"Stalking the Woods of the Old World" - Preyton Part I

Twisted creatures of Chaos, 
Preyton are hateful and cunning beasts 
that delight in carnage for its own sake. 
Wreaking havoc with poisoned fangs 
and serrated antlers, 
they crash into their foes before 
devouring any survivors foolish enough not to flee.

- Monstrous Arcanum, Games Workshop


Hello fellow Caesurians and welcome to another Friday on The Art of Caesura!

Today I have an awesome miniature that I'm really excited to show you: Forge World's Preyton. 

The Preyton is clearly based on the Peryton, which was a creature devised by Jorge Luis Borges in his "Book of Imaginary Beings". I would recommend giving the book a gander; while written in 1957, it's in the style of a medieval bestiary. In it, he describes Perytons as the twisted creatures that they are (part stag and part bird) but even more unheimlich is the fact that they have the shadow of a man...that is until they kill a human, then their shadow becomes their own and they are at peace. 

I'm playing through The Witcher 3 at the moment and the Fiend in that franchise seems to bear a striking resemblance to the Per/reyton.

Anyway, so the mythology or lore surrounding the Preyton is cool. Let's look at the model. 

For this model I really wanted to push a desaturated neutral palette.

I used Steel Legion Drab covered in Nuln Oil as my mid-tone for the model and either added Ushabti Bone, white or black. Those were the only colours (shades) that I used on the whole model* (just about)...

It's just such a creepy, twisted monster. I love the skeletal spine and face!

I used more Ushabti Bone for my highlights on the short fur and wing membranes...

...Whereas I used more white in my highlights on the thick fur tufts and feathers. 

As you can see, I really pushed the contrast on the face, going right up to white from near black. 

Once I was finished painting the entire model, I decided to add some gore! I used thin strips of green stuff to show ribbons of flesh hanging from his antlers and mouth. 

I ended up mixing Blood For the Blood God and Nuln Oil to paint the ribbons of flesh and then coated them in gloss varnish as you'll see better in a later post. This smidge of desaturated red was the only other colour I used. It was a fun exercise in restraint. 

You can get an idea of the brown blends I was using on the lower right of my wet palette above. 

With the Preyton complete, it was time to create an atmospheric surrounding for him. Tune in for that next week right here on The Art of Caesura!

Gaming: The Witcher 3

Reading: The Guest List - Lucy Foley

Listening: Waiting On My Deathbed - Maylene and the Sons of Disaster

Next Week:

Location, location, location...