Gone Fishin'

I've obviously not been posting here for quite some time. The last 4 months went sideways on me. Family health issuers, alternate art paths, work insanity, etc. Honestly, I was just struggling to find time for hobby stuff and this blog quickly got cut from my attentions. I have actually painted a number of things, but it's all been speed painting for a Necron 40K army. I'm now back to painting some Malifaux stuff again, although it's somewhat limited for the time being. In addition to painting, I've been spending some of my hobby time on sketching and experimenting with color using other mediums.

I'd like to say that I'll be back to posting here again, but honestly it's unlikely. Going forward if you want to follow me, the best place is vxghost on Instagram for stuff I consider more serious artistic efforts, or @sboding on Twitter for more general finished gaming models.

Coppelius

Finally filling in this model after ages. It's legitimately the last Neverborn model I needed for my collection. I actually completed this model in under 48 hours (blister to photograph). It was a fairly simple model to paint, with not a lot of distinct surfaces.

Serena Bowman

I tried to duplicate the box are on this one, mostly because I liked the color scheme. One specific note though is that I used a little gold metallic paint for the highlights on the yellows to create a little more sparkle and pop. I've never done this sort of thing before and I have to admit that I kinda like the effect. I might use this again on something else.

Brutal Emissary

Painted for a friend. Such a delightful model.

Lucius

This is my Neverborn version of Lucius, because let's face it, he's supposed to be more Neverborn than guild. So I inverted the typical color scheme by having predominantly purple instead of red. I really enjoyed painting this model despite the rather static looking pose. He's so regal and prancy looking.

Zoraida

Somewhat speed painted. I had a lot of fun with the details of this model and just experimenting. She's a swampy/messy sort of lady so going crazy with wet blending was a logical choice. I tried to make her hair look greasy and her skin look dirty and pallid. I added a little rust to the needles as well just to emphasize the wetness.

Rougarou

Loved painting these. Quick and easy, but nice details.

It was also a more successful experiment in hiding join lines between plastic pieces, which worked pretty well. Both models had seams right down the centers of their bodies, and I feel like I succeeded in hiding the majority of the seams without excessive painting work. A bit more practice and I should be able to deal with most seams without major putty work anymore, which will take a lot of the sting out of assembly for me. This is especially important for my painting style since I depend on washes and glazes a lot, and seams just become so painfully obvious when using washes.

One annoyance though was the howling model had a sculpted rock it's supposed to be standing on which I didn't like with my basing scheme, so I had to add in an extra piece to the base. In the end it worked out fine though.

2017 Wrap Up and 2018 Resolutions

[Disclaimer: This post contains fluffy, introspective nonsense... Just like last year's did.]

2017 was terrible year. This recap is going to be pretty short and depressing. I recommend skipping it.

Last year's goals:
1) Paint the Batman model for my comics fixer - Fail! So very sad.
2) Play 52 games - Fail! I lost count, but I think I only played about 25 games or so in.
3) Read 2 books about painting - Fail! I read almost finished one book.


Probably the big highlight for me was playing in 2 Malifaux tournaments back to back (1 at Kubla and 1 at a LGS). Both events were a blast and I met lots of great people.
Beyond that, my year was brutal for hobby and playing. My wife was super sick. Like, hospital for 2 months sick. She's still not completely recovered either. Beyond just family and friends, I am really thankful for this hobby as a stress release outlet. Painting especially is very helpful.

Models painted last year:
Neverborn: 54
Other Malifaux: 15
Legion: 3
Cryx: 1
Looking at it from a size perspective:
Small based: 55
Medium based: 8
Large based: 10

73 models is actually pretty respectable given the insanity of this last year. Significantly less than the 100 last year, but way more than I would have expected.

Goals for next year:
1) Read 2 books about painting - Because continual learning is important.
2) Paint at least 1 model purely for artistic desire - Because I really am enjoying painting for the sake of painting.
3) Finish painting my Neverborn collection - This should be easy, but I'm setting it as a goal anyway.

So my goals for next year are much simpler. In fact, I'm loathe to even set goals, but I'm going to do it anyway.

And that's it. Here's to the close of a rough 2017 and hopes for a great 2018. Cheers to all!