My Blog Begins… with Archer

For a while now I’ve had a dream of a fancy website with detailed tutorials for miniature painting and information on related topics. That’s going to stay a dream for the foreseeable future due to lack of time for such an ambitious plan. Then I realized that two of my favourite artists offer up lots of useful information in bite-size bits on their blogs. So I decided to take inspiration from James Gurney and James Wappel and try sharing my thoughts on a blog. I’m hoping that even though my name isn’t James, this might work out okay. :->

I’ve been meaning to start the blog for a few weeks, and just never quite got there. But then Darksword Miniatures came out with a release that I’ve long been waiting for, and it seemed like the perfect thing to start off this new venture. So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Archer the Grumpy Cat. If you’d like to get at Twice the Attitude pack of your own, you’ll find it here: https://www.darkswordminiatures.com/shop/index.php/featured/archer-the-grumpy-cat.html

These sculpts are based on one of my three cats. Archer is somewhat legendary amongst our friends for his cranky and demanding personality. Jim Ludwig of Darksword Miniatures is a big fan of his regal attitude, and commissioned the very talented Andy Pieper to sculpt not just one, but two versions of our furry majesty. These two versions of Archer are heroically scaled, as you can see from the picture below where they are standing next to some lovely Dark Sword ladies that I’ve painted. So he’s large enough to act as an animal companion for a role-playing character. Provided that character can explain to him that he is the companion and not the other way around…

Here’s a view of the figures from the back. This is a view we see pretty often around our house, as Archer turns his back on us when he just can’t handle our human stupidity anymore.

It was amazing to have the opportunity to work with Andy and Jim to bring our favourite curmudgeon to life. Though I’m not sure I can say the painting process was entirely fun. Maybe you can guess why from a look at the implacable stare on the reference photo I was using. I’m pretty happy with how I captured his markings, but Archer would be quick to point out my many failings on that score, I’m sure.

I took some WIP shots of painting some of the tabby stripes, and in a few days I hope to make another post with some tips on how to paint convincing looking animal markings on miniature figures. Until then I will leave you with some more of the reference photos that Andy and I used. Thank you for stopping by to check out my new adventure! It is my intention that many of the future posts will be more informative and less self-indulgent. :-> Oh, on that note, before I get to the photos I’d like to point you to the other blogs I mentioned that have found to be very helpful and inspiring.

James Wappel – http://wappellious.blogspot.com

James Gurney – http://jamesgurney.com/site/