May is Monster Month, and I’m getting a bit of a late start because I’ve had a hellish few weeks at work. (I had to finish painting some more cowboys, too.)
But enough about that. I bring you…the hideous BEHO-uh…the EYE BEAST!
Ah, who am I kidding? Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Dungeons and Dragons can identify this handsome fellow as a beholder, no matter what Reaper calls him. (At least I assume it’s a him. I don’t claim to understand the gender identity of beholders.)
From Wikipedia: The beholder is a fictional monster in the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its appearance is that of a floating orb of flesh with a large mouth, single central eye, and many smaller eyestalks on top with powerful magical abilities.
I was going to paint him last May, but I didn’t get around to it in time. After priming him black, I added a layer of Vallejo Red-Black, followed by highlights of Privateer Press’s Skorne Red and Citadel’s Wild Rider Red before applying a glaze of Citadel’s Bloodletter. The eyes were undercoated in Reaper Vampiric Skin, with various colors for the irises.
The focal point of the model is its mouth and big, pointy teeth. The mouth was painted with Citadel Daemonette Hide and highlighted with Bugman’s Glow, then a final highlight of bright pink. The teeth were undercoated with Citadel’s Steel Legion Drab before getting the full Reaper Ivory triad treatment. The main eye’s iris was done with yellow ink. I’m not really thrilled with how it turned out; I feel like something’s missing.
I gave the teeth, mouth and eyeballs a coat of gloss varnish to look wet, and that’s about it.
Insanity Pile Progress
Miniatures Purchased: 58
Miniatures Painted: 117
Total: +59
Nicely done, Keith. I especially like the central eye – vety realistic. I can also see what you mean about the sculpt – there’s something a bit off about it. Migjt be that the eyestalks are all clustered atop his head like hair. Easier to cast like that, but looks a bit wrong. Perhaps separating them before painting and spreading them out made have made it look more…real, if you know what I mean. However, can’t fault the painting.
Agreed about the sculpt. I mostly like it, but it would look better if the eyestalks were a little less clustered. Thanks as always for the compliment, kind sir.