Could I make it as a commission painter?

 After having a quick look around the internet it looks like Tamurkhan has been out of production for four years. I can't remember when it was that I bought him but he's been sitting in various states of painting for at least that long. Such an amazing and intimidating mini I've never been at a place where I felt like I could do him justice. 

I knew that he needed a base so after cleaning and building him I had to come up with something. Looking back at what I came up with it's not too bad although the tail hangs over a bit and there's some dead space near the head. The rocks he stands on are not ideally positioned although I don't think it's worth the hassle to reposition them. I added some extra branches and skulls making sure that there were areas I could add some glowing green and purple. I tried using the dirty down rust and moss paints again but I still can't get them to work right even with a hair dryer. Once I'd used all the thinned dirty down that was needed I used what was left to add some variety to the base of the swamp rather than waste it. This might have been a mistake. Once everything was painted up I put down my usual chaos basing scheme of pine forest cover from geek gaming, tea leaves and whatever tuffs I had laying around. It was at this point I noticed that the dirty down paint was reacting with the PVA so hopefully now that it's dried for about a week and been varnished it won't affect the resin I'll be using for the base of the swamp.

The ogre host has been really straight forward so far with the skin being alot of fun to paint. I'm using all my standard chaos colours so I don't have to think about what I'm doing and using washes here and there when I think it needs it. I'm not sure if I'll use his banner yet it seems like it would be a nightmare to keep it attached. Something that can be decided later. He also came with some nurglings which may or may not be used. Probably should have got them down before I added the basing material.

The toad dragon has been started a number of times over the years. I started out with washes and dry brushing then contrast paints when they came out but I was never happy with how it looked. Fast forward to me not caring about that and just being happy painting and the body is almost done. I'd started painting the scales green but they blended in with the skin so I changed it to a warm brown which is looking ok so far. Think I'll make a scales down the spine green just add a bit of variety and interest. Once that's all done, I'll start on the mouth which should be quite difficult to blend in, but I'm looking forward to it.

So why is the title would I make it as a commission painter? I've started selling some of my things on eBay but all unpainted. This week I'm selling old painted minis just to clear some space. It was harder than I thought it would be to put them up especially when they aren't that good but I did put quite a bit of effort into them. So here are the ones that were painted before I started the blog.

This may be the first mini I painted the back in 2014 when I started painting again. I really liked the old metal guard minis and somehow this guy made it through the great purge back in the day and survived in a cupboard in my old bedroom. I remember stressing over the eyes but being happy with his teeth. I couldn't use the regular guard colours due to being a rebel so he got some 1984 inspired overalls.

Cool old hammer mini what more needs to be said? I do love minis that look like everyday people put into extraordinary circumstances like this woodsman defending his homestead from orcs or goblins. My first effort at blood effects and woodland basing. 

A couple of wargames foundry cowboys. Great fun to paint and I sold some unpainted ones a couple of weeks ago so I'll see if this adds or removes value to them.

Citadels gothic horror range is fantastic. I'm really happy with how this guy turned out and he was the hardest to put up on eBay. I added a tattoo and grease stains on his overalls which I would like to try again using the skills and effects paints I have now. Love this guy.

A McDeath clansman. What I remember most about painting him is not the tartan but his bottles. I was using an army painter blue and trying to mix it with white to make it look fancy. It wasn't really working. I had bought the army painter mega set when GW released the new Nagash and I knew I needed to get back into the hobby. The paints were terrible and almost put me off so I'm surprised at how much I like their air brush range. Again this is a mini where I thought painting eyes was incredibly important which was a trend in my painting for a while but thankfully I don't obsess about anymore.

A necromunda scavvy boss. Another great mini and the one where I learned about matt varnish frosting minis. Luckily I was able to save him with a coat of gloss then respraying. I went for dull base colours with some red and purple to spice things up and make him look important. Great fun to paint and I'm hoping the scavvy gang makes a come back at some point. I also remember there being a necromancer in the underhive which would also be cool to see again. I really need to try and get a game in one day.

Times been short with work and the school holidays so painting has been put to one side for now. With any luck I should have something new to post by the 1st.

Thanks for reading.