On Saturday, it was rainy-- the perfect weather for painting! I decided to give something a try: Speed Painting. Now, most people would describe speed painting as painting under limited time constraints. I took it as a challenge to finish a miniature in an afternoon. I haven't completed a miniature in one sitting since The Blind Ninja in 2013. The idea of "Speed Painting" used to intimidate me so I decided to reverse-engineer the process to make it more accessible. It helped!
I gave myself the challenge of finishing the miniature in three 30-minute intervals. I set a timer on my phone for 30 minutes and took a few minutes break in between to re-evaluate and plan what to paint next on the miniature. My strategy for the three intervals was this:
- Base Layer for Cape, Lining/Outlining of Middle Armor Sections
- Skin, Face, Eyes
- Weapon, Shield, Wash on Cape Layer
Last week, I wrote about helping my friend build a new D&D character. My friend wanted her Genasi mini to have "purple skin with hair like lightning" so I used this as an overall concept reference:
Image taken from Pangella-Chronicles.ObsidianPortal.com
I chose a Reaper "Bones" dark elf miniature made from plastic (I find they're great for speed painting!) and decided to go with the cloud/sky theme for her Genasi character. The cape would resemble blue, shifting clouds and I'd highlight her hair & weapon in yellow to create her lightning effect. Here's the simple but versatile color scheme I chose (Not pictured: "Polished Bone" for armor detail highlights):
What I learned: I forgot to account for the time it would take to paint details on the middle section-- her chain mail armor & boots. I should have broken it down into four 30-minute intervals with a 15-minute final clean up at the end. I took pictures throughout and came up with this visual breakdown:
1. Unpainted Miniature
2. Cape Basecoat
3. Block/Line Armor
4. Skin
5. Thunder "Hair" Blending
6. Thunder Weapon & Armor
7. Cape Wash & Highlights, Shield
8. Flat Color Base
While I didn't meet my original, ambitious goal of 1.5 hours, it only took me about 2 - 2.5 hours. While this miniature isn't painted in the highest quality possible, it wasn't a significant time investment-- perfect for tabletop gaming! Here's the final product:
