This old bird is as sweet as they come…
… but she’ll never reveal her secret mushroom honey hole!
I think I’m done (though I’ve already said that well over a dozen times today). She was a lot of fun to paint, but I wrestled with this mini over and over, trying to improve the face. I think I’ve done about as well as I can.
Read on to check out some other very slow moving action shots of granny!
Continue reading “Ready to Go Hunting!”I’ve been slow to really get underway on the figure to complete my mushroom wonderland, but I’ve finally got enough painting done to show you a few WIP shots. The scene will feature a sweet old lady hunting for tasty mushrumps.
I’ve been more interested in peaceful, everyday, human scenes in my miniature painting for a while, which can be challenging to pursue, since the vast majority of figures are either fighting or looking as if they’re about to.
Continue reading “Mushroom Hunter”I think I’ve finished up the setting for my next mini creation. It’s a forest scene packed with all sorts of mushrooms. There’s a figure still to come, but I wanted this piece to stand without one.
There were plenty of challenges. Leaves that can’t effectively be bent, rolled, or twisted. Various media fighting each other. Frustratingly slow drying times!
There’s plenty I’d like to improve or change, but I’m very happy overall. The turkeytails and lichens are the best I’ve done. The effect of the leaves in the water looks cool. And the logs are real good to my eye. So yeah, a nice little piece of modeling, I think.
Read on for a tour of the various mushrooms and other woodsy stuff!
Continue reading “Mushroom Forest”I pointed out in a few recent posts that I often draw the same natural objects. I should have mentioned that I model them, too! Here is a sneak peek at a project I’ve been engaged in for a little while. I intend for it to serve several purposes.
Ok, I’ve added a ninth and final figure to my Roman tavern/street diorama. There is pretty much no more space to add another mini, at least not in a way that would supplement the scene rather than detract from it.
This fellow is peering around the main character’s shoulder, lending emphasis to that figure’s gaze & shout. I’m not sure if he’s a patron of the bar, the landlord, or what, but I knew he belonged back in there. He’s a well fed guy, so I gave him a nice palla to wear to further emphasize his affluence.
Continue reading “Last One to Arrive”I’ve successfully added to my diorama again, this time adding a lower class woman out shopping for food. I needed another, more typical Roman woman to complement the senator’s ostentatious wife, so this one is wearing a simple undied wool tunic while she visits the market.
She’s removing her hood to see what all the fuss is about behind her. In her basket she carries a small loaf of bread, a sausage, and an apple. I’m planning to add another item, maybe a pomegranate or a quince, which has fallen onto the street.
Continue reading “Another Shopper in Rome”Sorry for the dad jokes. If the shoe fits!
Here’s today’s mini added to the Roman diorama. This figure is a slave cook carrying two chickens from the market. Unlike the other figures, who are engaged in one way or another with the hubbub in front of the popina, this fellow is going about his business as planned.
I knew the scene wouldn’t be complete without a slave, a member of an often forgotten class of essential workers who enabled the vast Roman society & economy to function. We must keep in mind the institution of slavery whenever we are tempted to glorify Roman ‘greatness’. While a fundamentally different practice than modern slavery, servitudo was nevertheless a vicious and dehumanizing state of affairs.
Continue reading “Chicken Little er… Little Chickens”
