Sarah's Choice and Judges' Choice for the 4th Painting Challenge

First I have to apologize for the delay in getting this posted. Sarah and I have dashing about trying to get things arranged for our upcoming vacation and so I've fallen a bit behind in my blogging responsibilities. Anyway, we took a break tonight to have a bit of fun awarding the well-earned prizes for 'Sarah's Choice' and 'Judge's Choice'. 

So, with no further ado I will ask the lady of the household go first with her award:

Hello all, Sarah here. 

This year's Sarah's Choice celebrates the beast/creature which has best captured my imagination. 

From caravans of camels, herds of moose (meese?), dogs, cats and horses, to giant spiders and a very peculiar set of Book Golems, I've found my choice to have been most difficult. 

After much thought I went with the fabulist whimsy of Anne's fabulous Winged Monkey on Flying Carpet. I find there is something of both 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Tales from Arabian Nights' in her vignette. I think one could spin quite the tale around this capricious, wonderful monkey and his magic carpet.

So, Bravo Anne!! I'm going to send along an Amazon.com gift certificate to you which I'm sure you'll make good use of. I look forward to the delights your wondrous Technicolor workshop will bring to next year's Challenge!

Finally, I wish to say well done to all the Challenge participants. It has been a pleasure to watch the entries roll in during the winter months and see the caliber of painting exceed itself week by week. 

(Oh, and to those who have wondered how Curt kept his wits about him to keep on top of the Challenge, his secret is that I make a damn good espresso!) 

Best Regards,

Sarah

Well said m'dear, an excellent choice indeed. Oh, before you go, please top-up my caffeine intravenous drip, I believe I'm getting a bit low...

Anyone who's followed the Challenge this year can well imagine that I've been spoiled with a bewildering number of worthy entries to stand as Judge's Choice. I went through the entire set of submissions, from December 15th to March 20th, and made a shortlist along the way. I've spent the past few weeks mulling through this list, nibbling my fingernails, trying to make a decision. In the end I went with my instincts and so have chosen...

...Sidney Roundwood's 'Mata Hari' vignette submitted for the 'Villains' bonus round.

In reading Sidney's description of his project one cannot help but be impressed and affected by his passion for the period. In fact, instead of me wasting time prattling on about my reasonings I'm simply going to let Sidney's own words speak to my final decision: 

There’s a huge amount about Mata Hari on the internet, and I’m guessing everyone here knows the story of the Dutch exotic dancer whose provocative and flirtatious dancing became famous before the War started, and whose later career during the War became one of a courtesan embroiled in espionage and scandal. 

Her story is remarkable and, although there’s no time here to go into details, I felt Mata Hari deserved not one but three images for the “Villains” theme. I also wanted to place the figures at different parts of her story, and mix that with a little Alternative History.

So, here we have three figures for Mata Hari.

The first is Mata Hari as she became famous in Paris before the Great War – the City of light, of champagne, of laughter and of dubious morality. Here she’s depicted on the stage of the Musée Guimet in 1905, a bouquet of trumpet lilies at her feet. And, as I knew Curt would like it, she’s painted in greyscale, perhaps to offset the lurid gas-lights of the Parisian stage.

Next, we see her dancing in more private surroundings during the War. Perhaps for Captain Vadime de Masloff (her historical lover) or perhaps for a French general ensnared in Mata Hari’s web of seduction and betrayal, his be-medalled tunic, letters and High Command despatches lying thoughtlessly discarded on the carpeted floor of a hotel close to the Gare du Nord.

And finally, in a blast of Alternative History, the terrible result of Mata Hari’s espionage is clear for all to see. A discarded copy of Le Petit Parisien (no doubt dropped by a stunned and shocked veteran of the 1870 campaign close to his local Metro station) announces in sombre tones the fall of Verdun to the Germans on a cold Autumnal day in 1916. A copy of the newspaper, and stolen confidential despatches from the French General Staff are placed on the back seat of Mata Hari’s limousine as she quietly leaves Paris, with fallen leaves and doubtless a fallen French Government in her wake. 

The car is a lavish 1910 Mercedes, complete with liveried chauffeur, picked up from Ebay for a couple of pounds with a couple of changes such as adding transparent plasticard for the front windows.

Both Mata Hari and chauffeur are from Sloppy Jalopy, although Mata Hari was converted with a new hat, matching the one she was wearing while arrested in 1917. The dancing figures of Mata Hari are both from Alex Bagosy, sourced through Lead Adventure Forum a few years ago. The bases are built up with a mix of plastic card and “grey-stuff”.

The base was built up from non-warping marine plywood, with a plasticard set of paving stones. The lamppost was scratch built using two plastic rods, and topped with a plasticard sign and a plastic lamp fixture from one of my daughter's old toys. I wanted to try and create a Parisian "feel" to the scene - a sense of a time and place. I thought about producing additional figures, or a small building, but it was hard to think of anything quite as evocative as a sign for the Paris Metro.

I also wanted to try and create the background of the fictional fall of Verdun. This was perhaps the most fun thing of all to do. I found a copy of “Le Petit Parisien” newspaper from 1910 online and photoshopped a new headline onto it – “Verdun Pris Par Les Allemands". I then reduced the photoshopped page to a tiny size, and cut it out. I tinted the paper with a wash of paint, and then crumpled it slightly and painted the whole with a glaze of PVA glue to keep its shape so that it would look as if a Parisian had been so shocked by the news he had simply dropped the newspaper on the street. Quelle horreur!

To try and echo the devastating news, I made a second newspaper for the back of the limousine, and added a brace of letters - perhaps stolen letters from a lover in the Deuxieme Bureau, or messages from Mata Hari's own spymaster - on the back seat of her limousine.

The autumn leaves we're added with more PVA glue. I bought a small pack a long time ago from Antenocitti's Workshop, and they are still going strong! Trying to get the right colours to stand out against the grey base was a good way to spend half an hour.

Sidney, I know I've said this before but thanks again for debuting this wonderful work during the Challenge. It was vignettes like yours, Michael's, Millsy's, along with many others that really put a sparkle on the whole event.

As a prize, I thought it apropos to award Sidney with a copy of the newly published 'Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918' translated by Edward M. Strauss. 

Congratulations Sidney, I hope this volume provides you further inspiration for your Verdun project - I very much look forward to giving it to you in person in a few short weeks!

From AnneO'L: 30mm 'Women in Uniform' (28 points)

From Anne:

Four weeks ago I challenged myself to make a radical change in my palette, avoiding my usual bright colours in favour of blacks, greys and shades of brown. Further, I have chosen to use minimal basing that does not detract from the figure itself.

For my admission fee piece I chose to paint a figure from Peckinpah's classic film "Cross of Iron". My figure represents the female Russian soldiers in the film. Peckinpah was criticized for including a rape scene in the film and the scene was used by feminists to condemn him as a misogynist. I strongly disagree. What was portrayed was a fact of war and should not be shied away from. In my eyes these were brave women, willing to take up arms to defend their country and able to fight back when set upon by brutal, savage men.

This is a 28mm figure from Reaper Miniatures and was sculpted by Werner Klocke.

Meet Moira, the Irish fighter pilot. As a child Moira was a bit of a tomboy preferring to play rugby with the boys over playing dollies with the girls.  The thought of growing up and having loads of babies and taking care of house filled Moira with a savage anger. She longed to fight and she longed for freedom.

That freedom came when the yanks joined the fighting in WWII.  Hearing that America had equal opportunities for women, Moira boarded a steamer bound for New York.

Upon passing her physical, Moira was told she could serve, but it would be behind a desk, not behind enemy lines. Well let me tell you, Moira flew into a rage so great it scared General Patton near to death.  "Anger like this could win us the war" Patton was heard to say.  

So they did the only thing they could do. They renamed her "Bob" , gave her a plane and she spent the rest of the war as a fighter pilot, happily bombing away her anger at being born a woman. 

This is a 32mm figure from Bombshell Babes and was sculpted by Patrick Keith.

First off, thank you very much Anne for this wonderful Soviet sniper. Both of these are such fabulous miniatures. 

I've really quite enjoyed this recent series where you've been using variations of this wonderful orange-russet-brown colour, punctuated with that vibrant emerald green. Subdued yet still very punchy. Great stuff.

These two women in uniform will give Anne 28 points. Super work Anne and thanks again!

From AnneO'L: 28mm Undead Warrior (5 points)

From Anne:

This winter has been a brutal one and my family and we have undergone a great deal of suffering throughout. The temperatures have been well below zero and we have no central heat in our home. When the temperature got down to 40 below zero, our pipes burst and we were without water for over 30 days. Further, my husband is a near invalid and caring for him with a fully function house is difficult at the best of times. As a consequence, it has been a trial for me to make the deadlines for the Themed Bonus Rounds, let alone get anything else done. Things are slowly returning to normal and I am beginning to clear the back log of figures from my painting table.

This is a 28mm figure from Reaper Miniatures and was sculpted by Bobbie Jackson.

I wanted to attempt two new things here. Undead skin and object source lighting from the sword. I'm pleased enough with the skin, but the OSL is dreadful. One of the mistakes I made is attempting this on a dark, saturated colour.

I still find capes to be very difficult. Finding the midpoint in the highlights and making my transitions smooth are still problematic.

I kept the basing very simple as this is intended to be a gaming piece.

Lovely work Anne. I think you did a wonderful job on this chap's marvellously ghoulish skin.His cloak is also quite well done, with appealingly moody transitions with the shadows (and it's nice to see brown used as a primary colour for a character figure). Source lighting is always a tricky effect and you're learning its nuances so there's no shame here at all. A very groovy figure.

This rather dour fellow with the operatic helmet will give Anne 5 points. Great stuff!

From AnneO'L: Bombshell, Robot, Evil Warrior & Cyber-Ape (28 points)

Anne has sent in this wonderfully eclectic mix of figures for us to enjoy.

From Anne:

These pieces were all about getting a handle on painting weathered metals. I got into this hobby by following wargamers and no one can weather metal like those guys can.  It took me ages but I finally found a tutorial here that helped me work it out.

The female is a 28mm figure from Bombshell Babes and was sculpted by Patrick Keith and the Robot is from Stonehaven.

Normally one would not think of putting these two figures together, but last year I developed a fondness for Pulp and so it seemed natural for me to do so.  

I included a close up of the metals so that the weathering would be apparent.

The Evil Warrior is a 28mm BONES from Reaper and was sculpted by Bobbie Jackson. The kitten is actually the sidekick for the Bombshell Babe figure in the first set of figures.

I'm known for painting "girly" figures so I thought "Anne, it's time you painted something big, something fierce, something macho" so I settled on this big scary guy. He also had loads of metal for me to practise my weathering on.

After I'd got him done and looked at that pose I thought "He really should be attacking something, moving in for that final kill" 

So here I am with this masculine figure and I just can't leave well enough alone. So I let my true nature have it's way and decided to have him attacking the kitten. It made sense to me.

I knew I wanted to free hand a skull on that shield but I had a hard time coming up with something that would work with the curves at the top of the shield and the spikiness of the bottom. It took me three tries to come up with this modified skull.

This is a 40mm Reaper BONES figure and was sculpted by Jason Wiebe.

I had to fight my girly nature with this guy. My instinct was to paint up a petite female to base him with and call it "Beauty and The Beast", but I resisted that temptation and painted him up alone and based him in a simple manner.

Reaper really dropped the ball when they cast this figure. The face was in terrible shape and the mouth was an utter mess, making it difficult to bring out the personality of this figure. In my opinion what Reaper has done by miscasting figures from talented sculptors is an outrage. When a company destroys the work of sculptors like Patrick Keith, Bob Oily, Jason Wiebe, Bob Ridolfi and Sandra Garrity in order to turn a mass profit, that company is damaging our hobby and they should be ashamed of it.  Some of the BONES figures are great value for money, but if you're looking for quality, look elsewhere.

On the painting table right now is a Cowboy vignette of a Faro game gone awry along with a diorama made up of Foundry Orclings riding dinosaurs. 

This is a great collection of work Anne. I like the rusted metal on the Robot and the Kitten has an expression like it's hiding something that the Evil Warrior has not taken into account. I've not worked with any of the Reaper BONES stuff so I find it troubling that the casts are not living up to the hype. I hope this is something they will troubleshoot and resolve because, as you say, it would be a shame to mare the good work of these talented sculptors.

I'm not quite sure on all a the scales but I'll go out on a limb and assume the Cyper-Ape is a fairly large lad. This wonderfully motley assortment of figures will provide Anne with 28 points including a bit extra for the wry puddy tat and the nice bases.

Top in Votes for Non-Combatant(s) Theme Bonus Round

Well, we had a very successful first Fortnight Theme Bonus Round with 36 Challengers sending in a submission for the 'Non-Combatant' theme. Of this illustrious group the following entries secured the top three places in the voting poll:

For 3rd place we had a tie with Tim's colourful 'Feudal Japanese Civilians'...

...along with Sidney's excellent vignettes of 'WWI Journalists'. Tim and Sidney will be awarded another 25 points to each of their totals.

AnneO'L claimed 2nd place with her wonderfully vibrant 'Guinevere' and will get an additional 50 point bonus.

And 1st place was taken by ByronB with his fabulous 'Old Queen from Snow White' who will get 75 points along with... 

...this characterful non-combatant vignette from Westfalia Miniatures!

Thanks to all the Challengers who entered and congratulations to the winners! The next Fortnight Theme is 'Villain(s)' so be sure to check back to see what The Wild Bunch has dreamt up for their entries.

From AnneO'L: 28mm Cowboys & Thief (17 points)

Anne submits her fist non-thematic entry with this brilliant cowboy vignette and an elf thief.

From Anne:

I began painting miniatures a little over a year and a half ago and for me, the greatest part of the Challenge is not the acquisition of points, rather it is to push myself as a painter by doing things I have never done before. 

These are 25mm figures from Knuckleduster and I had a grand time painting them.  They are smaller than the 28mm heroic figures I generally paint and have less detail. Therefor I had to adjust my technique somewhat to accommodate that. They required more contrast than I am used to using and they required the use of washes which is something I never use.  The main shortcoming on these figures is that I did not push the highlights high enough in several places. Hopefully, I will do a better job on the next batch of Knuckleduster figures I submit.

This is a 28mm heroic figure from Reaper Miniatures. It is a metal miniature and was sculpted by Bobby Jackson.  You may notice that the face is a different colour than the hands.  This is an elf thief and Bobby sculpted a highly stylized mask on the face. I chose to paint it in a dark greyscale to emphasize those pronounced features.  I painted the dagger a glowing green as I wanted to try doing Object Source Lighting. You can see this as the green glow that is transmitted from the dagger onto the side of the cloak. I was a bit heavy handed with the technique, which should be more subtle.  On the back of the cloak, I painted some freehand blue flames. While this looks fine on a table top, it is too sloppy for photography. I failed to highlight within the flames and I did not have enough distinction between layers. However, this was a first attempt and I learned something from it.

Wonderful stuff Anne! I always enjoy seeing your work as you have a very vibrant, high-contrast style. Your first attempt at source lighting is quite good, especially as it can be a tricky effect to pull off. As a suggestion, I find 'source lighting' usually works best when the figure is painted in muted 'shadow' tones in order to set up a better context for the chosen light source. I also really like the blue flames on the back of the thief's cloak. I find it reminiscent of  some of the psychedelic album covers of the 70s (as you can tell, I spent way too much time in my parents' basement listening to the hi-fi) - very cool.

These three figures will give Anne as base of 15 points but I'm adding a couple more for the vignette and paint effects. Great stuff Anne and I look forward to your coming entries!