So those peasants I ordered?  I'm having a BLAST painting them.  So far, I have them primed, based, and the first coat of flesh on them.  I also painted their farming implements, so at the moment, they look like the Black Farmers of Doom.  That is, they are all wearing black cloaks and hoods - that will be recitified soon.

Since these are more Dark Ages than Medieval peasants, I'm limiting any non-brown colors to the two guys who seem the most "leader-y" of the crowd.  They'll get green hoods to indicate that they're wealthy enough to actually afford dyed cloth clothing.  The rest will all be undyed shades of brown and cream, probably liberally splattered with mud and off-color patches on their elbows.

I'm not sure why these guys are so much fun to paint.  They're not soldiers, though a few of them are brandishing their hoes in a menacing way.   They are all Gripping Beast figures, and I'm starting to see why people are so fond of that line.  The only other GB pack I have didn't really do it for me, but it looks like I need to re-evaluate my stance on their figures.

Maybe it's because they're "just peasants" and I don't feel any great pressure to do a "perfect" job on them.  Ironically, that lack of pressure seems to have freed me to some extent, and I'm tyring out some painting techniques I've read about.  I still don't claim to have any particular talent for painting, but practice makes perfect, and I have 20 "expendables" to practice on here.  I really hope that I can keep my momentum going, because two or three more evenings like last night, and the lads will be ready to take to the fields.