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I was finally able to get back into the swing of things. Here are my minis from October & November. The Noblewoman from Bones Kickstarter 5. I think hers is one of the better human faces I've done. Here is the Warlord Spirit Wolf, #14623. I like how his blue flames turned out. And finally, the Overgourd from Bones Kickstarter 5. This was a fun one to paint.

For some Halloween fun, I painted up the Punkin' Headed Bugbear:

I had a lot of fun with this one. I had painted the Overgourd last year, but missed my chance to submit it for my local October contest. I've been waiting to put him into the ring. Funny enough my daughter goes, "Dad he's kind of looking down on something. It'd be cool if there was a guy that didn't know he was there." And that's how the idea for the diorama was born. The pieces were based to be used with something else later. I figured it was a good test to see if i could make some kind of hole for he bases to slot into. Not perfect but not bad. I found two henchmen that were perfect monster fodder. I call this one "always look behind you"

Did someone say "pumpkin"? No? I must be hearaing things...again... Anyway. I present to you: the Punkin' Headed Bugbear! Because pumpkin. The highlights on the flesh are a little less splotchy to my eyes, and the fur doesn't "pop" quite that much. Overall, to my eyes, it actually looks a little dark. I thought that the pumpkin and punkin' guts would brighten up the bugbear but it doesn't quite bring it up enough. I also think I started too dark on the fur (starting at Muddy Soil--which is so dark brown as to be nearly black). Truthfully it makes sense that it would be so dark (as to let the pumpkins serve as camouflage and obscure its form), but that doesn't tend to make an interesting miniature. I should have gone lighter on the fur. Still, not bad for only a few hours work. And it's another pumpkin! Thanks for dropping by!

Pumpkin issues? Pumpkin issues?! I don't have any idea what you could possibly mean. I've loved this guy for some time. I've even got one of the metal ones buried in my mini-stash somewhere (and also [All Hallows] Eve...I'll get to her soon enough as she has a pouch/purse that is somewhat...pumpkin-shaped). I'll have to get it that one soon. Anyway, as soon as I saw this guy hit Bones V, I knew I was going to be getting a couple. So here they are! And I've just realized that I didn't paint the hilt on the white pumpkin's sword. I'll have to get that done pretty soon. The orange cape was done with a sample that Reaper sent some years ago when I returned to painting and some Pumpkin Orange and Hallowed Orange. Everything else is standard Reaper colors. I'm thinking I drybrushed the Shadowed Steel a little too heavily over the Adamantium Black. I tried to take it down with a little black wash, but I don't I got it quite right. I'm also wondering if I shouldn't re-paint the dagger as well and do something blacker/greyer. These guys were a pleasure to paint up! I'm normally pretty slow when it comes to painting. I don't even understand how some folks can plop down a figure and say that it was just a couple hours work (or less)! But, by my best estimation, these only took about six hours--which is almost unthinkable for me. ...and a gourd time was had by all. Thanks for dropping by!

My pumpkin issues continue to develop. When I decided I needed to do something non-HeroQuest I rummaged through the Big Bones V Box and grabbed a few things. This is the second one I've finished. I'm not going to go into a longwinded bit about the colors. I've got most of them in paintRack, though, in case anyone has a burning curiosity. I might not be 100% on the base, though I should be close. Overall, I felt like the jacket was originally part of a uniform, so I tried keeping that in mind when I did the colors. And since the pumpkin is orange, I wanted a nice contrast (which means I was going to select a blue for it). And you can't really tell it, but his teeth are metallic. I figured if you're going to go through the trouble of animating up an ogre-sized scarecrow, why not splurge a bit for some extra chompatude. This one was lots of fun, and he painted up nicely (I think). I still wonder what army got their ogres in fancy getups like these. And a shot of the base because it deserves it. I've got to admit that I was a bit confused by it, though. To my eye, the stalks looked fresher than the fall theme of the pumpkin might suggest. I decided to go with "fall" and make the stalks nice and dried out. The skull is a nice touch. I accidentally clogged the nasal opening, though, and my brief attempt to fix it didn't work. I ended up just accepting it. The detail on the corn is a little shallow, the same with the skull. I'm sure I covered up more than a little bit, but I'm not exactly painting for display or competition. I'm just trying to do a nice tabletop (maybe a little better) level. Thanks for dropping by!

I've been wanting to get this guy under the brush for quite some time. It was one of my favorites from Bones V, but I just found the inspiration. It would seem my inspiration is avoiding painting HeroQuest. Most of the Overgourd was done with Phoenix Red, Fire Orange, Marigold Yellow, Sun Yellow, and Lemon Yellow. The sclera was Linen White while the iris was True Blue, Sky Blue, and Ghost White. The base is a bit of a disappointment. The colors didn't quite work out the way I wanted them to go, especially on the pumpkins. The Amber Glow followed with a nice drybrush of (unsurprisingly) Pumpkin went well enough. But the final layer didn't work out. Sunshine was simply too bright, and when I mixed some Pumpkin in to try and dull it down there wasn't enough of an effect. So a wash of Terra Cotta sort of brought things in line. I don't even remember what I used for the stems or for the ground. The stems worked out "ok", but I'll have to hope nobody looks to closely at the dirt patch. Thanks for looking in! Bonus:

Halloween Knight from Bones 5. Putting him in the theme category at my local IPMS show. Monsters and Machines, the obvious and machines with monster names like a C-130 “Specter” gunship. Pretty sure this fits.

There are those that say that the monks at St. Fiacre's should not plant their vegetables so close to the churchyard, that it is unseemly to fatten the marrows, squashes, and pumpkins so close to human bones filled with human marrow. Of course, the same voices don't complain when those same vegetables come to market, ripe and full of rich flavor. But that is another tale, and... ...wait, what is this? Who comes here at this hour? A ruffian in disguise, bent on disturbing the bones in the cemetary?! Nay, ruffians plural! Grave robbers, here to trouble those at long rest under stone! And who is this?! A sinister figure, clearly the ringleader. "Go now, and find me that wizard's grave!" A little foxfire around the eyes and mouth of a carved pumpkin will frighten the superstitious into thinking these grave-robbers are haints. "Not one stone in ten is as it was in the old times; be sure where ye dig!" "Wait, lads--what is that light?!" "That's no sexton's lamp! Take to your heels, boys!" It is, perhaps, only fair that those who mock Jack O'The Lantern get to see the original. A variant of Jack In the Green, easily summoned. "BOOOOO!" "YOU WHO TRESPASS ON THE ROW / YOUR FLESH WILL MAKE THE PUMPKINS GROW" "'Tis every man for himself, lads, and devil take the hindmost!" "TAKE THE HINDMOST? SO BE IT!" "AH HA HA HA HAAAAA!" As I said, the pumpkins from St. Fiacre's are always welcome at market. Something about the tender flesh and delicate taste, the kind you don't find elsewhere. Rumors that a wealthy patron of the monastery was a sorcerer are just that--old wives' tales. And the story of a guardian appointed to keep his rest secure 'till doomsday? Obviously also fictitious. Old wives will talk; this is well-known.

This one took a lot more time than i planned. 2.5 nights of work. The killer of it was all the layers with translucent paint. Keeping them thin to not get streaking was difficult. But i did it and it's done. Proud moment for me is the eye. Done!

This one is taking me forever! I'm at a standstill with doing this eyeball. I also can't tell if i need to change the weird yellow i did around the eye. I'm also struggling with the pumpkin lights in the heads. Overall I'm struggling and need suggestions. Here's where I'm at: Here's the progress photos

Just in time for the season! I happened to be going through some sort of a creativity crisis. I would start on a figure and almost right away stop feeling it. This guy seemed to shake me up quiet nicely. Although, I did get tired at the end and rushed a few things. But, as I remember, the profys recommend "paint more minis" as oppose to sitting over one for eternity trying to get it to perfection.

Hello everyone! With Halloween at the door, it promises to be a very colorful month. Here's 01545, Punkin' Headed Bugbear sculpted by Jason Wiebe. This Special Edition Miniature was originally available only at the 2014 Reaper Artist Conference. It was later release under sku: 04044. The base is a 74024, 40mm square plastic base.

Here is the Overgourd from Bones 5. He is super fun to paint! I am using him in my D&D game tomorrow! His sidekick is a 3d printed pumpkin cyclops.

Better late than never. Here's some fun Pumpkin Horrors I painted up for @Inarah for Secret Sophie this past December. I was still riding on my Halloween spirit when Secret Sophie began, but wanted to do something that fit the winter theme. Inspired by the snowman-like design of the Pumpkin horrors and my own past mistakes of leaving pumpkins outside to rot all winter, I decided to do a holiday mashup with these guys left out in the cold too long. With some time having passed, I wish I would have made them look a bit rotten and frost-bitten, but I also like the more colorful result. More Photos Below the Spoiler: These were some fun minis and my first time working with metal. I have now broken the seal and have started looking into other minis that I previously considered off-limits. I also enjoyed participating in Secret Sophie and joining in to some of the forum shenanigans. I highly recommend participating in these kinds of things for any who have been reticent. What are some of your favorite holiday minis?

I know, I know, 2020 is scary enough, but here are some spooky miniatures. First up, Fritz! 03709 Scooby-dooby-doo, where are you? 03920 I like how the blue edging came out on this one. 77098 To be continued...

"If ever you chance to go to the woodsBe sure that you go by day,Or the Spindly Man with his long thin armsWill spindle you clean away." Scarecrows. The purpose is to inspire fear. For crows, the idea is that it looks like a human. For people, the issue is that it doesn't quite. Gauntfield is a truly horrific sculpt. For one, scale creep aside, he's very tall. Over eight foot in scale, if I were to judge. For another, his hands are way too big, coming down to knee level. And those hands are clutching a sack full of bones. That's a red flag. Oh, and he's a reanimated skeleton with a jack-o-lantern sack mask. That sadistic grin! the flapping tatters! The sculptor is very like Gauntfield himself, in that they are both... ...outstanding in their field. "When it comes to SURPRISES in the moonlit night..." A Bombshell promotion netted me this Autumn the Scarecrone. Less overtly skeletal, but still a construct of cloth and straw given malign, shambling life and carrying a sickle. Tatterdemalion, rag-tag, hobbledehoy. The crow on her hat is a nice touch. Her paint job and color scheme are loosely inspired by Sally from "NIghtmare Before Christmas." Bonus: Bombshell's Pumpkin Pal!

After missing last year I'm back. Good thing I started painting in August, just finished these last weekend! First up, a banshee (77096 Labella DeMornay, Banshee). Not too happy with this one, still working on finding just the right way to use the translucent Bones. I like how the dress turned out, though. Next up, 77097 Grave Wraith. Happier with this one, but still not quite right: Next, another pumpkin golem, 03708 Freddie, the Pumpkin Horror. I think I'm only missing one now. And what is Halloween without a spooky tree (03692 Halloween Tree): Keeping with the pumpkin theme, here is the Halloween Knight, 01449. Color scheme shamelessly stolen from the mobs in Scholomance in World of Warcraft. And finally, Halloween herself, 01450 All Hallow's Eve. She came out a bit more shiny than I intended. Happy Halloween everyone!

Sculpt by Bobby Jackson. This Halloween themed project was stolen borrowed from a comment made by @strawhat in the "Acquisitions" thread, Re: the shiny orange MSP sample. He suggested that the Halloween Knight would look good with shiny orange plate mail and a white pumpkin head. So that's what I did: Very pleased with how this piece turned out! The shiny is much shinier in person, but I think my favourite part, is the use of a white pumpkin. Definitely the right call! Paints I used for the majority of the work: Also made use of MSP Shadowed Stone for the shield, and MSP Pale Olive for cape highlights. As always, comments welcome! :)

Whew. I finished him. I have to say, this was a fun project. The idea came to me sometime last year, but it took awhile for me to get around to working on him. I've decided that monochrome relaxes me. It's just easier somehow to take color out of the picture and just work on shadows and highlights. I think I need to vary my levels a bit, but overall, I wanted it to read as a night scene, so I'm happy. I like the idea of an accent color. I've been wanting to try that for awhile now. Though looking at him, I could probably pop the osl on his face. the pumpkin in the back worked out better- most likely because it has larger opening for the eyes. I tried to find his sku number in the catalog and failed, but this was The Headless Mousling from 2014, sculpted by Gene Van Horne.I used a bones rat, a pillar from the graveyard set, and 2 pumpkins. Anyway, enjoy and Happy Halloween! I'm using my new Iphone and seem to have issues editing, so pics may be a bit funky...

I may have finished Orctober early this year, but that leaves plenty of time for other Halloween themed minis this year! All spookiness comes from the Bones 3 Kickstarter...actually, I think it's all from the same Crypt Expansion, except for one of the spirits. The full haunting: The Obsidian Crypt: The Graveyard Golem: The Spirits from Beyond: The true evil of the group, the Pumpkin Minions:

Here's a boss from Super Dungeon Explore. I split my set with my wife, and I was really surprised that I got to paint this one (she got Jack, so it isn't like I always get the best ones). I decided to go with a fairly limited color scheme for her. I don't remember why exactly, but I really did enjoy the pink pumpkin. Here she is.

Got this guy during last year's 12 Days of Reaper. Decided it being the halloween season and all would be a good time to paint him up. I just did a different pumpkin guy before him and learned my lesson that I wanted a more red base for the actual pumpkin itself. So this time I used cinnamon red which made a really excellent base color for his pumpkin head, then highlighted in pumpkin orange and a little mix in with yellow. I owe Clever Crow for some inspiration from their excellent work a couple years ago (http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/58050-headless-mousling/). I borrowed their method of highlighting the actual mouse head and I feel it helped a great deal. Anyways, Happy Halloween and thanks for reading!

I started this as a Halloween project. Things got in the way and now it is an autumn piece. Any way I had fun. I bought a ceramic Pumpkin, converted it into a house. Reaper's Elise Witch http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/elise/latest/02869And Freebooter's Chaos Witch both sculpted by Werner Klocke are conjuring pumpkins. These are now wandering off into the world to cause mayhem, The pumpkins are part Ristul's Market and I used the Owl on a Pumpkin from the Reaper Halloween Familiars http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Special%20Edition%20Figures/sku-down/01548 And I added the great Halloween Tree from Reaper: http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/halloween/sku-down/03692 Hope you like it. Some Pumpkins are a bit in the ground, so they are emerging.

Got this guy as a freebie in some prior Reaper event (maybe last year's halloween?) So decided to paint him up for the Halloween season this year. Highlighted his hat in purple, pumpkin orange for him obviously. I should have used a more reddish color for the base, I think I used fireball orange, but I rectified that on the next pumpkin guy I painted. Christmas wreath on the base of his vines so I could get a couple of my special editions in at once. Thanks for reading!