X marks the spot
January 6, 2017The first thing of 2017 painted! I bought this Giant Doom Track Marker from Fenris Games, as to me it definitely fits a trope prevalent in pop culture pirate map imagery – the skull shaped rock (see this or this). Most likely known as Dead man’s rock, Skull rock, Cursed rock or something equally imaginative, this is one of the usual checkpoints when looking for hidden treasure, and as such it fit the project perfectly.
Click for a larger version
The paintjob was super simple, and the plentiful texture made this an easy piece. I gave it a black basecoat followed by a highlight layer of grey (I used an airbrush for this, as this is pretty much the level of complexity I can manage at the moment), then followed with progressively lighter drybrush layers and a black wash to dull it down a little. The rock features small, literally beady eyeballs in its sockets. I painted these black, put in a dot of white and gave them a gloss varnish. Onyx stones or the soul of a dead pirate? Who knows.
All in all this probably took less than thirty minutes from start to finish, so it was very rewarding and a nice and easy start to the painting year. In games it will function as a lovely little piece of thematic scatter terrain, like this:
“This is where the magick points?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Dig, ye scallywags, dig!”
Dawn of the Lead 
An excellent piece man. Hey just an idea but you could possibly dindy some Piratey things for terrain etc via fish aquarium retailers. Plants, shipwrecks, lanterns and rocks etc. it could work for your town.
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Thanks, I’ve definitely given that thought! Did you see the aquarium/terrarium house I repainted? That reminds me I should raid the nearest pet shop…
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Oh that rings a bell. You’re all over it hehe
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Arrr! There be treasure at skull rock fro sure! Tidy job mate 🙂
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A simple, yet very evocative piece. The glowing eyes really add a lot to the rock and I think it will be excellent to breath life in your gaming table. I could see that some moss and maybe a brown wash would add some interesting colour variations, but it also works just like it is.
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Thanks for the comment and the tip, I’ve been thinking of adding some detail to it, and the moss especially might work!
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