Painting Competition | Winner Announcement | The Children of Baphomet | August 2026
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Things got considerably more monstrous for this month's Monthly Painting Competition as our painters turned their brushes towards the gruesome creatures of The Children of Baphomet faction.
With twisted bodies, unnatural faces and plenty of opportunities for blood and gore, this release proved to be a perfect playground for experimenting with colour, texture and atmosphere. We saw everything from freshly splattered blood and eerie glowing eyes to elaborate bases and full narrative scenes built around Baphomet's creations.
As with the two previous months, we had both our Rookie and Veteran Leagues running throughout the month. The Rookie League winners were chosen by community vote on our Discord server, while the Bestiarum Team selected the Veteran League winner.
Let's take a look at this month's winners!
Competition Results
Rookie League - Community Vote Winners
Congratulations to the three painters who took the top spots in this month's community vote!
Entry #1 - "Mamuna" by rayningtime
Our first Rookie League winner rayningtime went straight for horror with the Mamuna, creating a wonderfully disgusting miniature packed with gore and texture.
The bloody effects are impossible to miss, but it's the creature's face that really sells the model. The Mamuna's stitched-together, sunken eyes give it a completely wasted and lifeless appearance, making it look as though something is very, very wrong with this creature. The combination of the sickly details, rough textures and gore gives the whole miniature an appropriately grimy feel.
There are also some lovely smaller details throughout the model, including the Children of Baphomet emblem, which adds a subtle faction touch without distracting from the creature itself.
This was rayningtime's first attempt at creating a fully custom base, too. A fantastic first step into building their own environments around a miniature!
Entry #2 - "Beast of Blessings" by TheUrizen
TheUrizen also chose the Mamuna, but took the model in a completely different direction.
The pale white tones of the creature create an excellent canvas for the vivid red blood effects, making every fresh smear and splash stand out. It is a simple but very effective contrast and gives the miniature an almost clinical appearance beneath all the gore.
The gaze is one of the strongest features of the miniature. The carefully painted eyes create the impression that the Mamuna is watching you from every angle, adding an eerie sense of awareness to the otherwise pale, bloodied creature. Combined with the bright blood effects, it gives the miniature an unsettling presence that is hard to ignore.
This entry was also a chance to experiment with oils, enamels and blood effects, as well as detailed eyes for the first time. Those experiments certainly paid off!
Entry #3 - "Byblow Summoning" by Uvemode
Our final Rookie League winner, Uvemode turned a Bestial Byblow into the centrepiece of a full scene.
The creature was scaled up to 150% and placed opposite two figures bowing before it, transforming a single monster into something that feels like the object of a disturbing ritual. The composition gives the Byblow an imposing presence and makes the whole piece feel like a snapshot from a much larger story.
The cold blue tones of the creature work beautifully against the vivid red blood effects, while the bright orange eyes add another striking contrast. The glowing eyes in particular give the creature a sinister, almost predatory expression, making it look genuinely evil.
There's plenty of great work hiding in the details as well, including the rusty weapon, atmospheric lighting and fresh blood effects.
Uvemode also used the project to try several techniques for the first time, including airbrush underpainting, OSL and Villainy Ink enamels. Amazing work for a painting completed during a particularly hectic month!
Bestiarum Vote - Veteran League Winner
This month's Veteran League winner is Minty with "The woods are not safe tonight"!
In this fantastic rendition of Psoglav, the Hungering Beast, Minty used a combination of bold pale colours to create the striking appearance of this model, pulling everything back down with a range of enamels and adding contrast and visual interest with some sparingly used colours, wet textures and effects. Especially the eyes are, well, eye-catchers here, adding a spark of beauty to this otherwise monstrous being.
The base also deserves mention here, as it manages to recreate the exact "overgrown ruin" vibe that fits the faction especially well.
It is an incredibly striking interpretation of Psoglav and a very worthy Veteran League winner.
Congratulations, Minty!
A huge congratulations to all of this month's winners!
It has been brilliant seeing what everyone has done with The Children of Baphomet. The release gave everyone plenty of room to lean into the grotesque side of Bestiarum, and the entries certainly took advantage of it. We saw painters experimenting with new techniques, building custom scenes and finding completely different ways to make these creatures feel alive.
The Rookie League winners each receive a digital product of their choice, while the Veteran League winner receives an STL Collection of choice, a special honorary title on our Discord server and the opportunity to paint an exclusive preview miniature before its official release.
Thank you to everyone who entered, voted and shared their work with the community this month. Seeing these creatures interpreted through so many different painting styles is always one of our favourite parts of the competition.
Before continuing to the other entries, we'd like to give a special shoutout to Bo-Pepper who created this awesome-looking silhouette shot of his diorama entry for the Veteran League! This atmospheric piece really stood out to us in terms of bringing the scene to life. Wonderful job!
Veteran League Entries
Rookie League Entries
If you'd like to participate in next month's competition, make sure to join our Discord server, head on over to the Monthly Competition channel and check out the rules in the pinned messages!