Friday, July 29, 2011

Dwarf bagpiper painted

Finally worked on the dwarf bagpiper I got from Reaper. I enjoyed the sculpting but the drag is it is way bigger then the 28mm that I'm painting. I wanted to draft him into my Celtos warband for the Gaels/Irish don't have a piper, and why is a big oversight for the Gaels three instruments are the bodhran (small hand drum), harp, and the bagpipe.
     In the future my plans are to make Clare's Regiment (Wild Geese) in the Service of France. This infamous company had three generations of the O'Brien family as its commanders. A big problem is cannibalizing some figures to make a piper, for the Irish Brigade went into battle under the skirl of the bagpipes.
     My biggest problem in painting are the eyes. I just can't do the eyes yet. Read on one blog about using an artist mechanical pen to make the eyes. There isn't an art or drafting store nearby so I got an extra fine at Staples. Although one can make a small dot the blogger didn't mention the problems some figures might have with sunken eyes so the pen hits above & below the eye socket.
As for this figure, it shall just sit on my desktop computer tower.



Well my painting is getting better! Several visitors tipped the following:
  • to dilute the paint.
  • Layer with washes starting with darkest color and going lighter each wash. (Tried this and it worked very well, but . . . I don't have a wide variety of paint colors and this limits things. Yes I've tried using black and white to dilute the colors, and just not having a good experience with this.)
  • Dry brushing is getting better, SOMETIMES, such as with the piper's cape & hair.
Painted the bagpipe to look like mine, where the white is bagpipes used to use ivory. Today, such as mine, imitation ivory plastic is used since to use and have ivory now is illegal. Those who are really good piper's, have sterling silver replacing the ivory. Just noticed a small glitch which I shall correct. Forgot to paint black holes a top the pipe's. (The poor piper is going to huff & puff with no sound [although some would appreciate this lack of musical sound].)

3 comments:

  1. Looking good. Need to fix the pipes, I like the sound of the pipes. Painting is looking really good. I have been painting little guys for 40 odd years and I am still changing techniques.

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  2. Very nicely done. The dry-brushing seems to have worked well. As for eyes, I find them so difficult to do that I have (temporarily) given up on them. Mine always looking rather too round and somewhat insane. Yours look good, so I may have to try using an artist's pen like that.

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  3. He looks great. And you painted him with the same colour of hair as me!
    Cheers
    Paul

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