Vurrunna's Art Corner

Just a weirdo and his art.

[vurrunna]

The Tale of Tiffany - Episode 1: An Unexpected Arrival

In which begins my new comic, "The Tale of Tiffany: A Story of Fairies, Goblins, and Etymology!" Starring the eponymous Tiffany, who is currently very confused what happened to her college dorm and where all these weirdos came from.

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You ever start making some random doodles, think to yourself "Gee, this character looks fun," and then wind up with an idea for a full-on comic?

So anyways I have an idea for a comic called The Tale of Tiffany, where an ordinary college student is transported to the Fae Court and has to contend with their absolute nonsense, all while trying to keep her grades up.

The central conceit is that Tiffany had an ancestor who made a deal with the Fae, receiving some boon in exchange for her unborn daughter Theophania. This ancestor, being a clever lass, decided to just name her daughter something else, thus foiling the Fae. Fast-forward a few hundred years, and Tiffany's getting a hands-on explanation of her name's etymology! :D

The Royal Family is ostensibly led by both Queen Aubree and King Ælfric, but given Ælfric's always busy waging war with the Dwarves, Aubree is effectively free to do whatever she wants. Most of which comes down to an eternal pursuit of amusement in a world where humans are becoming harder and harder to trick. The Prince, meanwhile, is an absolute brat, constantly whining and making outrageous demands, and making life generally miserable.

The primary plotline is that the Royal Family wants Tiffany to marry the prince, Auberon, because he's a massive brat that no else wants to marry and they will not have him living in the house for the next thousand years. Prince Auberon rather despises the idea of marrying this random human, but what he hates even more is that she doesn't wanna marry him, and so he declares he will make her love him so that he can reject her.

Naturally, his attempts aren't very successful.

The real love interest is Garfunkel, a Brownie servant to the Fae Court who quietly despises the Royal Family but doesn't oppose them on account of him not wanting to be turned into a toad. He ends up helping Tiffany to find out some way to get out of the Fae Court, and the two find they get along quite well.

Side characters include Grimbald and Gwendolyn, who continually flirt with each other—or rather, Gwendolyn continually flirts with Grimbald, who is continually confused as to her tastes. Despite their appearances, Gwendolyn is actually the older of the two, by a good thousand years or so.

Filling in the cracks of the Royal Court, and generally just chilling out in most scenes, are the Sprites. Formed from the souls of children lost in the forest, Sprites desire nothing more than to play with others. In the wild, this can lead them to lure children into the woods, at best becoming imaginary friends, at worst trapping them to create new Sprites.

The Sprites in the service of the Royal Court are there because they were promised to be able to play with their fellow Sprites in their free time, so long as they wear dashing uniforms and serve the Royal Family's every beck and call. This is because Queen Aubree finds the idea of Sprites darkly amusing.

Did I mention that Queen Aubree is awful? Like, literally-drinks-the-tears-of-children awful? It's pretty great, not gonna lie.

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Ain't posted on this account in years, but here I am postin' again with no idea of what I'm doing!

Some sketches for a romance story I've been working on for the past few months. The main premise of the story is that it focuses on the side characters of an adventure that has already completed—the heroes have been crowned King and Queen, and as their most trusted companions try to figure out how to live in a new era of peace, they end up bonding together and falling in love with each other. As one does.

First character is Matilda "Matty" Hildemarr, personal knight and bodyguard to the new Queen. She had a pretty no-nonsense personality, but has an abrasive sense of humor that occasionally bubbles to the surface, as well as a deeply buried love of music.

Her face was terribly scarred over the course of the previous adventure, and she's subsequently having to learn how to live with both a new speech impediment (hard to speak when there's a hole in your cheek) and the way she's treated by high society (it's not the words that bother her, it's the fact she can't just kick 'em in the groin in response).

Next up is Kvori Hirvinen, a powerful druid with a dark past. He was the new King's personal mage over the course of the recent adventure, and is a creature of pure sass, constantly mocking the foolish nobles that surround him on a daily basis.

Kvori has always been a loner, caused by both events of his past and his off-putting appearance. He's largely resigned himself to the idea that he will spend the rest of his days alone, but devotes his efforts to ensuring the people around him are as well off and happy as can be. He can't ever find happiness, but he does everything he can to bring it to others.

Couple more doodles of Kvori, displaying his gaunt appearance and the dark crystalline growths that are spread across his body. His elk mask is a memento of his childhood tribe—and an eternal reminder of the guilt he must repay.

Last, but certainly not least, is Egbert, seneschal to the city that the new King and Queen now reign over, and unlikely ally in their ascension. Egbert cares about one thing—the smooth and prosperous running of his city. Sometimes that means managing tax policy and public welfare. Sometimes that means walking the streets of the city to learn its needs and directly assist its residents. Sometimes that means subtly filling all of the city's essential positions with political dissidents to eventually overthrow the current tyrant (and his boss). At the end of the day, Egbert is a man of principal, and lets nothing—and I mean nothing—get in the way of running his city.

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I recently discovered Turnip28, a post apocalyptic Napoleonic wargame setting where everything is miserable and root vegetables have taken over the world. The setting is exactly the kind of thing I’m into, and I was immediately inspired to draw up some paper miniatures for it.

This project took a couple of months to complete, primarily because I had the ridiculous idea of creating a massive Rootshrine with over a dozen characters spread across it figure. The bloody thing was a pain in the rear to get finished, but I’m happy to have it done with. Beyond that, everything was a joy to draw and color--I even went so far as to try and cover every possible unit you can use in the wargame for Turnip28, of which I’ve fallen just shy. Should have everything else finished in due time.

Printable files for these and other of my paper miniatures can be found here.

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Been on a bit of a Civil War binge recently, and had to draw up some troops. They were a fun little project, although formatting their print files was a slog. Beyond the usual uniform variants, I also tried hair color and style variants--which, all stacked together, created 80 unique squad lineups, or 240 unique characters. Yeesh. Still, drawing them was a pleasure, and I plan to make some more (namely cavalry and artillery, as well as maybe some alternate uniforms like the Zouaves).

Printable files for these and other of my paper miniatures can be found here.

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More WWII troops! Apparently a Fey Mood befell me for the past couple days, ‘cause I’ve done nothing but draw these guys. It’s definitely been very fun. In total, the guys I’ve made here are: Machine Gun, Anti-Tank (Bazooka/Panzerschrek), Mortar, Commander, Radio, Medic, Minesweeper, Flamethrower, Sniper.

What’s really nice about having these finished is that they’re more than enough to play some proper wargames with! There are still a few more options that’ll eventually need making (namely Paratroopers, as well as Commandos and Engineers), but this is a very exciting start.

I’ve also updated my layout for these guys, so included a labeled version of the regular troops. As well, I updated the old German troops (they had a couple wonky legs, which are now marginally less so).

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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WWII Troops! WWII is a period that’s always fascinated me, and I felt it was about time I made some minis for it. I kept the style especially cartoony, as is my way with most historical settings; I was a bit hasty with my drawing, and can notice a few mistakes I’ll want to fix before I print these guys out (the German legs are especially wonky), but overall I’m quite pleased with how they came out. In the future I plan to make more specialists (MG, Anti-Tank, Mortar, Sniper, Medic, Officer, Flamethrower, Minesweeper), before moving on to different armies from the period (Russia, Japan, Britain, etc.).

I always feel kinda weird covering dark periods of history, WWII in this case. On the one hand, the uniforms, weaponry, and tactics make for a fascinating setting for games and stories; on the other hand, it’s a setting that not only really existed, but which was steeped in brutality and death. Even just drawing German infantry from the period feels bizarre, a juxtaposition between the polished and cool uniforms and the twisted government and ideology they stood for.

In the end, though, I think it’s wrong to just ignore these periods of history, regardless of the uncomfortable issues they involve. Wargaming gives me an opportunity to put myself in that era, and think about the battles that took place in it. It lets me put myself in the minds of the soldiers fighting the war, and consider what they fought for, and why (even if they stood for ideologies I find reprehensible). Most of all, it encourages me to think about the war, how it affects our lives today, and how we can prevent the atrocities of its era from occurring again.

Anywho. I usually try not to discuss social issues like that (especially on a blog about paper toy soldiers), but it was weighing on me while I drew these guys up. Plus some bunglehead criticized me for liking historical wargames a while back, and it left a considerable chip on my shoulder I’ve been needing to vent about for months now.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Birds! These guys took far too long to draw (birds are tricksy little things), but were fun all the same, and I’m happy to have them finished.

Sparrows and Crows are both relatively important in Redwall, while Robins are included just for personal preference. I like to imagine that the birds kind of rule their own domain in the midst of the land-beasts, with only the larger birds posing much real trouble (most of the time).

The Sparrows are small in stature, but mighty in spirit, fighting beak and talon against any foe that would threaten their tribes. The Robins are typically rather peaceful, constructing out-of-the way homes where they think they can easily forage in peace. The Crows live in a complex hierarchy of nobles, and are among the most intelligent creatures in Elhorn; when mustered to war, the Crow Clans are virtually unstoppable.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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More critters inspired by Redwall! A gaggle of Goodbeasts and a skulk of Foxes.

For the Goodbeasts, I went with some of the most iconic critters from Redwall--a Badger, Squirrel, and Hare--and made two versions of each to give some extra variety. I drew inspiration from Constance for the Badger, and from Basil Stag Hare and the Long Patrol for the Hare uniforms.

For the Foxes, I googled medieval Romanian clothing and drew whatever I thought looked cool. I also spent quite a while trying to figure out their anatomy/proportions in a way that looked nice; the result is that they feel very lither, which I think works rather well for them.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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More Mouse Guard and Redwall inspired paper miniatures! The Rats are inspired by Redwall, especially the leader, Cluny the Scourge (from the original Redwall novel). The Mice, meanwhile, are directly from Mouse Guard--Kenzie, Saxon, Sadie, and Lieam, four of the main characters. Lastly, the warband of Weasels is inspired by Mouse Guard, with an additional Weasel Pirate to fit in with Redwall.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Mice! Inspired by Redwall and Mouseguard.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Geckos and Saurians from Age of Fantasy.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Human Defense Force soldiers, for Grimdark Future.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Custodian Brothers from Grimdark Future.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Battle Sisters from Grimdark Future.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Orc Marauders for Grimdark Future.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.

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Alien Hives and Soul Snatchers, from the one-page-ruleset Grimdark Future.

Printable files for these and other paper miniatures can be found here.