Thursday, May 2, 2013

5/2/13: Back at it! Painting: Grots, Goblins, and Gremlins

Hey guys!
This is probably the worst gap in posts I’ve ever had! Not good! I’ve been super busy the last two weeks though, and now that I’m past everything, its nice to be finished. Lets recap, shall we? Over the last two weeks, I’ve:
  • Completed my senior year of college
  • Graduated college with a Bachelors of Art in Art
  • Moved apartments in town and set up my studio again
  • Got everything ready to go to Egypt in May
I haven’t really posted about it yet, but Smells Like Wargaming will be on hiatus from May 13th to May 31st, as I will be in Egypt, studying the Arab Spring and visiting many of the ancient sites as a graduation present from my parents. Most of my clients have already been informed, and any new emails will be handled when I return.
Going back though, it’s a great feeling to finally be graduated from college. I’ve got a lot more free-time now, which means more time for Smells Like Wargaming and more hours at the shop, which, in turn, allows me to pursue more vigorous and challenging projects. I’ve already got plans to finish my Chaos Space Marines for Tacticon in September, and I’ve got two other armies sitting on my shelf that need to get painted.
Speaking of painted armies, I picked up a box of Gretchin with some Graduation money I received, as it looks like I’m now painting that Ork army I’ve had sitting around for a bit. Love the grots, they’re easily my favorite unit in the Ork codex!
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I’ve always been a fan of goblins in fantasy and sci-fi settings. My primary Magic deck is Goblins, grots are just hilarious, and anything goblin-related is just cool to me. When I paint gretchin and goblins, there’s a couple of key points to hit on them.
Grots work better with lighter skintones. Games Workshop loves the concept of the older a creature, the darker it is. Warbosses should be a deep green, while grots need to be almost neon. I based mine with Waaagh! Green and slowly mixed in Moot Green for highlights. The highest points are pure Moot Green.
There’s more to Grots than just green! For me, the premiere Goblin artist is Karl Kopinski; he’s designed many goblin cards from the recent Magic sets, as well as much of the Goblin art for Warhammer Fantasy in the 90s, amongst other things, of course. A quick Google search will show it. Here’s an example:
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As you can see, red is used to splash color onto the nose, lips, ears, and hands. It adds almost a cartoonish realism to them and breaks up the huge expanses of green.Simplicity is key! The green helps tie the unit together, but keeping a limited palette will really make the entire unit pop. I’m going with Speed Freaks for my Orks, so I’ve opted for Reds with a  touch of yellow, as well as tan and brown cloth sections for a neutral tone. The entire unit will flow together better and look more cohesive.
Simplicity is key! The green helps tie the unit together, but keeping a limited palette will really make the entire unit pop. I’m going with Speed Freaks for my Orks, so I’ve opted for Reds with a  touch of yellow, as well as tan and brown cloth sections for a neutral tone. The entire unit will flow together better and look more cohesive.
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I can’t wait to really start on the army, but I’ve got a ton of projects lined up before it. I may get the unit done before I take off, however, so we’ll see.
Packing up my studio and moving is a hinder and a help; while I hate moving my studio, I always get bit by the painting bug hard when I re-setup my desk, so its nice to jump back into some projects. I can’t wait to see what being away from my desk for almost three weeks does though!
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Lets get back at this, shall we?
Granesh

2 comments:

  1. I think these must be my favorite 40k figures. You've done a great job on them.

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  2. Why thank you sir! I love these models too, GW does a great job with their goblin models. I think the only ones I like a little better are Mantic's, but I like that MtG look for my goblins, as the post showed.

    Thanks!
    Granesh

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