# [Commission]Dark Elf Cauldron of Blood



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I picked up another commission for a Dark Elf Cauldron of Blood and accompanying Witches. Started out something like this:










































Since I have found that starting Project Logs here on Heresy incredibly motivating to get projects done I am starting one for these pieces as well. I plan on doing the statue part in black and red marbling, similar to the black and green in the official GW photo, with lots of silver. Anyhow, I got started on the Witches this evening. Nothing much, but some basecoats and undercoating. I hope to get back to them again tomorrow evening. 










Comments and suggestions most welcome.


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## DecrepitDragon (Aug 2, 2011)

Thats a good start for just one evenings work. Looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

I have a cauldron model still sitting in its box, so seeing the finished article here might just motivate me to do mine.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for the next installment mate.:shok:


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Ohhh good luck with this. I have one as well chillin in the closet. As it appears, I take it your not going for a more Dark Elf flesh tone, more grey like? None the less, I am sure you will do it justice!


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

This will nice.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Disciple_of_Ezekiel said:


> Ohhh good luck with this. I have one as well chillin in the closet. As it appears, I take it your not going for a more Dark Elf flesh tone, more grey like? None the less, I am sure you will do it justice!


On the skin tone the client asked for a heartier tone than the deathly palor normally associated with the DE. The skin tone will be the same as the one I did on the Manticore Rider if you saw that thread.


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## KjellThorngaard (Oct 4, 2010)

You get more done in an evening than I finish in a week. You make me sick. Well, actually you make me sick in that after seeing what you accomplish in one sitting I obviously must be the world's slowest painter. Pretty funny though, that what you call a good start some people call a nice paint job!

How do manage to get so much done?


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

KjellThorngaard said:


> You get more done in an evening than I finish in a week. You make me sick. Well, actually you make me sick in that after seeing what you accomplish in one sitting I obviously must be the world's slowest painter. Pretty funny though, that what you call a good start some people call a nice paint job!
> 
> How do manage to get so much done?


To be honest I have a lot of time on my hands in the evenings. After getting my daemon spawn to bed, I usually have 4-5 hours (god bless insomnia) to screw around with hobby stuff. My wife is a college teacher and she usually has grading or other work to do leaving me free to set the painting table up in front of the tv and just zone out. I still work pretty slowly and methodically, just with the change in my work schedule last year, and my midgets starting off to school, I find myself blessed with ample time to paint.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

So after a week or so of having the painting blahhs, I managed to get my drive going again and got some decent work done on the witches tonight. Not much to say other than there is still quite a bit of work to be done on them, but I am happy with the way that they are progressing. So here are the photos:


















































Comments and critiques most welcome.


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Booty, Booty, Booty...rock'n everywhere! :grin:

Coming together nicely!


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

They seem a bit pink for dark elfs. The top model the leg above the boot seems really rough.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

djinn24 said:


> They seem a bit pink for dark elfs. The top model the leg above the boot seems really rough.


The client doesn't really ascribe to the deathly complexion for his DE. These are painted to match the rest of his army.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Fair nuff


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I sat back down tonight and I can feel that my painting mojo has returned and the blahs are quickly disappearing. Now I just wish that my back would cooperate

Anyhow I managed to completely finish up one of the Witches tonight. I went back and added another final highlight to the skin that had a bit of grey in it and I think that got rid of a lot of the pink that was there previously. Let me know what you think:


















Comments and critiques welcome.


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Love it dude, I think she looks pretty freaking sweet.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Having not progressed my DE force for years, I had forgotten how stylised the Cauldron and crew were.

You have managed to make the more ruddy complexion work well; they are still noticeably sociopathic.

My only niggle is the shade to highlight on the greaves seems a little extreme.


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## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

Comments? Oh god, the regular Cauldron model sucks. I had forgotten just how bad it was, since I've been using a conversion from an Avatar for about a year. Looking forward to seeing how you can make up the difference in model quality, however.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Disciple_of_Ezekiel said:


> Love it dude, I think she looks pretty freaking sweet.





Dave T Hobbit said:


> Having not progressed my DE force for years, I had forgotten how stylised the Cauldron and crew were.
> 
> You have managed to make the more ruddy complexion work well; they are still noticeably sociopathic.
> 
> My only niggle is the shade to highlight on the greaves seems a little extreme.


Thanks for the kind words fellas!!!



Masked Jackal said:


> Comments? Oh god, the regular Cauldron model sucks. I had forgotten just how bad it was, since I've been using a conversion from an Avatar for about a year. Looking forward to seeing how you can make up the difference in model quality, however.


I am not sure that sucks is the right word for it, but it is definitely an aged model. I would love to see a new one for them, but I think the overly stylized current version has its merits. Thanks for the encouragement, I am actually looking forward to working on the Cauldron itself. 

I finished another one of the witches this evening. C&C welcome:


















I hope to have the final one done after tomorrow nights painting session and then it will be onto the big guy.


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## louisshli (Aug 19, 2010)

Good job Midge. Those elves look pretty cool. I personally quite like the healthier skin-tone as opposed to the pallid flesh that GW tend to have going on all their elves & equivalent (ie Eldar and Dark Eldars). It gives a much more striking contrast in my opinion. I'm looking forward to seeing the actual cauldron painted. I'm sure you'll do it justice. And hope your back is getting better.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

More excellent transitions on the flesh.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

The purple looks underdone, but the rest of the model is looking sweet.


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## elmir (Apr 14, 2011)

Looks good. The eyes turned out very well and they have a certain agression in their facial expression, very good job on those!


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## DecrepitDragon (Aug 2, 2011)

Impressive stuff Midge. Quality work.:victory:

As you may remember, I like the "hale and healthy" skin tone on dark elves. There's no reason in my mind as to why they shouldn't be. They are afterall, not that devolved from their high cousins.

I have to agree with Djinn though. The purple could do with a little definition, just to sharpen it up and show it off well on the model. Other than that, ( and thats a minor thing ) its looking good. What colour/style do you have planned for the cauldren and statue?


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

DecrepitDragon said:


> Impressive stuff Midge. Quality work.:victory:
> 
> As you may remember, I like the "hale and healthy" skin tone on dark elves. There's no reason in my mind as to why they shouldn't be. They are afterall, not that devolved from their high cousins.
> 
> I have to agree with Djinn though. The purple could do with a little definition, just to sharpen it up and show it off well on the model. Other than that, ( and thats a minor thing ) its looking good. What colour/style do you have planned for the cauldren and statue?


Thanks! I will hit the purple with an additional highlight.

As to the statue I am looking at doing a red veined black marble with mostly silver metallics, maybe a few gold accents.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

More pictures!


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

djinn24 said:


> More pictures!


Ask and you shall receive my friend. 

I finished the third witch tonight and I am really happy with how the cloak turned out. Not much else really to say, so I will just ask for comments and critiques.


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

From a technical standpoint she's well painted. Your blending's smooth, the colours work well together, the freehand's nice (though could be sharper), every thing's highlighted well and the eyes are not googly monstrosities. 

That said there is nothing i find particularly exciting about her. Don't get me wrong it's a good paint job, there just seems to be a lack of interest, it's almost plain. Perhaps it's the colour choice, as there's not much contrast and they're all very soft, almost pastel like. 

I don't know what i'd do to change/improve it though. Perhaps the red is out of place? It's tough, because it is a good paintjob and yet there's something a little off to my eye. 

The blending on the cloak is very nice though. 

I personally like to see paler or more ashen dark elves but that's subjective so it doesn't really matter. 

So yea, great work but despite that it just seems somehow lacking.


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## bunkertube (Sep 19, 2011)

the skin tones you've got there look great.

Should be very proud with your efforts.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Looking good Ben, I like it and the freehand does look good.


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

AWESOME! Really like the highlights you did on the patterned effect on the cloak.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone. Over the last night or so I have gotten a start on the statue part of the Cauldron itself. I went for a red veined black marble and I think that it came out fairly nice, most importantly the client likes it. I am hoping to get some more work done on him tomorrow night. 


































Comments and suggestions always welcome.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

It looks excellent from the sides; the red and metal really add variation to a rather dull cast.


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Nice marble effect, mind sharing any tips as to how you did it? I'll be looking to do something similar for my necrons (at long last new models! Bringing the army out of retirement).


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Thanks guys! Glad it reads at least mostly ok in the photos. There are some deep red patches in the marbling that don't show that add a bit more depth to it. 



Rems said:


> Nice marble effect, mind sharing any tips as to how you did it? I'll be looking to do something similar for my necrons (at long last new models! Bringing the army out of retirement).


I found a tutorial online for it and just changed the colors a bit to suit my purposes. Here is the page that I used and I followed the first one for the black marble. All in all it turned out really well. I believe that this tute was written with larger areas in mind and it was a bit frustrating to find a stippling brush small enough to get into the areas I wanted without just muddling the whole thing. Anyway, worked well for me in any case. 

Hopefully I should have more progress on him tonight.


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## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Wow very good work on this so far. I especially like the marble work you have started. I think that a coat of gloss varnish over the marble would look tight.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

troybuckle said:


> Wow very good work on this so far. I especially like the marble work you have started. I think that a coat of gloss varnish over the marble would look tight.


You read my mind mate. That will be the last step:biggrin:


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Nice link, cheers!


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Nice looking there Ben.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Rems said:


> Nice link, cheers!


Glad to help. I have found that guys stuff incredibly useful on more than one occasion. 



djinn24 said:


> Nice looking there Ben.


Cheers buddy.

I think that it is incredibly fitting that on Halloween I was working an a big spooky cauldron of bubbling blood. I added some gold accenting to the statue tonight as well as finishing up the silver parts with a bit of highlighting. Tomorrow I am going to try and get the base finished up and get the arms added to the statue. Here's pictures. 


















































Comments and critiques welcome as always.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Whilst the gold is very skilfully done, I preferred the starkness of the silver and marble. I feel that adding another colour reduces the framing of the marble effect.


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## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

what gold paint do you use?


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I used a combination of golds on this one as I wanted to get a nice aged color on it. 

1) undercoat Scorched Brown
2) basecoat Vallejo Brassy Brass
3) wash with Chestnut Ink
4) Wash with Devlan Mud
5) add a layer of 1:1 mix of Vallejo Brassy Brass and Vallejo Aged Bronze
6) Highlight layer of 2:1 mix of Shining Gold and Aged Bronze
7) Final highlight of pure shining gold.


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

I like how it's coming along Midge, the redish marble look looks fantastic and contrasts with the witchs nicely!


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## apidude (Nov 10, 2010)

Midge913 said:


> I found a tutorial online for it and just changed the colors a bit to suit my purposes. Here is the page that I used and I followed the first one for the black marble.


This is an awesome tutorial site. I got all kinds of ideas for my Lizarddudes scenery from it. I've added it to my Favorites so I can get to it again without looking for your post. Thanks.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I want to thank you all for the kind words and encouragement on this project folks. I am pleased to report that the Cauldron is done! Before I get into the finished photos I wanted to put up a shot of the under side of the actual cauldron part. I am really happy with how it came out but it is not visible now that it is assembled.










And now onto the real goodies:


































































and here is a shot of the whole piece including witches:










Thanks for looking!


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## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Simply stunning. The clear over the marble just completely finishes it off. I don’t know how you did the blood, but it looks gross (in the good way). The candles and flames are a nice accent color it really adds to the base. +Rep


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Thanks buddy! Glad that you like him! I am already starting in on another DE Commission piece. So stay tuned for that to pop up


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## apidude (Nov 10, 2010)

Sweet! This is great. You do Fantastic work. Your paint job really makes the model intimidating..... I can just see it in the middle of a game table with the troops going frenzied around it...... talk about "Night on Bald Mountain" I can hear it playing in the background as the Khainite zealots begin their dances of death.....

<shudder>

Oooooo...... let's do that again!

....


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## DecrepitDragon (Aug 2, 2011)

I have one word for you midge, and that word is;-

Awesome.

Very nicely done, and well worth more rep than I can currently give - but have it anyway.:victory:

Now . . . 
Where did I put my Cauldron...

Edit - Apidude, sometimes you scare me you know?


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## apidude (Nov 10, 2010)

DecrepitDragon said:


> Edit - Apidude, sometimes you scare me you know?


Ah HAH! It has worked! My practice at subliminal metagaming has begun to take effect!

Now if I can just do the same thing at the gaming table.... <sigh>


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Black tipped flames?


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Top of the flame is always darkest. Smoke and what not.


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