Ingrid, Female Gnome: Figure 211 of 266

   Over the weekend I finished up Ingrid, Female Gnome from the Half-Sized Heroes set.  I'm not officially working on this set now; I just wanted to get another Thief figure painted up for Frostgrave, so I pulled this figure out and bumped it to the front of the line.  I didn't realize she was a Gnome when I painted her, so I did her up as a Halfling.
      I thought the object in her hand looked like it was supposed to be some sort of magic light source, like the Phial of Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings; so I had to have a nice debate with myself as to whether I was going to attempt serious Object Source Lighting (OSL) for the first time, or skip the pressure and just paint her as if she was simply holding a snowball, or a rock.   
     I prepped the figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish- soap added, then giving it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying it.  I then glued the figure to a white-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the washer-mounted figure to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

    I began by painting her chainmail black, and then drybrushing it with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", followed with a lighter drybrushing with Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling".   I then painted her face with Americana "Shading Flesh".

     Next, I painted her studded leather jerkin with Ceramcoat "Raw Sienna", followed by painting her leggings with Folk Art "Cloudy Day", and her sleeves with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  I painted her cape with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue"; followed by doing her hair with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and her shoes with Nicole's "Brown".

     I then painted her belts and the sword grip with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and her gloves with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  Next, it was her sword, belt buckle, and all the studs on her jerkin,  with Americana "Neutral Grey".  I let the paint all dry for a while, then gave all the brown toned parts a wash GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When this wash was dry, I have all the blue and green parts a wash with GW "Badab Black" wash using a wet brush.

     When the wash was dry, I highlighted her hair with Americana "Sable Brown". I then painted her eyes and lips, and then highlighted her face with the base "Shading Flesh".   Next, I highlighted her cape with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue", followed by painting her magic rock with Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".

     I then highlighted her jerkin with Americana "Khaki Tan", and then highlighted her leggings and sleeves with their base colors; "Cloudy Day", and "Dapple Grey" respectively.  Next, I used the "Sable Brown" to highlight her shoes and gloves. I noticed the barrettes in her hair and painted them with the "Neutral Grey".   I then used Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey" to paint her sword, belt buckle, jerkin studs, and barrettes; then added highlights to these areas with Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling".
    The figure was done now, for all intents and purposes, so it was time for me to make the decision about the OSL.  I realized I needed to just do it, or I'd always be afraid of it; so I spent a minute studying how light from the rock she holds would hit her body.  I then took a small brush I use for drybrushing tight areas, and applied a heavy drybrush of the "Cool Blue" down the areas of her body the light would hit.   I then went back and added White highlights to the rock itself, and all the areas of her body I had just hit with the "Cool Blue".  I also added White reflective dots to her eyes, and some of the metallic parts.   Lastly, I used the White to paint her base.
     I then used some Aleene's Tacky glue to add some cut Bones sprue to the base to look like some ruins.  When dry, I painted it Black, and then drybrushed it with Americana "Zinc", followed with Crafter's Acrylic Storm Cloud Grey", and lastly Folk Art "Platinum Grey". When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.  That afternoon I flocked the white areas with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock the next day I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

      In the end I'm pleased.  It's a little heavy handed; but I wanted it to look like a very stark unnatural lighting, and I think it does.   I can also say there's lots of room for me to improve, but luckily its a skill I don't think I will have to call upon very often.

Here I tried some lighting effects; using just my phone's flashlight, shining from tabletop level.  I think it helps accentuate the painted OSL effect.

Figure 211 of 266: Complete