I'm at an impasse for showcase painting. I made some big advances and now seem a little burnt out. The last two showcase attempts haven't gone well, or even been finished. The last thing I did finished I loved.
Ok, here's a quick pictorial history.
My Golden Daemon entry from 2001. I'd entered one other painting competition, a small store-level one which I won, so I thought I'd move up.
Click to see full-sized imageA good experience, I felt good about the miniature at the time, but obviously not a competitor.
Fast forward a year or so and I sell this guy on ebay for about $40 CAD. I was pretty happy with him at the time, although there are some rough spots on the cloak.
Click to see full-sized imageBought him at the same Games Day as the Golden Daemon.
Meanwhile I'm also painting armies for wargaming. I start getting into historicals more than GW games.
Click to see full-sized imageSikhs in British Service circa 1920. A glazing style where I add a lot of matte medium to my paint and each highlight colour (built up from a dark base) is applied multiple times before moving to the next.
I then moved to just layering
Click to see full-sized imageBritish 49th Foot, 1812. Three layers from shade, mid and highlight. About an hour per miniature painting time.
I was still working on my showcase skills
Click to see full-sized imageHe was painted by mixing a gradient on a wet palette and picking colours for it. Too much of a transition from over colour to the next, just grab that colour in the transition. Much faster than many layers, but not as smooth.
I was still painting armies, I even won an army painting prize.
Click to see full-sized imageDP9 Heavy Gear, won Best Painted at Cangames Heavy Gear tournament.
Click to see full-sized imagecloseup of a unit from the army.
Here is the last showcase model I painted that I'm really happy with.
Click to see full-sized imageIt's hard to tell in the picture but there is some very subtle shading on the miniature. The idea was I wanted it to be cartoony, but still have visual interest. It won a painting competition. This is a wip shot, I haven't got around to taking the finished pictures.
This is the last army I've painted. I'm pretty happy with it.
Click to see full-sized imagethe whole lot
Click to see full-sized imagejust a selection. WWII Canadians.
There's also this guy. He's the second-last showcase miniature I started. I thought I'd finish him quickly, but got discouraged by the skin. I tried a blending technique which just didn't work.
Click to see full-sized imageGW Ratskin Chief
Finally, I'm starting a new army, just in the assembly stage now.
Click to see full-sized imageVictrix Napoleonic British Infantry.



