Figurine: Elf Paladin

Over the Canada Day long weekend I set myself three goals.  The first was to write my Janelle Monae review (scroll down for that).  The second was to write another chapter in my new novel - which I finished doing yesterday morning (only 60,000 words to go!) and the third was to finish painting this elf paladin figure I've been working on.

I'm officially three for three - here's the elf paladin (click on photos to see a bigger version):

I was drawn to this figure because of her beautiful hair - I love the way it cascades across her face, which seems a popular thing to do for these sculptors when they're carving female elves.

I was also drawn to her very cool shield - here she is from the back:

Of course as I paint these figures, I always imagine some kind of back story for them (I'm a writer, after all).  This figure is very fey indeed, with golden hair and violet eyes.  I imagine she comes from deep in the heart of an unspoiled woodland, and has committed herself to travelling through more 'civilized' lands, because she knows that is where she will find evil to battle (like Conan travelling to Zamora, except with less camel punching).

Here she is in her 'she's coming right at me!" pose.

I think I got her face pretty well, which is the hardest part with these things.

Next up is a very weird steampunk angel figure that I'm looking forward to painting.  But in between, a whole lot of album reviews, since this is a music blog, with an occasional painted miniature, not the other way around.

Figurine: Elf Lord on Dragon

Unbelievably, I finally finished painting another figurine - the first since September 25th of last year. Yikes!

In my defence, this one was a very large and involved piece, and took a lot of work. It think it all turned out alright, though.

It is a Warhammer figure - a High Elf Lord on Dragon. When I do a big, involved figure like this, I like to build a diorama around it, which adds to the work, but does a much better showcasing of the piece when it is finished.

I went with blue for the dragon - I wanted the whole effect to have a windswept, cliff-face kind of feel, so I modelled all the trees to look like they had been slowly shaped by the wind as they grew.

I worked hard to give the dragon an organic feel - I like the way dragon's head came out, especially the tongue: The base has a bunch of model rocks which I painted to match the rocky crag the dragon stands on. Then I added some tufts of fake grass. Ideally, you want the figurine part and the added diorama part to flow seemlessly together, so the eye can't tell where one ends, and the other begins.

The elf lord himself is very regal, and is carrying a very long pennant. I painted it with a flaming comet - World of Greyhawk geeks will know why, but let's say no more about that, except it was fun to paint a flaming comet. This next picture shows the front of the pennant, as well as showcasing the spines on the dragon's back, which I wanted to have a translucent bone quality:
And so, now I can return to painting less ambitious projects - this one took a lot out of me and I'm looking forward to some simpler stuff for a bit now.

Until then, here's a parting shot of the elf lord, preparing to launch off its perch in the fading sunlight:

Today I also reviewed a Gordon Lightfoot album - so if you come here for the music, scroll down to read that. It was a good record, but does not feature any dragons.

Figurine: Half-Elf Bard and the Blackhearts

After painting that Lord of Chaos figure, it was a relief to get a regular sized figure for a change. This one is a half-elf bard. Because her guitar looked so rock n' roll, I was inspired to do her like a famous female guitar player. It came down to Lita Ford, Liz Phair and Joan Jett.

Lita's hair was too poofy to look right on this figure, and Liz's guitar was too boring to paint - so I went with Joan Jett, which sort of inspired me from there. Note the funky backdrop - that's a picture of Jett's actual guitar!


She is a total babe - even has a 'misplaced' lock of hair across her face. Here she is from behind:

And here's a shot of her with a backdrop of the picture I used for inspiration.

This figure was frustrating in places, and what should have been a relatively simple piece ended up with a lot of touch-ups and do-overs, but I think she turned out OK.

Next up - an owl! That's right, just a plain old owl. I hope it turns out better than the prairie falcon I painted a while back.

Figurine: Elf Ranger

I finally finished painting another figure. This is an elf ranger. I really dig this guy - he has a great pose, which is at once thoughtful and majestic. Also, it doesn't hurt your coolness factor when you have a bald eagle for a pet.

Here he is from the back. I enjoy painting the contours of cloaks - there is something soothing about it.

This guy is a "grey elf". You can tell by the violet eyes. I imagine him as coming from deep in the woods, where few humans venture, and fewer return.

Next up: a Chaos Lord...