Today i photographed some of the finished valhallan order for Bram. I have been working on this order for most of 2020 and some of the years prior (in segments). I am super happy with the "peak" pieces (the tanks, ogrynn and bear riders) and i am also super happy with the general continuity of the white tones on the vehicles and the weathering and such. I have noticed some lack of continuity among the snow bases in that some of them (the earlier ones) i think had a bit less white paint mixed in the mix i made so i will give some of them a top layer of snow flock tomorrow and then start wrapping this one up for Bram. 

I took some great photos (and some not so great) of some of the other bits and tomorrow i'll ensure i have finished photos of everything. I am simply so happy to be completed on this, but because of covid and some mental health dips it's taken longer than expected. However there was no time limit on this order, so it's still a very positive achievment for me and my client. I can't wait to hear how they shred up the 41st millenium. 

Making headway on this last few bits on the valhallan order. This week i've finished the two last tanks (completeing the order...for now) and i've only got the snow to get around to. Talking of snow i laid out the entire order on a white table and it suddenly became apparent that some of the bases where less white than others. I decided to have a go at fixing that this week. I think i know what happened, i think i used more white paint in the later bases i did (i have been painting brams valhallans for a long time now! Some of the techniques have developed over the order. 

The entire order put together is vast and impressive. I'm super impressed by Bram's collecting skills but also i'm very pleased with my work, i feel like i have managed to make an army that could very well be a bit boring (mostly white and grey) and made it something unique and something that pops on the table, also something that is undoubtedly uniform. 

Something i have been sitting on for a little while is a new project inspired by zombie movies, zombie tv shows and zombie video games. I plan to mash a few of my favorite together and make a zombie game for my friends to play. I figure zombie are more relatable than fantasy so that's a good start. Also Zombies are super fun to paint. I've taken to finishing the bosses first, they're quicker and simple dry brush jobs. The models i am using are all from ebay and are super cheap. The company i buy them from buys them in bulk from fac tory leftovers (after board game production runs for kickstarter etc). So i may pay a few more pence per mini but i am not paying anything near the prices of zombicide models on the shelf (which are disgustingly marked up, it actually makes me a bit sick). Anyway keep your eyes peeled on this one, it's going to get bloody!

By this point readers of my blog will know that my most loyal client Dave is a real favorite, and so are his little orders he sends me. Dave tends to send me smaller and more digestible work that fits in with the games he's playing at the time (i assume). Here i've painted some old school white metal civilian sculpts for dave in a vaguely post medieval color scheme. Such good fun and such a quick little jobby that i can squeeze in before i get back onto those valhallans again. 

The order also contained these three riders. As much as i personally adore and prefer the older school chunky sculpts of the much missed white metal era of wargaming sadly they don't draw new customers to well (portfolio wise) as the newer gamers and most gamers in general tend to buy into the obsession with more detail and more features of modern models. As such these likely won't make it into the portfolio (gallery) pages of the website but as with all of Daves orders they will hold a small and special place in my creative process heart. 

I have begun work on the valahallan tanks that remain to that big 40k order but since it's all washes and drybrushing to start with i shan't overshare that process until i have some nice stuff to photograph. 

Alongside my current commissions i have a personal backlog of 100's of miniatures (mostly for roleplaying) that i hope to catch up on in 2020. I decided to start with these fun fantasy villagers i have from ebay. As you can see i'm in the process of basecoats right now, although the one tavern wench wench model is finished. 

We're far to quick to put ourselves down us artists. I decided to work in relative silence this last week but i got through the entire end bits of the big roleplaying order and by golly am i excited to get these great bits back in the hands of the client Dom. Dom has been flexible, fun and it's been a joy communicating with him. I broke the portfolio sections (on the roleplaying page) down into mobs, dragons and npcs. 

Take a look here. 

I've been struggling a bit this month, i feel that corona finally caught up with me along with a stolen bicycle, broken phone and some personal issues it's been a really hard month. I did manage to move my work studio into another space and that has been helpful to relieve pressures but i have subsequently been doing a bit less work. In saying that i must recognise that i haven't stopped and have been working quietly when possible in private. I have finished the entirety of the DnD order (in basecoat) and i have just the photographed models left to finish properly. These smaller bones models can be really fun because they are simple models, like a "color in the numbers" kind of practise. 

The rest of the order awaits their bases which i shall do in one sweep when all of the models are painted fully. I can't wait for Dom to get these back and see the completed order in all of it's creative, colorful glory. 

I finished those riders and the other valhallan infantry a while back but i haven't shared them yet, one of them needs some final touches as the paint came off the wire "reigns" and the other needs a new hand, sadly when attempting to put the reigns through his hand hole the hand cracked off and did the age old classic of "jumped across the room and disapeared" that we all know to well as gamers and painters! I shall sort that soon and then it is only two tanks left on this valhallan order. For the time being i have decided to finish the DnD order as i can get something finished and posted out which i think will lift my spirits regarding work (a sense of acomplishment) and then i shall do the same with the valhallans and then when me and lukas have reconvened in email i can finish off his troll. 

So the heatwave passed and was replaced by relentless rain. Not a problem as i needed to re adjust my work times and planning regarding commissions so now i can do just that. 
Starting with i knocked out this 10mm martians commission for Dave and i had a blast doing them. They may be the most finicky models i've ever assembled and i do think they could be improved massively but the finished look is just great and i really enjoy them now that they're done. Gentle handling will be the key to enjoying these long term for my client. As per the new landing page gallery plan i've concocted i took some war of the worlds shots. 

In an effort to spark creative inspiration i finished my tmnt models from brother vini  and took a shot with them to, as the robots seem to suit the tmnt style perfect.

I have also been working on the valhallans but since the color scheme is very similar to before i shan't publically keep sharing lots of pics of these, i shall instead wait a few weeks until the total order is complete and i can knock out one big photography afternoon at once. 

coming up- 
Dungeons and dragons infantry work, more valhallans and tanks, necromunda and infinity. Lots to come! 

I spent most of yesterday moving my work desk and studio in my home into a spare room and making therefore a better place to work undistracted. I finished this trolls weapon promptly today and i like the outcome but i fear it may be off kilter with my clients idea. I shall ask him for notes. it is definitely brutal and definitely unique. 

I also popped the final highlights on these troopers for bram and i'm excited to get on with the pasty fluffy snow basing. I may do a little photo tutorial but my technique is really just pva with bicarb and white paint. Pretty simple but a great finish. 

These orcs have been a joy from start to end. Their strange color scheme was wonderfully fun and the red flowers on the bases just add that cute little finishing pop of contrast that i love. I looked at the inspiration pic this morning and noticed i'd ended up with a slightly more blue tone on the skin but the specific turquoise blue tone was a bit more difficult and i do know that i was aiming that way, so with that in mind i'm still proud of the outcome. 

I set up a new permanent photo booth this week and i thought i'd get some better pics of those spray painted trolls. I am still in love with the outcome, i can't get over how natural and real it looks. 

I had constant trouble getting a pre existing break on the troll chieftan weapon to stay glued. I tried some gentle dremel work to re set the pummel but it wouldn't hold. I spoke to my client and i was told to aim for a hammer or club if i was to convert an alternative. I dug around in my bits box thinking i had some ogre kingdoms weapons but i couldn't find them. I decided to use some poundland skeleton ax heads and make a brutal ax. The main advantage of this conversion is that it weighs nothing at all, so it pins very securely and shouldn't break. I am however to hear from my client and i image it might be a bit to axe-ish. Luckilly it's easy to remove if it's not his cup of tea but i will forge on and paint it today and then i can get a proper opinion from my client. I have the utmost confidence that it's going to look brutally aproppriate when it's done. 

Tonight i was bitten by the creative inspiration bug. I am to send back Johns work tomorrow and i thought that before i do i should take some fancy pictures of the models in "action" and the results are great. It has inspired me to start making terrain again as i tend to struggle to find a reason as a non gamer. I hope to do this in some way for all of my future orders, so that the landing page of the website can be more colorful and creative. You can go to any painters website and see picture after picture on a white or black background so now i've got my own little "portfolio" style for the landing page. Definitely more engaging. 

The uk has been hit with a massive heat wave. It's lasted about two weeks and since i work and live underground it's been particularly difficult to work in the heat. Due to this my mental health got a bit down and i struggled to paint at all. Luckilly my bulk of remaining work at the moment is with one of my most patient and kindly understanding of clients Bram (who is also a creative genius by the way). I have spoken to bram and i'm glad to have finished these base coats today on his valhallans as it has allowed me to feel more caught up and less lazy (although i wasn't being lazy its difficult to not feel that way when the work desk is six feet from my bed!). 
I really like how these are coming out so far and now i just need to decide what wash i'm using on them. I've alternated washes with all of Brams stuff and as he's so understanding of the creative process (and also he's not anal and particular) so i tend to get slightly varying finishes across the board on his work. I want to master my wash for these white tones, although admittedly bram is a flatterer when it comes to my ability to paint white, as he seems to think me a bit good at it. 

I also slapped a basecoat on those tiny bloodbowl gobbos, as lukas is eagerly awaiting gallery photos of the lot and that's something else i didn't get around to doing. I can't wait to photograph these guys!