More human than human

Cyborg Specialist
28mm

I am doll eyes, doll mouth, doll legs

I love this CP miniatures figure!  Is she a remorseless android killer, or a superhuman hero in an era when even humanity itself is a vague designation?  As a "Ghost in the Shell" fan, I obviously chose the latter... But still, the cyborg Major Kusanagi cuts an eerie figure, a living doll with a human brain, who rains destruction on lesser foes and has more in common with her enemies than her allies.  This model isn't the closest version of her out there, but it's close enough, and it has a great transhuman-cyborg aesthetic with the human head and visibly artificial, jointed body.

 

A figure whose body is largely monochromatic isn't always so interesting to look at, so I thought I'd try some ambient light effects on this piece.  I pictured her walking through an area with coloured neon lights on both sides reflected on her skin, and on the wet pavement and detritus beneath her.  Once I'd finished that, it seemed that a painted backdrop would suit her too...

 

🎶 Put on my best Sunday dress
And I walk straight into this mess of mine 🎶

 

That doesn't suck either...

Chrysaora fuscescens
20"x10"



The Pacific sea nettle. Nice and colourful, just what I needed after painting sand and concrete.

The fascinating process revealed: composition of this painting consisted of about half an hour moving cut-out paper jellyfish around on the canvas... truly high art.

Hey, that doesn't suck...

Desert Ruin
9" x 12"



All done. Doing the fiddly little stones on the ground was a bit tedious but it definitely made a difference. A WIP shot from about a week ago is below:



Edit: I reshot the completed painting, the first pic is much closer to the actual colours.

Learning to Paint?!

Desert(ed) Village
9"x12"




I'm taking a canvas painting class, two lessons so far, and this is what I started working on yesterday. It's from a Nat. Geo. photo (top) of a village built for Bedouins in Yemen, kind of the Arab equivalent of making Indians live on reservations. They didn't go for it and this ruin was the result. I like the quasi- abstract, geometric and haunting look of the image, though mixing the odd palette has been a bit of a challenge.

Tank, and canvas

Stuart Tank
15 mm scale



Could be titled "The Goose Thieves" :)

Hopefully there'll be more updates coming in the next while, and some non-WW2 minis, since I know it's sort of a weird kick to be on :) In the meantime, here's a canvas:

Untitled Green 2009
12" x 12"

Canvas

The Dance
8"x10"



I painted this canvas as a birthday gift for my girlfriend. It's based on a photo of some traditional Korean dancers, but I obviously took many liberties with the source. I sort of imagine the scene as an struggle or contest occurring in ancient legend, with an otherworldly audience* observing. To keep the tone light, one of the smaller beings has brought some refreshments. No it doesn't make much sense, to be honest... but I hope she likes it! [EDIT: She likes it :)]

* audience members borrowed from "Spirited Away"!

Canvas

Four Davids
7"x9"



I painted this as a birthday gift for my friend... David! I hope he likes it... I am a little worried that it's actually tacky garage-sale art and I just don't realize it yet. But it was fun to paint. I based the faces on a photo which I ran through GIMP's "threshold" filter to get the strong contrast.

I'm still alive...

Green-Yellow
6"x6"

"WOL, that spells owl."

O RLY?
3"x3"

So long, and thanks for all the fertilizer?

Sky Tree
6"x8"
Acrylic on canvas



This is an image that just popped into my head while I was trying to get to sleep a few nights ago. I don't know what, if anything, it means. The tree is loosely modeled on a baobab but turned out more like "generic deciduous".

Marion's Mermaid

Well, this is my "secret project"! It was a birthday gift for my friend Marion, some time ago she told me that if I ever painted her a mini, she would like a blue mermaid. I'm happy to say she liked it!

Mermaid
35 mm



The "water" is gloss acrylic medium tinted with paints and sculpted with a brush. Thanks to Maya in Alabama who kindly sent me this mini!

---

At Marion's party, some of us painted canvases for her as well. This is my effort, titled "Mark Gothko":



Yes, it's a deliberate homage to the abstract painter Mark Rothko. I had a lot of fun painting this way, in a social setting and with wine involved. People should do this more often!

Another little painting

Just a quickie of a locally available subject - I'm still practicing blending and mixing colours, and shading.


Mango
5.5"x8.5"

Where's my damn beret?

My first canvas:

Prairie Fantasy
5"x7"