WIP #2: mid-80s Orc Leader, almost there...

Almost there... but I did promise a picture, so here it is:

The model still needs a drybrush on the flock and then a layer of paint-on matt varnish. Maybe an extra highlight here and there. Taking a photo like this and having a closer look really makes me aware of those areas where the model could benefit from a few extra minutes...

Tonight I picked up an old trick for this guy and gave the skin areas and horns a coat of paint-on gloss varnish. This is left to dry for tomorrow and I believe it will create a nice smooth finish for the matt varnish to go over. A while back I experimented adding gloss varnish to the paints when painting flesh areas and this also had an interesting effect.

Bottom line, model is almost there, but I am really pleased to remember this old trick and hopefully seeing a good result when I finish the model.

WIP #1: mid-80s Orc Leader

Still a bit of work left on the base, so I am not revealing the model in a clear photo.
Moody and with a bounch of old hang-outs in the background instead:

 
However, I ought to have time to finish the base tomorrow evning. And then there are a few touch ups.
Proper photos will come later, but I hope to show a single snap-shot of the finished dude sometime Monday evening. If the plan works out.

Mysterious mini

Started up this mysterious guy last week...

Actually, while writing this the model itself is finished, and I am building the base. Should finish him in the weekend. I love these old school models from the 80s...

And if you, like me, still have the first Citadel painting guide (the one with John Blanche's wonderful dwarfs vs skellies diorama) you will probably remember the mysterious mini quite well...

Runelord finished

Decided that the dwarf Runelord was done, so I sent him off  for some exploration in a rather unhomely setting...

 
A great model. Of course I could spend more hours on the guy if I wanted to. I could also easily paint another one and enjoy it even more. However, I am already halfway through the painting of a cool old-school orc miniature...

Classic studio-style photos of the Runelord later.

Booklet update

POST-CENTAUR PAINTING is moving quickly. Almost 70 booklets have left the house, which is quite impressive. I have also had some great comments from them painters out there, who recieved my little product. Thanks a lot for those comments! It makes me really happy that it you like it and find inspiration from my projects.

On another note, I have cleaned up a handful of very different models that I am planning to paint over the next two months or so. Should be fun. Also, I was struck by inspiration yesterday and made some concepts that might turn into a really interesting project in the scope of a year or so...

WIP Rune Lord

Some mini-painting done this week. Status on the my painting of the new plastic Rune Lord from GW.

What an absolutely awsome model. The sprue-layout, the crispness of the designs, and the assembling of the miniature. A pure pleasure to work with. Painting has so far been easy and fun. I am painting this model purely to enjoy the hobby.

POST-CENTAUR PAINTING

Finally, as promised, I can tell about, show and link to the miniature booklet shown earlier.

The central idea for the booklet was to present a selection of my works done after my Crystal Brush project in 2011. The entry for the competition was called Duchess Death, and I have often thought if her as the Death Centaur of Doom refering to my doomed mental state after the countless of hours that went into creating and painting the model. In the months after Crystal Brush I painted on canvas, tried out lithography, and explored different more expressive forms of miniature painting. I also started this blog. I wanted to produce more in less time, and I did not care for immediate precision, but worked with textures, vivid colours and with a strong focus on the overall imagery.

In short, I think my painting style and approach to the hobby took a turn after that competition, and it is that stylistic endavour, my POST-CENTAUR PAINTING, that I am presenting in the booklet.

Appropriately enough, the Crystal Brush is actually taking place the coming weekend, so - Crystal Brush competitors beware! - you might be in for a stylistic change if you get in too deep... :-)

FACTS on POST-CENTAUR PAINTING:

It is a 52 pages A6 booklet: 20 spread-pages each presenting a miniature (well 17 on minis and 3 on other arty projects) with a page of words and a page of images. Plus an introduction and finishing with a few of my sketches and mood photographies.

For this first edition run I have had 100 printed, all numbered and signed.

The booklet can be purchased through Runic Miniatures at the following stand-alone site, 

http://www.runicminiatures.dk/books/home.php

I look forward to hearing comments from those who buys the booklet, and I hope that it might serve as inspiration to start (or finish) some great projects out there. It might even cause a stylistic deviations or two...

Finishing off this post, here are a few more images:

Purple ink - nostalgia

Found this last weekend in an old box of paints at my parents house. An early 90s purple ink! And notice the late 90s era purple ink in the background. Awsome strong inks. I just love purple.