Sunday 3 January 2016

XCV. Borislav and the New Beast

Happy New Year, everyone.

I was rather busy during the past week and a half with the holidays, so even though I had some new things to show off I just didn't have time to publish. The soldier fellow from the post before this one is now finished:

Borislav, a warrior in service of house Waywode.
The miniature was assembled from a variety of bits. The body is from the GW Empire Huntsmen kit. But I chopped off the original legs and grafted on a pair of cut down High Elf Archer legs. In addition to giving him a different look this also made him a tad better proportioned. The cravat around his neck is fashioned from heavy paper.

Borislav's belt holds useful items, like charges for his rifle. He also carries this small heraldic shield bearing the Waywode family colours. As he is a rare living minion of the Countess, the yellow of his clothing will set him apart from the spirits, and the subtle red and white details (hopefully) make him still feel like a part of the crew. The freehand on the rifle's stock was inspired by richly decorated historical Balkan flintlock rifles.

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This is yet another version of Countess' etheric projection, like the Beast and the Harpy. Counting the ones I made before starting the blog, this is the fifth version of this character (what can I say; I'm hopeless...):

I wanted the design of the head to include both the Countess' face and a wolf's maw - somewhat like I saw on the wolf-creatures in Bird Boy. I recommend you check out the whole comic; it's rather beautiful. The author, Anne Szabla, comes up with such amazing creatures. You can find more here: LINK.

This time the Countess' soul takes the form of a huge she-wolf, her body dotted with wounds that bleed perpetually. The Beast leaves a trail of dark blood and ectoplasm in her wake. This form was inspired by the crest of the Countess' family.
Vérzőfarkas coat of arms, as seen on Mór the Armour. On the left are the colours, and on the right the crest: "one bleeding wolf, tail to the east". I'm planning a post explaining the heraldry of this world in the near future.

When painting, I relied heavily on washes and glazes, using photographs of wolves for reference.

The body is from a LOTR Warg Chieftain. The face is a Slaanesh Daemonette's, the same as the  one on the Countess. 



The new Beast, the old Beast and the Harpy. Which one is your favourite?

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20 comments:

  1. My absolute favorite is the old beast. I really want to make a version of it. Unfortunately I traded away my Tigers of Dirz recently. Your creations are some of my favorite miniatures of all time. I love your style.

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  2. Ones in the middle and on the right are absolutely wicked.
    Cannot decide which is the best: the one far right looks much more sinister and kinda mysterious so probably this one.
    Probably.
    Great work once again!

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  3. And a delayed happy new year to you too Ana!

    I have to say that you've done a splendid job on the soldier. My favorite part is the freehand work on the legging and his rifle. It's nice to see that under such plain a garb as his coat he has a taste in fine clothes. :P

    As for the Countess' etheric projections I have to agree with the other two that the old Beast is my favorite, it all just comes together so well and I know it has inspired me in at least one modelling pursuit. In saying that though both the new Beast and harpy are nearly as wonderful a mini as the Countess herself.

    Also thank you for directing me to a new Comic. I've been looking for something new to read now that I've caught up on K6BD.

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  4. I think the new beast is wonderfully simple and effective. Love the pose and the use of a deamonette face...eerily beautiful. I wonder how it would look with just the upper half of the deamonette head? Without the mouth...

    Beast on the right is still such an incredibly atmospheric piece of work. Can still hear the small bells chime :)

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    1. Thanks!

      I considered making her with just the upper part of the face (this is how the Bird Boy wolves have it). But I decided against it because the whole face is instantly recognisable as the Countess' visage, while the mouthless version would be less so.

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  5. Btw - what's that soundrack on site?
    What artist?

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    1. Thanks!

      The atmospheric track was crafted for the blog by my highschool friend Luka Fucek. Luka and I have drifted apart since then, so I don't know whether he still makes music. But I do know he is quite busy developing robots these days; he is the CTO of the team behind this: http://www.stemi.education/

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  6. Sweet. Love the freehand on the soldier.

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  7. Ooh, I love the new beast... so creepy! The thing you do with the face is just awesome. Love the others, too, but I think the new beast is my favourite.
    Happy new year! :D

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  8. Happy new year!

    The hunter is beautiful, his pants are spectacular.

    The new beast is very well painted but I think the face stands out too much. It's just too high on the body and does not look like a natural organic part. I would also have covered the beasts eyes so it only looks through the Countess eyes.

    Thanks for the comic link, looks interesting.

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  9. Amazing work, the detail on the heraldry is superb!

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  10. How did I miss this post? Amazing work, Ana. Love that new Countess form.

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  11. Nice work on the normal human, his pet however is ultra creepy, I can just imagine, in the shadows you see a face, and then into focus a massive jaw and bam, your dead....

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