Inspiration

Like anything creative, you paint your best miniatures when you’re inspired (by the figure).  Oddly, inspiration is a bit random, you can look at a miniature lots of times and not be inspired and then one day just get an image or a colour scheme or something finally clicks and you get excited by the prospect of painting it.  We set up in the lounge this evening and decided to watch some Black Adder and do some ‘crafting’, so Grete got out a rug she’s making and I dragged all the paints through from the computer room.  I intended to keep working on the Sasha DuBois piece for the diary and maybe potter about a bit with some others figures (I have a zombie army I’m supposed to be painting after all).  However, I picked up one of the heavy metal nuns I had started and was just inspired to finish it.  It ended up being worthwhile because I found a hair colour I really like and think looks very effective which I then used on the Sasha piece.  We watched all of the first season of Black Adder and half of the second and I finished the nun (flesh had already been done although I did a little extra washing and dry brushing) and I’m really pleased with the overall finished piece.

Photo’s don’t do it justice, but I don’t have time for two hobbies (painting and photographing really small things so they look like they do in real life), but here’s a few pictures anyway.  More posted in the relevant picasa albums (in progress and complete).  I think I made a claim that I’d be doing these figures using blending, but let’s face it I suck at that and I’ve proven I’m no good at keeping creative promises, so I’ll probably stop making them.  The figure on the right in this photo is the one I finished.  The full unpainted set are here.  I might try and keep the same colour scheme running through them all, a mixture of scab red (mmm lovely) and dark blues with gold edging, but then again, I may not.

I am pleased with the result, I think I did the best I could although I wish I could get the edges tighter and get the colours blended better but that’s either going to come with a lot more practice or never come at all.

Either way, I enjoyed painting this figure and I enjoy the result.