Goblin Inspiration

Hi!

Just a quick update today with some random musings on my Goblin project that I have started!

I've been a massive fan of the Jim Henson film, The Labyrinth since I saw it many moons ago and love the artwork and whimsical creations of Brian Froud, the chap who designed both the world of the Labyrinth but also of Hensons other great film, The Dark Crystal.

Over the years, I've collected rather a lot of Brian's wonderful artbooks and have been enjoying reacquainting myself with them whilst looking for inspiration for my Goblin warband and, as is often the case with my projects, it has set off a chain of ideas and somewhat unhinged possibilities that I suspect may keep me entertained for some time.

Re-reading the madcap antics of Goblin society as presented by Brian Froud, Terry Jones and Ari Berk has been a real pleasure and I'm struck by how enjoyable and believable the world they have created is and what a difference it is from the rather more grim version of Goblins that Tolkien presented which has, alas stuck around till today.

Similarly, I love the idea that no two Goblins look alike and appear in a bewildering array of sizes, shapes, colours and kind. For a miniatures project this is a real boon as it will allow me to really play around with different figures from all manner of ranges and allow me to experiment with different painting approaches too!

But there's more! Froud has also put together some really great books on other fabled beings such as the Fae and Trolls too, not to mention all the great designs he did for Dark Crystal so there's a real possibility that I may end up putting together a Fae court and some sort of Trollish element to my project if things go well.

Froud isn't the only great source of inspiration either as Paul Bonner has created some really great imagery of comedic but savage Goblins and his artbook, Out of the Forest is a really great resource to peruse too!

Another thing I am finding rather exciting is the setting itself as I am thinking of trying to put together some of the locations from The Labyrinth for small skirmishes such as the Goblin City, the Scrapheap and The Bog of Eternal Stench, not to mention some random stonework as imagine what fun it would be having small groups of Gobbos bumping into each other and starting a squabble.

Referencing the movie, there's quite a few easy to put together terrain pieces that would look the business and would make for an interesting game too.

With that in mind, I've started rummaging my bits boxes and lead pile in search of suitable goodies to put together to get the ball rolling but sadly have discovered that my small stash of Goblins has mysteriously vanished in one of our house moves which is a bit of a bind and thus far, I've only managed to track down a grand total of two of the little fellows.

Still, it does mean I will be seeking out new figures to paint and in the meantime have got several other random figures that could make an interesting addition to the world I seem to be engrossing myself in so hey ho!

I have a sneaking suspicion that this project is going to be a bit bigger than originally planned but I am going to try to keep myself from going too mental with it and will post some pics of my first painted figures at the weekend as well as further ramblings about the setting as I go!

All the best!