"I love painting in a loose style. These skaven were painted for Mark Evans. I mixed up a rich brown colour from cheap acrylics to use as the main shading colour, metal and the bases. I then did the other base colours, so skin, clothes etc. I washed this with a brown/black mix. Then I used the brown mix to carefully shade around the edges of parts and other shadows. After this is put some of the black/brown wash mix into crevices that needed a bit more contrast. After that I painted the edges of the metal in silver, very messily. Then I sprayed the models using the brown mix and a toothbrush! After that I did highlights where they were needed. "
Curtis Fell's Skaven army came to my attention with his posts on the Skaven Facebook group. A mix of classic Goodwin Skaven with modern models circa The Isle of Blood, these blend together perfectly with Fell's unique and dynamic colour scheme. What stands out immediately is the juxtaposition of rich turquoises. greens, and reds set out a base of washed-out neutral colours with chalky highlights relating an almost "industrial" look to the army. This is most apparent in what is perhaps the standout aspect of Fell's painting: his astounding talent for worn and rusted armour. This likely comes as no surprise for any who recognize Curtis Fell as the fellow behind Ramshackle Games I asked Curtis about his painting and he was good enough to provide the following overview of his technique: "I love painting in a loose style. These skaven were painted for Mark Evans. I mixed up a rich brown colour from cheap acrylics to use as the main shading colour, metal and the bases. I then did the other base colours, so skin, clothes etc. I washed this with a brown/black mix. Then I used the brown mix to carefully shade around the edges of parts and other shadows. After this is put some of the black/brown wash mix into crevices that needed a bit more contrast. After that I painted the edges of the metal in silver, very messily. Then I sprayed the models using the brown mix and a toothbrush! After that I did highlights where they were needed. " "The final details included the eyes, which I paint plain white. I then uses some blood effect paint to give them all weeping blood eyes. This really helps as the gloss finish sparkles in the light and makes the model look alive with wet eyes. As I said, I keep it loose and am pretty messy. The mess adds visual texture, and each step of the paint job lets you cover the mistakes on the last step. I had a lot of fun doing the painting on these!" "The plants on the bases are all common moss I picked and dried out. Its very strong even though its dainty!" From Fell's description of his style and a perusal of his other works at Ramshackle, I'm tempted to dub his approach "Industrial Impressionism" (if only out of a love for alliteration). It seems to me the mid-point between a 90's Tool music video and the cityscapes of LS Lowry or Hayward Veal. As a parting thought, what occurs to me putting together this entry into the series more than anything else is that these miniatures, works of art in and of themselves, are such a potent canvas for the spirit of a painter to shine through. It is this unique capacity to take the same foundation and use it to express a highly individual vision that transforms the hobby from a paint-by-numbers exercise into a collaborative expression of fantasy that transcends the sum of it's parts.
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February 2024
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