Wednesday 2 January 2013

As Time went on..

I drifted in and out of the hobby, as we all did, but I remember my fondest memories of that early period were playing and painting epic scale Space Marine (the game) models, in particular the epic Eldar of the Biel Tan Craftworld. Sadly none of those figures I had then are in my collection now and I have no memory of why, there is just the ruined carcass of a Banelord Chaos Titan which I can't seem to find right now. I will find it soon and I'll show it to you because this is where my first freehand attempts arrived.
Until I find it though I have managed to take some pics of other very early freehand jobbies, some on those early wood elves and a bit on an Ultramarine









For those that do have the memory, can you spot who would be my next major influence in the world of painty paint??? Kudos to those that leave the answer below in the comments and your reason why

Why am I sharing this with you all you may wonder? The reason is Painting for me is very simple and straight forward a process but in that simplicity lies the complexion. That complexion is the skill of execution!!!
Let me explain. There are two basic shapes to me, the first is a straight line the second is a circle. Both are as simple as simple can be.......but not to paint or draw.....that takes skill.
I am sharing my painting journey with you all so you may gain insight into how I developed my 'simple' skill

The first step I took was one of 'spot the difference', a simple game you all know, or is it?

The pages of white dwarf  were and still are filled with inspirational painted miniatures and that is what I wanted mine to look like and I still do. So I copied. Lots.
The attempts i made at copying the worlds greatest painters were far from the mark so with each finished piece i played that age old game but I played it with two extra rules.

rule 1 - What. What are the differences

Extra rule 2 - Why.  Why is this different from that

Extra rule 3 - How - How did I make this difference happen. and how could I make it be more like that?

It is this that I consider to be my most valuable lesson EVER.

Because I went on to copy some more complex ideas pretty soon after!

Tyrion here is rather battered but you can see I was going in the right direction when compared to the McVey original below


So between now and the end of your hobby journey practice this lesson lots

And a parting gift of retro models boobs a familiar distraction to all most hobby journeys


Enjoy

Tommie
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6 comments:

  1. Goreshade2 January 2013 at 13:34

    The "Red Period" of GW, when all models had to have red somewhere on the figure.

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  2. Unknown2 January 2013 at 15:50

    The red period came a little later than this.
    I will get to that bit soon ;)
    My question was a 'who' question tho

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  3. Andrew Rae3 January 2013 at 06:55

    Mike McVey and his converted Wood Elf army from the Citadel Modelling Guide? That book was beautiful eye candy and I attempted my first sculpting (not repeated until years later) by following his guide for sculpting Miliput hair on a High Elf!

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    Replies
    1. Unknown7 January 2013 at 11:02

      Well done Mr Rae, correct! Miliput was a staple back in them days :)

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  4. Anonymous3 January 2013 at 11:43

    Thanks again for sharing this stuff. I've already started to incorporate your 'spot the difference' rules. It's tough and humbling but ultimately the way to get better.

    I'm painting Reaper's Dain the dwarf (from Learn to Paint Kit 5) and really not happy with my metallics...so I googled up some better paint jobs and 'AHA' I can see now what my eye could not see without a little help from folks who have climbed this slope before.

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  5. Broke N English16 June 2013 at 04:46

    Aye I would have also said it was a McVey influence, to this day I still try 'to be like Mike' myself, and am a massive follower of his early stuff :) I'm finding myself at a painting impasse atm painting too many old school GW figures and not really enjoying it, I shall take on board your ideas and I bet they'll liberate me, thanks for sharing Mr.T. :)

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