Canoness Veridyan

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If you’re at all associated with the Warhammer side of our miniature hobby, you probably came across the sad news that John Blanche passed away earlier in the month. Needless to say he had an incredible impact on our hobby, his artwork inspiring many of us and laying the course for much of what Warhammer and its dark future counterpart became. It’s easy to see his impact by the number of excellent posts on the topic around the internet (I’m partial to Azazel’s post on the subject, which focuses on the impact of John’s miniature painting articles). For myself, one of my first proper experience of the hobby was reading through the 3rd edition Warhammer 40,000 rulebook, and soon after getting Mordheim and playing that for quite a few years. If you’re familiar with both those books, you’ll understand that John’s art provided a lot of the context as I got to grips with these worlds, and therefore has stayed with me throughout the years as I paint models and play games. On the news of his death I spent a bit of time looking back at those books, taking in at the art that inspired me all those years ago, and deciding that I should channel this energy into some model painting! Luckily for me I picked up the Canoness Veridyan model when that was released quite a while ago (I saw 2016 somewhere), and that being a direct interpretation of one off John’s most famous paintings that seemed like a good way to go.

I initially decided maybe I should try to paint this to display standard, as it’s been many years since I tried my hand at that, but ended up going with the flow and that resulted in a model that’s more like character standard (i.e. slightly better than army painting!). I think I’m just too impatient to paint display models these days, or at least not used to it anymore!

I left the model as is, adding a few elements on the base to recall the original painting (i.e. adding a stack of bones, and a white rat scurrying away).

If you’re unfamiliar with the painting, here’s a photo of a nice print of it I have hanging near my games table.

I really enjoyed painting the model, it was nice to take a bit more time than usual on a single figure. I find painting reds and blacks quite satisfying, and I have to say I had a bit of an urge to do some more Sisters of Battle/Adepta Sororitas models after this one, so who knows maybe that’ll start something!

9 thoughts on “Canoness Veridyan”

  1. While Blanche didn’t have a big impact on me in the hobby, its easy to see how profound his influence was. He will certainly be missed. And sadly, I remember when this mini was new which makes me feel old. It was a really cool looking one at that time and it still looks great today.

    Obviously, I don’t like to hear the dislike for display painting bit though 😉 While I think she looks lovely already, my suggestion would be to push the highlights on the metal more if you want to put some more time into the mini. Even one round of highlights there will make a big impact on the whole thing, I think.

    I would love to see some more Sisters as I think they’re some of GW’s coolest sculpts. I’ve almost painted them a number of times over the years and the Triumph of Saint Katherine, in particular, is one that I’m constantly tempted by.

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    1. Thanks Jeff! Definitely don’t read a dislike of display painting here, think of it more as I need to get in the frame of mind where I am willing to spend a lot more time on a model. It’s been a long time since I spent more than 2-3 hours on a single model so that’s a tough habit to break 🙂

      I agree with the trim on the shoulders, spotted that in the photos! A bit late since it’s already varnished but that doesn’t prevent some touch ups from happening.

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      1. I was mostly giving you a hard time and that is good to hear! I don’t know any other bloggers that display paint, truthfully so I guess I’m a bit of an odd duck as far as that is concerned. It is definitely a mindset and it can take some getting used to (even if you’re a bit out of practice but have done it before). That is why I try to be patient and take my time on everything I paint (as long as the sculpt quality isn’t terrible) as it helps me be patient with display painting as well. I definitely struggled when I first started dabbling with it though as I wanted to get everything done quicker so I totally get that!

        TMM is tricky in that sometimes the light can make something look lighter than it is and then you take photos and see the mini a little differently. The nice thing is that it is quick and easy to address in this case!

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      2. That makes sense, and in the end you have to do what you enjoy. This discussion reminded me I was thinking of doing a post on my past display models as a change of pace, something to consider!

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      3. Yes, I always advocate for making the hobby yours too. We should all try and maximize our fun with it where we can. That does sound like an interesting read! I can’t recall seeing many of your display projects featured in the last year or two so I’m sure I would learn quite a bit from it and enjoy seeing your work.

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      5. That would be interesting as I was in the hobby and painting horribly for 3-5 of those years before I dropped out for about a decade. The fact that these minis haven’t been posted before makes them that much more intriguing!

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