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Hello, Trailblazers of the Unknown,
in today’s update we interview the painter of Sheol’s miniatures: Simone Miraldi.
Q: Hello Simone, how did you come up with the color palette for Sheol’s miniatures?
Simone: I worked very closely with Mirko, SHEOL’s art director: he provided me with references from movies, as well as pictures of miniatures from other games painted in a style that he considered suitable for SHEOL’s minis. We are very good friends, and we had several productive discussion regarding the color choices and how each of these choices could be explained by the lore of the game. This is a process I often use when defining colors on miniatures – what is the material of this part? How this character came to own this particular garment, or weapon? Was it found in a wasteland, looted from the body of a freshly slew monster, or bought brand new? Is the character trying to blend in the environment, or using his outfit to send a message, maybe to intimidate enemies? In the case of SHEOL, we have a group of survivors using Lux to survive in a dark wasteland. It made sense to have a very desaturated palette; this is the world they live in – a sea of darkness with dots of light, their hope. The miniature paintjob follows this direction: I wanted to highlight the Lux, as it’s vital for the characters and it is their defining trait. Other than the cyan on the Lux, I used a grey-blue on parts of the cloth to identify the scout as a team. The same principles are applied to the Shadows, replacing the cyan with red and the grey-blue with the ivory coral. The miniatures can be painted in lots of different ways and I already have some ideas for my next versions, but I think this paintjob is a good rendition of the original vision from the game’s lore.
Q: Which painting technique do you recommend to get good results on Sheol’s miniatures?
Simone: This is up to what the painter expects and their experience level: I tried to achieve a good compromise between quality and accessibility with my own painting. There is a huge difference between a showcase piece, painted for competitions, and a gaming piece. I believe SHEOL’s miniatures are interesting enough to be painted for professional competitions, and I can’t wait to see them painted by masters of the hobby. However, in our case, we wanted to show what a good gaming paintjob can be, something that anyone can successfully replicate with a little bit of patience. If this is your goal, then you can roughly follow the same steps.
For the scouts, I proceeded with a black base building up the colors, except the cyan Lux – leave that for last. First step are the metal parts, using controlled dry brush and edge highlight to make the components stand out. Don’t forget to apply black and brown washes to add that “grimy” feeling typical of wasteland survivors. For the cloths and other parts, 2 to 3 layers and an edge highlight are sufficient since the miniatures are quite small. At this point, do some black lining with black ink or use pin washes to separate the components: this step is not necessary but makes the model look neat and also adds that “comic book” vibe that is found in Sheol’s art. At this point, add a white base to all the LUX part. Then proceed to glaze a light cyan at junctions, leaving pure white at the core. You can even add cyan glazes around Lux’s components, on clothes and weapons, to create a halo effect.
The shadows were a lot easier, as they have only one main color and very few parts in ivory or red. I used an airbrush to establish the main light points on their “bodies” and then proceeded to add details with a light black wash and white dry brush. If you don’t own an airbrush, you can achieve similar effects with a controlled dry brush. The “smoke” filaments are quite detailed, especially on the Heralds and Outer lords, and this process was very easy. For the ivory, start from a sandy color and add rough texture with brush strokes and washes, to simulate the coral nature of these parts. The red lights follow the same process of the Lux, simply replacing the color.
Overall, I found these miniatures fun and easy to paint. Good results can be achieved with a modest amount of effort and this little amount of work will translate in much more immersive games and probably an even stronger connection to your favorite character. Last but not least: don’t forget to protect your miniatures with some varnish! Satin works great for the shadows while the dusty scouts can be covered in a matt varnish.
Q: You mentioned ideas about alternative paintjobs. Willing to share any? What advice can you give to players who want to create their own scheme?
Simone: If you want to create your own scheme, find appropriate stories and references. You could be inspired by artwork or movies – for example the green of a Tie Fighter’s lasers would be great on Shadows, black and green is a classic combination for evil characters. Or they could have a purple tone in their black, up to each player. What matters is that they are happy to play with these models and they fit their narrative. I decided to present the scout with a unifying color, the blue-grey hue you can find on capes and hoods. A player might paint them all in different hues and tones, to highlight their different background and abilities, and simply use the Lux as a common theme. There could be a personal reason behind individual choice colors, or they could be defined by the lore of each character. SHEOL’s has a very deep lore and I am sure players will find a lot of inspiration there to come up with amazing paintjobs.
Yesterday we added 3 new miniatures for the Luminary Monks expansion – and as our most observant backers already guessed, our daily goal today adds 3 more Swarmers to the Exiled Folks expansion, (or “The Exiles”, maybe – as you know, we note all your suggestions to improve ^_^) – so all expansions with base shadows now feature 8 of each!
Counting the droids, this brings the total number of miniatures in our All-in pledge to 73!
And tomorrow, the final reveal: the 4th Add-on will come (and it will be included FREE in the All-in Pledge) . Stay with us for the next update and find out what it is!
Preserve the Light!