By uttering dread incantations of ancient days, a desperate or foolhardy wizard can summon the abyssal Purple Sun. No spell inspires greater fear in the beholder than the Purple Sun of Shyish. The skull-faced orb drifts across the battlefield, its rays of death energy transmuting all they touch into amethyst statues.
Miniature Review
The Purple Sun is by far the largest and most imposing spell of the lot. It's absolutely huge and has a few cool details on it. The skull at the front blends into the rest of the spell much better than the burning head does, and the depth of the eyes gives it a really deadly stare.
The death rays shooting out of it add to the size and definitely make it feel dangerous, and the flames at the bottom help it keep afloat above the base really neatly.
Painting Techniques
Sun
The purples were added in multiple layers, patching them around sp as not to create a solid base colour. The Nuln Oil was added to the recesses, then everything was highlighted back up by drybrushing the different shades of purple. Finally, the very tips of the death rays and edges of the skull were wet blended to add that final highlight.
Base
With the base fully brown and will a bit of texture I then added Patchy Plains to the base. It's a good mix of different sands and flock that gives the base a great look with minimal effort.
Once dried I then added both Army Painter Lowland Shrubs and Army Painter Swamp Tufts to break up the flat areas left by the Patchy Plains.
Roundup
I tried to get a few different purples patched around the miniature to break it up and give it a shifting look at you look around it from each side. I added the nuln oil to the skull sockets to add an extra layer of depth, while brightening the skull amd death rays to make them clearly stand out on the battlefield.
After applying the first couple of colours I thought I had created a huge mess and thought I'd have to start again, but after some drybrushing it really brought it together, and now I'm really happy with how it turned out!
