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Finally finished my first mini by Dark Sword. She was a freebie I got when I ordered some minis (all still unpainted as of now). When I started painting her I thought It would be easy. Now, I know better. After uncounted attempts I'm glad (and proud!) she left my shelf of shame. Since Dark Sword Sculpts have more natural proportions the details are really tiny. You need a steady hand to paint - which is not my forte. And don't ask me about her eyes! The Sculpt reminded me of the Heavy Metal Comics and old fantasy book covers, so I tried to let that guide my colour choices. Enjoy, C&C very welcome, as always!

Finally finished off the Dark Sword Miniatures kickstarter from like 5 years ago. All painted with Reaper paints. Mediocre NMM. I swear it looks better in person. I tried an OSL where the red fire made the blue/green sleeves look greener. I don't know if it looks realistic, but I'm happy with the effect. I originally tried a fall leaves cloak (yellow to red) and it didn't really work. After repainting, I'm pretty happy with this one.

It's no secret, I absolutely love the Shadowsea world, and the Dark Mariners faction are one of the coolest lines in all of miniatures IMHO. They really turned me on the the special style of Bob Olley's sculpting, and I am now a superfan. I mean look at it! he is literally oozing character! So many neat details. I am grateful that DSM is keeping the line around, because I'll keep painting them - more to come. I stuck with the style I originally used on these critters a decade or so ago, and though I am a much improved painter now, there Isn't much I'd actually want to change about it - a mix of bright and muted marine colors, with metallics of all shades. Of all the details here, I particularly like the conch like underside of his carapace. He will fit right in with his hideous compatriots.

This miniature will be roughly my third or fourth venture into the realm of oil paints. Everything, with exception to the metallics, eyeballs, and some skin highlights were done in oils. This is also my first attempt in basing in the style of James Wappel (wappellious) using Green Stuff World texture rollers, sculpey, and Vallejo texture paste. No black paint was used in this exercise. I still can't take great photographs, but eventually I will get there! WIP Shots:

Tiny turtles are adorable! Colors inspired by the northern red-bellied turtle.

I decided to post what I am doing with this mini, since I just decided that I was not following my usual routine. He has been broccoli clipped, cleaned up as best I could do, and Primed. Rather than line him with my usual brown liner, I decided to use a black wash. It gives me a lot of contrast, but I don't have to paint over that usual brown. The black should work for my intentions. Nice to see all the fine details on this one. The beard makes me shiver in AN-TIS-I-PAT-ION. Tom did a magnificent job on that, as well as the right hand at the base of the staff on left side. He always sneaks in a detail you aren't expecting. I am planning on basing him on some tree bark to look like a mountain ledge, and some tree's around the base. I'll try to make sure I show my various steps to completion ! So here are a few photos of where he stands now.