Wood Elf Goddess v.1 [Completed]

Finishing the fair-skinned version of Dark Sword Miniature's Wood Elf Goddess was a long time coming. This is an interesting piece because I started the project at a much lower skill level than when I finished, having taken nearly a year of stop start work to complete her paint job (painting parts of her in between months of not working on her at all). Over the course of her time on the paint table, I have reworked her hair three times, adjusted the purple hue on her arm and leg bindings four times, carefully lined and relined areas between her skin and dress, among others. And while there are things I can improve on, I decided it was right to finally call time on this project and move on.  

Dark Sword Miniature's Wood Elf Goddess completed, at least the fair-skinned version

One thing I am most proud of is the results on the Wood Elf's skin tone which I achieved using a Marike Reimer paint recipe. Following close behind would be her hair which I felt had sufficient contrast to denote volume. Another reason it took so long for me to complete the Wood Elf Goddess was because I had been putting off painting the her metal tiara and necklace (I know right? Metal on a Wood Elf? That's just wrong but heck, let's just say she is a trailblazer in fantasy fashion). Work on her jewellery only began after many hours spent on improving my technique of painting metal.

Colour scheme was inspired (but not restricted) by DC's Poison Ivy

Her eyes took me hours to do, but it's not truly complete due to lack of highlights

Oh dear, the macro shot has revealed a small spot on her left thigh that needs to be cleaned up

Colour scheme for the Wood Elf Goddess was inspired by DC Comic's Poison Ivy. However, I added two more colours to the mix namely purple and yellow to add more variety to the scheme. Initially, everything fell apart with the addition of purple to the colour scheme. After a lot of head scratching, I lightened the purple to a pastel shade and layered on a thin wash of brownish green. That allowed the purple to blend in better with the yellow, orange and greens for an earthy yet divine-like quality.

S-curves on the Wood Elf Goddess make her pose a dynamic one

Back view of the Dark Sword Miniatures Wood Elf Goddess (Avatar Form)

With all that glorious hair, she looks like a eco-diva

If there is one unsatisfactory thing I would pick on is that her eyes lack highlights as well as colour. To accomplish both I would need to work under a magnifying lamp and have steady hand control. My main struggle is with the former which I am still trying to get to grips with. As for the latter, I have learned to cope with my coffee-infused unsteadiness so it's not an issue here. In short, I can't paint highlights and colours on the eyes of a tiny 28-mm scale miniature, at least not consistently.  

Even from the side, the Wood Elf Goddess looks dynamic

Wood Elf Goddess is currently my favourite Dark Sword figure

A small scale Wood Elf Goddess equals a really tough (but rewarding) painting challenge

360 view of the Dark Sword Miniatures Wood Elf Goddess
To view the fair-skinned Wood Elf Goddess in 360 degrees, please click on the YouTube video below. For videos of other selected miniatures I have painted, please visit my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures. Please choose high definition (HD) for the best video viewing option.

If you were not following my blog earlier, you might be wondering why is this Wood Elf Goddess tagged as Version 1 (v.1). Well, it stands to reason then there is a Version 2 (v.2) which I plan to work on. In fact, I have completed her skin tone (dark as opposed to fair-skinned) at roughly the same time as this version. But that's all I have done so far and work on the second version has yet to continue. For now, I plan to work on other projects first as well as spend more time drawing. Both should keep me well occupied until inspiration provides me with the colour scheme to go with a dark skin tone.