INFINITY FOR LUKASThis last month i've been working in silence, tying up loose ends and sorting out my order queue. I have had some old clients get back in contact about Flames of war orders which i am super excited to get started on in the coming week or two. I finished some of daves mixed stuff and the infinity bits for lukas, i can't wait for Lukas to get all his work back, due to Covid we went with a "send it all back together" approach (also better because of shitty brexit) and he is going to get a christmas size box of painted miniatures! I had fun painting these infinity bits but i think i may not paint infinity in the future. I've spoke to lukas, maybe i could just charge a little more but i prefer not to charge to much. In my eyes this hobby and job isn't about rinsing people capitolistically, i try my best to keep costs down but with some painting styles (e.g. the "infinity" style) it's just impossible. I give every client i work with some kind of discount, which is ok as most orders vary in style, size and length, meaning i can recoup the "cost" in one way or another with style and technique choices. When you've painted professionally for this long you don't worry about how you're going to paint something, you just do. Sadly infinity takes so long to paint due to the fine edges, this is the reason i don't paint much 40k any more. I was charging £10.00-£15.00 a miniature and it made me feel sick, i didn't want the cost for the client to be that high. Don't get me wrong they look awesome (literally i'm so proud) but due to the cleanliness of the paint job i shall think long before painting more Infinity in the future. As i become a better painter my time and effort input becomes more congruent with my costs and output so i could in fact be pondering a very simple problem that in essence doesn't exist. Most artists undervalue their work (except usualy for the famous ones...) and i think maybe it's time to do another re jig of the costs, being more specific for each range i like to paint. The irony being with these infinity is that they bring me such joy to look at, especially the magnet pinned spider robots, which where a realy adventure and the results look fantastic. LOTR FOR DAVE AND LUKASI also had the oppertunity to paint some Uruks from lord of the rings this month, i adore lotr models. I would paint LOTR all day if i had a choice, sadly a large chunk of the LOTR collecting community are hobbyists themselves so i shall simply keep wishing and hoping. It would be my dream to just paint an entire collection. I shall pop Lukas's orc bow on here to, just in case i didn't share it yet. I also finished Daves covenanters (i hope i'm writing that correctly) and i am as always having fun painting in a vaguely "dallimore" style that Dave always enjoys. Dave to is waiting on the return of this lot as i have some other bits i'm just started yesterday for him (after someone broke into a parcel of his on the way here and nicked some bits! But don't worry i like to take care of my clients so i re purchased the pieces and we're back on track, no cost to Dave of course.) PETES GERMANSPete's SS where a good laugh. I worked on these to provide a style and color pallete that matched his current collection, in fact we spoke a lot about paint styles and colors, and i had a really good oppertunity to think about how i structure the paint costs of the business. I think i may begin to offer a "flat coat" rate, for gamers who fancy the "no bells and whistles" style over high detail. It pleases me so that the high detail obsession of the early 21st century is already wearing off, i personally think gaming should be about gaming, and the super duper high detail paint style of some painters and some companies can get me down a bit as i feel the pressure to match. I knocked up this little base marker for Pete but i forgot to send it so i've popped it in the post this morning and it should be with him soon. I hope he likes it, i had time to kill while i awaited instruction, so it was time to kit bash with those lovely spares. MOVING FORWARD - OTHERWORLD FOR DAVENext up i'm going to whip through some otherworld stuff as mentioned above. The otherworld miniature line is fantastic and just the right amount of character. Taking what i jsut said about detail i want to note, detail DOES NOT MEAN CHARACTER. Take many miniatures from the gamesworkshop lines. They're often repeated soul less high detail mechanical constructs with absolutely no character inside. Then compare them to low detail lines like the 90's warzone. Yes they look gimicky and at times completely nuts but the character pours out. Some sculptors hit this happy medium and the sculpttors for Otherworld manage that in spades. One of the beautiful things about characterful miniatures is that they take paint very well. The more Characterful a miniature the easier it is to decide what type of paint what area. Ultimately this means that the miniature is much quicker to paint and much more fun. THE FLAMES OF WAR BOYS!Pic below - some FOW i did for this returning client many years ago. I always loved seeing those horses lined up. Finally pictured below is the two rather comprehensive Flames Of War orders i have on the go. Luckilly these are (i think but i am not sure) collections of two friends, which is awesome as it means i can color match their armies and they will look great on the table together. So check back for more on the Otherworld stuff and the Flames of war soon. I shall also aim to get some good portfolio pics up of the Infinity bits.
0 Comments
|
SUBSCRIBE TO FOLLOW ALL UPDATES.
ABOUTA blog for the w.i.p element of the EZPainter process. ARCHIVES
March 2024
|