Super Dungeon Explore Fig.4: Royal Paladin

Completion of the Royal Paladin brings the number of Super Dungeon Explore miniatures I have painted to four which means I am close to the half way point as there are nine heroes in this board game. The Paladin was painted close to its original colour scheme with the exception of his sword.   

Super Dungeon Explore Royal Paladin

Highlights and shadows stem from an imaginary light source on the upper right corner of the photo above

Sword is a mix between pure non-metallic metal (NMM) and a blade containing mystical energy swirling inside it

In order to spice up the Royal Paladin's sword, I decided to make the hilt red in addition to painting a teal gem and a light blue blade that is supposed to contain swirling mystical energy. Apart from the sword, there was one additional minor difference to the original artwork namely a lack of gold trimmings on the blue cloak. I felt it best to keep things simple where the cloak was concerned.   

White plating on the shield had a subtle colour transition from white to bluish-white

Light blonde hair went well with the blue cloak

Super Dungeon Explore Royal Paladin (back view)

For the Super Dungeon Explore Royal Paladin's skin tone, there was only one way to go and that was a skin type associated with inhabitants from the Nordic countries. In fact, the Paladin could have just as easily passed for a Swedish warrior based on his predominantly blue and gold/yellow colours.

Royal Paladin's blue cloak was kept in simple shades of blue sans any freehand designs

Super Dungeon Explore Royal Paladin, side view (right)

No heroic group seems to be complete without the 'honour is everything' blonde-haired warrior

I leave you with a group shot of the Super Dungeon Explore board game pieces I have painted to date. They seem to be a very colourful bunch when placed next to each other, wouldn't you agree? 

And then there were four ... heroes from the Super Dungeon Explore board game

Using Reaper paint triads on a Wood Elf Goddess and giving voice to a monster

Feeling too lazy to go through my usual trial-and-error paint mixing process to find the right hues for a miniature's colour scheme gave me the excuse to try out some Reaper Master Series paint triads on a Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess's hair and dress. These paint triads had ready-made mixtures for shadows, mid-tones and highlights so I had more time to concentrate on painting technique rather than worry about what colours combinations I needed to mix in order to get the right hue.

Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess (light skin) - work-in-progress on hair and dress

Pastel-like green colours seems apt for a Wood Elf goddess

Besides the Wood Elf Goddess's hair and dress, the only other work I did was to block out the metal or jewellery parts on her head and neck using pure black paint. I also blocked out her eye sockets using Reaper Brown Liner in preparation for future paint work on the pupils and irises.

Side view (right) of the light-skinned Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess

Although tempted to splash on brighter highlights, I resisted as her hair would have turned out too yellowish

Aided by wonderfully sculpted hair, I was pretty happy with how the red hair turned out. Although I was tempted to add an additional highlight using very light orange, I resisted the urge to do so because it would have turned the hair too yellowish for my liking.

Red hair for the Wood Elf Goddess using a Reaper Master Series paint triad

Using a skin triad to achieve light pastel green colours for the Wood Elf Goddess's dress

As for the Wood Elf Goddess's dress, I wanted a very light and pastel green look to accentuate her light skin and red hair. I love pastel colours so going with this shade of green was an easy choice.

Back view of the Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess showcases her wonderfully sculpted hair

Light pastel greens on the Goddess's dress also seem to complement her red hair

Side view (left) of the light-skinned Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddess

Wood Elf Goddess's eye sockets and the jewellery parts on her head/neck were blocked out with dark colours

Giving voice to a monster
Meanwhile, if you have ever wondered how a four-eyed monster (i.e. moi or my alter ego if you will) sounds like, well head on over to my blogshop post over at http://shireworks.blogspot.com/2014/08/unboxing-of-knight-models-thor-and-loki.html to hear me doing a short unboxing video for the Knight Models Thor and Loki miniatures. I might not have a bass voice like Barry White or Darth Vader (now wouldn't that be cool) but hopefully I was clear enough to be intelligible to viewers.

Unboxing Knight Models Thor and Loki over at shireworks.blogspot.com

Thanks for checking out my latest post and here's wishing you a good week ahead. 

Portrait Practice #10 on Emma Stone

Finishing my tenth portrait drawing felt great as it gave me a chance to improve my skills with a pencil. For this practice session, I think I made some progress on getting the hair to look more realistic as well as achieved better facial proportions that make a portrait look more like the subject matter I was trying to draw in the first place. I was also pleased with the eyes. While the rest of the portrait drawing could've been better, I'm still happy with the slight improvements from No.9. 

Portrait Practice #10 - Emma Stone

Why Emma Stone for this latest portrait practice? Well, I initially wanted to draw Gwen Stacy, a comic book character as portrayed by Emma Stone in both Amazing Spider Man 1 and 2. But because I didn't quite fancy drawing blonde hair after nearly three months of drawing inactivity, I went with the hair colour the actress is more famous for ... red. She is reportedly a natural blonde.   

Photograph of Emma Stone used as reference for my portrait practice

One key difference I made in my drawing versus the photo reference I used, was in her eyes. In the original photograph, Emma Stones had fairly constricted pupils due presumably to the bright studio lights. However, seeing that larger pupils is frequently associated with attractiveness I decided to draw larger pupils. For the science or psychology behind this phenomena, click here. 

Quick black and white comparison between the drawing and photo

So this concludes my latest attempt at drawing portraits. I am enjoying these graphite diversions and it's an added bonus that it also recharges my batteries for when I paint again. Looks like the weekend is upon us again ... have a good one, and may your pencils and brushes be sharp and pointy! 

Back to drawing again after a short hiatus

As the song goes ... I can't stop this feeling, deep inside of me ... I just had to pick up my pencils and draw again. Used previously on the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs, an old TV hit Ally McBeal and soon on an upcoming Marvel movie, Hooked on a Feeling is love song but it nonetheless aptly describes my interest in drawing since young. That I wasn't very good at it wasn't the point, what mattered was that drawing made me happy. Sadly, young children nowadays are more likely to have an iPad or tablet in between their hands rather than the old fashioned pencil and paper.          

Back to drawing again and it feels alright ...

As I am still in my portrait drawing phase, I sought out a photo reference that would ease me back to drawing as my skills were fairly rusty. The printout of Emma Stone you see above had well defined hair and reasonably straightforward facial features, so it became the subject matter of my tenth portrait practice piece. Surprisingly, despite nearly three months without drawing, I had somehow gotten much better at drawing proportions of facial features i.e. eyes, nose, mouth, cheek, etc. I guess the break from all pencil-related activity did me some good after all and broke me out of a rut.

Getting the proportions right - faint guide lines for Portrait Practice #10: Emma Stone

Main work on this particular piece started with the patient addition of tonal values, one strand at a time to the hair. At this point in time my drawing of Emma Stone's hair is much lighter than the one in the photo reference. I plan to leave it this way for now until I've had the chance to shade her face.

Working on realistic hair from left to ...

... right using a combination of Derwent and Staedtler graphite pencils

While it would be tempting to say that I have finished with the hair, that couldn't be further from the truth. Further tweaking awaits once I finish shading Emma's face because I would then have to make value adjustments to her hair (most likely darker) to make the whole drawing 'look right'. 

Portrait Practice #10 - Work-in-progress on Emma Stone's hair

So as it stands now,  the hair is about 80% complete with the rest to follow once the face is done. To my Malaysian readers who are celebrating the festive period, I would like to wish you Selamat Hari Raya. Otherwise, just enjoy the weekend off from the drudgeries of corporate backstabbing.  

Knight Models Spider-Man [WIP - NYC Chequered Taxi]

With most of my free time spent helping out my son with revision work for his mid-terms, I have barely had any time to myself to indulge in painting miniatures. During the snippets of hobby time that I managed to partake in, I did nonetheless manage to complete the base for the 1/28th scale Knight Models Spider-Man miniature, which is a 1960's New York City chequered yellow taxi.

Knight Models Spider-Man base - New York City taxi with a 1960's design

A miniature version of the yellow taxi that I had based my colour scheme on

That I managed any progress at all for the taxi was helped by the fact I had a sudden inspiration on what colours to use for the windshield and side-door windows. Painting them in shades of grey would have been a yawn-fest and I was at first stumped on what colours to use. Then I had a vivid childhood flashback of a case of empty soda bottles that had this bluish-green hue to them. With that little bit of random memory dredged up from the depths of my mind, I could finally finish painting the base and can now proceed with the latest subject matter of my Marvel Universe project i.e. Spider-Man.  

An 'off duty' signage sits atop the taxi

Taxi windshield and windows were painted in shades of bluish-green

Orange lamp on the signage atop the taxi was painted using techniques I normally apply to a gem

More work was done on the yellows since the last update with shadows and highlights added to the mid-tone. Other than that, the metal portions of the taxi were painted with a few simple metallic grey colours and finished off with a black wash for added depth. The signage on top of the taxi's roof had the words 'OFF DUTY' painted in white while the orange lamp attached to it was painted using a technique usually reserved for jewels and gems. Orange fitted nicely into the overall colour scheme.

Angled top-front view of the New York City yellow taxi

Side-view mirror was painted in lighter shades

 
I was going for a comic book feel of the taxi and I think I achieved that at least. Even tougher tasks lie ahead with the actual figure of Spider-Man to paint but I am happy with the start I have gotten.