Kickstarter Kit Arrives!

Just a quick picture of what arrived in the mail for me the other day! I'm super stoked except that I can't start painting this stuff until I finish my other projects for L&L. More on that topic tomorrow when I start getting back to regular blogging again.

I gotta say, I'm also digging the ability to do quick posts from my phone too.

From the Desk: New Books!

It arrived! Yay!

I'll skip the review. The Massive Voodoo guys already did a really good review.

Insidious Madness

Ugh, these photos are terrible. They are brighter than the finished product. Some of what I'm going to say here will not sound accurate given the photos. Just trust me on this one.

So this model was the product of two primary factors. The first was my desire to marry the Woe and Nightmare themes that I've been using in my Neverborn collection. The second was to experiment with not only my color theory but also in my actual application of color. I recently watched a documentary about Van Gogh and it got me inspired to push a but more out of my comfort zone. While I'd seen other dual color schemes for this model before on the forums and CMON, I didn't really care for any of them due to the color choices. While I replicated a similar choice of how to separate the colors, I chose a different pairing. My goal was to create a disturbing contrast without making the model visually displeasing to look at.

What went well:
* My favorite comment I got about this model from a friend was "Why is there an eyeball where it's butt should be?"
* Creating a strong clash between green and red worked out nicely for meeting both of my goals.
* The mouths and eyes actually worked out nicely and stand out without unbalancing the overall look.

What could have been better:
* It was an experiment obviously, and things could have been better all around. Blending, detail work, etc. But I'm not really focused on those as major things since this was an experiment.

Photo: Colors in Nature

Random photo of an ice plant blossom. Love the rich purple and light green contrast.

This post is also just a quick test of posting photos from my phone. More explanation later.

From the Desk: Some Models Are Cursed

Warning: This post is just a cathartic rant.

Some models are cursed.

Every so often I work on a painting project where the model just feels like multiple things go wrong. Almost like fate conspires against me to complete the model. No matter how much I want to love the model, it just becomes torture to work on. I had this experience recently with the metal Mature Nephilim and before that with the Extreme Carnivean. I've had it happen plenty of times before as well. Rather than catalog the various models this has happened with, I figured I would think back to the types of curses I've run into.

Model is ugly - Recently this post by Meg Maples about Choosing a Mini for competition painting was a really good read about this very issue. Sometimes models are just ugly.
Model has a "messy" sculpt - Some models are just very crowded with details or the surfaces are sculpted such that they seem overly complex and difficult to differentiate different parts of the model from each other. This becomes especially annoying.
Bad primer coat - Either too thick, or grainy, or whatever.
Model gets damaged during painting - I have this problem with big models. They tip over on my desk and get damaged. It can happen a number of other ways as well. Sometimes even just a bad join and the model comes apart.
Model simply scares away the muse - This is perhaps the most difficult situation. Some models are just not inviting of creativity or excitement. When this happens it takes an enormous amount of willpower to overcome those barriers and just muscle through to the end.

So what's the point of all this? Nothing. I'm just getting this frustration out of my head and heart. I had 2 large models that came under heavy curses recently, and as I prepare to start competition entries for Lock & Load, I need to take a step back and release this frustration.

Mature Nephilim (metal)

Although I rushed the previous Mature Nephilim, this one was rushed even more. Just glad to have it done. This model felt cursed for a number of reasons. Just posting pictures to be done. There will be a post tomorrow probably where I rant about cursed models.

From the Desk: Weekend Roundup #50

Catching up on several missed weeks.

My desk isn't particularly busy right now. This picture tells more than it shows. The Insidious Madness is the only project actually in progress right now from a painting perspective. All my paints got put away last night after I finished up the painting for my second Mature Nephilim. Just final basing and sealing to do. Beyond that I have multiple projects that are trimmed, assembling, or primed, but only the Insidious Madness actually has paint on it. I just need to find my muse. Lately my son has been a holy terror and my job has been mentally taxing. These things really drain my spirit and it becomes hard to hear my muse.

Here is a sample of a "hybrid" base for my Neverborn crew. This one incorporates the Woe traits of green glowing carved runes along with the Nightmare traits of fire from below. I think this worked out pretty well overall and I'm feeling more confident about pulling off future combinations as needed.

On another note, the monkey on my back that is Diablo 3 has returned. The impending release of the expansion got me sucked back in. Honestly this is a good time for it. I need some downtime after the huge Lilith crew push I just finished.

One last note: I can't believe I've done 50 of these roundup posts now. And I don't even do them every weekend!

Mature Nephilim (plastic)

I sort of rushed this model a bit in order to get it done for gaming tonight. The second (metal) Mature Nephilim is still far from done as I opted to not finish them together. I'll work on him later this week. The plastic sculpt is definitely my favorite of the two as the shape and surfaces are just easier to work with.

What went well:
* Wings went better on this one than the Young Nephilim. Painting the creases in the other direction makes them look better.
* Metal bands for the arms really brings some nice pop without causing a shift in overall color appearance. It also just makes him look more badass.
* Larger skin surfaces to work with made the process more fun. I purposefully avoided trying to get my blending too smooth and just focused on the color and contrast instead. I'm pretty happy with the end result even if the photos make it look terrible.

What could have been better:
* Again, red loincloth just doesn't fit in. I needed to add more color complexity to it I suspect. Definitely a learning experience though.
* Same with the leather bands on his leg.
* And finally, his feet being so wide apart cause some real challenges given my basing scheme. I feel like I sort of got lucky with this one.