Sunday 4 January 2015

The Sanctioned One

What was intended as a last post of 2014 has become the first post of 2015: My third project of the year, which was initiated while preparing for a Golden Demon many moons ago. Back then I was struck by the amazingly vibrant and atmospheric sketches by John Blanche of inquisitor characters roaming the dystopian worlds of the Imperium of Man. In his sketches these characters became weathered in the truest sense of the word - depicting not only the characters but also, and maybe even more so, the worlds they inhabit.
 
Together with Dan Abnett's ongoing series of Eisenhorn, Ravenor and Bequin, which I truly enjoy reading, The Inquisitor Sketchbook by John Blanche has been and still is one of the most important and inspirational publications in my small collection of Games Workshop/Black Library Publications. 

Not only does it give shape to Ressurectionists, Adeptus Mechanicus Cultists, Rogue Traders, Whip Mistresses, Witch Seekers, Sidith Priests, Fire Redemptionists, Chrono Gladiators and Lex Mechanics but it also sparked my imagination and in turn the initiation of my two recently finished Melancholia projects as well as Melancholia III, which is on its way.

During my ongoing process of rediscovery in 2014 I decided to finish the important works I never got around to finish before disappearing into the boreal many moons ago. Many of them have been well hidden for almost a decade but have now resurfaced and are seeing final work done to them. My Cabinet of Wonders is slowly expanding.

My recently finished version of a Sanctioned Bounty Hunter was inspired by a Blanche sketch depicting a Sanctioned Alien Bounty Hunter appearing in his sketchbook. It was intended to be part of a Golden Demon entry a decade ago. This made 2014 a ten year jubilee of sorts and a good year to finish it and in the process give homage to the great and creative artist that was the inspiration behind it.


Furthermore, it is a proper first post of 2015 as it fits very well into the theme of FPOA by showing that the divine light of the Emperor works in truly mysterious ways;

In this case making a hunter of the hunted...

His chains of enslavement are broken and he is standing aloof some shattered remains of his foes. Apart from a lot of added small details like the inquisition seal of sanctioned enlistement, personal totems and various Imperial insignia showing The Sanctioned One's devotion to the cause, he is wielding two slightly altered hunting rifles from his home world, various types of purity seals and handcrafted Xeno bullets. Also he is being assisted by a specially crafted Servo Skull intented to search out the aliens he is sanctioned to hunt...

...the dreaded Tau!







9 comments:

  1. He looks like the sort of chap Vendrake would love to have in his retinue ! an exquisite piece not a jot dated and well worthy of a place in any hunters display cabinet !I plan on emultating your scorched earth technique i think ..

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    1. Thank you Neil! He would be proud to serve an honest and noble man like Vendrake ;)

      The scorched earth was achieved over a black undercoat by applying various drybrushes of a series of earth tones from Formula P3 followed by the occassional sepia, brown and purple Sennelier shellac based inks (both separate and some mixed) and some very light drybrushing with the same earth tones and GW flesh colours for very light drybrushing.

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    2. thanks for the rundown on the base , i have some earthy p3 paints , i must give that a shot cheers

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  2. Stunning! Was always a favorite at WIP stage all those years ago... And you've really broken the rust now :)

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  3. Just discovered this blog. Amazing builds and paintings! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Good to see you here Turska. Welcome - and thank you for the kind words!

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  4. As I've said before, marvelous work! I always saw that JB illustration as a Blanchian take on the Predator, but your idea of reimagining the character as a Kroot really anchors him in the 40k universe even more firmly. Plus I really love the paintjob -- that red looks killer!

    Any more forgotten treasures you've neglected to paint, I wonder? If so, get to work ;)

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    1. That was exactly the idea Kraut. Thank you :)

      Yes! There are a few more old schools on their way. So much fun to finally find the time and effort to finish them.

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