The Wine Cellar

Just a couple of hours ago, I finished painting these two 28mm-scale wine cabinets. I was quite daunted by these cabinets because of the extremely fine details, including the individual bottles, the rows of glasses, and the hinges and knobs. Previously, I attacked details like this with brute force, attempting to paint "between the lines," as it were, taking hours to get strokes of 1mm wide (or less) just right. 

I tried that at first with these cabinets, and the results were appalling. So, frustrated, I decided to try and be zen about the matter. Instead of painstaking focus, I tried to let the brush itself guide my movements, gently caressing the raised details with various shades of gold, silver, and white. Believe me when I say the difference in the final product is tremendous; I'm now moderately pleased with the way these turned out, particularly the bottles on the top shelves and the knobs and hinges on the cupboards. It may be my imagination, but I could swear there's a hint of actual labels, with writing, on the bottle faces. I couldn't have created that effect on purpose, but it seems to me a very happy accident.