MamaGeek Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Dark Sword manufactures a series of miniatures with the same name, "Thief of Hearts." Each one has a different pose, weapon, etc. They are sold as "Thief of Hearts", "Thief of Hearts #2," "Thief of Hearts #3," etc. I'm painting the first one in the series, the original "Thief of Hearts." Here's the mini stick-tacked onto the block of wood I'll be using for the base: I had just ordered some new brushes, and wanted to wait on painting her until they came in. I also wanted to get a feel for the work as a whole, so I started with the base. First I took the wood block out to my garage and hacked at it with a saw and rasp for a while. Then I glued on pieces of cork and a small root from my garden. I will integrate the base of the mini into the cork at the top, so I left a hole for that. I added sand to the base to represent dirt, then I used white primer on the upper areas and all the sand, which tends to soak up the paint if not primed. Next I painted the base, and varnished the wood. This photo doesn't capture nearly all the subtle coloring on here. There is a significant amount of violet shading in the rocky areas that matches the palette of the miniature. I may need to add more layers of that to bring it out more. The dirt on the side looks too muddy, too. I think the glue was thick there, so the surface is smoother than other areas. I may go back and glue on another dusting of sand there. Once the miniature is glued into the space at the top, I'll glue more sand in the gap to integrate it fully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaGeek Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 After priming the mini, I decided on a palette: From left to right: wings, skin, loin cloth, armor, cloak I've also found this reference photo I'll be using for the wings: I decided to begin with the skin, using my new Da Vinci Maestro "Miniaturist" brush, size 2, that I just ordered from DickBlick.com (see my earlier blog entry about that). I base coated the skin with a layer of Reaper MSP Sandy Tan, mixed with white. My second layer was a very, very thin teal that I mixed myself from Reaper MSP Clear Blue and some GW yellow paint I need to use up. I applied this in the shadow areas of the skin. For the third step, I applied more shading using very thin Reaper MSP Sandy Brown, and went back and forth with that and white, to retouch any highlights that got pulled down too dark with the teal and brown. I still have several layers to go, which will move the skin tone closer towards red, but this is my starting point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haldir Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Very nice start. I like that base you've made. Also nice pattern to work from the wings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferox Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Oh, cool! Following this one with interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Love the base so far Joy. Might I suggest adding some Milliput to the sides to fill in some of the holes and make the whole thing flush with the side of the base. I think it will make it look more seamless. I am actually wanting to paint up a mini with a very similar type of base, when I find the time to paint again, so thank you very much for the inspiration! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Excellent start on the base. Did you preserve the roots or are you using them straight from the garden? Looking forward to seeing this one progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orionjp Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Wow, can't wait to see this thing finished, it will rock!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaGeek Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 @Mercius: I plan to leave the wood unpainted, so I can't bulk it up with Milliput (I also don't own any, haha!). But what part exactly were you referring to? I may be able to do something else with it.... @Jabberwocky: I left the root to dry for a couple months, but that's it. Should I have done something else with it? Skin Tones Steps 4-6 Step 4: I applied more of the Sandy Brown, White, and Teal. Step 5: Very thin blood red to bring the skin tone to life. Step 6: GW Elf flesh to blend the tones together Cloak Step 1: Base coat with violet mixed with white Step 2: Shade with yellow mixed with black Step 3: Shade with violet - it looks too pink! A wash of clear blue should fix it (see that started on the right side of the cloak) Step 4: Finish the clear blue wash, then shade, highlight, shade, highlight with all of the above where they seem to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Really diggin' the cloak--very rich colors you've got going. I was just curious about the root. Darklord over at WaMP had posted an article about preserving natural foliage with glycerin to ensure longevity of the plants. I've not been able to find any glycerin here (other than in pediatric constipation preparations and I am not that interested to go about extracting the glycerin from the suppositories...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaGeek Posted October 26, 2011 Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 I spent two more hours working on the cloak, using the same colors from before. It's still not done, but it's getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Now that I look at it again, I think I was mistaken on my comments...with the look you are going for, my comments would ruin the finish of the base. Just ignore them and do what you do best, creating masterpieces! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaGeek Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 OK Mercius, and thanks! I haven't had a chance to work on this for a while. I've been working on a D&D adventure for the group I'm DMing for. And of course tonight I took the kids trick-or-treating. We had a fun time. My husband ran out of candy at our house, but we got home just in time to restock him. Our kids protested some, but they got way more candy than they can eat, anyway, so it's all good. The doorbell didn't ring too many times after that, anyway. :). Tomorrow night we'll go to church for All Saint's Day. I was planning to meet a friend for coffee one night this week, and Friday night is Game Night, so it might be a while still... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazarusKing Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 That cloak looks fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumble_B Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I love the way the base came out. Good stuff. I am concerned about the cloak. It looks like it is taking on a "grainyness" due to the last bit of whiteish hightlight. I'm not sure if that was the last few highlights so something like a glaze would help it out .. or maybe it is the primer and I just couldnt see it before. Just what I'm seeing now. Can't wait to see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaGeek Posted November 2, 2011 Author Share Posted November 2, 2011 I love the way the base came out. Good stuff. I am concerned about the cloak. It looks like it is taking on a "grainyness" due to the last bit of whiteish hightlight. I'm not sure if that was the last few highlights so something like a glaze would help it out .. or maybe it is the primer and I just couldnt see it before. Just what I'm seeing now. Can't wait to see more. Yes, there is graininess in that middle section. That is where I didn't prep the mini well enough, and the underlying metal wasn't smooth. When I shaded it, I ended up with an ugly stark transition line. What you see is my slow buildup of highlights to smooth it out. When I'm done, you shouldn't see that anymore. It is of concern, though. I spent probably about an hour just starting to fix it. Chalk it up to "lessons learned" - always take the time to properly prep your minis! I probably won't get to painting this again until the weekend at the earliest. Life has been busy lately! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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