Miniature Monday – Brass Bull
This week we present a classical monster, a big bull covered in scales. But there are many ways to paint this scaly monstrosity, as our painters show you…
(posted by Dirk)
Antonia: “Again this week I got inspired by one of Dirk’s “discarded” ideas, which was to paint the bull like the Red Bull in the movie “The Last Unicorn”.
In the end my love for wet-in-wet blending got the better of me and it became more of a “Burning Bull”, so I decided to add a bit of Vogel-Glow (aka water effect) for some actual flames. Since the water effects dried rather slowly I think I’ll add another one or two layers of it to get higher flames, esp on the horns, but here’s a WIP to see the direction I’m going 🙂 ”
I really like the flames burning all over its body, it gives the mini a complete different fealing: instead of a colossal, bulky stomping machine, it becomes a burning flaming fury!
My bull is a stone version, painted in browns and grays.
My intention was to paint minis for all monsters a wizard in our regular roleplay-group can summon. This will be an ox from the earth plane, but you can also use it as an animated statue.
Jim painted his mini as (probably) intended by the name, an metal statue/being. He said it’s more bronze than brass, but who’d want to split hairs with such a great result?
The verdigris-effect is really great! It looks so real it could be a true bronze statue. This is a tremendous monster that will trample all in its path.
Arjen told us he started with the mental image of a classic D&D gorgon which got a special touch by the addition of red horns:
Nice work with the steel/grayish metallics, I also like the blending on horns and eyes – plus the red gives a nice touth to the whole color scheme!
He wrote he tried “zenith lighting” with mixed results, but I have to admit the expression is new to me/us – would you care to elaborate about this technique and its effects for a mini, Arjen?
Coming Next:
09/12/16 Warg, Gigantic Wolf (Core set)
Want to participate in next week’s post? Email the pictures of your minis until 09/04/16 to
09/19/16 Beastman Champion (Core Set)
09/26/16 Show me your army/project
10/03/16 Hordlings, small demons/familiars (Add-on, but since they’re small and cheap we’ll keep them in anyway)
10/10/16 Egregis Darkfathom, Dark Sea Priest (Core Set)
10/17/16 Companion Animals – Feline, Hawk, Wolverine, Wolf, Bear (Core Set) -> paint as many as you like
10/24/16 Stone Lurker, classic dungeon monster (Core Set)
10/31/16 Kar Drakir, Reptile Warrior (Core Set)
Caffeineforge 
Jim you really nailed the mini I must say. Excellent choice of colors!
Thanks! I will admit that I am really pleased with how this mini came out. I originally was thinking 1e gorgon (like Arjen’s), but got fascinated by “Brass Bull” images. My base color is actually antique bronze with many different highlights (including gold) and washes. I intended the verdigris to be less obvious but now I think I prefer it this way.
Are there prizes for this contest?
Hi Dave, Miniature Monday is not really a contest, more like an opportunity to paint a mini and show it off, comparing it to the results of others.
We don’t pick a winner and therefore don’t have prizes – other than philosophical ones, if you will, like motivation and the joy of having a lot of miniatures painted which otherwise would still lay in a box somewhere (true story : -p )
(Sorry for the late approval and answer of your comment, I didn’t see it in the moderation area until now)
I think zenith lighting is single source lighting from directly above. I’d love to hear a little more about this from Arjen (hint, hint).
I love the variety in the fire and stone versions, too. This is one of the very best minis out of Bones I, in my opinion.
(Arjen’s comment concerning the painting technique, the page somehow didn’t accept the comment so I post it for him):
Arjen said:
Zenith(al) lighting is a variant way of highlighting where you look at the top of the mini and paint everything you see from that direction a shade lighter, so you get the effect as if a mini has a light somewhere above its head.
For more info: http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.nl/2010/08/tutorial-zenithal-lightning-work-order.html
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