Obligitory Gamesday 2010 Post

For the past few weeks, you might have seen the rut I've been in hobby-wise manifest itself as a lack of updates here on TPC.  I hated that I just didn't have anything to really share with you all, and every day I came back to the site hoping that I would have some spark of inspiration.  It didn't happen though, and along with other complications and schedule issues, I haven't put a brush to model in a few weeks now.  That's not to say I've gone completely silent creatively, but my will to model and paint miniatures has waned and I was desperately in need of a hobby wake up call.  When I looked at the date  last Monday, I realized that Gamesday was finally upon me, and that I might just find that all important jolt of hobby life we all need from time to time.

I went to bed at 2am, I've been staying up late through nights along with my wife's schedule, but went to bed 'early' in the hope that I would have plenty of energy from a short sleep and had fully intended to wake up at around 0630-0700 that morning for an early morning trek to Baltimore where I would try and meet up with a few folks prior to the event.  0630 came and went and I found myself waking from a dream state at 0930 and cursing soon followed.  The roads were thankfully sparse with traffic and I was able to get into town just around 1030 and find parking near by the convention center, for the low price of $25 for the day, I grabbed my gear and headed in.

I completely expected to be wholly overwhelmed by the event, and I was not disappointed.  I stood in line for a short time until a lady came along handing out the lanyards to those who already had their names on the tickets.  When I entered the hall I was nearly taken out by a few staffers yelling as they ran by with a long tape measure before yelling 'BOOM!' once they stopped.  The round had apparently hit its mark and I again almost lost my feet as they started to move the tape as I went to cross it!

The hall was jam packed with tables, people, models and terrain.  As it was my first time out to Gamesday, I hadn't the slightest clue where to start, so I began to wander, losing myself to spectacle of it all.  Then over the loudspeaker the announcement came that there was a mere 15 minutes left before the Golden Demon registration would close!  I had to get to the room two floors above and I didn't have a clue where it was!  Heading upstairs I took a look around and eventually found the room where I was able to get my models entered without issue.  It was slightly disheartening that I knew I had nothing painted specifically for the competition, but pulled from my collection the night prior and decided to enter my Skaven Warband, a Grey Death Marine Squad, and Venerable Dreadnought Perseus from my Sons of Medusa.  Looking through the competition I knew I didn't quite have the strongest chance, but I wasn't shooting for a win, just a chance to enter a contest that I have wanted to since I first started this hobby so many years ago!

Making my way back down to the main hall, more wandering ensued.  I had hoped to meet up with various online acquaintances but bad planning on all fronts left me with only a single number to get in contact with one of them so I shot my friend Alex 'Empchild' a text and waited for a reply.  Eventually getting back to me I met up with him in the Demon room where we talked shop for a while and he introduced me to various other online entities I've known of/talked with including but not limited to Dave Taylor, Mathieu Fontaine and Jeff Lybbert.  It was a real pleasure to meet everyone and finally put faces to the online personalities.  In a chance encounter I noticed another Storm Wardens shirt wearing individual lounging in the area and struck up a conversation to find out the it was Mr. From the Warp himself, Ron Saikowski.

With every new face, more great conversation followed.  Hanging out with some online buddies I'd met for the first time from Massachusetts, Empchild being one of the four, I was in the company of instant friends, with common ground in our fantastic hobby, but quickly finding more to talk about within minutes.

One new face in particular was a welcome sight.  Sitting with a small unassuming folder full of artwork and a small contingent of traffic around his table was John Blanche.  I've always been a fan of his work and took the chance to chat him up.  We talked at length about various art related ideas and understandings.  It's always wonderful to talk with a successful person in a field I would love to find myself working in once I've finished my degree.  He was incredibly nice, and was more than willing to share his thoughts on artwork and his approach to it.  It was an honor to meet him and I thanked him for his time and shook his hand.

I had no plans to buy anything.  But plans go out the window quickly in the midst such a frenzy!  Finding my way into the on site store, I wandered along the books.  Seeing they had 'The Horus Heresy: Collected Visions', I knew I was about to spend more money.  I snatched a copy and picked up my Gamesday mini before heading for the line.  While there I met another purple heart veteran who I was able to pick out from his frankly amazing prosthetic (above the knee with a functional joint!) and a purple heart patch on his wheelchair.  I stepped over to talk with him shortly, trade quick war zone info and just generally say hi to another brother veteran.

Eventually, I was able to get through what seemed like a far longer line than it was and the new book and mini was mine!  The book is chock full of Blanche artwork and since he was so accessible, I strolled back to his table asking him to sign the book as a memento of my meeting him.  He was more than happy to and proceeded to John Hancock the first blank page in the book commenting that he had plenty of space to work with.  Another quick hand shake and thanks and I was off to explore more.

Thankfully, there was a bag check area that I wasn't aware would be available.  I handed over my new wares and my Battlefoam case and put my ticket in my lanyard along with my ticket and Golden Demon tickets, and went back to wandering.

If you've never been to Gamesday, it's hard to explain just how overwhelming it is.  I couldn't settle in more than a few minutes at any one area and likely did a few miles of roaming while I looked for a few more familiar faces or trying to find the few I'd already met again.  I would continue to make my way up to the Demon area throughout the day and talk, with spatters of hall roaming with Empchild and some of the others from his group.

Eventually I was suckered into helping paint the Realm of Battle community board that was to be raffled off, and found my way to the terrain build and take table as well.  I was also able to get in on a giveaway frenzy that happened near the terrain build area and walked away with an Eldar Bonesinger.  Next time around I'll likely try and do more in the way of events, tables, and other activities, but this being my first time out, I was happy to just be in the event!

Up in the Demon room, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my entries made first cut and gave the other entries that made the cut a look as well.  I knew I didn't have much chance to win a Demon, but making the cut was a win for me, considering I hadn't specifically painted any of them for the competition!

The Demon winners were displayed around mid afternoon and congratulations and adoration made it's way through the people crowding around the winners case.  My friend Empchild picked up his first Demon, which he had been working on getting for some time.  It was a really special experience to be around people winning for the first time.  The awarding of the statues was humbling, though I'm sure my choice of company during the ceremony had something to do with it, I'm quite sure I was the only one in my small group without a statue in hand!  Next year!

With an event like Gamesday, it's hard to not go into it with some expectations on your experience.  In nearly every case, the day was a success.  I had a fantastic time, more thanks to the excuse to get out and meet people than the activities themselves.  I'm a very social person when it comes to the hobby, and without that interaction (online or in person) it has hardly half the draw.  After the Chicago announcement was made, this social networking day was still ongoing as my new group of friends from Massachusetts  and I headed to the inner harbor for some much needed nourishment and a beer to unwind.

The night drew on quickly and I made my way home.  My dogs were extremely excited to see me when I opened the door and I realized just how sore I was after all of that walking and standing.  After a quick walk outside with the pups, I settled into a chair and didn't move for a few hours.  The day complete, muscles sore, mind exhausted, I ended the night relaxing at the helm of various hobby websites, my enthusiasm for wargaming renewed.

If you're looking for photos of the Golden Demon entries, you really need to check out The Stuff of Legends for photos of all of the winners and a good chunk of honorable mentions, to include my own models!  If we didn't meet this time around, be sure to stay tuned for future events myself or Realgenius will be attending! 

Ask The Corps: Artists or Technicians?

We've got something a little different today on TPC and it has been something I've been mulling and pondering for a while and it came up recently in an Adepticon class where my instructor flat-out stated: "Miniature painters are not artists, we are technicians."  I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea:

What are we, that paint miniature models?

This questions has been in my mind recently while working on some Harlequin.  I was searching results on CMON admiring the results and thinking about how heavily I was going to use freehand patterns.  I think it is easy to go too heavy on diamonds or some other pattern and end up with Harlequin that look like bad golfing pants.  And then I came across a model and decided, "That looks good, let me try to replicate that."

While I went about the business of getting ready to paint I thought about how much I am really going to contribute with this model and how much "art" I'm putting into it.  I didn't sculpt it.  I'm not bringing any new technique to the world by painting it-- quite the opposite, since I'm trying to replicate someone else's technique.  And really the model is going to only look at good as the weakest part of my technique-- by improving my techniques I'll get the model close to how I want it to look.

And techniques!  Here I am writing on a blog dedicated to improving the look of a model by providing hundreds of techniques and technique improvements.  A lot of what we provide are shortcuts, quick tips, and reductions to get a good look on your miniatures.  All of which is sometimes a dirty job, but I'm not really sure it falls into the category of "art".

Speaking of, last night on Dirty Jobs Mike Rowe was in a mannequin factory and they had a segment where the faces are painted to simulate make-up.  There was a wall of originals, each created by the designer or mannequin artists to go with a certain body, but most were copies of make-up from magazines that was popular at the time.  The technicians in the make-up room grab an original off the wall and paint the new head to match the original.  They look great in the end, but it is just a knock-off of a knock-off.

With all of the internet pictures of models and painting techniques bouncing around in my brain, sometimes I feel like the technician in a room of knock-offs.  As Palahniuk writes, "a copy of a copy of a copy."  Something like artistic insomnia I suppose.

But then I see a miniature that is so far out of ordinary, something so different than I'm used to seeing that the photocopier breaks and I start thinking, well maybe there's more art to this than I think.  The Adepticon Rogue Demon was full of such miniatures: The Merman, Karabidae MK III, Inquisitorial Land Raider, Horus-- those were just a few.  While there is a great deal of technique on display, it just feels wrong to call the people that created these models mere "hobbyists" or "technicians".

So then where do we stand?  To make a car analogy, we painters are doing a lot more than changing the oil, but we aren't exactly building engines either.  I'm sure most of us start out trying to master and develop the basic techniques, but isn't that true of any student of the arts?  When do we cross that line and is there art in miniatures besides the sculptors?

Nothing like a little rambling monologue for a Monday afternoon.  So what do you think?  Are miniature painters really artists or merely technicians?  Let's get that new Disqus system some exercise.

Friday Quick Tip: Motivation and Momentum

We have a lot of Friday quick tips on how to paint better. Whether a new technique or a new tool, a lot of the site is dedicated to making your painting work better, faster and easier.

This tip is not about doing better, but just doing. A friend of mine just got together a new army. He's play-tested it a few time, tweaked his list, replaced all of his proxy models and assembled most of it. I myself have gathered together what will be my Novamarines Badab army. It sits in several grey and silver piles on a shelf of my painting desk. My army list is complete and the piles of unassembled Marines are even organized into squads-piles. There's really nothing more I can do except put it together and paint it.

But that's the problem. We'd both in the same spot, and probably a spot that anyone who's played any miniature wargame is familiar with: no motivation. We are in the Land of Painting Malaise. (Hello, my name is Jim and I've got APM: army painting malaise.) The theme is good, the list is solid, we've finally got all the models and can't wait to get it all finished and on the table but...

Meh.

The hardest part of fully painting an army is starting to paint an army.

Now there are dozens of good ways to get motivated and I'm sure you've heard them. Reading some source or "fluff" like a Black Library novel is a great way to get the creative juices flowing. I also love to check out what others are doing: browsing the websites of Golden Daemon painters or Bell of Lost Souls or DakkaDakka are great sources of inspiration. Some people like to set goals, work in batches; all techniques you've probably heard before.

But when you are in that place-- that place where you wonder if this is a hobby or if it is "work". That place of hardcore APM that no amount of visually inspiring fiction or incredibly detailed examples can survive. That place that some people never escape from (you know who you are, leaders of the grey and silver forces!) and the place I am in right now.

There is only one way to get out of that place and break free of APM: paint with no excuses.

No excuses! Nothing about your job or school or wife of spouse. No excuses about it not turning out right or that you still haven't decided on a color scheme. No excuses about not being a good painter (how do you think you're going to get better without painting?) No excuses about not having the right equipment or needing some more primer.

Just go paint. Don't try or plan to paint. Don't set a painting goal or make a checklist. Just do it. Listen to Yoda: there is no 'try'.




Paint 3 guys. Now. Then paint 3 tomorrow and 3 the next day and keep painting for 2 weeks, painting at least 5 of the 7 days each week. Two weeks-- just do it. Force yourself to paint. This isn't a hobby, it is a war. If you can't win the battle of motivation, how are you going to win on the battle field?

After two weeks you will have 30 (or more) models painted. And that will provide the key to getting your army completed; an 'm' word that doesn't have anything to do with motivation.

Momentum.

Getting the last 30 models painted is much, much easier than getting the first 30 painted. So start now. Don't even comment, just go paint! Like I'm going to do right now.

Post a picture of a model you painted this week. And make sure you paint more today!