XLII. The Old Cemetery

Made an old graveyard. I used the base from the Citadel Wood kit. There were three slots for trees on it, and I got rid of two of them by filling them with a mix of sand and Vallejo heavy transparent gel. The texture I got this way almost perfectly matches the ground texture sculpted on the base. The remaining slot can be filled by any one of the Citadel trees, or a small shrine I am yet to make for this purpose. That way this piece of terrain won't have to look exactly the same every time I use it in a game.

Some of the headstones are plaster casts, and others are carved out of balsa. The symbols on top of some of them are High Elf bits. 

A dilapidated fence surrounds the burial grounds, so they can't be accessed from all sides.

Front.

Back.

I'm working on some smaller bits, too. I built a functioning wooden fence gate: it can be swung open or closed easily. There will be matching fence segments to accompany it. 

In front of the fence you can see more plaster barrels (like the ones I made before), as well as some plaster old wooden boxes. I put together the original out of balsa, thick paper and pins, and then made a mould.

I already have a couple painted. During the games they will be scattered around the board, with a possibility of containing an item or a small amount of coin.

*  *  *

Another inspiring artist I would like to recommend: Keith Thompson.

THE PROPHET, by Keith Thompson

Keith's gallery is packed with intriguing concept art and illustration, and almost every piece of artwork is accompanied by a bit of backstory. I strongly suggest that you go through the entire gallery. Still, in the next few lines I'll turn your attention to some of my favourite pieces.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN  is a modern reinvention of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I love the fact Death is wearing a bodybag instead of a shroud, and the Totentanz  around a nuclear missile. And even the famous text from the Book of Revelation is rewritten so that computer files are opened in place of seals, instead of beasts monitors speak, the bow and sword carried by the first and second Horseman are replaced by a rifle and a great missile, and so forth.

A number of works feature some sort of fish-people, including PONTIFF, BROOD MERMAID, and PROPHET (shown above).
Several pictures thematize plague, my favourite being PESTILENTIAL ADVENT. I wish someone would turn that concept into a miniature. PLAGUE CART is also pretty neat. 
There is a number of unusual undead, including the especially repulsive FUNGAL ZOMBIE. 
And another one I really enjoy: the APOLLONIAN WIGHT. Especially because I normally find outer space quite scary, and would never like to be an astronaut. The concept of a skeleton in a spacesuit also reminds me of the Doctor Who episodes "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead". : )
There are many more captivating ones, and the short texts that accompany each picture always make it even more awesome.

What do you think?