Sunday, May 16, 2021

28Mag Downtrodden Challenge - Lucinda, Adept of the Holy Guild of Wax Reclaimators

 

Lucinda heard the faint gravitic motors of the cherubs in the darkness. She had barely made it back to her station before the graceful drones started placing their candles in front of the fresco. Struggling to catch her breath, Lucinda mouthed a short prayer and began scraping the accumulated wax. 


 

As a hereditary member of the Holy Guild of Wax Reclaimators (a sub division within the Terran Adeptus Administratum), Lucinda's hopes for advancement from the dank and dreary lower crypts depended upon her efficiency and dedication. 

 

 

 

A mere fortnight prior, Lucinda had finally caught Adept Mendecia dripping wax remnants on her recently cleared banisters in a duplicitous and vile plot to defame her and tarnish her record. The nearby and long neglected Crypt 24, sub level V, had no traffic. No one would find Mendecia's corpse before the vicious rodents that lurked there scattered her remains...


 
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This was my entry for 28Mag's "Downtrodden" challenge. From their site:

"Whether called to the service of an Inquisitor, a Rogue Trader or a Magos of the Machine Cult, toiling endlessly at a task that has lost all meaning or purpose, or indeed carefully completing a thankless duty that is nevertheless critical to Imperial society (sanitising public vox-units?), this challenge is about bringing some identity and personality to those countless billions of grey-clad drones, the numberless masses of humans that work to keep the Imperium running far away from the endless wars of the Dark Millennium.

Submissions to this challenge should depict a single broadly human non-combatant character – not a servitor or an abhuman; we want to see faces from the faceless masses of humanity – and detail

a) who they are

b) what department or function they serve."


I wanted to set mine up to incorporate what has become known as a "Grillet Box" (after the artist credited with coming up with the idea). It is essentially a box or container that has built in scenic items or textures so it can serve as a backdrop or storage unit. 

Here's some WIPs:


Lucinda is a Fireforge zombie villager with a Statuesque head and some greenstuff and plasticard. The torso required cutting to get the right twist, along with four different arm parts. The cherub is an old plastic christmas ornament- I'm sadly running out of them. I used two on my Omnissiah build.

 
The build is mostly composed of Hirst Arts blocks and some 3D printed parts.

 My inspiration for the mural is a Gothic period fresco found in the Castello della Manta in Italy. It was pretty fun reading about the region, and the fresco subjects- nine women representing the "Nine Worthy Women". 


Pretty happy with the way this one turned out, although I need to finish the other side of the box :)





 

16 comments:

  1. Love the iconography! Any more details on your process? Do you sketch it out with pencil and then paint? Doodle some things in a book first? Or just jump right in with a paint brush?

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    1. Thanks :)
      I added another WIP to the post showing the layout sketch. I went with a charcoal sketch to get the composition then went in with thin colors using a lot of 'chalk paints' to keep a dusty fresco look.

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    2. Awesome. Thanks for shedding some light 'under the hood'.

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  2. Fantastic work. The conversion work is great: you can really see what she's doing. The freehand work is terrific too.

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    1. I've just realised what she reminds me of: the Grey Scrubbers from the Gormenghast books, who inherit the "honour" of cleaning the castle kitchens. Very grimdark!

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    2. Hadn't heard of that, after a quick look they sound interesting. I'll need to check them out. Thanks for the tip!

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    3. I suspect the Gormenghast books were an influence on the style of 40k and WFB, back in the old days.

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  3. Well, I'm speechless. It's not only the mini, it's much more. The whole composition has its own gravitas, it's simply fantastic. I'm truly amazed

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  4. Absolutely wonderful! It's both completely convincing and delightfully compelling as a narrative piece. I really love the feeling that as she clears the wax, the cherub is floating behind to replenish each candle- it feels as if it's a never ending task that she has to go back to the start as soon as she's finished the run.

    The painting is gorgeous with the contrast between the dull clothing and the wonderful fresco. What a treat!

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    1. Thanks Axiom, glad the hovering cherub came off as implying a Sisyphean task!

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  5. Awesome work on these figures & the incredible diorama! So atmospheric. I'm eagerly devouring all the 'Inquisimunda' stuff like this that I can find, as I've picked-up my own dormant kit-bashing attempts again lately. I've always found the 'background' figures of the Imperium (the hooded agents, cyberdised servants, & robed curiosities) one of the most evocative parts of 40K.

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    1. Thanks, the behind-the-scenes are my favorites :)

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  6. Brilliant concept, story, and execution. I love everything about it!

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