Alice & Sokrates -FINISHED-

Christmas present number three!!!  This figure is called "Alice and Sokrates Lil' Chief" because I painted the kitty to look like my grandpa's little buddy.  I also tried a new skin method for her that I think turned out rather well, you will definitely be seeing more of it on future projects!  Enjoy and click for larger pictures!

Title:        Alice and Sokrates

Scale:       Non

Medium:   Acrylics, pastels

Method:    Airbrush, hand painting

 

1/1 Snow-Sugar -FINISHED-

Second Christmas present post! I painted this little cutie for my aunt.  The base (as well as the little bunny tail on her hat) is made of fake snow paint.  Enjoy and click for larger pictures as usual!

Title:        Snow-Sugar

Scale:       1/1

Medium:   Acrylics, pastels

Method:    Airbrush, hand painting

 

SD Suiseiseki -FINISHED-

First post of Christmas presents!  This cute little girl is called Suiseiseki from an anime called Rozen Maiden.  I painted her for my grandma in her favorite colors:  pink and lime green .  I also made the base with some railroad miniature stuff to give her a flower garden since my grandma loves flowers.  Enjoy and click for larger pictures!

Title:         SD Suiseiseki

Scale:         SD Version

Medium:     Acrylics, pastels

Method:     Airbrush, hand painting

 

 

 

  

1/6 Ming Yue -FINISHED-

Well here she is, my twilight goddess! 

I have to say she is probably my new favorite figure in my collection.  She was a lot of fun to paint, even with all of the tiny details.  I can't wait to get more figures in this series, it's such a gorgeous line  !  Click for larger pictures and hope you enjoy the sparkle and shine!

Title:        Ming Yue

Scale:       1/6

Medium:   Acrylics, enamels, pastels

Method:    Airbrush, hand painting

 

 

WIP - 1/6 Ming Yue Pt. 2

Time for one last update for our twilight goddess !

So with the airbrushing done, it is now time to accessorize!  I mean, what woman doesn't like shiny and sparkly things?  I know I do (much to my husband's dismay at times)!  I painted all of her jewelry silver, then did a wash of black to bring out the details.  As I was prepping her for priming, I hollowed out some of the bigger jewels so I could set some crystals in them later, as in now...  Here I used a 5mm Swarovski flatback in Crystal AB for her necklace.

Gotta love the rainbows on her boobs, makes for an interesting picture !

Next I cut the weird doughnut things off the straps on the front panel, and replaced them with a butterfly headpin and more Swarovski crystals! 

 Drilled a tiny hole then glued them in place...

Marvel at the shininess you shall ...

-ahem-  Anyways, I decided to add a little something to her outstretched hand, and what better than a pretty luna moth?  I cut some wings out of a piece of clear practice and airbrushed them lime green.

I sculpted a fat little body out of some Milliput and it is done!  She is assembled and ready for display now!

First Batch of Butterflies! 2012

I haven't forgotten about my butterfly rearing!

Well, that last brood that I kept in the winter did not survive, though I believe it's because the air doesn't circulate very well in my fridge.  It made me sad, I should have kept them outside, but this winter was so warm, I didn't want them to get confused and come out early.  I felt very guilty to say the least .

So I thought I was being punished for being a bad butterfly keeper .  I planted parsley and flowers in my garden, but they haven't done well, mostly because of the heat and poor soil.  So no black swallowtail butterflies came to lay eggs .  I had totally given up on raising any pretty bugs this year.  But yesterday as I was perusing what was left of my poor little veggie garden, guess what I found?!

CATERPILLARS!!! 

I found three on my pathetic looking parsley, but eight on my carrots, two of which were in their final instar!  WOOT!!!! So I dug out my twenty gallon tank and cleaned it up, then harvested my caterpillars!

If you'll notice, I have forgone the duct tape this year, don't want a repeat of that fiasco.  I put the big ones (fifth instars) on one side and the smaller ones (late second to early third instars) on the other.  One of the big ones was already settled to pupate and has already spun his support thread!  So I got it just in time!

 The other big one is still chowing down though ...

I have nine little ones on the other side, looks like they are molting to third instar.  They have probably another week or so of growing and eating like tiny pigs before they will be ready to pupate ...

Meanwhile, they have been spotted by my bearded dragon, Grimlock....

Me Grimlock want worms for snacking!

He is beside himself wanting to have a black swallowtail lunch !  Too bad for him though, he can stick with crickets...

I will keep you updated on this brood's progress, as well as a tally of girls and boys!  (I haven't a clue how to tell a caterpillar's gender...I have to wait to see when they emerge as butterflies ).  This will probably be the last one of the summer; I think the next will be the overwintering generation.  Better late than never I suppose!