Miniture Monday – Gwyddis, Dwarf Valkyrie
If you prepare for battle (or maybe worship), the first thing to pack after your weapons are a large metal (or even stone carved) crest and an anvil, right? At least if you are a dwarf, it seems!
(posting by Dirk)
This monday is a bank holiday in Germany, and how it goes with holidays – it seems you get done even less than on workdays (at least with small children). Therefore Antonia didn’t manage do work on her dwarf beyond the first layer of liner and mine is a WIP, but it’s at least a start!
I painted her a (celtic?) redhead:
The concept of a “dwarven vakyrie” didn’t ring a bell with me, but I though she looked like a priestress of some kind, so I painted her as a forge priestress in plain leather and steel, with red as a contrasting color, hinting on both her gaelic sounding name and the fire of a forge. Gold works as an extra highlight on the upper parts (I suppose she must be higher up in the hierarchy).
Arjen chose extraordinary colors on his WIP:
He said “I feel this dwarf is very much good-aligned, so I had to resist the urge to paint her blue. Instead I went for white, which I rarely use, and added some light yellow to make it more interesting. I am happy with the color scheme, but the whole thing is very much a rush job. Also, the features of her face were kind of blurry, with a very small nose, so i struggled there and did not have time to clean up (it looks as if she has runny mascara). Anyway, she is playable and looks like she can turn undead very well.”
I can see where you are going, and the white/yellow/orange road is an interesting one for sure! An undead dwarf would be a formidable foe, too.
Michael had fun painting the “backbanner”:
He wrote: “I thought gold and green were kind of atypical dwarf colors, but went for it anyway. Oddly enough, my favorite part of my paint job is the stonework arch, for which the drybrushed highlights look really nice. ”
Painting the arch as stone is an intersting idea – I didn’t think of ot but for a dwarf it seems very appropriate (if heavy). Are those axes painted as stone too?
Jim modified the mini:
He said: “I’m not sure if I like my final results or not. Something about this mini (maybe the name?) made me think of the Sun and sky. Not particularly dwarf-ish but there it is. I did modify the pack a bit. I don’t really care for the pack anvil and the shoulder armor but in the end, these elements don’t look too odd to my eyes.”
It’s fascinating how much a simple change of silhouette makes Gwyddis look like a completely different miniature, enhancing her dwarfish squatness and at the same time give her a somehow more dynamic pose – maybe just because she carries less weight and can storm into battle more easily?
This week’s gallery:
Coming next:
06/24/19 Bones II Sir Conlan (B2 Core)
I added tons of miniatures to the schedule now. We might still shuffle them around, do extras (like “Show me your project!”) or add more, just tell us what you think in the comments!
07/08/19 Bones III Durok, Dwarf Ranger (B3 Core)
07/22/19 Bones III Wraith (B3 Core)
08/05/19 Bones II Alistrilee, Elven Archer (B2 Core)
08/19/19 Bones III Sigurd, Viking (B3 Core)
09/02/19 Bones III Brotherhood of the Seal (B3 Core)
09/16/19 Bones II Mi-Sher, Sword Dancer (B2 Core)
After that Bones 4? Or should we start earlier? Until then everyone should have had the chance to check their shipments or even bought some minis directly from the shop.
We’ll gladly accept your suggestions!
Caffeineforge 
The eyes, nice big eyes where you can try to actually paint them. I think Jim succeeded very well. I like the shape of the white, it is not a blob like my white, but actually eye-shaped. Nicely done.
Michael’s dwarf looks like a pretty jolly yellow dwarf until you see her eyes…there is madness there! was it intentional? It makes her a very interesting character.
On a different topic: there seems to be some misunderstanding of the term “turn undead”. It means “using positive energy from your deity to turn away undead”, not “turning into an undead”. I think my version radiates positive energy, especially the yellow halo altar thingy on her back.
Now that you mention it, yes, of course “turn undead”… I just had a *facepalm* moment when I realized you meant the clerical ability in D&D. Maybe I was too fascinated by the idea of an undead dwarf because they appear so rarely in books or games and are ghosts even then.
The color of the crest definitely radiates positive energy, maybe she could cast a “true sunlight” spell from there to incinerate vampires too!
I always like painting dwarfs! Dirk’s is perhaps the most typically dwarven (dwarfish?). I thought she was basically a priestess or cleric, too. The red and gold over the steel and brown definitely evoke the forge! Arjen and I both favored yellow this time though his uses white for a very good feel. I’m chuckling over the mascara comment, but she still has a very resolute look on her face. My minis’ eyes always look like that until the very end! I have to say the my favorite part of Michael’s is the whole pack. It’s well done! Her face came out really fierce. Good color choices, too. My typical colors are grays and blues for dwarfs so I’m really enjoying the non-standard hues. This is the second or third time I’ve cut a bit off a dwarf pack. I think the upper parts make the mini look a bit back heavy. There is a failed bit of shading on the yellow, but you can’t see most of it fortunately. I tried to get her expression to be benevolent and kind and even inviting. The eyebrows throw that off!