Portal Day!

The latest edition of Portal magazine is out!  There are some great looking pieces in there as always as well as some miniature reviews and a pair of excellent instructional articles to boot.  Good stuff!  Be sure to take a moment to download it at http://www.wampforum.com/VB4/downloads.php?do=file&id=36.

I also took some additional photos of another one of my Reaper Con entries.  I tried to photograph it on a black background to show off the OSL of the smoldering embers, but I couldn't get it to come out entirely accurate.  In the hand, the shadows are not quite so strong.  It does add some mood to the piece, which I was trying to accomplish with my painting.

 

 

 



Last of the tutorials

Ok, so I've caught up on all my old tutorials.  There are a couple more in the pipeline, but you'll have to wait on those.  I've also added a charitable projects tab.  I'll add and remove to that as projects come and go.  If there is something going on that I have not listed, let me know and I'll be happy to put it up on the page.

Finally, one more blast from the past. 

 

 

This is a miniature I painted for my wife a few years ago.  It is Reaper's Jolie, the scribe.  The scroll was scratch built and it was my first go at a marbled floor.  The Korean in the book means "wisdom".

 

 

The parade of tutorials continues and Blog Tuesday

Good morning everyone.  I hope you all survived your Mondays without much difficulty.  I've added another small tutorial to that section.  I have one more to go after that and the parade will be over.  I'm in the process of moving the paint station around; I'm moving to another room in the house.  It's a lateral move--a bit less space overall, but more sun.  Depending on how long that takes, I may or may not get the last tutorial up tomorrow.

Here's another of my favorite pieces from the past.  The skeleton pirate is from Reaper's Warlord miniatures game and belongs to the Razig faction.

 

 

 

I am also planning on making every Tuesday the day in which I highlight another blog.  These are places I've come across and enjoy visiting.  The vast majority of them will be painting blogs, but occassionally I highlight some gaming blogs or anything else that gets my attention.

 

Today's blog is from a great chap named Inso.  He is a man of many talents!  He paints like a a madman and can crank out pieces with amazing rapidity.  He is also a sculptor and has put up a piece for the Goblinaid campaign.  His Grymm conversions are excellent.  Rumor has it he can sing as well...  Congratulations to him as well on getting a piece casted up as well, which can be found at Grekwood Miniatures at http://www.grekwoodminiatures.co.uk/index.php.  He sculpted the "Grekwood in a Fez" model, and a portion of the sale of his miniature will go to a charitable cause; take a look!  You can find his blog at http://insosworld.blogspot.com/.  He also has a second blog that catalogues his love for all things Grymm: http://grymnoutthere.blogspot.com/.

Another EFS tutorial added

I hope everyone had a good weekend.  The pictures are beginning to roll in from the Duke of Bavaria event, and as you might expect, there are some impressive and inspirational pieces out there.  If you troll through the blog roll, you'll see some folks that have posted their experiences.

I've added another EFS miniature tutorial to the tutorials page.  I think there will be two or three more tutorials that I have done previously and I'll be caught up there.  I have one tutorial not yet finished, but hopefully will be getting started on this month.

Here is another of my older pieces that I like very much.  This was a gift for my youngest daughter on her second birthday.

 

 



Reaper Con and the Blog Highlight

So I've gotten the basics set up--a healthy list of the things I like and the places I go on the web to inspire me.  I encourage you to take a look at the blogs listed as well as a starting list for various miniature makers on our hobby (which I plan to add on to as time goes by).

I am planning on highlighting blogs or artist websites each week.  It will just be a brief overview of the site as well as my humble opinion.  I would like to start with the one site that has provided more inspiration to me than any other; Massive Voodoo.  The site is run by Roman Lappat and Raffaele Picca and I am sure if you are reading this blog, you are familiar with these two gentlemen!  If not, then I strongly encourage you to head over to Massive Voodoo and check it out.  They have a passion for the hobby that is second to none and are so willing to share their knowledge.  I hope on a small scale to recreate their passion in my hometown.  They regularly provide tutorials on various techniques and will occassionally provide other sources of inspiration they have found elsewhere on the web.

Now, a bit about ReaperCon.  Reaper is a miniature maker here in the United States, based in Denton, Texas and has been in the miniature business for quite a while.  They have a broad range of miniatures in the 28mm size and cross a number of genres--fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, pulp, and a bit of the historicals.  They also have a couple of miniature games, the most supported of which is Warlord.  Each year, Reaper opens its doors to the public and has a convention.  I have been twice and thoroughly enjoyed myself both time.  The most recent trip to Denton was a little over a week ago.  What a blast!  I've not been to the larger conventions like GenCon or Adepticon, but ReaperCon is almost more like a reunion than a convention.  It is smaller in size and I think many of the participants come on a yearly basis to get together for some gaming (both RPG and tabletop miniature gaming) as well as painting.  Artists the are employed or freelance for the company often come for the weekend and it is a nice opportunity to meet the painters and sculptors in a more intimate setting.  There are usually a few vendors there as well.  Each year, there are a number of classes taught on various painting techniques, from the basics to intermediate/advanced topics.  The artists employed by Reaper are top shelf and are well recognized within the hobby.

For me, the main draw of the show is the paint contest.  ReaperCon has a dual system for their paint contest; there is an open component as well as a competitive component.  This is one of the things I really like about the Con.  They have an appreciate for the hobby as a whole--you are encourage to bring whatever you would like to be judged in the open component, no matter the size or the producer of the model.  If you want to participate in the competitive component of the competition, all you have to do is paint up a Reaper model and viola' you are entered into the competition.  And what is at stake?  A very nice 12" resin statue of Sophie, the mascot for Reaper.

This year I was fortunate enough to get into 3 classes (they go very quickly!).  Painting Sheer Cloth effects with Rhonda Bender (Wren on the Reaper forums), Lighting and Reflections which is a basic primer on NMM with Laszlo Jakusovszky (producer of the Hot Lead series of DVD's) and Water Effects by Jen Kaufmann (Midnight Lurker on the Reaper forums).  All the classes were excellent and very informative.  My only complaint would be that the rooms themselves were rather chilly and it was difficult to paint when I was shaking!

I entered three pieces this year.  The Dark Carnival diorama, the Drunken Pirate, and Bloodmane.  I was very fortunate to receive a gold medal for the Dark Carnival piece and a silver medal for the Drunken Pirate.  I was also quite stunned to be named runner up for the Best in Show as well the Best in Show for a Reaper piece.  It was a moment I'll never forget!  I was speechless for quite some time afterwards.

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all the wonderful folks at Reaper. I hope to attend next year as well.  Time will tell, but I'm already making plans.

If you have the opportunity to attend ReaperCon, I hope you take it!  It is an amazing experience.