I'm running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign on Sundays for an amazing group of friends. It's a homebrew campaign I wrote years ago that has now expanded into something definitely more epic and grandiose in scale: The Black Solstice -- an adventure with humble beginnings that has now grown into an interdimensional saga of good vs. evil. Basically, the party has to save the world from an imprisoned wizard and god-like being trapped on the other side of their reality. The baddies are just about ready to rip a hole into their existence and with the help of some crazy cultists, usher in an age of darkness and despair. Yeah, things are about to get real *shrug*
The Painted Witch
Like most introductory D&D adventures, the stakes aren't nearly so high at the beginning of the campaign. At level 1, the party takes shelter in a rustic inn during a heavy storm and soon learns of an evil witch who polymorphed a young girl into a pig. Being the heroic types, the adventurers eagerly take on the responsibility of stopping the witch.
OK. All good so far, but out of my entire collection of D&D miniatures I realized that I didn't have a witch and would need to get one painted up quickly. Thankfully, Reaper just released the Cynthia Wicked Witch mini. I really liked the sculpt (grinning pumpkin and cat for the win), and the project would give me the opportunity to paint a plastic sio-cast miniature for the first time (sio-cast minis have a crazy level of detail that rivals cast metal).
I was pressed for time, but I didn't want to rush the project. I wanted to have fun and didn't want to be stressed. Going with the flow and "painting in the zone," I didn't give a lot of thought about color scheme beforehand with only two exceptions:
- I wanted to paint the pumpkin green (just to be different from the obvious orange)
- I wanted the cat to be black
After painting the cat and pumpkin, the rest of the color choices came instinctively. I wanted the witch to have a good table presence and went with a vibrant color palette that "popped." I based her with some textured earth, grass flock, and autumn leaves to compliment the painted oranges and greens.
Final Thoughts About My Painted Witch Miniature
I had a lot of fun during the painting process and the witch was a joy to paint. In the end though, she really didn't have a "wicked" feel. I could have tried giving her a "grimdark" look (probably more in line with the actual villain in the story -- you know, a baddie who gets her kicks polymorphing children and all), but the model's sculpt didn't seem to lean that way -- at least not for me. In my mind, Cynthia seems less "wicked" and more "playful," and I instinctively picked vibrant colors to help bring her to life. It goes to show that sometimes the model speaks more loudly than the character-as-written during the creative painting process.
Until next time fellow travelers! Keep rolling dice and painting miniatures!