Updates Galore

Seems like a long time since an update!  3 months to be precise. :)  I have a few things on my mind, and I prefer painting to blogging, but I am committing to making a more regular occurrence of blogging.


I have not been idle during this time away from the keyboard.  The difficult thing for me has been feeling positive about my work.  I see so many incredible artists who produce masterpieces, of vibrant colours, intense contrast and exceptional innovation.  I find it both equally motivating and disheartening.  Sometimes I bring things together into a piece that I am really happy with, other times it just does not quite feel right.

I have painted a few pieces recently that other great painters have also painted, like Conan and the Lost Princess, and the Fade by Mirico.  It is interesting when I compare my own work to others.  Roman Lappat and Sergio Calvo Rubio have painted version of the Conan, which I've put beside mine here in this image:

The piece on the left is done by Roman, right by Sergio.  Mine falls down a lot when placed beside these, you can see how incredible the atmosphere on Roman's piece is, so much beautiful colour hidden in each little area.  Sergio has the most incredible blends, great harmonious colour and such vibrant contrast.


Once again, I know where I am falling down.  It's time spent.  I get so enthusiastic about new pieces, incredible models out there that I want to paint, and I lose steam on a piece.  I need to be able to motivate myself into painting a piece until it is done, and not when I get bored.


Or at least, that is what I need to do if my goal is to improve the end result of my pieces.  I am not really sure if that is my goal at this moment.  I think my goal is to paint, to enjoy my art, and to experiment with the beauty that can be created in miniature painting.



I find myself trying to expand the way I see colours and paint things "different".  I would like to be able to finish a piece and have someone not be able to easily recognise it as mine, because it has such diversity of style.  Maybe thats not an achievable goal, or even necessarily a good one, but I am going to keep pushing.


In other great news, I've managed to sell quite a few works recently to some fantastic collectors.  They've been exceptional to deal with, and have been very appreciative of my work.  It is so humbling for me, that people enjoy my work enough to pay hard earned money for it.  I also ran a painting class, which was successful enough that I've organised a second one for a few weeks from now.  I'll do a more detailed writeup on that in the near future.  The models I painted for the class are below (three pirates!)

I also entered in the Queensland Model Hobby expo with the following pieces.

I scored two Gold, for the Elf Rider, and the Twisted Shaman, two Silver, for Excelsy and the Minotaur Gladiator, and three bronze, for Conan, Father of Asgard and Red Riding Hood.  This was a nice point for me to reflect, because I entered last year with a number of pieces, and got three Bronze.  I don't paint models for competition, I paint because I love it, but the acknowledgement of my mentors, and peers is nice for motivation.



Here are some of the works I've done over the last three months, and a WIP of my latest piece.