Sirithis the Demon Princess
by Eve Forward-Rollins
Ok, I guess this deserves an explanation.
I heard about ViC a little too late to enter before the deadline. So when I did eventually get my figure, I took a look at the thumbnails to see what had been done in the way of colors. Then I went at the figure itself. Mine had a lot of flash, but I think I just got a bad one. While trying to clean the flash from the smaller sword, it cut too deep and ruined it. So I cut off the blade. At first I tried putting a whip there instead, but then I had a premonition, and checked the other entries; yep, it had been done, and better than mine too. So I took it off.
I stared in fixed annoyance at this wretched figure. Not only was she missing a blade, but the hilt and pommel of the ruined sword were all blobby and twisted out of shape, kind of dangling there, like... like...
In a fit of hysterical giggles I primed the figure (white) and started to paint. I wanted to make her dark skinned, just for a different look, so I laid down a base of black, then deep black-brown. I couldn't decide whether to make her blonde or red-haired, so I tried both, and it sucked, but I was setting myself a time limit of about 5 hours total painting time and I didn't want to strip her and re-do it. So I added metallic to it (my favorite hair cheat) and pressed on.
I had never tried blending before, and this seemed like a good chance to try it (I'd recently been to Dundracon and had seen in person how great it can look!) so I blended her flesh up from Howard Hues "Nubian" through Ceramicoat "Candy Bar Brown" to FolkArt's "Burnt Sienna". I tried blending her loincloth thingy too, with red and purple. I got a bit frenetic around here, but I can see that while I will have to do a lot of work on learning to blend, it's fun and worth it.
I really wanted the "black" of her skin to be distinct from the black of her boots and gloves, and for the red of her loincloth to be distinct from the red of her boots' trim. Her boots and gloves I did with metallic black, touched with silver, and the trim is Citadel Blood Red, with then FolkArt Neon Red and Neon Orange to make them glow and look really tacky.
I tried picking out her eyes normally, but they were so tiny and recessed it was frustrating. So I used another favorite cheat, and put glitter in there to give her "glowing" red eyes. I painted her "trophy" in general flesh colors and added Citadel Red Gore touched with Blood Red around her fist and dribbling down over the skulls. I picked out the scales with brass touched with red ink, and gave her bright red nipples just because it made them stand out more. I then finished with a coat of Krylon Crystal Clear, and screamed because it had totally obliterated the nice blending shades, and then I gave it a couple coats of Matte Finish to try and fix it, then touched up the eyes, mouth, and bloody stump with gloss varnish. None of this shows now because it's too glossy. Total painting time was about 4.5 hours, not including an extra 2 hours while the first black wash coat dried (it's about 110% humidity here in Washington.)
To me, this figure sings the personification of outraged womynhood. Her dark skin marks her as a long-persecuted minority, but her wings show that she has gained new power and freedom. The crescent moon patterns along her blade symbolize the female cycle, and the blood-red loincloth emphasizes the mystery and magic of the menstrual flow. Her bare breasts show her vulnerability, but also her pride in herself and in her body. However, she wears high boots, to deal with all the shit she has to wade through as a womyn in an oppressive males' world. Here, she stands triumphant, having ripped away the evil power-symbol of the persecuting dominant white male. Bearing all this in mind, I have thus titled this piece after a pet name a friend of mine used for his old lover: "Castrating PMS Bitch From Hell"
Note: I am just being silly. I apologize for any offense.
Eve Forward-Rollins
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