Darkstar Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Hey everyone, after a few-month-long-hiatus from posting anything I present to you two versions of Alahazra. Why two versions? Because I didn't have time for 4. Just an amazing figure by my favorite sculptor, Julie Guthrie. I had to get a couple of these done to get out my ideas of what I thought of when I first saw this piece back when it was a green. The base is lab stone (extremely hard dental plaster), painted to look like sandblasted and ancient sandstone or something like that. First I carved stone blocks out of plaster then I assembled them. Next I took some castings I had of Hirst Arts blocks and put those together after breaking them to fit the wooden plinth. Put those together then I made molds and plaster castings of the sphinxes from a pendant that I ordered online special for this project. Cut the sphinxes to fit the plinth and underlying blocks then assembled them in place and exoxied some filling here and there to unify it. Finally I distressed everything with carefully placed chaos and decay to give it that lived in look of a thousand eons of abuse under the searing sun and scalding hot winds of some endless desert in the middle of a sea of sand. Or something like that. Well anyway, not much to say other than I loved this mini and sometimes when I see ones I really like I paint up a couple different versions, mostly to satisfy my own desire to see what they'll look like painted up differently. One is more or less "plain" and "realistic" I use the terms very loosely, the one with the black scarves, and the other is more ornate and colorful. I don't have a favorite, but everyone else who has seen them chooses one or the other almost right away. Alright, more in the works, see ya very soon, Much Love, Sean 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citrine Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 They are both gorgeous, Darkstar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastman Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Breathtaking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Yowza...that is some fine detail! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuro Cleanbrush Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Simply stunning work as always, and your base-work takes them to a whole new level! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 The base sets off a spectacular paint job! Kudos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosscorpion Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Don't know which impresses me more the detail of the basing or the paint jobs on the figs. The detailing of the fig is amazing, the skintones and highlights are something to aspire to. Wow. Now I need to get a light box going and get some critquing of my work so I can imporove. Wow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookjimjr Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Top notch stuff. I like both. If I were to try my hand at this mini I probably would have tried the more detailed version, but I am pretty sure it would not turn out as well as yours looks. I really enjoy seeing your work and you are inspiration to us all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haldir Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 O.M.G. They are both excellent works of art, but I think I like the 1st version better & that is due to I like the eye liner detail on that one. Fantastic work on the base too. RM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inarah Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Hol-y crap! It's going to be at least a week until I can face anything I've been painting again. Fantastic job on both figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcktlnt Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 The details on the first one is amazing. Love the colors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evergrin Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 So beautiful. I love the first one's face and the second one's garment a lot. They have such beautiful hair, too... You are amazing. The title 'Godlike' suits you perfectly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Sweet. Good to see you posting a model (or two). These are superb. Love the base work on the model on the right. You continue to set the standard for us all Sean. Paint on brother! SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubbdog Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 How many hours on each my friend? And when are you going to be teaching at ReaperCon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkstar Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Thank you guys, there's some heart warming stuff right there, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you like these @Stubb: If I had to wager a guess I'd put them over the 15 to 20 hour mark each. That includes the bases. This figure is so small that I think the actual paintwork went by pretty quick, compared to my normal slow as snails time. Regarding RC I don't think my chances are very high of ever getting out to Texas sadly, if it were in my neck of the woods I'd go for sure, but I don't even get out to the cons that are a couple hours away here. I wish it were otherwise. Thanks brother. @Steve: Thanks man, good to see you I like your new avatar that's a cool conversion @pcktlnt, Jay, Jen, Lastman, cookjimjr, Citrine: Thanks guys I appreciate your comments for sure, thank you. @Evergrin: Thank you I try to get the hair looking nice and shiny it's tricky, especially with black. With black hair it either goes by really quickly or takes forever. These two went by pretty quickly. @Inarah: No dont take a week to face your minis! They'll get lonely and that's sad! @Haldir: Thanks man, the eyeliner was tricky it's not as perfectly straight as I like but at scale it looks ok. With the super magnification of the camera you can see it's off a little. @Chaosscorpion: Thank you. Yeah Lightboxes can be a big help when photographing to take that edge off the blown out highlights for sure. I don't use one anymore but it took years of trial and error to get it so I don't need a diffuser but when I did use one my photo skills took a great leap in understanding how the light needs to work at this scale. It's not easy and takes many failures, keep at it, dont get too frustrated, at least we're not using developed film to practice which makes it less painful. @Kuro: Thanks I'm trying to improve my Base Fu as it were as that's one of the most common criticisms of my painted figures. That I don't really offset the detailed paintwork with bases that showcase them, so I'm striving towards better bases. However it's something I'm not happy with yet at all, my ideas are big, my time spent isn't enough to get them as "done" as I want. Time management. If only I had more time to learn how to do that right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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