Ishvaar the Twisted, fluff

I was bored in class today and wrote a little bit of background fluff for a Chaos sorcerer, Ishvaar the Twisted. I'll keep trying to do little pieces like this as the mood strikes me. I really want to paint up something chaotic now...

Ishvaar was born into a small village in the Kislev border regions. As an infant he was cast out to die because he bore the mark of the dark gods upon him, twisted limbs and a crooked spine. His gods had other plans for Ishvaar; despite the harsh elements he managed to survive for 9 days in the snow, the sacred number of Tzeentch. On the ninth day he was discovered by barbarian horsemen who were devoted to the dark gods. They saw the mark of their gods upon the infant and took him back to their village.

As a child it was obvious that Ishvaar had the favor of the gods. He was quickly more advanced in the dark arts than the village shaman. By the time he was a young man he was ready to journey into the Chaos wastes on his own. Though the warriors of the tribe knew that Ishvaar was marked by the gods they did not believe he could survive a solo trek to the Eye of Chaos. After three years in the wastes Ishvaar returned to his village a changed man; to this day he still will not discuss the things he saw and experienced.

Upon his return Ishvaar spoke much less and became short-tempered and taciturn. He had a dark aura about him. His twisted limbs became even more twisted. His arms in particular seemed to be constantly shifting and changing shapes. Those who looked upon them too long soon lost their minds, it was said that to look upon the arms of Ishvaar the Twisted was to look into the insanity of Chaos itself.

Within days of returning to the tribe Ishvaar gathered up a band of warriors and horsemen and marched through the snow towards the Empire. The first village that the band came across was the very one from which Ishvaar had been cast out as an infant. His warriors roughly herded all of the inhabitants of the village into the town square and looked on as their dark master decided what to do with them. With a flick of his twisted arm Ishvaar immolated the townsfolk in a pyre that reached thousands of feet into the sky. This act cemented Ishvaar in the legend of the northmen and earned him an even larger band of followers.

So begins the tale of the horrors wrought by Ishvaar the Twisted...

Painting Progress, January 2011

Here are some of the photos from the work I've been doing this month. The first few photos are the Butcher of Khardov from Warmachine.

I also finished up one of the Widowmakers and started on a second. I really like the way the highlights are blending together on the wide areas of the coats. In retrospect I probablyshouldn't have painted the jacket on the second one red, but I really like the way it turned out.

The last photos are from my first set of 20 Skaven Clanrats with spears. I don't have the shields done yet but I will put up more pictures when the unit is done. The fur ended up with a bit of a red tint due to the undercoat I used. For the next batch I'll use a different primer and hopefully end up with more of a brown color.

The Ratmen Cometh

Within the past few weeks I've sold off all of my dwarves as well as some extra space wolves I had laying around. I kept a few of the wolves to paint up as display pieces when I need something different to paint as a change of pace.

I've been working bit by bit on some Khador widowmakers for Warmachine, I'm not really in a hurry to get them painted so it's been nice to work on my techniques. Right now I'm really working on blending highlights from dark to light on larger surfaces. When I have some time I'll try to get some pictures up. I also finished another Widowmaker as well as the Butcher of Khardov.

My main project right now is working on some Skaven. I have 20 clanrats with spears that are just about done (15 completed, 5 in progress). Once I have them done I have the Skaven from Island of Blood on the way, should keep me busy painting for a while to come. I'll get some pictures up of the completed Skaven when I have some extra time.

New Brushes!

My amazing wife just gave me the thumbs up to order some Winsor Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable brushes! I can't wait! I've really been trying to push myself on each new model I paint so I really think these brushes will help a lot.

I've been seeing green a lot lately, with the new Orcs and Goblins announced for March I'm trying to paint up a bit of a Waagh! I'm also hoping to start working on Orks as well, would love to get my hands on some of those amazing Forgeworld Ork kits.

Completed Thunderers and Organ Gun WIP

Last night I was able to finish out the unit of 10 Thunderers and then began work on the organ gun and crew as well as a movement tray for them. Here are some photos.

Progress on Thunderers

I don't know why but I have not been very motivated to paint these past few days. I did complete 5 thunderers out of 10 for the unit a few days ago. Other than that I have not been doing any painting at all.

Once the thunderers are completed all that's left will be a gyrocopter, a cannon, an organ gun, a stone thrower and then 14 longbeards, with the stone thrower and the longbeards still to purchase. I can see the finish line now, it's just a matter of keeping up the pace on painting.

After the dwarves are finished I've decided to start a Vampire Counts army. With this one I'm going to try to paint in 500 point segments so I don't get overwhelmed the way I did with my dwarves when I purchased them all in one go.

King Orri Hornblower (photos)

I wanted to dedicate a whole post to a couple of photos of the recently completed King Orri Hornblower on the shield borne by his twin bodyguards Hari and Gari.

June was a great month for me in the painting department! I completed 10 Longbeards, all 17 Hammerers, Orri on his shield, and movement trays for the lot of them! My goals for July are to rebase and paint 10 thunderers (in progress, expect photos soon) and base and paint the organ gun and its crew. It seems that when I set my goals lower in any given month I get more completed. I've been painting every day for at least an hour, closer to two really so I am really hoping to have the majority of the army painted by the time the new semester begins in the fall.

In other hobby news I am in the process of selling of 4 armies that I bought the beginnings of and never really got started in. All of this is going to allow me to begin a new fantasy army this fall. I have it narrowed down to Skaven, Ogres, and Tomb Kings. My mind changes from one to the other many times a day!