I've been traveling the past 24 hours for work and other than setting a new personal record for most severe motion sickness on a plane, I've accomplished little else. However, I did make some initial progress on Drak on Monday night, another mini from the Reaper Bonesylvanians line. I knew his eyes would be the most fun & challenging part!
I took a tip from the Jessica Rich DVD and used some of the Reaper white brush-on primer since the rainy weather was too humid for spray on primer. Boy, is it stinky! Maybe it's just me, but goodness it smells like skunk who rolled in wet, moldy newspapers. Luckily, despite having a sensitive nose like Toucan Sam, I just followed my nose to the next base coat color-- after a few layers it wasn't an issue anymore!
I also blocked out his eyes in an off-white color. I knew it would give me a much more vibrant eye as I glazed in thin layers of Clear Red to for his base red eye color. Here's where the struggle began!
I knew I wanted his eyes to resemble gems-- just a fun, stylistic decision. However, once I laid that red down & shaded up with a range of darker red/brown color gradations, I realized he just looked too odd. I tried a few different things and realized I was building up unwanted texture with each additional paint layer. I changed my game plan and gave him just a bit of sclera on either side of his humongous eyes to make him a bit less creepy & a little more cute. I'm not sure I like it as much, but I think it gives him more personality. Now he at least looks like an angry French Bulldog. Can't wait to paint his eyebrows and distinguish the leathery sections of this mini (like his wings) from the furry texture (like his back). No idea how exactly I'll do that yet, but I bet I'll find out this weekend!
