warhammer – ToadChapel Minis

Acolyte Again

This past weekend I dove into a familiar bust, Maxime Penaud’s Acolyte (Secret Workshop). I painted this model last Summer and liked it enough to get another copy. It was an interesting and inexpensive (though now sadly unavailable) mini for practice and experimentation.

This time around I was trying to work out some color ideas I’ve been chasing for months. I like it when the colors mix and pollute one another in the manner of an oil painting. I was trying to reproduce that magical luminous color that seems to emanate from within the prevailing hue.

Priest of the Unspeakable

My weird cult priest is finished! Two weeks on this mini, equal parts difficulty and fun. I’m happy with the result, especially as I approached this as a learning project as much as a display model.

My goal was to balance intimate warm fire light with cold moonlight, with a touch of magic thrown in for fun.

Celebrating Presidents’ Day

I have the day off, and it’s time to start my next project. Why not take this Presidents’ Day as an opportunity to paint something topically historical?

I’m looking forward to trying to strike a balance between historical and fantasy norms, realism and the portrait style of Washington’s era. Hopefully this will be a quick project to help me feel productive in these cold dark isolated weeks.

I hope Presidents’ Day finds you healthy and happy, wherever you are. Stay tuned for pics of my cultist project.

A Colorful Journey into the Occult

For my next miniature project after Conan I decided I wanted to try a piece with very strong environmental light. I’ve been sitting on this great bust from Secret Workshop for months, and I finally felt ready to take on the challenge of painting it.

While not strictly OSL (there are no luminous objects present), the effect of the strong, directional ambient light aims at much the same thing.

Conan!

By Crom, it’s been a Hyborean Age since I’ve posted! Well, it hasn’t been for lack of productivity. A month of effort has produced this bust of Conan.

What a big effort for a mini, but a very satisfying project and full of enjoyment.

At Last, It’s 2021!

Happy New Year, mini painting friends. 2020 has finally released her crushing grip. We are, of course, no better off than we were two days ago, but I believe in the psychological power of beginnings, even when nothing has ultimately changed. The new year is a time to set goals and define success in the months ahead. So I shall.

Read on to learn my miniature hobby resolutions.

Painting Faces on Busts

It’s been a while since I’ve added to the hobby tutorials on ToadChapel. Let’s remedy that! As we near Christmas, I’ve painted 18 miniature busts since COVID sent us all inside back in March, so I figure that would be a good subject to explore.

The essence of any bust is the face. Many busts consist of little more than the head. In this tutorial I’m going to focus mostly on painting the face, though I may make incidental reference to how I approach other elements on the model.

Touille

A few days ago I finished painting Touille, a delightful new miniature from Blacksmith. The model gave me a chance to continue my exploration of strong saturated colors, complex color composition, and vivid skintones.

I enjoy peaceful, happy, whimsical minis. Too often I show my enthusiastic two-year-old daughter a figure I’ve painted, only to have her point out that he’s ‘really grumpy’ or ‘really scary’. When I find an excellent sculpt like this one, then, that I know will catch her eye, I’m excited to get my hands on it. To be clear, these are also the kind of miniatures I like to paint most. I have no more fondness for demons clutching severed heads than my daughter does. Ok, maybe a little.

Cormac (2 XI)

The time came to fulfill the Saint Francis vibe on Cormac, providing him with his little woodland friends.

Mini bust of Cormac by Lucas Pina for Black Crow

While these delightful little animals offer the possibility for strong secondary focal points, I chose to paint them as humble, somewhat drab creatures rather than colorful personalities.

Cormac 20 X

It’s been sheer joy painting Lucas Pina’s Cormac bust (Black Crow). Every pose and gesture is super expressive, and the face shines with humanity. It’s my first time painting one of Lucas’s sculpts, but it will definitely not be my last.

I’m daydreaming of painting Cormac when I’m at work, eager to explore his character and effects. I have a clear plan of how I’ll handle the various textures, but the spirit of discovery will guide my brush.