Hi folks,
The school holidays in Australia have just started, so I have had some extra time work on this big fella (he's surprisingly small for a monster, actually). To start with I was cursing the fact that I bought a Treelord, as it has so much tiny detail. Now that I am cracking on with the fine detail work, though, I am loving it; there are so many different and interesting parts to bring to life.
To start the process I primed the whole model using Vallejo Surface Primer, then I airbrushed a layer of US Desert Armour, highlighted around the branches with Carne Muerte and Blanco Calavera.
I blocked in some more layers, including some Doombull Brown heartwood and The Fang beard and loincloth. I then washed the US Desert Armour with XV-88 (fast becoming one of my favourite paints), the Doombull Brown with Rhinox Hide and The Fang with Nuln Oil (musts saves the precious).
You can see on the torso above where I became impatient and tried out a couple of leaves and the darker blending on the bottom edge of the light bark. The leaves where a blend of Carne Muerte (Dead Flesh) and Caledor Sky, giving a really groovy pastel turquoise. This was really different to the bright green I was originally going to try for, but once done I loved it too much to change it back.
Every day for the past two days I have been finishing the detail on a section, starting with the head.
The tiny blue glow from the fungus growing out of his head was the hardest part, I ended up just washing it in there and hoping for the best.
Today I finished the torso as well and attached the head. I'm so glad I added some extra mushrooms to the chest, though again, the blue glow was hard to add (less was more in this case).
You may have noticed an Australian 10 cent piece in some photos. I have been posting these photos on Facebook for my family and friends to see for the first time... ever. The coin has helped people understand the scale we all work at. It has been nice to share the hobby that I love with people that usually wouldn't get to see it, not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be back when I started!
Tomorrow, I'll try and work on the legs. Then I will be taking some artistic risks to represent this guy's Realm, though I guess I can always just paint over the limbs if they don't look good. I have a million basing ideas as well, we'll have to see how much time I have left. The competition closes in 10 days, though, to be honest, this was always more about supporting my local store than winning.
See you across the table,
Marc
I love the colour you put on the leaves and the small branches around them - overall the scheme uses warm tones on the bark and the cold blue-green on the leaves makes it come toghether! He'll come out great!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see what you do for the base as you already cover much of the colourwheel in the figure itself.
I went on a long walk this morning thinking about the base, but I am still thinking about it very carefully!
DeleteThis is stunning, by far the best thing I think you've done and those blue leaves are a masterstroke.
ReplyDeleteThanks mate, I am feeling pretty good about it but I am also very conscious that there is a long way to go with plenty of time to muck it up :-) The Realm I have chosen for these Sylvaneth is... unconventional, but not unheard of. It opens up some interesting choices for the base that should take the pressure of trying to find "natural" basing that works with this scheme. I just need to MAKE it work, that's the scary bit!
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