From the workbench of the esteemed Horati0nosebl0wer

I had some fun with tufts today and went into another material I didn’t think I had much use for. My local hobby shop had Woodland Scenics light green bushes (SKU: FC145) on offer and I took a chance seeing how it would work. Its honestly been months since I bought them and only now think that this is a good time to use them. I think it came out pretty well.

The figure is Persephone from Reaper (SKU: 03919) and its been given the love of a display piece I wanted to show it. I probably could have obsessed mord and lamented my effort but I’ve gotten it done and now set it into my Case of Completion; its a collective of finished pieces I’m setting into large Chessex dice boxes until I have a proper case again.

The Case of Completion has been an idea I started a few years ago for dispay pieces and things I’ve done as an answer to my Hoard of Shame. Seeing my progress as I continue painting is helpful and it sometimes gives me that pick-me-up to keep going on. With moving so much I’ve not been able to do this and I get my dopamine rush from seeing my regular customer display the items in his own cases. Now, onto more stuff.

I feel rejuvenated. I went to the monthly meeting of a local painting group and I found myself at home among painting nerds. The joy of slapping small people (and other assorted creatures) with paint came back to me as I watched others do the same. I think the lack of physical community was really the dearest thing I’ve been missing for the longest time. This group will give me the extra push to paint better as well as most of them regularly go to Reapercon and some have placed in competition (a couple actually have painted for the company I think).

My general brush control seems to be on par with my fellows who were there and I don’t believe that my technical skills of dexterity were any different. The idea of some of the freehand still seems daunting. The general assortment of gadgets wasn’t any different in minimal variety of figure holders/brushes/travel cases for stuff. I did see that there was a gentleman who was using a pair of small daylight LED panels used for photography which were on tripods. I believe I have a few things now for my Giftmas list in future (I already caved yesterday and got a vortex paint mixer).

Beyond all this I found myself with a realization of what I consider my next step forward (really a step I think I forgot/glossed over) to progress from where I am. I will be utilizing my wet palette much more for my high end painting. I’ve also seen Kimera paint in person today and I believe I possess a hobby hard-on right now. I’ll potentially drop all my current paints to that end for what I want to press toward competition. I will be brutally honest with my self assessment in the thought that my layering has been shit for a while. I can and will do better with it. This fact should be evident with upcoming photos as I implement this consideration. I’m curious to dabble in the use of inks through my airbrush again but more often. I’ve only done it a couple of times but without concerted effort to test the medium and my tool.

All in all this has been a good day as I also sealed the figures I’m shipping to one of my nephews this Christmas. I’m not pushing the envelope with effort. Last year I gave one of his brothers other stuff I painted so I themed this batch for the little guy’s love of dinosaurs. I also made sure to cover it with a little extra varnish in order to protect to paint. I don’t know if it’ll help, as I remember my own toys, but it should last a bit better than the regular spray. Now its time to get on to the next bit of stuff.

Good news for working again. I start tomorrow… er today for you European types, subtract a few hours in the past. I suggest watching the Korean Netflix series Sisyphus might make more sense on that time travel thing. Anywhat, more minis are done and I feel good at pushing through more commission stuff. I don’t recall the caster of the viking. The troll is a Ral Partha for Shadowrun fom 1991. More stuff is on the way in future.

Building up armies or developing the grandest Golden Demon winner in my head is not as good as finishing a skirmish level warband or painting pieces for the tabletop. In the end I have nothing to show for my time spent other than an empty project with only information and ideas. Drawing down the big think to something manageable and tangibly concrete really should be done instead of chasing the dream all the time. Like in many other parts of life, you can dream but it won’t get you anything but frustrated unless you do something about it.

Here, I’ve got big ideas which I’ve put to private and have them collect dust because I have limited time/money. I kick off the dust from time to time and play with concepts. The best part is showing off the big things when you build them, even as I myself build my own, takes time to consider how to go about the big build. An organic piecemeal approach is great for the disjointed and nonlinear/not uniform creation but larger effort needs a little planning and creativity sometimes just is sporadic.

I think, perhaps, it would be good to look around you lot and start to nurture minds to the direction of my thoughts that these things are done for me. *curls his mustache, steeples his fingers and sits back against the comfortable high back chair that suddenly appears* As any good villainous mastermind, one should aim to move the pieces without even needing to touch them… mwahahaha.

All jokes aside, finding the right level of engagement and production for the scale of idea might be something for any hobbyist here to consider. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, you’ll end up with a Pile of Overwhelming Potential (aka Pile if Shame) if you don’t.

Some patron painting done as I keep a move on finishing more from the PoOP. Both are from Reaper respectively. The troll came with with a rock or pig option to fling and stands about 60mm to the top of the mohawk (roughly 90mm to the top of the pig).

Bertok, human barbarian SKU:02924
Two headed troll (Bones) SKU:44120

Why I stop doing mini work from time to time can be pinned to analysis paralysis. I get wrapped up in my own head and think of the detail work instead of doing it. The comparison of my own work to that of others and the downgrading of considering my own talent and capabilities, not in the the spirit of being humble but of self worth, and this leads to turning away from the hobby out of discontent with my own achievement.

I’ve come to this thinking by doing work in my head regarding other areas of my life and I was struck by the layout of the most recent book from Mig Ammo which Gerry reviewed. I think that it addresses a core notion which hadn’t quite been articulated as a visual answer. It boils down to the sliding scale of painting levels clearly. It gives the reader high quality painting porn photos (no other way to put it, but its true) of even simple technique and then going along the path to more detailed and time intensive work. It addresses level of need for detail. Where does one need to end up to perceive making good looking work?

Scale of project and of figures makes the detail level scale. I’ve dived into painting a friends epic Eldar force and the mesh masking technique I used on my leader for the Arabian Knights at 28mm has a whole different look on a Fire Prism at 6mm. The 2 inch-2 foot rule becomes clear only through experience or seeing examples in situ. The rank and flank of an ACW or Napoleonic will be different than the skirmish warband of Warcry or Space Station Zero. The zoo is full of very different animals from our mini world.

I’ll be back to more painting as I ease my mind. Here’s something that crossed my path in suggestions that poked at issues regarding other artistic ventures I’ve had.

Then I found this

Good news for the work front, I might be back to building again. I don’t look forward to the prospect of being in the cold come winter. My hope is to get a shop position at that point. The downside is less time for minis. I’ll be sure to push out as much work as possible before that happens.

Sculpted damage to the armor is on the model but I added a couple extra dings on the edges. The edge highlights really popped for me and I’m pretty pleased with the model overall. It was a random purchase that I think came out better than anticipated.

Feathered wings came to my attention and I put up my note on the matter in my Arabian Knights project. This was a good opportunity to test out a working idea.

I don’t remember the range the model comes from but I do recall it being featured in the Saga Age of Magic book.

Note: the eyes were not added while on my porcelain throne

Having done some hobby and moving things around I failed to notice what can fall as I was deciding what next to work on. I found out that a hard drive placed precariously on other things can and sometimes will fall on minis. It happened to land on my leader figure for my Arabian Knights when it decided gravity was a good law to follow.

Sometimes you get lucky. This is one of those time I happened to as the only thing that broke was a foreleg. The shield popped off and so did the rider. There were some stress fractures in the other legs but that was the extent of the damage that I saw. I have since reglued the leg and will be repainting touchups. I am thankful that is the only thing I need worry about for the build.