Waiting for Shadamehr

I've been threatening to take a break from my Thorin & Company project for some time now. The monotony of painting dwarves over and over was beginning to drain the joy of painting from me.  I guess I really do have miniature A.D.D. and need variety to keep me entertained. Well I've finally put the little squats aside for a short while to tackle a few other projects. First up was completing a great sculpt from Dark Sword Miniatures - Waiting for Shadamehr.

I'm a huge fan of DSM. At last count I have over sixty of their miniatures. All are great sculpts, but the thing that keeps me coming back is the fact that a large portion of their line are adaptations of paintings from many of my favorite fantasy artists. I grew up playing D&D in the 80's and the images that graced the rulebooks, modules, and magazines of the era from artists such as Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson, Clyde Caldwell, and Jeff Easley really define the fantasy genre for me. I still reminisce about endless hours of making characters and rolling dice when I see those images and recall the fond memories of those days long past.  To be able to actually paint miniatures that seem to have walked from those very pages of my past is a pure joy.

This particular miniature is taken from a Larry Elmore painting titled "Waiting for Shadamehr" (the image can be found at the bottom of this post). In it, a scantily clad female ranger/warrior kneels at the edge of a forest with her gnomish companion, while lands that beckon the adventurous fall away in a valley to the right. I never knew the title of the painting back then but I think it is perfectly named. In my mind, they were indeed waiting for someone, though whether that someone was friend of foe, I knew not. That, I think, was part of the allure of the painting. One could stare at the image for hours and conjure up a thousand different stories that could define Mr. Elmore's effort.

Sculptor Dennis Mize did a wonderful job capturing the essence of the painting and transferring it to the miniature. The similarities are striking, which is what drew me to the mini in the first place. Most every detail is present and well-executed. In my opinion, only her facial countenance differs. In the painting, she has such a stern expression while the miniature version seems to flash a sly smirk. It's not an unpleasant change by any means (perfect for a mini used for roleplaying) but it is a change nonetheless. Unfortunately her gnomish companion does not seem to be available. Too bad, as the addition of the gnome would make for a great diorama.

I thought of painting the miniature to match the colors of the painting itself. After starting, however, I realized that I had been using quite a bit of blues lately. I wanted to switch up the routine a bit to help shake off the Thorin & Company funk so I changed up the main colors to mainly green and red. Those colors always look good together but one has to be careful or else the final outcome starts looking like a Christmas decoration. By keeping my reds muted and the green bright, hopefully I dodged that fashion faux pas. I rarely paint large flat sections of my miniatures red because I have a hard time creating proper highlighting and shading in those circumstances. I couldn't resist this time, though. To camouflage my lack of skill with shading red, I drew up a nice pattern for the shield's heraldry then tried my luck with a bit of freehand. Not my best effort but certainly not my worst.

Just like many of the DSM models, Waiting for Shadamehr is shipped in multiple pieces (two in this case). Due to the high quality of their products, I rarely encounter problems with assembly. However, the sword arm on this model did not want to play nicely. A large gap was present after assembly and no amount of filing and repositioning would correct the issue. Finally I gave up and used liquid green stuff to fill the gap and sculpt in some of the missing detail. By looking closely at the photo below, you can see my poor attempt at sculpting just below and to the side of the bracer.

For the most part, I'm pleased with the outcome. Even had the miniature not turned out as she did, I still would not complain, though. Just to be painting something different than those blasted dwarves was pleasure enough. I think I'll polish off a few more projects before returning to the dwarves. By then I'll hopefully have renewed vigor to tackle the remaining companions of Thorin Oakenshield.

By the way, I'm really not sure who Shadamehr is. Any Larry Elmore fans out there know?

Thanks for reading...

A Few Fantasy Miniatures

Though my other projects are still moving along, I must admit that my focus has shifted a bit into the realm of fantasy.  Many of those lonely primed miniatures that have been sitting in the queue for ages are finally getting some attention.  This week, despite Christmas and the craziness that goes along with the holidays, I managed to put the finishing touches on two such fantasy figures.

Both miniatures are from Reaper.  On the left is Klaus Copperthumb (03099) and on the right stands Alidee the bandit (03106).  I'm very much addicted to the hobby within the hobby of collecting miniatures, which very much explains the huge pile of lead I have that most likely will never be completed.  It's safe to say that I do have a problem in that I cannot control myself and buy mini after mini knowing that I'll never get around to painting them.  Despite my addiction to lead "crack", I do not buy indiscriminately.  Each figure in my collection was purchased for a specific reason and the two above are no exception.  I bought Klaus simply because the sculpt was atypical for a dwarf.  I liked the fact that unlike most dwarven miniatures, he was not armored to the teeth nor is there a battle axe in sight.  Alidee was purchased for a former project in which I was attempting to find and paint a miniature to represent the core group of adventurers in my Lord of the Rings Online Kinship.  She represents Myriade Hawkes of Dale, one of my long time roleplaying companions on the Landroval server.

Klaus will be the next miniature for my Legends of the Fall project.  I'm not sure what it is about him that suggests a high level character but I have chosen him to fill the thief slot nevertheless.

 

Werner Klocke has done a wonderful job with this sculpture.  I think it would be difficult to envision a short stocky subject like a dwarf in such a fluid graceful pose, but that's exactly what he has done with this miniature.  Klaus seems almost cat-like in his movement and looks as if he is about to pounce upon his prey.

Being a thief, and supposedly a skilled one at that, I needed to paint him in somewhat stealthy colors.  But he is still a dwarf and needed that quintessential dwarf look as well.  So to go along with the gray and greens, I mixed up an "ox blood" red for the leathers and added a bit of red pigment to the browns to give a more earthy tone to the tunic.  I wanted to do a bit of freehand and add runes to his bracers or his cloak but I decided against doing so at the last minute.  After all, a good thief does not draw unnecessary attention to himself.

As mentioned above, Alidee was part of another project and the only mini to be completed thus far.  Since I really no longer play LotRO, I doubt I will paint any more members of the Kinship.  For now, Alidee will make her way into a display case until she is needed for some game in the distant future.

Instead of a display case, she should actually go into a miniature Hall of Fame for the number of times repainted.  I must have started over at least six or seven times over a six month period.  The LotRO character that inspired this mini wears all black.  Black tunic, black britches, and a black cloak.  When I started the project I thought that an all black miniature would be super easy....kinda like painting a Nazgul.  Nope!  I was most definitely mistaken.  No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the blacks to work together.  I tried varying tones of highlights but despite my best efforts, the miniature looked bland and "plastic-y".  So I decided on a different color scheme altogether.

Though I did not know it at the time, the color scheme I chose was very appropriate for the character.  When I finally finished the figure, I sent a photo to the girl that played Myriade Hawkes in-game with a note explaining that I was unable to fully replicate her character due to my lack of ability to paint the color black.  I received a reply along with a photo of the new garb she had been wearing in the game.  The match was fairly close.  Wish I would have known earlier so that I could have avoided my loosing battle with the black clothing.

While I'm on the subject, do any of you have tips on painting mostly black subjects?  I'm running into the problem again as I paint up a few men of the Night's Watch and would be most interested in sound advice.

Legends of the Fall - part 1

Although a few more months will have to pass before we get any relief from the tropical heat and humidity in the Florida Keys, the calendar indicates that autumn has definitely arrived.  And with the arrival of fall, thoughts of adventure in mythical lands begin to fill my head.  Perhaps this call to adventure comes from the fact that beginning in every September, I reread The Lord of the Rings (this will be my 27th rereading) and get caught up in Tolkien's ability to stir the soul to wander. Or maybe it's nothing more than some residual trait from childhood camping trips.  Whatever the case, the spell has been laid upon me and I think it's even more potent this year since I'm also in the process of rereading the original Dragonlance trilogy, which certainly has a link to the autumn season.

Unfortunately, I live on an island and can't go tramping through the woods and mountains so the adventure must take place in my head and imagination.  And when that happens, another hobby project tends to form.  Such is the case with Legends of the Fall.

The plan for this project is simple.  I'm in the process of creating a fantasy adventuring party in miniature (the first member of which can be seen above).  I envision a well-balanced group of five to eight adventurers representing most of the common fantasy RPG class archetypes.  After painting, they will all be based with a autumn foliage/terrain theme to tie the group together visually and satisfy my current fall-based need for adventure.  More than likely they will all receive some kind of background and back story that will reflect the sculpt of the miniature and connect each individual with the group as well.

As the title of the project suggests, each miniature will be an experienced adventurer and rather legendary in their chosen class.  The sculpts that I choose will have to reflect that trait both in the overall demeanor of the figure along with the equipment and weapons carried.  While painting these minis should be fun, I think the process of picking the individual models to represent the different classes will be one of the best aspects.  I will not limit myself to any one range or brand, so the sky is the limit.  I also plan on seeking suggestions from readers and guests on how to fill those roles and hope to find myself considering models that I would never have found on my own.

As you can see from the photos above and below, the first two slots have already been chosen.  One model has already been completed while the other is waiting for a few more highlights and an appropriate base.

The miniature above is from the Visions in Fantasy line from Dark Sword Miniatures.  Looking through my mountain of unpainted lead, it quickly becomes apparent that I'm a huge fan of DSM and it's only appropriate that a mini from the company fills my first Legend spot.  According to the website, she is titled Female Warrior With Longsword and Shield (DSM7210) but right away I envisioned her as a female paladin. 

The sculpt is quite lovely and exudes an air of strength and leadership while still preserving a feminine aspect.  The color scheme I used was already in my head even before I placed the order - white to symbolize the purity of a paladin with floral shades of pink/purple to emphasize her gender.  I initially thought to give her darker hair however, to create a bit of mystery about her, but a lighter tone fit better with the color of her cloak and the metal of her armor.

Speaking of the armor, I really wanted to go non-metallic but I found the contrast too weak between the robes and the armor.  Plus, to be honest, I'm still learning the whole NMM technique and find myself struggling at times to create realistic effects.  I'm limited to decent looking swords right now and fear that I have some ways to go before I can tackle larger, more complex objects like armor.

As for her background, I only have a name to go along with her class for now.  At some point in the last few years I came across the name Liandra and immediately fell in love with it.  I've used a version of it (Liandrha) in a few other projects and short stories and think the name very appropriate for this character.  I have a few ideas for a surname or epithet, along with a very rough sketch for a background, but those details will have to wait until the next post on the project.

Accompanying Liandrha the paladin in the above photo is my choice for the mage in the group.  With my love of Tolkien, it was very tempting to choose an iconic old wizard with a long beard for the magic-user of the group but I wanted to emphasize the fact that this group of adventurers were a force to be reckoned with and in the prime of their careers.  Also, I think I may have been influenced by visions of Raistlin, the gold-skinned mage from the Dragonlance setting.  I do want to point out however that while he is indeed wearing red robes and has white hair, all resemblance to the much loved/hated character ends there. I have other ideas for this guy once he is finally completed.

The miniature is from Reaper and is called by them, Anirion, Wood Elf Wizard (03491).  The sculpt is very simple but the luxurious flowing robes provides lots of space for shading and highlighting.  Very little of the face can be seen beneath the cowl of his hood but that adds to the air of mystery about him.  I will have more photos of the mage as soon as I finish the final highlight coat and base him.


The next step for me is to chose the cleric/healer of the group.  For this choice I would like to seek some suggestions from you, good readers.  I'm open to any company and gender but the sculpt should be in the 28mm range and reflect a higher level character.  I'm very much looking forward to the possible suggestions and thank participants in advance for the help.