Blade Maiden Leader
by Paolo "DragonPaint" Guion
Here's the pictures of the Blade Maiden from Chronopia, one of the best miniatures from Target. First of all I have decided to paint her well tanned, she's a warrior that live most of the time outside and in her adventures she's wandering on some mountain pass, just with a wolf or bear fur to protect herself from the snow. Then I have selected the hair color, red to add a strong color to contrast with the fur. She has some of her own hairs also on her loincloth, probably cut when she become a warrior. The next step was to select a color for the leather string and for the internal of the fur cloak, I have selected the olive green because the green is a complementary color for the red and because the normal brown will disappear on the skin.
The miniature was primered black and then I have started painting the eyes with a white line and a vertical black line for the pupil. Then I have trimmed the contour with the black and covered all the skin areas with a coat of Vallejo Mahogany brown 846. Next step was to add more highlight with a mix of Mahogany brown and Medium Flesh 860. I have painted them using a semi transparent paint obtained adding water, in this way I don't have to shade the colors on the miniature but just add more passes to build the lighter areas. After a couple of passes with the previous mix I have painted one using only the Medium flesh, then one mixing the Medium Flesh with some Beige 917 and finally adding some light with the diluted Beige.
For the hair I have used a base of Carmine Red 908 and then highlighted the hair using the side of the brush with just a bit of Scarlet 817 for the first pass and then a mix of Scarlet and Light Orange 911. Using the side of the brush instead of the normal drybrush add more control when you have to highlight the edges of something or small lines as in this case. Then I have shaded the hair parting with some Citadel Chestnut ink.
The leather was painted with a base of Olive Green 967 and the highlight with a mix of Olive Green and Beige.
Nothing strange with the fur, the base was a mix of Black 950, White 951 and a bit of Ultramarine 839 (blue) and then drybrushed with the same mix adding more White. Same thing for the metal, just Citadel Gunmetal with some black highlighted with Gunmetal and then Citadel Mithril silver for the sword and the chains and Vallejo Brass 801 for the gold. The shining gold on the sword was obtained using a undercoat of bright yellow and then Citadel Burnished Gold.
The base was covered of white plaster and I have just added a couple of pieces of glass that comes from a car accident to represent ice rocks (yes, sometime you look on the ground and find the right thing for your bases...)
That's all, hope you like it ;)
Paolo "DragonPaint" Guion
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