144artist paints Mantic’s Terrain Crate

With all the tiny books included in the various Terrain Crate sets I found my imagination going into overdrive.  The open tome with the Temple set was the spark that made me want to create a complete setup of the First Edition Dungeons and Dragons game books that had such a huge impact on my youth, an impact that continues to this day, obviously.  I took one of the book stacks I had completed with a generic scheme and created a tiny Monster Manual as well as a character sheet under the stack. The final parchment I had to paint was perfect for a Chessex gaming mat which left that book to be the Players Handbook. It was my good friend @aronbc that pointed out that I needed to bisect every row I’d painted to really take it over the top.  As usual, he was right. I cut the dial out of the compass to make it into a dice tray. Inspired by “Gerry Can: Blue Stuff  the Basics” I sculpted a spilled dice bag over the quill pen and ink bottle and added a few dice to the tray. Ony when I neared the end of painting did I realize I would need to add dots to some die faces.  Gotta say I got lucky there and I think they mostly read. Not wanting to try and carve or file the soft plastic, I tried to turn the telescope into a couple of markers but in the end gave up and kept it a telescope.

The three Campsite sets are finished as well as the Throne Room. I mixed and matched the tents and supplies in the first gallery as I found it more interesting to photograph them that way.  Two of the axe handles on the chopping stumps were already broken off when I got them so were replaced with brass wire.  In the end they look fine.  The Throne Room came out even better than I had hoped and I believe the three pieces of artwork took my own painting skills to a new level.  It is always exciting when one sees growth in one’s own work especially as we artists are notoriously hard on ourselves.  The last two parchments from the Barracks sets aren’t ready to be photographed (I’m working on a little vignette) but the entire Terrain Crate 1 rewards are finished.  Not sure how important that is really but the artificial goal helped get me through this time of isolation so I am thankful for it.

Even as my Elven Mona Lisa was drying, a big box of Terrain Crate 2 arrived on my doorstep. Even though I have two of the map/parchments to complete I am calling the first set of Terrain Crate complete.  I still have to take pictures of the last three sets of Campsites but will post those soon.

I have decided to just roll my work on the new pieces into this blog rather than start a new one.  I like seeing the progression in my work, if truth be told.  I did think I was going to take a break from terrain pieces for a while but immediately scrubbed two bags of plastic stuff and added them to my painting queue.

Gerry noticed my sketched Mona Lisa during the last Hobby Hangout and I mentioned I call her Mona Elfsa as she would be finished as a fantasy version of Leonardo’s masterpiece. I’ve included my reference as it is so much easier to copy something you can look at.  I wanted a dragon in the sky so knew I would have to make that area a little bigger than in Leo’s but I wanted to match both the style he painted in and the look of age.  He painted in many thin, blended layers, a technique called sfumato so I did the same.  It is a lot like wet blending, to put it in mini painting terms, and, after drawing the rough shapes in pencil, I worked in washes and inks for the most part.  I wasn’t trying to make an exact tiny copy as I have neither the skills nor tools for such an endeavour and I value what little sanity I have remaining.  The key, I find, is to match the main shapes and colors.

I aged the painting once she was complete as I think she will make a wonderful McGuffin for a Wolsung game.

A friend suggested the Magic Mirror from Snow White as the subject for the oval picture frame.  I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself but it is mine now.  A little google research brought up a couple of images I could combine.  In addition I found a color chart for face painting the mirror’s face which was a great way to start out.

Now I have to get back to my Elven Mona Lisa…

Okay, I am down to the last few pieces and Terrain Crate1 (plus a few things) will be finished and before TC2 arrives at my house (so far).  Granted these pieces have the potential for the most detail work and have really set off my indecision but I am confident there are only a few hours of detail work left at this point.  So here are the last remaining pieces that are on my table.  In fact, here are some pictures of my table as well.

I haven’t decided if I will call this Project Blog complete when I’m done or simply roll it into the pieces from the second campaign.

The fountains from the Temple set were already done and added to my Wolsung terrain collection but the rest of the white plastic pieces had been waiting for my attention.  I painted the half circle steps the same color so I could put them together as a complete disc.  The other two sets I painted differently with one in white stone and the other in grey.  There are two open books in the set, one of which I decided to try and portray a personal holy tome.

…and the Dark Lord’s Tower set is complete and it was a big one. Well, big in that it had a lot of parts, everything from a summoning circle to cobwebs to traps that deter any overly curious would be heroes. As I was assembling the parts I realized I had already painted the dark altar and packed it away.  It has now rejoined the rest of the set to mollify my OCD tendencies and can be seen in the photos.  I think the raven on his stand is one of my favorite details.

The all white Temple set is finished and will be posted as soon as I photograph it as I am rather pleased with one of the Holy Books.  That leaves two Campsite sets and the Throne Room to finish off and their parts are all on the painting table right now.  I have a solid idea of what to paint on the hanging tapestry but am still undecided (hard to believe) as to what will go on the two framed paintings.