I made some good progress on the harpy horde this weekend. (Warning: This week's blog images contain partial nudity. You've been warned!) These harpies are my first attempt at painting flying baddies. Using some Secret Weapon bases and some clear acrylic rods, I've attached them with Loctite Gel Super Glue. Assembling them was a challenge and, at first, I struggled with how to attach them. I ended up gluing them at their knees so they're angled as if they're in mid-flight.
I wanted them to be darker and have a non-human skintone. I figured a moldy green or purple would be appropriate for these nasty, disease-carrying ladies. I'm using Reaper's paints for the skin tone:
- Nightshade Purple
- Brick Red
- Dark Elf Highlight
- Briar Rose (for a glazing)
The skin was the most fun part to paint, though I tried not to spend too much time perfecting every muscle group. I used the shaded basecoat technique in order to avoid over-thinking the blending process. They're supposed to be gruesome and I didn't want to try to make their skin flawless and smooth. In fact, their skin is sculpted a bit rougher so it's hard to get a perfectly smooth blend anyway, so it worked out just fine :)
I'm currently working on their hair after giving them all red "crazy eyes". At first, I wanted to paint their hair a shock white color, however, it stood out too much and I decided to go with an almost-black with Nightshade Purple, which fits them much better. I also painted their talons a dark color at the base and blended up to a bone white color. Other parts of their talons are covered with a metal sheaths (to better gut their enemies with I suppose).
I'm still resisting going back in to "pretty them up". I just need to remind myself that they're supposed to be gruesome and focus on giving them interest in their accessories– piercings, chains, netting, skewered skulls, and severed hands and heads (gross!) I can't wait to show you the back of their wings where there's more sculpted interest. For now, I'll leave it here and I hope to finish these and ship them off by the end of the week, though we have company Thursday–Sunday. We've been having lots of people stay with us lately and we're about to start the moving process in March. There's lots coming up and I want to make sure I finish these before things get too crazy. I'll be sure to take pictures of these nasty ladies when I'm done. Shouldn't be too long now!