Miniature Showcase

Zephyr Raventhorn

Zephyr Raventhorn is the Lore Bard in our current campaign. He is the descendant of two very old bloodlines. His mother was an elven princess and his father was the heir to the crown of Neverwinter. Neither knew the other’s royal status until his father was taken back to Neverwinter leaving behind a pregnant elven wife. She became a seamstress after their farm was taken by his greedy uncle and raised Zephyr until she fell ill and died. When his uncle took the seamstress shop too, Zephyr was left to make his own way in the world. After priming, I painted his skin color and hair.

Front and back shots of the miniature: I began painting the base colors for his clothing. Since Neverwinter’s colors are blue and silver, I used that as inspiration for his look. I used two different blues for the base and black for his boots. I also added some eyebrows to match his hair. I painted these in multiple layers with watered down colors to give the skin and clothing a smooth look.

I added a shadow wash to the clothing to add some darkness to it. I also wanted it to look a bit worn and dirty. He has been traveling through frozen tundra and in dirty, grimy towns. So, I wanted his clothes to reflect his life right now. For the spell effect, I used a basic bone color for the skill and some shadow wash to deepen the shadows. The flames are painted with a base blue color and some fluorescent blue for a bit of glow. I added some silver buckling on the belt, and silver backgrounds where the buttons for his doublet are located.

I also painted his sword silver, held in place by a simple, brown leather belt sheath. If you look closely, I painted a ring on his hand, his royal ring given to him in a letter addressed to him by his mother. I added a bit of the fluorescent blue to the ring too to make it glow along with his magical effect. I dry brushed some gray over the boots to add dimension and painted the base black.

For added detail I added some silver brocade to the overcoat. There is also a silver lining in the sleeves and one the hem of the coat. I went with a subtle gray for the under shirt he wears, only the collar is visible. Instead of metal buttons on the boots I went with some light blue buttons. Although the sword is silver most of the way through, there are some blue accents in the hilt to make it stand out. The only thing left to do is the face.

For the lips, I used a darker skin tone to add depth to his face. He has blue eyes so I tried to match them as best as possible. I have to say this is probably the best face I have painted to date. The eyes are in the right place and his expression is a very unimpressed smirk. I was really happy with how it came out. As a final touch of flare I also added silver striping to his pantaloons.

Have any questions or comments? Message below or find me on Twitter @DnDWifeStories and on Instagram @dndwife. I would love to hear from you!