YetiSA
New member
So with one thing and another I haven't done a lot of painting in the last month or so... and I must say that it's been surprisingly hard to get myself back into it. My attention has been wandering, I've been alternating between being bored and intimidated and have limited myself to surprisingly short sessions because of it. Fortunately it looks like that's finally starting to change and I'm getting a little of my painting mojo back. It's taken a while but I've got the base coats down for Mash and Esters. This time I decided to do the main tartan pattern during the base coat stage rather than after the rest of the mini was completed. I think this is a good idea for a number of reasons, it means that I'm not as worried about the edges, it can be done in stages so it doesn't feel so much of a chore and having the painful part out of the way means that you don't have that anticipation the whole way through the paint job. It also means that it would be easier to recover if I made a complete hash... which, mercifully, I didn't. I still need to put the red lines in but ran out of time this morning.
A few things of note from the last week.
1) I'm using my new series 7 for the first time and... wow. They are SO much better than the best 'normal' sable I've used in the past. They are soft but stiff, carry plenty of paint and come to the most amazing point, even in the large sizes. I would thoroughly recommend them anyone in this hobby spend the extra and pick up a set.
2) I've been painting with a larger brush than normal (series 7 size 2). It's taken quite a bit of getting used to but I quite like it. The quality of the brush means that I still get a good point but it holds so much more paint and feels great. It does mean that my brush control has taken a step backwards (I'm blaming the brush rather than my recent lack of practice *cough*) but I'm starting to get the hang of it.
3) These minis are a LOT bigger than Gandalf. They are 32mm to his 28 and are large minis in the range, putting them closer to 35mm actual size. I must say that I'm enjoying the larger scale a lot more. It could be that this is the scale that I'm used to or that I'm just not quite up to the smaller mini yet, but I'm really enjoying them a lot more. Now I'm definitely looking forward to trying my hand at something larger.
Anyway... wall of text aside, here are the minis as they stand. I think that these two will be fun.
(incidentally, the things on Esters' waist are hops, which should be green... but I decided to make them brown just to distinguish them from the leaves).
View attachment 48405
View attachment 48406
Next I'll be adding the red stripes to the tartan, then I'll start shading the skin.
A few things of note from the last week.
1) I'm using my new series 7 for the first time and... wow. They are SO much better than the best 'normal' sable I've used in the past. They are soft but stiff, carry plenty of paint and come to the most amazing point, even in the large sizes. I would thoroughly recommend them anyone in this hobby spend the extra and pick up a set.
2) I've been painting with a larger brush than normal (series 7 size 2). It's taken quite a bit of getting used to but I quite like it. The quality of the brush means that I still get a good point but it holds so much more paint and feels great. It does mean that my brush control has taken a step backwards (I'm blaming the brush rather than my recent lack of practice *cough*) but I'm starting to get the hang of it.
3) These minis are a LOT bigger than Gandalf. They are 32mm to his 28 and are large minis in the range, putting them closer to 35mm actual size. I must say that I'm enjoying the larger scale a lot more. It could be that this is the scale that I'm used to or that I'm just not quite up to the smaller mini yet, but I'm really enjoying them a lot more. Now I'm definitely looking forward to trying my hand at something larger.
Anyway... wall of text aside, here are the minis as they stand. I think that these two will be fun.
(incidentally, the things on Esters' waist are hops, which should be green... but I decided to make them brown just to distinguish them from the leaves).
View attachment 48405
View attachment 48406
Next I'll be adding the red stripes to the tartan, then I'll start shading the skin.
