First druid in macro mode

I got some help on how to get macro mode and re-shot the first mini I completed. Clicking the picture shows it in detail.

 

I wanted to record this green one again on the blog because up close I can see how when I tried to dry-brush the gold raised edges of the armor over green, the result was a bit sloppy. It looks good on the table though.

Tale of Two Drakes

Next I wanted to add some detail to a guard drake mini I had been getting some fun out of, by doing a simple wash and brightening up the colors. The difference on a table is pretty striking.

Notice the as-is drake doesn't have eyes!

After that one druid with the green & gold armor, I fished out a plastic mini that was strangely unpainted despite being a bit detailed. The paint job is obviously pretty flawed, though I did get some experience with watering down my paints and trying to get better with my brush control. When I saw the photo I noticed I completely missed the detail of the broken heart on the giant thing on his chest.

 

To be fair, the thing looks okay set on a table from the distance of actual use, which is the quality standard I am trying to meet with these things.

Big Mini update

Some miniature painting I've done. Documenting my learning curve. Older stuff first.

About painting... I like the focused state involved, both mentally and physically. There feels like a transition to go from normal movement to the ultra fine motor control, and an interesting perception shift where the area being painted seems to fill the visual focal point. It isn't the same as using a magnifying glass.

The pictures on the blog page can be clicked to actually see the blown up version of the image in detail.

First (Two) Miniatures

#1 Finished Front



#1 Finished Back


#2 Cloak washed with watery black


#2 Cloak with reddish wash on fur trim

First Miniature

Basecoat vs Primer















Basecoat close-up















50% grey 50% water washes

Caldo Verde... delicious

The Portuguese stew Caldo Verde plus cornbread, from Cook's Illustrated Soups & Stews magazine, was a big win for our side*.

The stew was mostly kale and chorizo, with chicken broth thickened by potatoes (mashed up) and starting from onions and garlic. The local grocery had Niman Ranch Chorizo without nitrates, everyone was low sodium, and the strong flavors from the kale, chorizo and potatoes came together in a savory wonderland.

Alongside I made cornbread, which turned out to be very simple and came out with a golden brown crust and strong corn flavor and more bread-like consistency. It wasn't the small crumb, un-browned, somewhat bland brownie size cornbread that shows up in restaurants.

The entire meal was very easy to make and mostly was collecting + combining style cooking. The mini prep again made for fast onion chopping and garlic mincing, while a blender did the combination work for the cornbread.

All together it made 4 large meals with a bonus plate stacked with spare cornbread, which I confess I ate 3 pieces late one night as a snack. Everything was so good!



* The good guys of course!