GrimSouls - luca minardi

Malenia — The Will That Remains

(drive to HD immages, and more pics https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1PHWWpA9pbrHn_yk2hhn7GK05YvaawRO5 )

For this project, I wanted to portray her not simply as a warrior surrounded by Scarlet Rot, but as a figure defined by something stronger than it: will.

The entire piece was built around the contrast between decay and resilience. The environment is overtaken by the Rot, while Malenia remains standing — elegant, composed, and unyielding. The colder tones pushed into the shadows create a sense of atmosphere and separation, while the warmer elements of the figure remain alive against the surrounding decay.

I deliberately kept the palette restrained and semi-realistic, using controlled variations in temperature rather than relying on exaggerated saturation. Metallic surfaces, fabric, porcelain-like skin, hair, organic materials and the corrupted environment were each treated differently, while still belonging to the same scene.

The final touches focused less on adding detail and more on controlling where the eye is drawn: allowing the hair, face, prosthetic arm and weapon to emerge from the darker surrounding masses, while letting parts of the cloak, skirt and base recede into the atmosphere.

The goal was to capture a very simple idea:

The Scarlet Rot can consume everything around her, but it cannot make her stop.

This piece has been a long study in painting, color, materials, atmosphere and storytelling. More than anything, it was an attempt to translate the character's defining quality into the physical model:

elegance in decay, and an unbreakable will to keep moving forward.

This time, I wanted the corruption of Elden Ring to feel almost tangible. I pushed the weathering to the absolute limit to give Malenia that ancient, decayed, and battle-worn vibe, playing it against a sharp contrast with the clean, satin finish of the printed parts.

Layering this was a hell of a technical challenge. I went heavy on micro-shading using Gondola pastels brought in straight from Japan—incredible for getting that dusty, chalky texture in the deep shadows. On top of that, I laid down filters with Kaleido colors to shift the metallic tones under the light, sealing the steps using the hairspray/lacquer chipping technique to create actual, physical micro-fractures on the surface.

Honest take between painters: Do you think this sharp contrast between the chalky, matte weathering and the satin porcelain balances the piece well, or would you have killed the shine entirely to make her uniformly dark and grim? How would you have handled this material contrast?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments. You can find the full video and all the high-res macro shots over on Instagram: @Grimsoulslab.

Happy painting, everyone!

Today was a bad day, various problems, someone decided to break a piece of the base while it was out drying, I had to repair it and start again... I'm moving forward, I think I'm now 90% of the way done, but still missing that special spark, but I can't get it right 🥲 opinions?

Just a small update today: metal feet. I added more weathering and some extreme lighting, unfortunately smartphone photos are terrible, sorry.

Hi guys! A question, or rather, a poll. Do you prefer auburn hair like I'm doing now to break away from the cape, or a scarlet red that's more true to the game?

For this model, I'm opting for my own painting style, which is much darker than the render, but in my opinion more faithful to the real atmosphere of Souls and Elden Ring. What do you think?

I started working on the base and the cloak, for this statue to optimize the time I decided to work first 80% of the materials and generic parts and then 20% of each part from fine details, so I can try to make up for lost time. I'm drawing inspiration from the color palette of Elena Ring's artbook, with some poetic license of course.

People, I wish I had 36 hour days... XD time never seems to be enough, this model is fantastic but has a very strong complexity linked both to the details and to the layering of materials...I sincerely hope to make it on time! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

You can see more of the WIP on my IG (Grimsoulslab), sadly I can't upload most of the videos for size limits 🥹

Just a quick post today.

Starting my TMM , I will make a grimdark/texturing metal not noble one.

What do you think about it at this stage?

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