From AnneO'L - Frostgrave Big Bernard (5pts)

It would appear as if I have been bitten by the Frostgrave bug.  It's a virulent disease with no known cure.  The CDC has been quoted as saying "It's a pandemic.  Efforts at developing a vaccine are futile as this thing has a rate of mutation unlike anything we've ever seen. Gamers are being urged to stay off the internet in order to avoid exposure."

It's too late for me folks so here is the first member of my Frostgrave Warband.

He's from Red Box Games, is 32mm and was sculpted by Tre Manor.

These are beautiful sculpts and an absolute pleasure to paint.  The detail is crisp, there were no mold lines and very little flash.

This is my final entry for this years Challenge.  Out of the three years I have participated, this has been the most fun for me. There have been some spectacular entries by so many people and I am mightily impressed with the lot of you.

Let me thank our beloved SnowLord for all his time, effort and patience in putting this thing together for another year.  The Minions have been a great addition to this years Challenge, each with their own unique style.  To my adjudicator Peter-it has been great getting to know you and I appreciate everything you have done for the Monday Crew.

See you all next year!

Lovely, lovely work Anne. You've made Bernard come alive with your brushwork here. I love his striped underjerkin and I like how you've aproached his leather hauberk with those marvelous warm grey-brown tones. Fabulous.

It's been a pleasure to have you with us again, Anne. Your skill with both brush and paint, along with your encouraging words, always leaves a wonderful impression. I hope we can all do it again next December.

From AlexS - Tamsin and Anne (10 points)

I have decided to end their participation in the event the two miniatures. But first I would like to say a special "thank you" a two people: Curt, who has provided the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and inspiring event, and my curator Greg, who not only learned to understand my English, but always gave accurate and good comments on my papers.

Thank you and all those who looked at my work and wrote comments to them. I could not always answer, but always with attention and happy to read your words.

But back to the miniatures. They are devoted to the two beautiful women who take part in the event - and Tamsin and Anne, and are my artistic perception of them.

Tamsin for me is above all a fighter. Its ability to work a lot and quality are amazing and encouraging. So I introduced her as a female gladiator, a tireless and dedicated warrior.

Anne for me - sorceress. She can, like all wizards, see the world in different colors, its striking color scheme and forced to admire. So I chose to model her as a sorceress.

In the end I will simply say: "Thank you all", and especially to my family, who gave me the opportunity to paint miniatures :)

A wonderful and fitting ending to a superb Challenge debut, Alex. I really like your two tribute figures and heartily agree with your hobby analogies of 'Tamsin The Gladiatrix' and 'Anne the Sorceress'.  I think both of these ladies will be flattered and happy by the comparison. :) 

Also, thank you for joining us this year, Alex. Your work was inspiring and your kind and constructive comments very much appreciated.  I hope the Challenge sees us come together again in the future. 

From Anne O'L-Warlord British Paratroopers (20 points)

One might expect that my continued interest in painting figures for Operation Market Garden is due to the work of Cornelius Ryan in A Bridge Too Far.  Admittedly, it is his work that introduced me to the historical events that took place in an operation that cost so many lives.  However, it is the work of Geoffrey Powell in his book Men At Arnhem, that has moved me the most and has convinced me that I must see this project through.

Because I have no experience in painting cammo, I chose to first complete three test figures  Although I am not entirely pleased with the results, it is a start and I know I can improve with practice.

Figures are 28mm and are from Warlord Games.

I shall paint a few more advancing figures to work out the bugs in my technique before tackling my PIAT and light mortar teams, the only defense these troops had against the might of German tanks.  

Just prior to the onset of the Challenge, I purchased It Never Snows In September by Robert J. Kershaw.  The demands of the brush and real life interrupted me after reading only the first chapter.  Come March 21st I shall pick the book back up and will likely go on a shopping spree for German figures.  Please pity my husband as I have also developed an interest in Frostgrave and have the first figure on the painting table now.

These three figures net me 15 points.  Plus a few for the overall impact.

Wow you have done it again Anne, vibrant paint work on dulled down camo.  These are just fantastic, as usual.  I am particularly impresses with the shading in the creases of the trousers, and of course the iconic red beret.  Great overall impact combined with great fin e detail work, what more can I say?  Please ma'am, I want some more?

From AnneO'L-Hasslefree Moderns Dark Skin (20 points)

Finally I have completed the last two miniatures of the five figure Hasslefree Moderns team.  I like to think of them as hired assassins.

At the end of the post, I will include a walk through on how I approached a darker black skin tone.

Figures are 28mm and were sculpted by Kev White.

These figures are worth 10 points.  I have included a group shot to show the five figure team together.

To aid in the discussion about skin tones, I have included a close up shot of the females face.

All paints used were from Reaper Miniatures.  

I photographed the paints as some people do not use Reaper and may be able to find comparable colours by their favourite manufacturer.  From left to right are:  Nightshade Purple, Dark Skin Shadow, Dark Skin Base, Dark Skin Highlight, Green Ochre and Twighlight Purple.

Normally I would use Dark Skin Base as my base colour. This time however, I used Dark Skin Shadows as my base and worked into the shadows by adding increasing amounts of the Nightshade Purple until I was using pure Nightshade Purple in the deepest shadows.  

I then applied thin glazes of Dark Skin Base and worked up to Dark Skin Highlights to create two mid tones.  From there I added increasing amounts of Green Ochre to the Dark Skin Highlight until I reached the highest highlight.  For this I used pure Green Ochre.  All layers were applied as thin glazes.  Although this is time consuming, it does allow for smooth transitions as one works up such a steep gradient.  

Finally I added three thin glazes of the Twighlight Purple.  That final glazing step unifies the layers and helps to provide depth of colour.

I want to take a moment to discuss the difference between painting Caucasian skin and Black skin.  The basic principals are different with a black skin as the gradient from shadow to highlight is very steep.

This can be illustrated by looking at these paint samples.  At the top is the darkest and lightest colours for a dark Black skin and the bottom is for a warm Caucasian skin.  A fundamental difference between Dark skin and Caucasian skin is where the contrast occurs.

In Caucasian skin all the contrast occurs when going from mid tone to shadow. The transition from mid tone to highlight is subtle and is to be kept very soft.  The opposite applies to Dark Skin.  In Dark Skin, all the contrast occurs when going from the mid tone to the highlight.  The transition from mid tone to shadow is less exaggerated.  This is due to the differences in the reflection of light in the respective skin colours.

Those principals can easily be seen when looking at photographs.  Notice the depth of shadow in Cillian Murphy's face and subtle transition from mid tone to highlight.  However, when looking at Omar Epps, we see the opposite is true.  While there is little difference between mid tone and shadow, there is a great deal of contrast between the mid tone and the highlights.  

I realise this is quite wordy, but I hope that it is of help to some people when they are painting character figures.   

Anne you have done it again.  These are amazing paint jobs and bring the figures to life brilliantly.  the first figures looks like she came off the set of the Mod Squad and I wouldn't want to mess with either of them!  And don't apologise for being wordy, this is gold to the res too us.  I could later on all day, but I'll let the figures and the readers speak for themselves.  Oh and I figure one of your figures is worth at least two of mine and have awarded points accordingly! 

From AnneO'L-Hasslefree Moderns (25 points)

Rather than paint for points or for prizes in bonus rounds, I chose to use this years Challenge as an opportunity to push myself as a painter.  With that in mind, I set three specific goals for myself.  Expand the scope of genres I work in by painting historical miniatures (more is to come), paint teams and make a serious effort to improve my work on skin tones.

Today's figures represent my first attempt at trying new techniques to produce more realistic skin tones.  This first exercise involved using colours such as red, purple, pink, blue and lavender along with the Reaper Tanned Skin Triad to produce different effects. I will briefly discuss what colours I used on each figure and why I chose those colours.  All paints used are from Reaper.

Figures are from Hasslefree Miniatures, are 28mm and are sculpted by Kev White.

I wanted a very warm skin tone for this figure.  In order to achieve that I mixed different colours with Tanned Skin Shadow and glazed down from the base colour, Tanned Skin.  For most of her face I used Crimson Red. However, to produce the darker tones where the hair obscures the face, I used Burgundy Wine, which has a strong purple tone.  For the deeper recess on her arms I used Burgandy Wine, then worked up to Crimson Red and finally up to a pink using Old Western Rose.  This allowed me to produce different gradients within the shadows.  This is most noticeable on the back of the miniature I think.

As there is little skin showing on this figure, the technique was simple and straightforward.  I wanted a warm tone that was consistent with the overall palette.  This was achieved by glazing down into the shadows using Tanned Skin Shadow mixed with Burgundy Wine.  The resultant purple tone would contrast well with the red of his beret without compromising the warmth I was looking for.

In keeping with the cooler palette of his clothing, I wanted to produce a cool skin tone with this figure.  In order to do that, I mixed Winter Blue with the Tanned Skin Shadow and glazed down from the base colour, Tanned Skin.  As the highlights on the top of his head were quite high, I decided to finish with a pale lavender glaze to tone them down a bit.

Oftentimes there is some confusion when talking about glazes and washes.  When I am referring to a glaze I am using paint that I have thinned down with water to the point of being translucent, with very little pigment noticeable on the brush.  When doing this, one must use many, many layers before the colour is noticeable. However, as the paint is translucent rather than opaque one gains the advantage of producing interesting gradients and a multitude of colours. This is a watercolour technique. Also unlike a wash, the paint is not applied to the entire surface, rather it is targeted solely to the areas where one wants to produce a colour shift.   

There are two more figures as part of this group of Moderns.  Both are being done in a deep ebony skin tone.  I have completed the work on the skin tones and am now working on their clothing.  As the technique for producing such a deep ebony is more complex, I will post those figures on another day.  

These figures are worth 15 points and put me over my 100 point target.  

First of all Anne, congrats on hitting your target.  I understand that you will hang time on the benchmark but may have some more figs to add over the back half of the challenge.

Now that my administrative duties are over with let me just say "WOW".  Once again you have produced a triumph!  Wonderful paint jobs and I appreciated the tutorial on flesh tones.  Since you've rendered me almost speechless I'll just let the figures tell the story.  But I have doled out some more of my limited supply of bonus points your way once again. 

From AnneO'L-28mm Billy the Kid (10 points)

For the most part, I want to avoid posting singles, but there are some figures that I wanted to paint that are not part of a unit or a team.  This figure is one of them.

The figures is from Black Scorpion and is 25mm.  I do not know who the sculptor is as the name is not listed.  Not listing the sculptor, is to me, an unforgivable sin.  In my opinion, they are the real talent in this hobby and without them, we'd all be sitting around with our thumbs up our arses.

What drew me to this figure is the way the head is cocked back with that chin up in a defiant tilt.  That feature alone carried the sculpt for me.  This was cast is resin and the texture was quite rough.  This made getting smooth blends on the face difficult, but it helped when trying to make the jacket look rough and worn.

This gives me another staggering five points.

Whoa that is Billy the Kid, that's two for two on nailing iconic characters today Anne.  Great figure with superb painting!  Billy has a real maniacal look to him, I wouldn't want to cross him.    I also really like the effective basing

I get  to dole  out some bonus points and have done so here because, well just because...

From AnneO'L-28mm Dirty Harry Curtgeld (20 points)

When I saw the theme for this years Challenge, I didn't have to think long about what figure I would choose to pay the toll with.  So my Curtgeld for this year is Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in the film "Dirty Harry"

The figure is from Hasslefree, stands at 28mm and was sculpted by Kev White.

The face is so well sculpted, I chose to shoot a close up that would show how well Kev did the cut of the cheek bones, the hard angles of the jaw, the deep set eyes and the raised brows.  The face, combined with the stance, give the figure real attitude.  

This figure is worth a massive five points.

I can't rightly close this post without including a clip from the movie with those now famous lines...

 

Lovely, lovely stuff Anne.  No question about it that's Dirty Harry all right.  Really, really nice work on the colours.  The red sweater and the light shoes give great contrast to the drab tweed jacket and pants.  That's a fine bit of Curtgeld and worth every one of its 20 points.  Incidentally Curt, might I suggest a vote for the best Curtgeld to add to your schedule for next year?

From AnneO'L-28mm WWII US Paratroopers (32 points)

Next up a real treat as we have a entry from Anne O'L.  Veteran Challenge junkies will know that Anne's work absolutely pops with colour and personality.  Grab your self a cup of coffee and nestle in to enjoy the show.

As some of you are aware I got into this hobby by following wargamers here on blogger.  After four years I have decided that it is time to begin painting some historical figures.  The decision on what period to paint was an easy one-WWII has long been a fascination for me.

When I was little I watched a lot of WWII films and built a lot of planes, which I hung from my bedroom ceiling on fishing wire.  Also my brother, cousin and I would use plastic figures to re-enact battles outside in the yard.  As it was usually raining, our battles took place in a great deal of mud. However, the dirt and the muck lent a peculiar reality to the carnage of our playtime. In painting these figures I am, in a way, revisiting some of my fondest memories.

For my first effort I chose to paint a US Airborne bazooka and 60mm light mortar team.  Figures are from Warlord and are 28mm.

I found the Warlord figures to be quite nice-few mold lines and no real flash to speak of. Also the expressions on their faces give them a dynamic feel.

Currently I have some British para's on the painting table and am slowly working my way through them.  They are more challenging than these and are taking me more time than I expected.  Because they matter to me, I will take my time with them so there may be a few single figures posted before I finish them and get them posted.

As these are 4 28mm figures they should be worth 20 points.

Ok these certainly do not disappoint.  You've managed to capture the muted tones perfectly while retaining the patented Anne glow.  Great job on the basing too.  I make this 4 figures plus a crewed weapon= 30 points plus a couple extra for the colours and basing.

From AnneO'L - Landing Party (30 Points)

This year I would like to do something a little bit different. Rather than painting single figures, I am focusing more on units and teams.  I am not a display painter and am not interested in working hard enough to become one. Therefor it is time I turned my attention to unified groups of figures that can be used on the gaming table.

My first entry is a Landing Party with figures from both Counterblast and Reaper.

32mm figure from Counterblast sculpted by Patrick Keith

32mm figure from Reaper sculpted by Bob Ridolfi

25mm figure from Counterblast sculpted by Patrick Keith

25mm figure from Reaper sculpted by Patrick Keith

20mm figure from Counterblast sculpted by Patrick Keith

(I have painted this figure before, but in a completely different palette)

Using the greens, browns and yellows as unifying colours enabled me to assembly line paint and get these done a bit quicker.

I will be quite busy during the Holiday season so I won't have another post up until January.  And as it is a US Airborne bazooka and 60mm light mortar team, it may be the 2nd week of January at that. Those para's have a lot of webbing and that's sure to slow me down quite a bit.

I'd like to thank Curt for continuing this Challenge for another year.  Winter would be quite dull and the extra excitement helps keep spirits high. And for those in the Southern Hemisphere it provides an escape from the wretched heat.

Also I would like to thank those kind folks who are taking on the extra responsibility as adjudicators this year. Without them I doubt that so such a large number of us would be able to participate.

Wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season.

Welcome aboard Anne, and Happy Holidays to You and Yours as well! 

It's wonderful to have you with us again this year as it's always a treat to see your talented brushwork.

Yellow is one of my favourite colours and I really like your use of it in this entry. Also, that turquoise skin tone on the long-necked alien is brilliant as well.

For ease of accounting we'll score all of these as 28mm models, so 30 points total for your debut, Anne. Well done m'dear and see you in the New Year!