I found were made out of wood, with wooden pearls. So that one is definitely going to bee wood. I will reinterpret the lines for jewellery as carvings. So here I will follow the suggestion of @NebulousMissy. For the other one around his neck I will use a version I found on ebay (I can't use a link here, since you can still buy it). It is made out of bronze with mother-of-pearl inlays. So I'm going to try that. Let's see how it turns out!

I am really grateful for all the support you guys are giving me! Thank you so much! Last night I did a few hours of research myself. The first thing I found was an old thread: Back in 2013 mikem91 had some problems painting the scroll and asked for help. https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/49454-laurana-and-her-scroll/&tab=comments#comment-719774 The solutions offered boiled down to freehand and using capillary forces to let ink flow from the brush into the depression of the engravings - the method suggested in this thread by @Glitterwolf. I also found some Lauranas. Most of them used freehand for the scroll, many on a level I will never attain in my lifetime. But a few of them deserve a little more attention, because they might work for me. The first Laurana is here: https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/12140-laurana-the-sorceress/&tab=comments#comment-190875 This is an exchange mini painted by Tommy the Skip. And this is how I hoped the finished product to look like when I started the project. There is no method shown. I would say either freehand or a black wash and then touched up with lots of skill. Lesson here: I should let go of unrealistic expectations. My scroll will not look like this. Then there is a Laurana by battleMountainminis: https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/12267-laurana/&tab=comments#comment-192288 This is very interesting. I would settle for that scroll. Lessons here: The color of the writing and the color of the scroll should somewhat match. See, one of the problems with dry brushing white over black is that the brushstrokes stand out very much. If you go for a more tone in tone look, it should blend much more easily. Maybe by using ink one can even skip the dry brushing part completely and have the ink contribute to the color of the scroll. Highlights are probably done by over brushing, like @edwick and @Rahz suggested. Finally there is a version I found on a blog called "The Other Side": http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2011/01/little-witches.html Here there are straight lines painted over the engravings with the paint flowing in the crevices, giving the writing a more cursive kind of look. This does not look too bad either! Alright, onward to the next try! My plan is as follows: First I'll lay down a thin coat of primer with not so thin paint. I'll try to stipple the primer onto the mini to not let it pool in the crevices. I'll follow with the basecoat in a somewhat parchment-y color, also trying not to fill in too much of the engravings. Then I'll use a sepia ink to fill in the engraving (or what is left of them) Finally I'll use the same ink to do a little shading on the scroll. That means I'll have to use a light base coat like ivory or leather white. Finally: I'll just do the scroll for now. If it does not work out, there is not so much paint to strip. And if all fails, I'll try what @Wren suggested and skip the washes altogether. Wish me luck, I'll report how it went!

Thanks, I'll give it another try - tomorrow. Laurana and I are not on good terms right now... I always thought the flow improver is there to reduce surface tension and prevent pooling (to a degree). Perhaps that is not the case - or the effect is smaller than I hoped. My next try: Thick primer and thick base coat (applied with very little paint on the brush). Let's see if there is enough engraving left to fill it with black wash. I'll report! @edwick: Thank you for the Idea and the pictures. I have used this method a few tries ago - unfortunately without success. Maybe the engravings on the scroll are too shallow, maybe it was just my dry brushing skills being sub par. But I'll add it to my list of options and give it another try when the wash fails again...

Finished with the skin, touched up the hair. Next are the fiddly bits: Our Monk has not only one, but two crosses to bear. (Sorry for the pun, it is really bad. Quarantine taking it's toll, I guess...) There are two ways I could paint the crosses: 1) Gold (or silver) Pro: Would look really good on his black habit, also they are sculpted so that I could paint some jewels into the crosses. Con: The legend about him says he was killed by two robbers, because they couldn't find anything to take. Obviously not true with two huge crosses made of gold and adorned with jewels. 2) Wood Pro: Fits the legend. Also: Not quite so fiddly. Con: Doesn't look half as good. What do you think? And after the fiddly bits I'll have to start highlighting his habit. I'll do that last. It's a very clean sculpt, highlights should not interfere with the "ornamentation". And when I mess up the small stuff I can always correct my mistakes with black paint. Edit: Now with the correct picture

Quick update: Laurana just returned from yet another paint stripping session. Argh! I put on a thin coat of primer (I use Vallejo Game Color white brush on), and then base coated with MSP Creamy Ivory (1:1:1 paint:flow improver:ist. water). And then the engravings on the scroll were completely filled up. Probably had too much paint on the brush, not ready to give up yet, though. For my next attempt I will switch the Vallejo for MSP, let?s see if that helps. @LittleBluberry good luck to you with that cursed scroll! If you find something that works please let me know!

Looks great so far!

Very bold color scheme! This dragon needs a mirror ball. Love it.