A smattering of fantasy minis...

[Aesthete]

Having been swept along in the general euphoria of 4th Edition D&D I've managed to actually paint a few minis (and finish a few half finished ones after dusting them off).  Here are some pictures.  It's a mixture of Reaper, GW, Celtos and Foundry.

This post makes me feel like I can start browsing this forum again and perhaps even posting

Let me know what you think.


A low ranking member of a sinister mystery cult, perfectly happy to kill and die as his superiors in the cult desire.



The wolfkin barbarians are known for consorting with wolves, for filing their teeth to sharp points to emulate their favoured pets and for their lack of trouser technology.


Unlike most other local peoples, the Wolfkin are more than content to have the womenfolk lend a hand when it comes to killing the neighbours.


They are also known for painting themselves blue in various ways when they go raiding and plundering.  Perhaps it's a religious thing?


Some dark elf city guards, highly trained in avoiding taking any action while collecting bribes.


A sturdy dwarf hero.  He is not racist.  Why, one of his best friends are Elves.  And don't worry, when he talks about "filthy human scum" he doesn't mean you; you're one of the good ones.


A noble half-elf paladin.  In spite of the axe the other half is human, not dwarven.  What's with those stereotypes anyways?


A plucky halfling heroine.  Might not get offended if you call her your "shorty".


Some feckless goblin archers, clearly up to no good.


A sorceress.  She's probably evil, but somehow I don't mind.
(I might have posted her in that one other image post I made on these boards... can't exactly remember).


A plucky, viking type lass.  So plucky in fact that she apparently does not need to wear pants.


Another sorceress type.  Less sinister than the previous one as she likes bright colours.  Can't be evil then, right?
I was quite happy with how the robe detailing turned out.


Same sorceress type, but from the back.
My wife actually painted all the base colours, and I went in and did the inking, highlighting and detail stuff.  It's our first collaboration.  I foresee much more miniature painting going on in the Aesthete household if I can get her hooked on painting too... so far so good

[Orctrader]

Nice.  Loving that freehand 

[marrony]

Cool stuff.

[Doomhippie]

Yes, lovely painting. Hm, my wife just starts shouting "boring" when I show her a figure (and that's one of the more positive reactions.  

I love your sorceresses - both of them. The red dress is a killer, I bow before the skill of a master. However, I like the dark damsel better - must be fatal attraction or something like that. Nice work. Keep 'em coming!

Oh, and I love D&D, too. Haven't had a look at the 4th edition but the name alone makes me feel happy and young again...

[DFlynSqrl]

Great looking collection Aesthete.  The dresses are fantastic, and I like the pattern you picked for the kilts as well.

[Wallyocerous]

Awesome stuff!  Love the freehand and the tartan!   

[Vanvlak]

Very nice - and I too vote for the beautifully dressed ladies and the clan kilts.
Grand 

[Arcticman]

Lovely variety and great painting.
The lack of trouser technology made my day 
Great tartans and freehand.
I also like the total mix of different manufactruers

[Aesthete]

Thanks for the kind words

The scariest part about the freehand was actually fretting about doing it.  So far my repertoire is pretty much limited to more or less straight lines and then filling in the checkerboard pattern with colour for the kilts, and dots of paint for the fabric patterns.

For the dark sorceress (and also the shirt of the elf and part of the belt fabric for one of the dark elves) I used a "three dots" pattern which I first saw (if I recall correctly) on some Al-Andalus type guys on the Gripping Beast site.  It's pretty simple.  Three dots next to each other at random spots on the fabric.  The only key thing, I found is that to clean the brush and get new paint on it very frequently, but that the first dot each time is always a bit of a pain because you probably have a little too much paint on there.

The kimono type thing was just more dots, and actually easier than the "three dots" pattern.  I painted some faint lines at random spots, then applied dots pretty much at random.  There was very little worrying about the consistency of the paint or location as it was a pretty organic thing.  I did mostly white, with a few dots of other colours.  And as I said, the hardest part was just getting over the nerves of trying some freehand.  I'm tempted to put that sort of pattern on everything now, though I figure that'd be total overkill - especially as that's the limit of my freehand skills.

Many different manufacturers... heh... that's an artifact of the "mountain of lead" from all the various wargames and skirmish games I've thought I'd paint an army for.  Finally, with D&D I can get some use out of them.  "Yes... I have a hundred unpainted GW high elves.  Maybe one of them would be suitable for your character?"

[flytime]

Great Stuff! My favorites are the last three

[Doomhippie]

Sorry, I go more with the LotR Elves. But even these are a little too... robed for a real fighter in my taste.

[twrchtrwyth]

Nice collection there.