Got another orc done for Orctober.
I painted him in the bright style of my other Talisman figures, with bright yellow-green flesh and yellow gold. A shield from the nineties plastic orc boyz kit matched the illustration perfectly. At first I wasn't crazy with the shield design I chose or the execution, but I guess it's fine.I tried to match the fur of the illustration closely with mauve and light gray, and like the result.
I ♡ orcs, but this is the first year I've managed to sync up and get one painted to show before the month ran out. Look at me, I'm participating! 😆 Here's a bit of a departure from my usual figure preferences, an orc shaman by Felix Paniagua for his Avatars of War range.
It's funny to me that I consider this a "new school" figure, even though it was released circa 2004 (if memory serves)! If you can believe it, I bought the figure when it was newly released and started painting it right away, and it's another figure I finally finished after well over a decade of life on the workbench. 😮
What's to say about the paintjob? I used a variety of browns, some more yellow base and some more red-base. The flesh was painted straight dark to light and I don't think I used any glazes.
The OSL magic-effect is the obvious focal point, and something I think the figure demands (but surprisingly, when I did a Google image search nearly all I saw didn't go for it). Back in 2004, the OSL potential was the main reason I went for it to include in my portfolio, and one of only a few remaining items cover when I returned to it last week. It's a bit of a hasty job but does the trick.
I like the great variety of materials and items and downplayed most of them, but added a few key details like the treatment of the potion, and the wood grain on the staff-idol.
I bought the figure to create my initial portfolio back when I was starting commission painting, and was busy with actual commissions before I finished, and they pay a lot better than random figures put up on ebay. He doesn't fit well into any of my too-numerous fantasy milieus, another key reason he never got down.
This is a rare example of the style of orc Brian Nelson popularized done well. I tend to like this style of face but loathe the gorilla anatomy that usually goes with it (the plastic GW orcs from the late nineties being the most cringe-worthy, IMO). GW seems to be taking baby steps away from that anatomy with orc (and ork) releases in recent years, but IMO the whole orc range should be superceded the way the primaris marines did the old marines. Meanwhile, this guy here could be added to either an iron jaws AOS band or one made from Gamezone orcs.
My Talisman project continues to coast along at an easy pace. In addition to what I show here I've got three more almost ready to show after these, just finished cleaning and basing another seven, and I just won a lot on ebay that completed my Timescape set, which will likely follow in 2019. Today, though, you get the Rogue, Hobgoblin and Troll.
The rogue here is one of my favorites. The illustrated figure has a malign, liquor-infused expression, enhanced by the shadowy rendering and mangy head. The miniature is one of the most faithful to the art.
An obvious personal touch I made was to add hair and beard made from static grass. I took a risk and did this with super glue and tweezers. Would not have been hard to go overboard or slip and get glue where it didn't belong.
I happy with the rendering of the browns, which were built up with scratchy, transparent highlights, dotted with black show wear and lend the pen-and-ink quality, and washed and glazed to bring the right saturation. Love me some Windsor & Newton inks, especially Peat Brown and Sunshine Yellow. Also, glazes made from the classic GW Snakebite Leather.
The hobgoblin is another favorite illustration of mine, coming at you like an enraged muppet. I like the green and orange palette the texture in the green.
Everything is just right about the miniature, except the face, while fine in its own right, is a significant departure. I resisted the urge to re-sculpt it.
Top objectives in the painting were to get the texture of the green cloth and brown pteruges right, the horns right, the sunny orange skin color right, and add a touch of interest with a a gloss coat on the black of the helmet.
The illustration of the troll shows a hunched, hulking creature with a huge club that has survived many a beat-down, while the figure has more of a lanky quality, and the club is a tree branch with the bark still on it, so comes off as an improvised weapon. I accepted the difference in body-shape but took action on the club. A good club is made of heartwood. I drilled the end and put a wire sticking out of it, and then enlarged the club with green stuff and worked in many knobs.
The rocks are ceramic. Long ago I had access to a kiln, and made these rocks by rolling out a sheet of bisk with a rolling pin, breaking it up when dried, before firing.
Many green paint and ink pots were opened by the time I was done, and not a few yellows. A little black lining under the warts was a good move on my part.
