Crooks of London Blacksmith Miniatures

Today i'm very happy to show you the third realization for the Blacksmith Miniatures project around the univers of Jean-Baptiste Monge. Probably for me the most exciting work i've had to do for some time...perhaps because of the originailty of the subject, the dimensions of the figure or just because the exceptional work done by Valentin Zak on this character. In a few words, i loved painting this bulldog and his friend. From the point of view of the coloring, there is nothing special since i followed the instructions given, trying to adapt the J-B Monge color scheme to the requirements of a three dimensional paintjob. I opted for a spontaneaous and moving painting, playing with textures to give volumes and life to this piece and i had a lot of fun throughout the paintjob...this miniature is beautiful and the level of detail is bluffing...hope that those who will try it will have as much fun as me!

"Crooks of London"

54mm figure

Sculpt by: Valentin Zak

  

  

  

The original illustration done by Jean-Baptiste Monge. You can find the whole of his work on his personal site: www.jbmonge.com

And to finish, a big tutorial is coming and will be available for all the people who participated in the kickstarter ... it's always a big job to make a tutorial and hopefully it will be informative and fun to read! 

Cheers!

-Matthieu-

 

Kobold - Blacksmith Miniatures

Following the World of Jean-Baptiste Monge kickstarter campain from Blacksmith Miniatures i had to paint another little guy for a special reason i can't explain yet... Sorry :D .

I wanted to paint the kobold since a long time, his pose is really cool and characterful. The sculptors (Valentin Zak, Patrick Masson, Stéphane Camosseto) did an amazing job on all the models of the project. Another cool thing is i was free to paint it with the colors i wanted. Being free makes the work always more enjoyable!

Most of the paintjob has been done during a great painting day spent with my blogmate Matthieu. The kind of day i would love te repeat more often. Overall it has been a very pleasant miniature to colourize, with nice volumes, no useless details overloading the piece and not too much time consuming.

You can also see on the blog the superb boxart version painted by Matthieu some time ago.

Cheers!

Pirate bust sculpt

I'm always happy to get to the end of a project ...especially when it comes to sculpture. I like more and more the way of sculpting and I start to find some automatisms, some sensations that make me love even more the experience with putty. This project made me aware of one essential point ... the importance of the basic volumes of the piece. Indeed, it is tempting for me to work in detail quickly while the 90% of a successful piece comes from a good balance of masses and consistency of volumes. These elements give the general impression that no detail will be erased if this step is not good. Especially for small subjects, the basic structure should allow to identify by far the silhouette and the subject...the details remain ... details. For future achievements, I will try to go more towards something expressive, more dynamic ... to find the small movement that gives life even for static subjects ... a whole program. A big thank you to everyone who commented, criticized, explained ... it's really important for me in this learning path. Hope you like this bust! 

"Pirate Bust"

1/12e sculpture

Fimo Professionnal+Fimo soft

 

 

Cheers!

-Matthieu-

Pirate bust sculpt - wip III

Some adds on my pirate bust...who is close to the end! I tried to finish details at this stage...and add some textures, the wear of the clothes and belt and to clean the overall. I wanted to try to make scars on his shoulder to show more precisely in what context this pirate evolves...and i'm quiet happy with the result. The last step will be to complete hairs, back of th scarf and gourd...see you soon for the end of this project! 

 

Cheers!


-Matthieu-

Pirate bust sculpt - wip II

New step with my 1/12e pirate bust...after my first attempt and too tight bust volumes, here is the second version ... more muscular and more balanced. Now i'm quite happy with the overall volumes. Still some effort, retouches, details and I would arrive at the end...soon i hope! In any case, a lot of fun throughout this work with which I learn a lot. Thank for all your encouragement and constructive advices on facebook ... you are at the top!

   

  

Cheers!


-Matthieu-

Pirate bust sculpt - wip I

Today it's time for a little unpretentious thing...the start of a new sculpture project with this pirate face at something around 1/12 scale...a good exercise to progress on the difficult path of sculpture...I hope to be able to finish it without problems! 

 

 

Hope you'll like it! Cheers!

-Matthieu-

Kobold Blacksmith Miniatures

And finaly One more step in the world of Jean-Baptiste Monge with the coloring of the kobold sculpted by Patrick Masson. I had a lot of fun to paint this character that looks seemingly simple and easy to paint...but it was more difficult than expected to catch the atmosphere of the illustration. It was a great pleasure to paint something sculpted by the talented Patrick Masson...because it's been a long time i admired his works. This piece will not be the last of the series...a big bulldog and his leprechaun pet just landed on my workspace...

For last minute purchases...the Blacksmith Miniatures kikstarter is here:  "The world of  Jean-Baptiste Monge"

"Kobold"

54mm figure

Sculpt by: Patrick Masson

And finaly a picture of the original illustration done by Jean-Baptiste Monge. You can find the whole of his work on his personal site: www.jbmonge.com

Have a nice day!

-Matthieu-

Keykeeper and Red Cap - Blacksmith Miniatures

  

Matthieu already said some words about the Kickstarter campaign and about Jean-Baptiste Monge, and about our happiness to take part in the project. I cant say it better than him so i wont try.

It wouldnt be an easy task to paint these boxarts, for two reasons. First i have a lot of respect for the artist's work and also for the sculptors who created the 3D versions, Valentin and Patrick. Not exactly the right time to disappoint them, no? 

Second and as Matthieu started painting his models before me, i had to paint something close, in the style but also in the color choices. My blog partner is one of the painters i admire the most since i took the brushes for the first time. Having to be as close as possible with his work would be a difficult challenge. 

We took some time to share the colors he used, the choice of bases, and we were started! First with the Keykeeper...

... and second the Red Cap.

And finaly pictures of the original illustrations done by Jean-Baptiste Monge. You can find the whole of his work on his personal site: www.jbmonge.com

Cheers! ;)