Lost in the Necropolis

This piece takes a lot of inspiration from the Heavy Metal band Manilla Road. The specific song, Lost in Necropolis being the main thematic drive. The song didn't tell tales of UFO's or water filled with the spirits of the fallen, but in my mind it's implied. 

When I began working on this piece, Mark Shelton, the nucleus of the band was still among the living. I wasn't sure if I was going to give this piece or simply present it to him and make that decision based on his reaction. Sadly he passed away before this piece was completed so I will have to discuss it with him on the ethereal plane when I too join the legions of dead.

The lyrics are as follows:

Through the jungle by the river Styx
I've journed long and far this day
Lurking shadows in the parapets
Will never make me turn away
Darkened city veiled in crimson mist
Entombed in time without decay
Never thought it would be like this
It feels like I'm living inside a dream
But my mind tells me I'm

Lost in Necropolis

Now I know what it's like to be
Inside the city of the dead
All I think of is breaking free
>From all the spells chained to my head
Sword and axe are my destiny
I watch the stars turning blood red
There is light yes I've got to believe
For this feels like living inside a dream
I know now that I am

Lost in Necropolis

 I have seen your cities burning
I have felt your daughters yearning
For the peace before the tides of war
I have witnessed funeral pyres
Burning bright with man's desire
I will fight the demon horde forever more

 The world is full of mysteries
That men have never seen before
Magik lives in all dynasties
The light of love shines ever more
In the crypt of Atlantean Kings
I found what I was looking for
Magik Trident of Volusia's Sea
I know it's like living inside a dream

But don't you ever get

Lost in Necropolis

 

Finished! Shadespire, Chosen Axes

Painted up for a local friend. I say this just about every time but it was a fun group to work on. The skirmish size of shadespire makes it really easy to complete a faction in a day, kick your feet up and enjoy a job well done. Kick em up!

They're also up on coolmini if that tickles your fancy

Lost in the Necropolis part 1

I'm back from Adepticon and of the many things I picked up at the con, I found myself most interested in what I could do with this dwarf (Broin Bearson) from scale 75. It's a larger model as well which I haven't worked on nearly as much as 35 mm figures. Coupled with my

 recent appreciation for the heavy metal badboys Manilla Road, the name of this piece is one of their sing titles, I was feeling motivated. 

So here it is in the raw. As the title suggests, the character is lost in the necropolis. Inplan on freehanding a maze of pillars on the backdrop and wraiths hiding beneath the water, which will be flowing off the plinth in a stepped form.

There ha sbeen a lack of updates here because I've been posting on faceFace where I created an artistsa page. At this point Facebook has been working well, I'm able interact more with comments and reach people to teach classes and obtain commissions. But I can't say if Facebook will be around forever so I'll be giving this page some more attention, it's probably best to post on both sites but I mostly into painting opposed to writing the same information on multiple sites. But I'm feeling motivated :)

Finished! Brom Hardbark

Here is the end result of the Chicago jam I attended last weekend. This is the first bust I've painted and I wish I hadn't waited so long. When I looked at busts I didn't see as much room for customization, no base to build, no pose to tweak with, but It puts a different emphasis on a miniature. Obviously the head is much larger which makes it a focus piece but I'll look at painting faces a little differently from now on. I also put more attention into the plinth and connecting point. His name is Brom Hardbark so I wanted to represent that on his mounting. I bashed the block with a hammer (bashed it good) and added a shield which displayed Brom's favored cudgel.

 

Chicago Paint Jammin, Day Two!

Yes yes, we did continue our most important work. Happily painting away and feeding off eachothers work :)

Jeff and Tom thinking deeply about what a dwarf wears.

Not to forget this year's gencon on the horizon , I aslo brought along some pieces of the storm wall to work on.

The weekend wrapped up nicely with everyone getting a good point of time in on their dwarf. It was also the first bust any of us painted. Which is another lesson in focus and I'd suggest to any painter who wants to improve, that they paint a bust. 

Almost done at this point. I just have a few more details to clean up and see that this plinth get the right "accents".

Chicago Paint Jammin

Whooo! Doing a little posting from my phone so please excuse the mess. This weekend's mission is a paint jam with Jeff Bowden and Tom Ales. We got our hands on three of the same busts to swap ideas and have a real good time.

Above is a midway shot of the three dwarves. Below, is a chronological arrangement of painting progression.

The table is set. Later we found a way to block the oppressive sun out.

A wet blended start and basecoat.

Then, the brushed tickled away at the dwarf. It felt good to put asked the cygnar project and care a little less.

Three dudes, the same, but different!

The chaos continues. Perception meet ritual equals reality. Dream it and actively be it. You'll understand when you're older.

Stay tuned for part two!

Finished! Bal-Torg the Ancient

This piece has been in the slow lane over the last few months. Maybe you'll recognize him from a few posts back but he's going to be on the front page of the blog for a while. Finally updated my header after, what, 6 years? ha. When I started this piece I was very hung up on painting, not so much the process I love but what surrounds it and what my motivation for painting is. I paint what I love and I love competitions, for the new friends and for the motivation brought by some healthy competition. Many things are about reaching your own personal best. With this piece I wanted to paint something and keep competitions out of my head, to paint something for the simple joy of painting, which has brought me to where I am today. I finished him leading up to the Crystal Brush but told myself not to enter him. Just put him in my own cabinet :) Maybe he'll come to Gencon with me in the future.

Gotta love that Rackham style! Enjoy!

He's also found a little space on Coolmini, cast a vote if that tickles your fancy.

Stay Tuned!