Hello, good day and welcome to another one of Chrispy'S Crazed Articles (tm). Today, I'd like to spend a bit on basing, which can be just as important as the painting of the miniature itself.. However, if you're like me and you absolutly refuse to pay $5 for a teeny weenie bag of flock which is, in essence, usually painted sawdust. Lately, I've tried to find a cheaper, more common alternative to some basing supplies.. As many of my articles have started out, I was on the shoutbox and we were discussing basing materials (it began with snow, then went into more common types of areas. Someone, I believe Sintricat (thought you'd get out of this, eh? ), asked about a really good reddish/brown flock and even without thinking I replied: Cinnamon! As time went on, I took my own advice and I've had good results with it, so I thought I'd share some techniques and thoughts with you..

        First off, why use herbs? Some are just as expensive, if not more than basing supplies. Well, for one thing, you might already have some of these in your house and use them all the time, a bit on some mini's base won't hurt! Also, since herbs are all natural (how can you make an organic product fake?) they give off a real earth tone instead of a really cartoony color.. When's the last time YOU saw Goblin Green colored grass in the desert, huh? Also, the smell they give off is just great!

         Well, to begin with, I'll start with some regular, live grass, and then we'll move on to the more "dead" looking places, and then some foliage. So, here we have some ground Oregano:

         See? Nice and green without too much green. Yes, I photographed most of these on cardboard.. And all were applied with a bit of white glue and water. Remember, though when buying at the store to get Ground oregano and not Minced or fresh (unless you are a cook and get fresh herbs all the time, but that won't help you here) Some companies I used are Schilling and McCormick, but I know you can go to Sam's or any big Warehouse store and but huge quantites of them in hand held plastic containers.. Call me and my Mom crazy, but I think they keep fresher in the old metal containers, and herbs should ALWAYS be stored in a cool, dry place. Why? Herbs contain oils. Not only can those oils get out of the herbs by way of heat, but they can also cause spoilage. And keeping dry herbs from wetness should be a no-brainer..

         Ahem, moving on, we come to a more subdued green that could be good for either a brushland and/or tundra, both places the grasses don't get a lot of good lovin' from the weather. This I have done with some Thyme:

         If you want an in between of the two greens, just mix them ahead of time, or use the shaker top to your advantage by displacing it on the base, giving more room for another color. If you DO mix them, make sure you do NOT put them back in the container, find a different one.. I can see it now.. "Billy, why does this Oregano taste like Thyme?" Then you get desperate and blame it on me.. Look, I'm a second child, I've been someone's scapegoat since I could speak!