Chaostle features a line of custom miniature characters created by fantasy sculptors Sandra Garrity and Kevin Contos. Sixteen of these unique fantasy characters are included in the game such as a unicorn, wizard, dragon slayer and more. Additional add-on characters are available to collect and add new dimensions to the game play. More of these add-on characters will continuously be released in the future.

Chaostle also features multi-level castle pieces that can be painted to give your version of the game its own unique look.

Painted Chaostle Minis

The Chaostle minis look great painted! Check out the painted Chaostle characters below that were painted by Kythera of Anevern.

Interview with Fantasy Sculptor Sandra Garrity

Q: 1. What are the steps you take when sculpting a piece from start to finish?

A: First, of course, you have to either work up a design for the piece or get reference for it. I sometimes do work-up sketches before starting to sculpt. Other times, I get pictures of similar things and put them up around me for inspiration, then go right to the sculpting.

Second, comes the formation of the armature and base (unless the figure is to have a tab for use with a slotted base). This is the support for the figure and it is important to get the pose and proportions right so that adjustments won't be necessary later.

Third, I start to build up the figure in layers, allowing it to cure before adding surface detail. This gives a firm foundation (or what is known as underpinning) to work on. Occasionally, if time is short, I work in thicker layers,doing the shape of the piece with the surface detail all at once. This is a bit tricky, since it requires a very light touch to keep from mashing the basic figure shape. Most of the time, I work the legs (one at a time) up to the hips first, trying to get as much detail as possible on the first pass. Then I put enough putty on the torso to use as underpinning. Next the fig goes into a coffee can with a reflector lamp (using a 25 watt light bulb) attached to the top. There is a square opening cut into the front of the can so figures may be inserted and removed easily. This "cooker", as most of us call it, heats the piece enough to speed the curing process and allow the faster completion of the piece. Moistening your tools with spit (eewu! How disgusting!) or water helps keep the putty from sticking to them.

Fourth, any weapons and accessories are started while the figure is curing. Since most of the time these will also need to cure and then be filed and sanded to get sharp, smooth, shapes, the formation of these is sandwiched between working times on various parts of the figure.

Fifth, torso and arms down to the hands are worked on. Details are added to all parts of the figure save the hands, which I usually do after I do the head. The face is done first, then allowed to cure while I finish the weapons or accessories.

Sixth, I add the hair, ears, and the items that will be in the hands, if any. These are allowed to cure. Last, I try to make sure that any places that need a bit of cleanup are taken care of and that all copyright info required is put on the base.

At this point, if it is a figure that I am keeping a photo record of development on, the last photo is taken and it is packaged to ship. I also keep a time sheet and record of development on all of the figures to keep for reference. It's useful to show creative development, track how much time went into the piece and any other info that might come in handy in the future.

Q:2. What tools do you use and recommend when sculpting a miniature?

A: The tools I use the most are: a #11 Exacto blade knife that has been dulled a bit, a needle inserted in a dowel, a double ended spoon-shaped tool, and a couple of dental probes. Most of the sculptors use the Exacto knife and dental tools. Each of us has our favorites and we often make tools if we need a special shaped tool to do something. I'd say, experiment with a number of things and use what you feel works best for you.

Q: 3. What parts of a miniature do you feel are the most difficult to sculpt, and do you have any advice on how to overcome these difficulties?

A: Faces are the most difficult things for me, followed by hands. Watching someone that does something one finds difficult is helpful, but the real way to make things go easier is to practice. This is what all of us who do this for a living have had to do. Also, don't get discouraged if things don't go just right. That happens to all of us! Sometimes things just do not go right no matter how hard you try. I think of each piece that I do as practice for the next. My husband kids me that I'd never get a figure out the door if it weren't for deadlines, because I'd be constantly "making it better".

Q: 4. Do you ever paint your own miniatures, and/or do you have any painting tips?

A:Seldom do I get the chance to paint my own miniatures. My clients keep me too busy sculpting them. Although I used to be primarily a painter (as in paintings), I can't claim to be expert in the area of miniature painting. I just sort of "wing it" when I do get the chance to paint one, so I'm probably not the one anybody should be taking tips from.

Q: 5. What do you like and dislike about sculpting?

A: I really like being able to sort of catch a moment in time in 3D.(When I can) I like to try to make the piece so that it looks like it could come to life and resume the movement that it had been doing before it was "frozen". It is nice to hold the sculpt in your hand or walk around it and get to see all sides of it. There's not much I can say that I dislike about sculpting except that I love color and the sculpting mediums that I need to use lack that color that paintings have.

Sculpting things that bring enjoyment to people has enriched my life tremendously. Although I have been a freelance artist for over 30 years, doing all sorts of different things, the sculpting of the miniatures has been the most rewarding. It has allowed me to meet wonderful people that I would not otherwise have met and share the joy of what I do with them.

Interview with Artist Susan Dawe

Q: 1. How long have you been an artist, and what got you started?

A: I've been drawing all my life, but I became a professional artist in 1980. I could say Star Wars inspired me to change my career; it certainly gave me the courage to do so. I had just graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, with a degree in Animal Science/Pre-veterinary Medicine, and was working at a veterinary hospital, prior to completing my education at UC Davis. Wasn't particularly happy with my career choice at that time, and was encouraged by my science-fiction friends to "make the leap" to being an artist. Actually, it was only about 3 months between working for the veterinarian, and working for my first publisher. I have never regretted making that decision.

Q: 2. Are there any other artists that inspired you?

A: Oh, many, many! A lot of the Renaissance artists, of course, and I always enjoyed the art of medieval manuscripts by many nameless monks. I have also been inspired by the Art Nouveau movement (particularly the work of Alphonse Mucha), and the many artists of the Pre-Raphaelites, especially Waterhouse and Alma-Tadema. There's been a few contemporary artists as well. I enjoy the works of Michael Parks, some of the Hildebrandt brothers paintings, Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith, Silamuth Wolfang, the entire Wyeth family -- oh, there are probably too many to name!

Q: 3. Many of your illustrations feature animals or have a fantasy theme. What is your favorite theme to draw?

A: Currently, anything to do with Star Wars (always my passion, or should I say "obsession", haha!)

Q: 4. What is your favorite illustration that you have ever created?

A: Hmmm... that's a hard one to answer. I can probably narrow it down to four.

First, back in high school, I did a nice charcoal drawing of a character from my own "world" -- very fond of that; was probably the first real, professional looking piece I did. Was published on the cover of the central coast newspaper's version of the "tv guide" while I was in college.

Then, I did a piece in 1984 called "The Night Dancer", which has a caped, masked man, sitting on a bed (very medieval, with wall hangings and a dragon lamp), embracing a beautiful woman; in his dark blue cape, which flows over the bed and down the stairs, there is an image of the two of them dancing under the stars on a marble floor. Very mysterious.

And lately, I've done 2 Star Wars pieces that I am rather fond of. The first was a private commission; the task was to paint a picture in the Art Nouveau style, any subject of my choice, so naturally I went with Star Wars as a subject. It's a Jedi Knight, a woman, kneeling in front of an eternal flame. There are hanging incense burners around her (the smoke entwines into the nouveau patterns), and you can deduce from the floor pattern and the pillars, that she is somewhere inside the Jedi temple. I find it is a very empowering image; my Jedi girlfriends are rather found of it also. I have a copy of it in my studio, over my computer.

And lastly, I recently did a montage of Obi-wan Kenobi, chronicling his life from youth to the elderly Ben Kenobi. I like this one a lot!

Q: 5. What techniques or styles do you use in creating your artwork?

A: I use all sorts of techniques, from water color and traditional oils, to mixed media airbrush paintings, depending on what the assignment is. The same would go for style, though I tend to go with realism; When illustrating fantasy, or something that doesn't really exist, it makes sense to make it look as believable as possible!

Q: 6. What supplies do you typically work with such as paints, pencils, watercolors, etc?

A: Depends again on which media I decide to use. Lately, I've shifted from traditional oils to those water soluble Grumbacher Max oils -- much easier to work with, I and can get the same results. I try to convince my students to use them, as well. I've been using Badger Air-Opaque acrylics in my airbrush, though I am slowly switching to Golden Airbrush paints. And I always go with the finest Windsor-Newton water-colors. It does NOT pay to skimp on quality paints; if one does, they have a tendency to fade in the light, and the pigments are more dilute. And I use the ever-present Prismacolor pencils for the details on my mixed media pieces. I also go with high quality paintbrushes, another area that it does not pay to skimp! There is nothing more frustrating that trying to use bad brushes! Except maybe a dirty airbrush, haha!

Q: 7. How do you approach creating an illustration from start to finish?

A: Again, it depends on which media I use, but if it's the airbrushed/mixed media pieces (which is how I painted most of those unicorn paintings that everyone is familiar with), I start with a detailed drawing (or drawings -- sometimes I do the individual elements separately), then transfer the drawing (or drawings) together onto the final illustration board, which is a Strathmore 100% rag multi-ply illustration board (I think they call it the 500 series) with the vellum (not plate!) finish. This is absolutely the BEST board to airbrush on; the frisket paper (which I use to mask off areas) will not pull the fibers up.

I then do the acrylic paint under-painting with the airbrush. Some of it will be freehand, and some areas will be masked off with frisket paper (which is like a tracing paper that is sticky on one side) or movable masks that I have already cut out. When I'm finished with that, it looks a bit like a painting out of focus. I really dislike the air-brushing part of it, and am trying to get away from it, and use other techniques (like traditional oil painting with a brush)

I then start detailing the underpainting using designers' gouache (an opaque, thick, water color) and colored pencils. This is the part that I enjoy, putting in all the details; it is here that the painting starts to "come alive". And I do this, until it is finished.

Q: 8. What are some examples of artwork that you have done professionally?

A: Oh gees! Where to begin! There's been a lot of stuff, over the years! Of course, there were those fantasy notebooks that I did for Mead, for seven years. And the Franklin Mint plate set. I enjoyed working on both those projects, and with those companies. And the Fantasy Calendar that I did for Landmark General for 17 consecutive years! That was not so enjoyable -- too many years in a row; it exhausted me! And now, I'm working on Chaostle, which has been a lot of fun, and a little different!

Q: 9. You created over seventy icons for the Chaostle game representing character special skills. Which one is your favorite illustration?

A: Of the icons, I like "Evasive Action" the best -- it has action, cool perspective, and really gets the idea across, in a very small space. Of the other illustrations, I enjoyed doing the character of "Mist Earie". Characters are always so interesting to me.

And oddly, I think my very favorite illustration was the "map of the world" that is on the web-site. I don't know what it is about illustrated maps, but I just love making them. I think it goes back to this marble-maze game I had as a kid, that had a pseudo "map" on it, with swamps, and ghost towns, and deadly deserts and giant insects, but it really inspired my imagination. I used to enjoy just staring at the game, and imagining "what it would be like" to be in those places. It helped that my parents took my brother and myself on big cross-country jaunts, and I knew what lonely ghost towns, and the sun setting on the high bluffs and canyon walls in the middle of nowhere, really looked like. I have always enjoyed wild country and mysterious, lonely places.

Q: 10. What other activities are you interested in such as costume design and teaching?

A: Well, as you can probably guess from the bit about the map, that I like to travel. And get "off the pavement" when I do. My husband and I both like to hike, and we always wonder what is around the next turn of the canyon. It seems wherever we go, be it England, or Australia, that we find the hiking trails there, too. They call it "bush walking" in Australia.

And, of course, I like to make costumes. And wear them. I usually am running around in a "hall costume" at most S-F conventions -- it may not be very "professional", but it's a LOT more fun! I sometimes take a costume traveling, and jump into it to take pictures at exotic locales. I have an awesome picture of myself in my Jedi costume, at dawn, in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah. The lighting was awesome!!! Truly one of those "the right time, at the right place" photos.

And I also teach at Mirimar Community College. Art, of course! I teach the painting class, and the Art Orientation (Art 100) class. For me, teaching is fun! It feels very natural. Must be in my genes; my mom was a teacher. I also have some great students, which makes teaching even more fun. I enjoy being around colleges; if I wasn't teaching, I would probably be taking a class. There is just something about the college atmosphere that appeals to me.