The Two Hour Challenge... Each year, I try to paint a figure in only two hours. When the timer begins, the figure has already been prepped and primed. Basing can happen after the 2 hours, but must be very simple if that's the case.
Back in 2001, Mark did a demo at the DC mini-painters meeting showing how he speed-paints entire armies in mere moments. One of the topics that comes up regularly on mini-painter is how much time it takes to paint to different standards. While I doubt I'll ever paint an entire army, I wondered how decent a paint job I could do in a limited time. Try it sometime! I was amazed at how hard it is to put the brush down at the end of two hours.
July 2002. This is a Ral Partha Elf Ranger. Being comfortable with wet blending made his skin and cloth much easier to highlight. I didn't use any inks, but I did use Vallejo Smoke (a transparent brown color) on the pale wood, some of the fur, and the arrows. I finished the skin much faster than last year, and that gave me more time to highlight the other parts of this figure. I had time to give the metals more depth - they are painted with a middle steel color, washed with black, and given a touch of silver highlighting. Basing was added afterward; a coat of brown umber paint, superglue, and a dip into a bag of mixed flock.
September 2001. This is a Ghost Valkyrie. It was the first time in awhile that I'd used inks and drybrushing. I also learned that drybrushing with an alcohol-based metallic paint wasn't the best idea. :P
