Sleeping Minotaur

[Vacaroja]

I LOVE MINOTAURS!

 

Beastmen, in general. Things like Dark Sword's Anthropomorphic Animals helps feed this love as well. But, especially after 10+ years of playing practically nothing but Tauren in World of Warcraft, I've grown very attached to minotaurs. When I saw a bunch of these beautiful bovine people created by Zealot Miniatures (and one in particular that reminded me of one of my WoW characters), I snatched up a bunch of them and I needed to paint at least one right now.

 

Originally, I wasn't going to do a WIP thread. But as much as my husband loves the end products of my hobby, he is far less enthusiastic than I am about the details of every step. And I'm having so much fun with the process, I feel the need to share.

 

First, I primed in gray. Then, this morning, I blocked all the areas with base coats.

 

 

Then in the afternoon, I started on the skin.  Since it's a smooth skinned mini, but I wanted a fur texture, I decided to try something I haven't done on a mini before, pointillism. These are the colors I'm using -

 

 

Started with bringing up the skin color with a layer of Burgundy Wine mixed with a touch of Burnt Red over about 90% of the skin. You can just see the difference of the back vs. the arm and leg.

 

 

After that, I started the pointillism, going up slowly in tone with successive blends of the other colors. Not quite just dots of color, but tiny little lines with the tip of a #1 brush. The lines generally start out in a certain direction, but then go a little more wild the lighter the color.

 

 

Went back and forth with all the colors to get the texture and shading I liked and this is the result.

 

 

So that's what I'll be doing for a little while.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Vacaroja

[EvilJames]

Wow! That's looking really good. Really cool looking mini as well.

[Glitterwolf]

Great start!

 

*** Ourach! You take first watch tonight! And try to stay awake this time! We don't want another Goblin infestation in our camp like last time!***

[WhiteWulfe]

Ooooh, that is a lovely looking model, and I love where it's going already! 

 

.. You aren't kidding it looks very Tauren like! 

 

Edit: I also love minotaurs, they're awesome!

Edited June 12, 2019 by WhiteWulfe

[LarsM]

Looks amazing! 

Do you start with "long" lines, and make them shorter as they get lighter, or about same length all the way? 

[Vacaroja]

2 hours ago, WhiteWulfe said:

Ooooh, that is a lovely looking model, and I love where it's going already! 

 

.. You aren't kidding it looks very Tauren like! 

You should take a look at Zealot's shop.  There are some features that do differentiate them from WoW's minotaur race.  But there are striking similarities and I wouldn't be surprised to find out there was some influence in design. (Except for the Matriarch. The Matriarch is just weird.) They have one riding a "tusk beast". If that isn't a kodo, I don't know what is! And, yeah, I got that one too.

 

1 hour ago, LarsM said:

Looks amazing! 

Do you start with "long" lines, and make them shorter as they get lighter, or about same length all the way? 

No intentional variance in length.  The lines all fit within a certain parameter, though some get away from me. The nice thing about the technique is that if my brush strokes ever get too long or heavy, I can go back with the other colors to break up/blend in the mistake.

[Fire_Eyes]

I love the pointillism idea! It's a great way to convey that short fur some animals get. Would you mind if I stole the technique when I finally get around to painting my minotaurs?

[Vacaroja]

27 minutes ago, Fire_Eyes said:

I love the pointillism idea! It's a great way to convey that short fur some animals get. Would you mind if I stole the technique when I finally get around to painting my minotaurs?

Steal away! It's not like I invented or copyrighted it, haha.

[Rigel]

This is next-level stuff! Will be following with interest! 

[Stonebred]

I dig this one as well. Minotaurs are indeed pretty awesome. Looking forward to seeing this one come to fruition.

[LarsM]

Thanks for sharing, I must also steal this idea! 

[Fencig]

never heard of Zealot Miniatures  but they sell some WICKED Minotaurs. Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

 

if you haven't already, check out Heresy Miniatures Minotaur, Manbane is a real monster and poor  "Sir Roger the Lucky"

[Vacaroja]

19 hours ago, Fencig said:

if you haven't already, check out Heresy Miniatures Minotaur, Manbane is a real monster and poor  "Sir Roger the Lucky"

 

It's a good looking monster man! I'm super picky about certain details though, and I don't like the manacles. I, personally, can't do a minotaur that was chained. He must be free to rampage!

[Vacaroja]

I found a blemish! Some mold lines and at some point the resin had gotten scratched, but I didn't notice it until I started painting the fur. Couldn't just let this one go. So milliput fill and some repaint. It's not perfect, but it's better. Most folks won't notice it anymore.

 

 

And after several hours of tiny stipple action, I've gotten all of the skin covered, including the face. He's an old bull, so elderly dog face inspiration!

 

 

I'm probably going to go back after painting the rest of him up, to smooth or push details. Particularly that face.

 

[Fencig]

2 hours ago, Vacaroja said:

 

 I, personally, can't do a minotaur that was chained. He must be free to rampage!

yes, BUT, he broke his chains and exacted revenge.

 

I like your take on this one, old dude taking a nap after some exhausting slaughter,

 

Zealot shipping prices to US are actually  excellent from UK, about $6.,