Enlightenment

"Peace comes from within. Don't seek it without."

                                                                                                           Siddahrta Gautama

Thanks to Vittorio and Rusto for the pictures.

Chris

Live painting announcement

On Wednesday next week (4th April) you can follow another live painting demonstration here on the blog. I will start around 8 am CET and paint all day long. If you want to see what the frst painting demo looked like, click here. There won't be any video footage, as this would be way to time consuming, but I will post tons of pictures of the process and explain my thoughts and tecniques while I paint.

I am not sure what kind of miniature I will paint but it will most likely be one of this years GD entries for Germany. Could be the next steps on Ascianus or something completely new, if I finish the conversion in time. This time, it will definitely be a fantasy/scifi-mini, nothing historical.

Feel free to spread this around your favourite blog/ forum/ whatever. If you would like a certain tecnique to be in focus or have any other wishes, let me know via comment.

Chris

Where to go?

Today I would like you, the readers of this blog, to get involved. After about two and a half years of more or less regular blogging, I feel that it might be time for some changes/ adjustments. Although this blog is way more succesful than I would ever have wished for, I am always looking for ways to get things better.

If there is anything that bothers you since quite some time, if there is anything you would do in a different way, please let me know. I am looking for feedback concerning all aspects of a blog, for example content, layout, consistency.....

You can either leave a comment here or send me an email:  ugotitbad@gmx.de

Thank you very much in advance for your time!!!

Chris

The new showcase

Moving to a new place can have multiple positive effects. I searched for a showcase for a few weeks until my wife came upon this beauty. Concerning the price, I would have never bought it, but encouraged by my wife, I did.^^ As I said....positive effects...

The beauty is entirely made of glass and weighs 93 kg, thats more than I do. The flash on the pictures is no LED behind the showcase but a reflection of the camera. These are the best pics I could get in 3 minutes.^^

A few minis are still in my old flat but I didn't want to wait any longer to show you this.

Hope you like what my wife encouraged me to buy. However, I still don't know how to get it to the next flat in one piece in a couple of years....

Chris

How to...win a Golden Demon (Lesson 4: Choose the right miniature)

If you are new to this series of articles, make sure to read the first, second and third article, before you go on here.

This article will more than ever show my view and my understanding of a Golden Demon competition and one very hard decision you have to take at a very early point: what kind of miniature do you want to paint? By making a wrong decision, you can reduce your chances for a Demon to almost zero. On the other hand, you can increase your chances and the attention your miniature gets, by following some rather simple rules.

First and foremost, you have to like the miniature you decide to paint. It doesn't make any sense to get your hands on something new and flashy, if you don't like the concept, theme or composition of the miniature. By ignoring this rule, painting that miniature (what usually takes a long time) can become quite a torture. Follow you own taste here, but don't buy the minis on your shortlist before considering a few more important aspects.

1. New vs. old

During the last couple of years, it seems like the latest miniatures on sale are more likely to win a Golden Demon than something you might not even find on the mail order list. There are tons of examples I could list here, but i won't. Go to demonwinner and see what I mean. The Golden Demon contest is there to get GW's miniatures painted as good as possible. If you have a recent miniature and something old painted at about the same level of quality, the newer one will win. That does not mean, that the quality of the paintjob is left aside. However, you should be aware of this fact concerning the marketing strategies of GW. I never tried to gain profit from this "rule" but my chances for winning would have been way higher if I had done so. The decision is up to you.

2. Miniature composition

Lets start with an example to make my point clear:

While the miniature on the left seems like a random mix of bits that lay around on the table, the miniature on the right has very clear lines and a defined focus. This makes it a lot easier to paint a miniature to high standards. The numerous details on the left miniature disturb your attention and distract from the important areas like the face. The right one shows a lot of details as well but they don't overlap the face or the main body structure. Details like the shield and cloak add room for creative ideas, while the armour on the left miniature limits it in a way.

A good composition can hardly be explained or taught, you have to feel it. Most miniatures that win a Demon are simple miniatures with a clear focus.

3. Sculpt vs. conversion vs. out of box

I can't sculpt at all, mainly because I never really put effort into that area of the hobby. This is a clear deficit towards many other painters that go to a Golden Demon competition. Full sculpts can be tricky, if the jury thinks it doesn't show the typical GW-style. On the other side, a sculpted mini is something unique, that instantly catches the viewers attention. A miniature that is "just" taken out of the box must be painted extremly well, to compensate the fact that it is something people have seen over and over again. If you can't sculpt or havn't tried it yet, you might think about a conversion. A good conversion doesn't look like one, but seems to be a new mini out of the box. That way, you can increase your winning chances. Here is an example from one of my winning miniatures:

I only changed both arms to give the miniature the look of something new. Very simple but effective.

So if you decide to sculpt something, make sure to match the GW style, maybe use an artwork or a similar miniature as a reference. If you don't convert at all, paint like hell.

4. Character

You hardly ever see a winning miniature that represents pikeman "x" from regiment "y". Winners are special, they look like tiny living creatures. Don't go for a random Skaven from the Island of Blood box, just because they are cheap. Make your miniature stand out by painting character onto a characterful sculpt. When you walk around a Golden Demon competition, you most often see random miniatures. They will never win because they are not noticed by the jury.

In order to be able to put character, the chosen miniature must fit your painting style without leaving the upper rules aside. Hard task, isn't it?

This is it for today, thanks a lot for reading. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please leave a comment.

Chris

About losing

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart."

                                                                                            Robert Ingersoll (1833 - 1899)

An epic moment I will never forget - taken at the German GD 2011

Chris

Review: Painting class with Stephan Rath (derwish)

Last weekend was great. Not only did I meet Goatman (Sascha Buczek ) and the monkey gang, but I also took part at Stephan Raths painting class in Munich. I hardly could wait for this weekend, as I haven't painted for several months (new place, lots of work, bla bla reasons...). After I picked up Goatman in Augsburg and showed him the new place, we headed towards Munich. After about one hour, we arrived in a very priviledged district of Munich. Even more priviledged was the house (we could also call it minor castle) where the painting class took place. The inhabitants are students and belong to a "Corps". They do fencing (not kidding) from time to time and man - they know how to drink.^^

We met so many friends there and instantly felt comfortable. Some malicious tongues compared Goatman and me with Statler and Waldorf.

Here are a few pictures of the event:

Stephan started the painting class by pointing to the fact that he will show his way of painting, but that we would not try to convince anybody of his theories. You can decide wether you share his thoughts or not. That is a very clever way of thinking, in my opinion. His theoretic parts where short but very clear. He didn't want to get paople scared and think too much about painting. Therefore, we very soon started to paint. I decided not to paint the "Lathiem" but instead follow my motivation and go on with Ascianus.

I have the impression that all participants where impressed by Stephans extremly detailed way of seeing miniatures. This was visible all the time, but most on Sunday, when we painted some freehands. I failed very hard BUT I finally understood how Stephan gets those details to such a great perfection. The solution is quite simple but takes a lot of practice. A tutorial can be seen here.

Well, what can I tell you as a resume? I killed tons of Dr. Pepper Coke, killed a bed, killed a banner BUT I finally got back my motivation. Thanks a lot to Stephan for a very instructive weekend worth every penny. Go on like this and just stay the way you are.

Many more pictures can be seen here. Enjoy...

Chris

Quote of the day

"Some people, hear their own inner voices, with great clearness, and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, but they become legend."

                                                                                                       (Jim Harrison - Legends of the Fall)

Chris

WIP: Ascianus

After a long and instructive weekend with Stephan Rath (derwish) in Munich I am back home. I won't write anything about the workshop yet as I want to share my thoughts and some pictures very soon. However, it was an extremly interesting and motivating workshop and painting session with many friends.

Here is a picture of a current wip, another victim of my purple phase. I am seriously thinking about entering nothing but purple miniatures at this years Games Day in Germany. As this still is an early wip, I am highly interested in feedback. The axe has been changed to make him look more brutal, he somehow reminds me of the Butcher from Diablo.

Chris