Adepticon Aftermath 2017

So my first Adepticon has come and gone! And it was simply amazing.

People who were there know what I mean - the congratulatory and thankful facebook posts have been rolling through my page filled with tags for seemingly half my friends list, and dozens of people have asked to become my new FB friend.

It was an epic community building event.

That aside, I was in a rather unique position as I was asked to help judge the Crystal Brush painting competition.

This was an incredible honor (and one I sincerely hope to repeat some day) and also a duty that I took very seriously.

I will admit I was rather nervous having to be hyper critical and to give not only my opinion to the other judges (the amazing duo of  Angel Giraldez of Luxumbra/Studio Giraldez/Corvis Belli and Jose Nunez Palomares of Big Child Creatives)  but also constructive feedback to my peers, many of whom I have known for years. In my opinion, it is sometimes harder to be vigilant and critical with friends than with strangers - and this event was full of friends and artist who I have admired for years. As a lifelong student of the Arts and an art teacher for the last 17 years, however, critique is simply part of the job and understood as a neccesity for growth. I know that there are those who I lean on for important constructive feedback.  Dragomir Milanovic whose work I have featured here on several occasions is one such friend that I rely heavily on, and without David Diamondstone's acute critical eye I don't know that I would have been able to push my Boromir bust past the Silver level it attained at GenCon to the Gold it earned in Sword and Brush.

So I judged by the spirit and the letter of the competition. It was exhilarating. Moreso than that it went incredibly smoothly! I couldn't have asked for a better team. Our scores were very uniformly close and showed that we all shared a keen understanding of not only what we were looking at but how we would rank them.

When there was divergence we discussed, but in the end we each scored within a point of another judge on every entry. It was clean and definitive and then handed on to the community to complete the scoring by voting through the website on the incredible photos prepared through the massive efforts of Jennifer Haley.

I am proud of our work and I stand by it.


All of the pieces that were voted upon are available to view at CMON. They were incredible. Many genuinely wonderful creations of form and colour from Raffa, Ben, Sergio, Francesco, Suhre, Kat, etc - so many incredible painters and modelers. By now I'm sure you have seen these or seen them discussed at length. So today I would like to add something else to the discussion, I'd like to mention a few pieces here today that were not the big winners but made a strong impact on me at the event. I have been asked many times now what some of my favorites were -irrespective of score - so here is a list in no particular order of a few entries that resonated with me at Adepticon that you may not have seen yet.....

1. David Diamondstone - The White Orc.
You probably did see this one as it was one of the ones in the running but I decided to include it anyway. One of my favorite pieces in the show and one that I used as an example in discussions throughout the weekend. this piece was a legitimate contender in a stacked category. I have seen and enjoyed this sculpt on the internet many times but this is by far my favorite iteration. The textures in the leather are incredible, the sense of light is subtle and beautiful and the design on the shield is immaculate in its execution. The variety of surfaces depicted is so convincing. I love this piece and will remember it for years to come.

2. Cadwallon by Michael Stubbs - this simple approach to sculpting the background elements was refreshing and just really good! I liked that aspect very much and have filed it away in my memory.....

3. Lauren Fahey (Griffons Roost Painting) - Fade (Kingdom Death) This was a really lovely piece that had beautiful skin tones, solid composition (great use of the vegetation to move the eye around and an interesting way to break up the traditional plinth to create greater interest and movement) and some really great details throughout. Plus the artist was super nice.

4. Cygnar Stormwall - While the finish on it was a dusty drybrushed type of surface that was difficult to take great photos of - the overall impression of this model was excellent. The colour combinations were really cool and the overall level of detail was really great.

5. Monk - mini diorama by Michael Stubbs - Michael again on this list - not because I have known him for years or because I thoroughly enjoy his sense of humor, but rather because his understanding of the "rule of cool" always shines through in his work. He gave a great deal of thought to the overall presentation of this little vignette and the extra details - like the porcelain planters with individual blue glazework designs and the beautiful little koi - are simply cool. I really enjoyed seeing this.

6. Alien Queen - a simple but incredibly effective piece with a HIGH "cool factor". The scene told a clear story and the whole thing was painted very clean. I desperately wish I had a better picture of this! If anyone out there does - I would love to replace this one as it does the little scene zero justice!

7. Zelda - I can save myself - by Seth Walker. Yeah this was up for voting too but i wanted to revisit it because I had a really fantastic critique and discussion with Seth about taking his work to the next level. This led to one of the best parts of the whole weekend for me where he found me a couple hours later in the hallway to show me a new WIP where he was applying the ideas we discussed. It was so clear that he understood and he was so excited that it was truly infectious happyness! I look forward to seeing what comes in the next year from him.....

8. Mordacius Tranquility by Seth Amsden (a different Seth than above!) - the application of painting technique may have been a little oversimplified here but the overall impression was fantastic! I LOVED the composition, the way the natural elements framed the scene and the energy of the rabbit jumping forward - a Kingdom death meets Alice in Wonderland moment to be sure. the sense of dramatic lighting was clever and the whole thing was really really pleasing. Genuinely loved this piece.

Unfortunately there are a few that I really liked that I do not have proper phots of - including Russo's Darth Maul and Mecha entries - But with that being said I do have a few more nice shots to share so I will leave a link for a slide show of some of my shots from across the event here - hope you enjoy as much as I have!

(thats a lie.. you wont.... I enjoyed this too much for you to possibly feel the same... :P )
See you Next week!

Half A Million Views! Contest!!!!!

Holy Moly!

I looked at my view count today and realized I am likely to cross the half million mark in the next couple days!

This calls for a small Contest and Prizes!!!!!

So I'm going to make it simple.  Comment on this post on my blog (if you are reading this on facebook you will need to click the link to my actual blog). Please tell me one thing you would like to see (or see more of) in the next year on Lost In The Warp!

Thats it :)

Some time next week I will pick comments at random (probably using a number generator). I will then contact those people and send them a lovely little surprise from my shelves of mini stuff! I don't know how many prizes or what yet but I'm sure I can dig up some fun and random things :)

Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to follow my little corner of the miniverse! Be good to each other!

The first picture I ever posted on this blog - not sure what I was thinking but it sure looks like fun!

A few thoughts on a day of great pride....

Tonight a new threat will be unleashed on the world of Immoren....

My incredible boy turns 9 today and this is the first birthday where he will be receiving miniatures from his dad :)  A few weeks back, he approached me telling me with great seriousness that he had been working VERY hard on his reading and math. He hoped this would convince me to agree that he was finally ready to learn and try miniature gaming! 

He is a genuinely excellent reader, has indeed been working on his math - something which I think the dice and gaming system will only help further!

So Yes. With genuine tears in my eyes I gave him a hug and we got started!

Once we had determined that yes I was indeed willing to support him in this, I went to the books and let him flip through. Unsurprisingly to anyone who knows him, the cyborg steam punk undead legions of Cryx are far and away his choice of army! (Followed by cephalyx and legion). 

Specifically He saw Denny3 and the mechanithralls. He turned to me wide eyed and asked "Are these BOTH in the SAME ARMY!!!!!?" And that was that! (Oh and he REALLY wants the Battle engine too.....

Tonight he will open a box of mechanithralls along with a Cryx plushy to take with him to bed - he is still young enough to really appreciate that! - and we have dug through my own collection to see what I already have. 

Turns out it was a few things!

I had a the 2 player starter box - so Agathia, Slayer, unit of banes, Reaper, & Deathripper. I also have Deneghra,a Skarlock, 3 or 4 more bone jacks,  Deathjack, Aikos 1, a pistol wraith, Skarre2, Cankerworm and an old metal slayer that I bought during mark 1 but never built or played! 

Working it through The plan is to build his first list as:

Agathia/Deneghra (*interchangable as the list is 74 points)

Skarlock

Slayer

Deathripper

DeathJack

Reaper

Pistol Wraith

Bane Warriors +UA 

6 Mechanithralls w/3 Brute Thralls

Skarlock Commander

Necrosurgeon

Some big mean scary robots and a bunch of undead recursion. He is going to have some great fun!

Still a few things we will have to pick up (the Ua, the Skarlock Commander and the necrosurgeon)  but this should become a good base list to learn with. He will also have a few things (like Aikos1, full mechanithrall unit) that he can sub in/out to try as he becomes familiar with the game play. 

Next things after the base army - we will likely be looking to Denny3 (maybe as a christmas present) and likely Asphyxious (2 or 3?). If any of my readers are Cryx players and want to chime in on list suggestions we will be happy to hear them - although he has little interest right now in Satyxis despite how good they are in the meta.

William Hungerford Kris Aubin James Nelson Arbuthnot thank you for your inspiration and continuing support with this game. I loved it before and I think I'm going to love it more than ever now! 

Agatha Dobosz might need to show him your force and pick your brain for tips :)

And most especially to his mother Lisa - for supporting me in this hobby for all these years, allowing me to indulge in tournaments, competitions and to build my own hobby room in the house.... Without your support I'd never have progressed as far as I have in this nor would I have had such an awesome chance to inspire and share this hobby with our beautiful son  

Today is the start of something really special. Today is a great day.

Back next week with Hobby Content.
;
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Out of the Darkness - Chris Suhre's Spotlight on Composition

Hello everyone!

My name is Chris Suhre and I’m an amateur hobbyist/painter. This will hopefully be the first in a

long series of blog post on various miniature/hobby topics. (I hope so to! - J)

I thought I’d start off by discussing composition in competitive painting. Hopefully it’s no big surprise that to do well in painting competitions you must have a great grasp of color theory, lighting effects, and painting techniques like blending and such. But having well composed settings can also help you present a much more pleasing ensemble to your viewer.

Have you ever noticed that certain dioramas keep your eye traveling around while others seem scattered? This is due to composition of the setting. This blog post will help discuss some of the elements of composition and how we can use them to reinforce the feeling we want to invoke in our viewer. Composition is not just in miniature painting though. It can also be seen in other art forms as well such as movies and classical painting.

But before we really get started I just wanted to note a few excellent resources for composition. Many of the ideas I will discuss are thanks to these resources. The Rise of Fantasy is an excellent book by Juan Barrena that discusses many of the points I will make in this blog post.

Another great book resource is Modeling Stories in Miniatures by Antonio Fernandez Lizaso. Also, while preparing this article I came across The Art of Composition 140 Iconic shots on Facebook. We will be looking at a few of these iconic scenes in this post. Finally, the online site Massive Voodoo is a library of useful information for any painter/hobbyist.

So, the first area to address is forced composition vs natural composition. In forced composition, we are often lining our model up with the scenery around them in parallel lines. This gives a forced or artificial feel to the piece. This is often what we see in family photos. Everyone is lined up and placed in front of scenery or behind it but not actually interacting with it. Forced composition can work on a display piece but you should realize it will give you a more photographed/posed effect. Natural composition is when there is a lack of parallel lines in a piece. This is more often what we see in dioramas where there is a battle. That doesn’t mean there can’t be good composition within the piece yet. Just that warriors on opposite sides of the battlefield shouldn’t be directly lined up against one another.

This is the Devil Shadow Mutineer’s by the incredibly talented Kat Martin. This is an example of forced composition. Notice how it almost seems like the crew members came out of the bar and then posed for a picture. They are arranged with a back drop that fits the models and scene but they really aren’t interacting with it. Note the parallel lines within the piece. The miniatures backs line up in parallel lines to the bar wall behind them.

Next is balance. In general, we want the final symmetry in a piece to be balanced. What this means is that when the piece is divided in half vertically it should appear to have the same “weight” on both sides. Now this can often be done simply by making sure the same number of items are present on each side. For instance, having a 5 man unit of troops. Having the leader in the middle with 2 troops on either side produces a simple balance/symmetry to the piece. This is also known as perfect balance, when all items are distributed evenly both in quantity and weight between both sides of the piece. There is also balance by equivalence when you have a large item on one side and its visual weight is balanced out by numerous smaller items on the other side. It should also be noted that balance can not only be created by the weight or quantity of items but by color itself. Warm colors (red, yellow, etc) have a higher visual weight than cold colors.

Look back to the Mutineer’s by Kat. The scene can easily be divided down the middle vertically with a member on either side and a balance in weight of the items on each side on the back wall.

Once again notice the symmetry and forced composition in this scene. The items, hues, and light are equal on each side making this a perfect symmetry.

And this one.

Okay so now let’s dive into composition styles/lines. Just a few general notes to start....

First, I often like to have an item in the upper left hand corner of the piece that grabs the eye and then pulls the eye into the piece. This is often something as simple as a tree, rock formation, banner, etc. We typical read from left to right so this helps one grab the viewer’s eye and pull it into the piece.

In my “Into Darkness” diorama I use a ruined stone column to grab the viewer’s eye and then that eye is pulled along the wooden support beam into the first member of the wither shadow combine. In this piece, you may then notice how the first member of the unit then looks in the direction of the second who then looks to the third helping to direct the eye through the entire piece. (orange lines) Another general idea about composition is framing the scene. In this case, we’re talking about using items to help contain the vision we want the viewer to see. Returning to the “Into Darkness” diorama note how the ruined rock column and wooden support beam also help frame and define the edges of the piece. (green lines)

Now that we’ve hit on the ideas of forced vs natural composition and symmetry/balance vs symmetry let’s discuss geometrical types of composition.

These are patterns you can place within your composition to reinforce the importance of an item  or enhance the feeling generated by the piece. The first type of composition I’m going to discuss is the Cross. This is probably the easiest form of composition with which to highlight our main character. Simply put there’s a vertical and a horizontal line that run through the piece and these two lines are perpendicular to each other.

So, let’s look at Winter’s Maw. By adjusting the creature’s right leg upward, I could bring the head and hands in a horizontal line with each other. This coupled with the ice shards on the back and the mammoth skull created a cross composition with the lines meeting right over the face drawing the focus to that place. You may also notice how the
trees in the background help frame the piece. I often like doing back drops to my pieces because it helps direct the viewer to what I want as the front of the piece. It helps define the optimal position I feel to look at the piece.

Notice in this screen shot from Jaws how the wife behind Brody and the flat horizon form a cross that draws even more attention to what the director wants you to focus on, Brody’s face.

The second type of geometrical composition I wish to discuss is the Grid.

The grid often works well for arranging multiple figures on a single piece. Essentially, we create an imaginary grid with 2 equally placed parallel horizontal and 2 vertical lines creating 9 sections on the grid. We then work to arrange figures in each box or at the points of intersection between grid lines.
This is also known as the rule of thirds.

Take for example Kith, Kriel, and Kin. If you place an imaginary grid over the diorama you can see how pieces are placed in different sections and at points of intersection. (magenta lines) Also as you look at the piece you notice that a tree is used in the upper left corner to draw one’s attention into the piece. If you draw a vertical line through the piece that the two sides are slightly imbalanced. (green line) The impaler troll has slightly more visual weight than the 2 pygmy trolls on the opposite side. In my opinion this help pull the eye in a short of circular motion around the piece to visualize all the aspects. (orange line)

Here is another example of the grid placement in some famous screen shots.

Next let’s discuss diagonal composition. Diagonal compositions are often dynamic and reinforce the feeling of movement in the piece. This can be made even stronger if you combine with additional forms of composition like the grid. Take for example Borka’s Berserkers. Notice how a diagonal line can be drawn through the Earthborn into Borka and then the Axer. This diagonal line reinforces the feeling of movement or charging that is present with the figures in the piece.

The diagonal composition can also be seen in these to screen shots. Note the sense of
movement in these still images.

The triangle is another form of composition. Our eyes often scan pieces for basic geometric shapes including the triangle. The triangle composition helps guide our eye to all 3 corners of the triangle and placing objects at these intersections can increase their prominence within the piece. The triangle composition can also lend prominence to items within the shape.

I used a triangle arrangement in my Dogs of War piece. (beige lines) The blue line helps
shows the symmetry in the piece.

This is Blood and Flame by Andrew Leung. Note again how Andrew used a triangular composition to guide one’s eye to each member of the Daughters’ of the Flame and then keep the Dire troll within the triangle composition of the piece.

Also, check out these screen shots and how the triangle composition is used to keep your eye scanning over the piece.

 

The final geometric shape in composition is the diamond. In the diamond we are lead from one strong focal point at the top out to both sides as we scan the piece and then back to a strong focal point at the bottom. I unfortunately don’t have a personal piece of diamond composition I can show now but please look at these screen shots. Note how you start from a strong upper focal point, scan the piece back and forth, and then end at a strong focal point at the bottom.

That covers the basics of composition. But to paraphrase a famous pirate Captain, these are more like guidelines than actual rules.

It’s okay to break the rules but you really need to understand what they are first and why you are breaking them. For instance, you may want to present a desert nomad wandering in a bleak wasteland. In such a circumstance, it may be appropriate to have the nomad on one side of the diorama and the rest be open desert to help symbolize the vastness of the desert and the nomad’s aloneness....

I hope this blog post has laid down the basics of composition in miniature art. Hopefully
this can be applied in your future projects and help you enhance the feeling you wish to convey
with your art. Thanks for reading!

A special THANK YOU to Chris from me and the LITW community!!! If you want to see more of Chris' work check out his Putty&Paint page at:  http://www.puttyandpaint.com/DVader

One "Wicked" Khador Gun Carriage

New England's own "WickedPaintah" Dan Clark completed a conversion so cool that I had to share it forward! (You know how much I love conversions!)

He felt that the horse-drawn tank just wasn't as cool as...well... an ACTUAL TANK! This is a conversion that has been attempted before by modellers with a variety of results - but Dan's is far and away my favorite (and the best executed) that I have seen to date! Here it is "Wicked" paintjob and all:

The conversion was conceptually pretty straightforward but required skill and patience to execute to this level.  Step one was to separate the sponsons from the chassis.  Dan wrote:

"This was probably the single most critical step, since I needed to preserve all three pieces in good condition.  I ordered a .01″ thickness razor saw from Amazon which did the trick wonderfully."



He then filled the resulting holes and smoothed out the surfaces with some milliput and elbow grease making the profiles seamless once more!  The sponsons were glued to the Leman Russ treads and any gaps were cleaned up with more Milliput before mounting the whole assembly back onto the chassis.



Finishing touches include toothpaste tube caps as smoke stacks and trench basing details including several crushed Cygnarians! Overall a cool and evocative conversion finished brilliantly by one WickedPaintah!



Take that you dirty swan lovin' gits!!

Cya next week!