"Timberrrr!" - Oathsworn Trees

The monstrous Deepwood has consumed the land. 

No farms or fields remain. 

There is only corruption, 

rot and the endless shadow of the twisted trees.

- Shadowborne Games

It's already Friday, so it's already time for your next installment of The Art of Caesura!

I'm not going to lie, the past few weeks have been a little stressful with lifey stuff, so let's all take a breather and enjoy what the weekend holds. In stressful times, sometimes I need to remind myself of one of my favourite quotes:

"You are the only one who can enjoy your life"

Now that we are nice and grounded let us turn our attention to miniatures! Today we're looking at the most omnipresent "character" in Oathsworn, that's right, The Deepwood itself! 

From the subtitle of the game ("Into the Deepwood") to the opening lines of the narrative, we can see that the setting is very much at the fore here, so it is only fitting that there are huge-ass creepy trees to go along with it!

I actually painted these trees at two different times. I painted them up to a certain level then left them for a few months just to get a few games in, then I went back and finished them off while I was painting the walls the other week. 

From a zenithal prime (spray painting black, then spray painting light grey from above) I painted the whole things (fittingly) Wyldwood. 

I then picked out the stones with Dawnstone and used Space Wolves Grey and Druchii Violet to add some visual interest to the stones. I then coated the lower part of the stones with Athonian Camoshade.

While this was drying, I drybrushed the tree with Rakarth Flesh and then the stones with Grey Seer before coating all the vines with Contrast Militarum Green. 

This is where I left it for a few months.

Under my strong daylight painting bulbs, I thought they looked pretty good. But under my atmospherically lit gaming table you couldn't see the vines or the drybrushed highlights at all.

Three months later I decided to go back to them. I repainted all the vines Death Guard Green (no small job on 5 different trees) which instantly made them stand out better.

I had always intended to paint those weird tumorous growths on the trees, but hadn't got around to them on the first pass. They ended up being super quick with a quick blast of white ink through the airbrush and then the same again with Druchii Violet (which actually, and surprisingly, really gummed up my airbrush).

I finished off the trees by applying some Dirty Down Moss to random areas on the bases of the trees. Man, that stuff is magic!

I'm Waaay happier with how they've turned out the second time. I think I needed to break them up like that for my own sanity, and I'm glad I did!

Tune in next week, right here, to The Art of Caesura to see the finished product!

Reading: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals - Oliver Burkeman

Watching: Swamp Thing (2019) - Amazon Prime

Next Week:

Can't see the forest for the...