Working on the imp's whore

Shae, a Game of Thrones miniature by Dark Sword, is without a doubt the smallest miniature I have ever worked on. Her face was also the toughest challenge I had faced as a painter so far. For one thing, Shae's eyes were super tiny and I had a hard time painting them to look bigger. One thing I tried was to give her a Moulin Rouge look which hints at or gives an illusion of bigger eyes. Another thing I tried with Shae's face was to accentuate her dimples and paint rosy cheeks  to show makeup. Just for added realism, I also painted some eyebrows on her face.

Shae - a work-in-progress with her face and skin tones done

To give you an idea just how small Shae is, I took some pictures of her next to a 31 mm paperclip and the smallest Games Workshop miniature in my collection - the Grethcin. For a miniature this small (and simple), the face was key. If I mess that up, the rest would be moot. While I did not knock it out of the ball park, I kinda did ok seeing that this was my first try at a face this small. 

Next to a paper clip is Shae, or is it Thumbelina?

Even the Gretchin's hand is bigger than Shae's face

Just to explain the title of this blog post to those of you who are not familiar with the Game of Thrones books or HBO series, the imp refers to Tyrion Lannister while the whore is Shae. In the books, Shae (played by Sibel Kekilli in the HBO series) is a prostitute who has been taken in as a lover by Tyrion, who is played by Peter Dinklage. I still have not watched the series though.

Graffiti of Tyrion Lannister

Shae in an intimate moment with Tyrion

Shae marks my continuing struggle with chalkiness of the paints. But this time, I suspect another culprit was responsible. When painting Shae, I had used distilled water to mix the flesh paints which had a higher percentage of flow improver in them. Both characteristics (use of distilled water and flow improver) have been known to reduce chalkiness. I had primed Shae immediately after a short period of rain and I believe the humidity could have wrecked havoc on the priming. It is either that or the fact that I had neglected to use wire wool to smoothen out the metal miniature before priming.

Another inauspicious start to a painting project

As I wasn't painting Shae up as a competition piece, I was too lazy strip the primer and re-do the preparations for the miniature. So I just continued to paint her the best I could; more as practice.

Shae toying with gold from Casterly Rock

The fabric Shae is holding will be painted as a sheer fabric

Shae's back looks much better under normal daylight

Going forward, Shae will give me the opportunity to try painting sheer fabric. That actually was the main reason I had gotten Shae for my painting project, other than the fact she would make a good addition to my Game of Thrones project. Tom Meier certainly did an excellent job sculpting Shae and thus far she has been a real challenge for me. Next up will be the base and sheer fabric. Stay tuned!