Dave Kelly

Since we all voted to choose the new VIC model I was quite excited about this chap. Despite the fact I voted for the sallow-faced chick with the frikkin' huge sword, this was my second choice. Superb detail, dynamic pose, and he's a big freaking wolf! Imagine my dismay when with three days before the deadline I'm still sitting here looking at the primed figure without an idea how to paint him. I've been in this position for about a month now and until today I haven't felt any closer to working it out.

Okay, we're now onto the 3rd February and I've finished a sloppy paintjob in sheer desparation to get him in before the (kindly extended) deadline. That'll teach me to go away for a weekend. I'll apologise now for this being such poor company to the (undoubtedly) other excellent paintjobs submitted.

Working over the (obligatory) black primer I decided to go with more cartoony skin tones than usual for the Wolfen. I've been painting a lot of figures lately with flesh tones and while I still need to improve I needed something other than human flesh colour to stare at. A base of "Regal Blue" followed up by "Regal Blue" and "Enchanted Blue" (2:1) then a lighter mix (1:1) followed by the addition of some "Skull White" (1:1:1) to give me the highlights. Erm, that's about it.

Mmmm flowing robes. I love 'em. Can't get enough! As opposed to my usual ramble about robes I'll simply settle for saying that I started with "Blood Red" as the basecoat and worked my way up to this gorgeous yellowish colour, whilst passing through "Blazing Orange", "Sunburst Yellow" and "Skull White". I can't say exactly where which tone is as I was just blending it on the fly. Gosh that's a fairly restrained paragraph about robes :)

Most of the accessories were done with shades of brown to offer a balance to the insanely bright robe and the comic skin. Mainly a coat of either "Vomit Brown" or "Snakebite Leather" with a wash of "Scorched Brown" over the top. Variations include adding a little "Fortress Grey" into the mix for edges and highlights.

For the record I'll start by saying that I'm not satisfied with the job I've done. It's fast and untidy (and looks like it was done in two hours, which it was), but thankfully I've got a second Zeiren sitting here that I will paint over the summer. I know that it would have been advisable to just get it right the first time but ... hell ... it wasn't coming together like it normally does.

In the end I literally forced myself to sit down and finish this figure off and that just didn't feel right. A crying shame really because I was looking forward to painting this chap. I'm looking at the photos now and can see terrible mistakes all over, but I'm tired, it's getting late, my camera batteries are dead and I'm no longer bothered.

Notice the lack of big axe head on the top of the pole. It snapped off when I was trimming the flash but then it got me thinking ... he nearly ended up as Zeiren The Janitor, as I almost converted his axe to a broom :) I'm looking forward immensely to seeing where everyone else has taken this figure, so cheers!

Dave Kelly

Comments submitted on the original site:

AutumnMoon writes...

Strengths: I like the skin tone and the robes actually - very
nice. And I like him even without an axe head - Janitor Zeiren -
now that would have been worth a few points - coveralls and
all... :)
Weaknesses: Perhaps the armour could be a little lighter or
maybe it is the camera...
Overall: Not too shabby for a few hours work - I couldn't have
done it!

Rachel writes...

heh, Zieran the broom guy... I'd never thought of that, but
you're right, his pose does look like he's sweeping (because
otherwise it's not really a pose that makes sense, odd twisty
poser that he is :-) ).
The blue skin is a fun and novel take on the figure. And yeah, I
can see mistakes too, but I won't mention them if you don't
mention the scruffy bits on mine - almost literally finished at
the last minute, there was maybe half an hour to go till the
*late* hand in time when I emailed them off :-).

Bethany writes...

He may also be rowing...if he weren't mounted on a stump.
For a fast job, it's really great. And for some reason, I'm
really digging the cartoony colors. That's not something I
usually care for, but they turned out pretty well.

Sandi writes...

Another red/blue color choice, but this time it's a blue skin
with red highlights. I would have liked a bit more
highlighting/blending on the loincloth, it appears a little flat
to me. And I would have liked some color gradiation on the claws
and tusks. The tail is great, would have liked the top-knot to
have the same kind of bold highlighting. I would have loved to
see Zeiren the Janitor - maybe another time.

Sue writes...

Your "cartoon" skintones remind me He-Man cartoons, uh, not
that I watch He-Man cartoons with my daughter, or anything. ;-)
Skin shading looks fantastic and your red flowy fabric looks
great, though a bit too bright for my taste...I'd give it a
darker shadow, and I love the yellow layers on the tail, but the
hair on the head doesn't look as bright. I'd like to see more
hints of those brighter colors up above on the figure, rather
than the darker brownish tones everywhere. Also, his arms...you
painted them blue, like skin, rather than cloth/leather
covered--Don't get me wrong, it looks just fine! But weird
seeing as I just painted him, too. <g> Great job! And
thank you for not giving him the mop!

Kat writes...

Hi,

he looks eerilly blue with the colours you've chosen there- very
sinister! I like the robe and the skin is quite smooth. The white
areas could do with a bit more depth to the colour.
good job overall!

Regards

Kat

Dominic writes...

Thats a cool alien looking version of this guy. The scheme works
well. I just think that the flowing robe thing came out a little
too bright/vibrant compared to the rest of the mini. Its a little
distracting.

Jack writes...

I don't particularly like the blue skin tones, but the execution
is well done.
The tail has good contrasts, but the details on the back pack
equipment seem rushed.

Geert Horvers writes...

Nice 'quickie', especially like the reds.

Cheers,
Geert

Wheels ( Chris Wheeler ) writes...

Dave,

All I can say is that I would love to see what you could do with
this casting in 5 or 6 hours if this is a 2 hour effort.....

Favorite detail: Love the tail.....

Dallas writes...

(Sighs forlornly)

Two hours.....? Youve done better in two hours then I can do in
10. I can empathize with you about the lack of inspiration......
Janitor Wolfen would of been a lot of fun though...
Great Quickie Job


Dallas