The contrast of soul - part one - flat or warehouse?

The longer the silence, the louder the first cry...
or so I thought a few months ago. The trailer for my great comeback gathers dust on the hard drive, the new lamps rarely shine, the cameras dream in their long sleep.
There is much going on right now in my life, but little of it has to do with our beloved hobby, with art or this blog.

And still, after all those months of no content, there are still new subscribers, new page views, new requests. There are all you lovely people who didn't unsubscribe! And now, with some time and distance to the past events, I feel like I have to write something.

This won't be about miniature painting. But that is ok, at least for me. Readers of the first hour will remember, that we were a very different blog back then. Different people, different approach and different topics. The miniatures became our main topic with time and I plan to return there one day. But now is not the time.

The reason is simple. I can't paint. It is not that I don't have the time. Or the space.
The circumstances  were never better...new studio, loads of free time before I start my final semester.
The problem lies deep inside me. Because something has been silenced.

And this is the topic I will write about in this new series. Because in one way or another, we all have been there! I was lucky to meet many fellow painters, writers and artists and of cause we talked hours about it. The moment, when your inner voice doesn't speak anymore. We all have different ways to deal with it, but it never hurt anyone to hear how others do it.

I have been in many situations during the last years. Fanatical collector who drowned in the amount of kits around him, stressed and burnt out commission painter who couldn't afford the question, IF he paints. Broken artist, who was unable to bring his vision to life. Somehow I always returned to the brushes and I am sure, it won't be different this time. But maybe this becomes easier, when I reflect on it.

So yes, these are the musings of a person who is really good at finding reasons not to work and stay away from his passion.

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The first article is about the probably most common reason to not even start, the deep routed urge to collect. I hardly know anyone without that problem. Be it the 10th sketchbook, that we will fill one day, or the three grey armies we hide under our bed. Most of us own too much stuff we will never touch.

I started as a child, with rocks, sand from the beaches we visited, all sorts of rubbish only a child values for its magic. That was cute and it was easy to keep under control for my parents...but then came the big wide world and temptation of tabletop games. And how it hit me!
I was a skilled ebay hunter back in the day and I missed the point, where my collection lost its value for being important pieces I gathered over years...and working for the big Company of Redshirts did the rest. Most people know of the discount staff gets on those kits...most staff know how that always ends.

It all added up over the years. When I did many commission armies, something always would end up staying in my place, be it the bits, the customer didn't want. And with 10 plus bitboxes, why not put them to use for this or that cool project? I became a true hoarder. When I started to occupy our flats common room or needed more shelves to store my future projects I couldn't understand why that should be wrong...of cause not, I was addicted.

A few weeks ago I had to move. And I stood between those towers of kits and boxes, shelves full of books and tools...and I simply lost it. I felt drowning and falling at the same time. Something that never had occurred to me  hit me in that moment...I stood between my own shackles.
Even if I would have painted all that starting that day...I honestly doubt that I would have managed to have a job or social life and finish before I died.

I started to add up...10 hours for every Imperial Knight, 20 for this 54mm historical miniature, 100 for my big dragons...I used very vague numbers and only for a small part of the things around me. But it scared me. And I realized, it always had. Deep inside me I knew, I would never finish that collection or anything of my projects. And as I stood there, unable to tell which was really important for me and which was just a maybe some day I understood why I didn't finish anything personal in months. There was nothing to start. Picking up one, another caught my eye and so on.

I sold most of my stuff, gave much away to friends who I knew would paint it. I did that multiple times in my life, back then to pay bills. But this time it was different. No regrets, no missing what I gave away.
With every parcel that left my flat, i felt how time was freed. Time i could use for other things I like, spend with the persons I love.

I also threw away everything from my work in progress showcase. Projects that had moved in with me 5 years ago, only to never be touched again. Things I couldn't remember the paint schemes or even the idea I had for them. Things a different person once started to express himself, a person no longer existing. And even though the thought of doing so was frightening in the past, it was relieving.

I am sure one day I will feel the urge to paint something again, and when that moment comes, it should be easier to figure out what.

I remembered the days of my youth, when I had to save a month or two for a new box of toy soldiers and how happy I was, when I finally got them. I painted them fast and horrible but with so much joy. When things become common, they loose their magic. A sad truth applying to many things and situations in life.

What I did was an extreme reaction, but on the other hand, I had an extreme problem.
But even in milder forms, the problem of too much can spoil our joy in painting and living.
So if you struggle, maybe you own one army or showcase piece to much.

And if someone close suddenly annoys you, maybe its to much too.
Funnily, me and my old room mate started as best friends, ended as persons full of rage and regret and now, two months after moving out, we have a great time again. Because we have been around each other to much too. And again, miniature painting can explain the big wide world to us sometimes. My own breakdown with today's problem gave me the insight to apologize and start a very worthy friendship again from scratch.

That's it for today, dream on and read you soon!

Age of Sigmar Varanguard Nurgle Knight

It's been long since I saw a personal must-paint miniature but the new Varan Knights from GW caught my eye.
For me they have a very strong feeling of the old Realm of Chaos artworks, which defined my view on chaos.

I got the chance to paint one up as sample for the store I work at, and as I got the miniature one day before release it had to be a speed paint. After a night of painting I am happy how he turned out for a gaming miniature and he will lead my nurgle forces to battle as a mounted general.

For now he will stand in our what's new cabinet, but when his duty there is done he'll get a new and proper base and some areas will be reworked but mostly he's done!

The scythe from the Chaos General on Manticore and a head from the Blightkings added the Nurgle feeling. 

The shields are really big and a good piece to practice blendings and battle damage.

I also used him as my entry for the employee category in this years store painting contest.

This year was calm here but we used the time to regenerate and plan some nice things for next year.

I am testing new ways to make better videos and some new equipment should add more quality. For now I don't want to post videos before I am satisfied with how they turn out.

Great Unclean One of Nurgle - Forgeworld Model commission

Hi to all!
At 40 degree and arid air that killed the paint in minutes, even at the wet pallet, I managed to finish this big guy that sat on my shelve for a while now.  He's painted for tabletop gaming and I have to say this model really needed some tough decisions where to go into the details and where to work with simple effects with great impact.
I think I found a good compromise between the both.

Enjoy the greatest servant of my favorite chaos god!

More to come soon :)

Third baneblade tutorial goes live

As promised we'll have a close look at the white camo areas today.

The next part will be the shading and further weathering with oil color so stay tuned!

Painting the Cadian Baneblade 2 - masking tape and camo

As promised I went through older material and found the missing baneblade files to be untouched on my hard drive. The series is no full step by step and rather concentrates on the key techniques we need here. Because we already have a really big tutorial here on the blog I think of it as an addition in moved pictures, showing the most important things.

Today its creating the camo pattern using masking tape and a nice sharp scalpel.

Stay tuned, the next part is already rendered and will air tomorrow (we'll have some fun with the white areas then) and the last part ( about the oil color) is in the making.

This will complete another tutorial line on our channel, leaving only the last part of the White Scar Vindicator open (rusted tank tracks). As the Canyon table series was finished last Christmas.

That means, with a total of 45 videos then, everything will be up to date and finished and that's a nice point to start new dreams and projects when the new equipment arrives in the studio.

I hope you are all well and want to thank you for your long support, even in periods of silence from our side.

Sorting the old stuff

With my lamps broken the recent video material turned out unusable. But that gave me the time to go through some old material and work on it. Right now two more baneblade videos are rendering. I'll choose which old projects are worth a vid ( 150 gb of material to sort) and upload them through the next weeks before we start into a new and fresh season!

Dream on!

A new chapter under 5 minutes waits for you!

Today we build rocky bases, only with cork, superglue and our imagination!

And yes, be happy fellow dreamers, the brushes dance again. As do our video cutting software and projects. Klaus and Luke won't be able to share much in the near future but I am trying to keep things going for you.

Farewell old year...

The team would like to wish you all a safe and happy way into 2015. Party hard, enjoy your loved ones and have a good time.

We'll see each other next year!

Silly Christmas everyone!

Ok, we know we know. There were a few doors missing. Klaus and I are currently dealing with health issues that keep us from the painting table and Lukas has lots and lots of work with his studies. But anyway, most doors were there and we had a great time releasing them!

Today the three of us want to wish you all happy christmas and thank you for your support during the last year! Have some nice time with the people you love and enjoy yourselfs!

And with our rather silly chritmas tree some last words: Have the kind of holidays that make you happy!

Door 17 - Exhibition Impressions

Today I'd like to show you some pictures of the exhibition I was allowed to be part of this year. I built the Redmaw Canyon Display for this and it was a dream come true, to be honest.
It was held by the Museum for saxon folk art in Dresden, which is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, the head organisation for all kinds of museums and exhibitions here in Dresden. As young artist it is an extreme honor to be shown there, even if it is not about you as artist, but about a subject you are allowed to build for.

The title is Wargames, Roles, Rules, Regiments.

The exhibition showed the evolution of wargaming through the last centuries, from the first beginnings as teaching royal lads for later action in life to larp, tabletop and soft air today. It was rather small, but lovely made and I think they managed to stuff in so much things there, one might not think it's possible.

Friggin tired after 24 hours of building and painting, but rather happy. 

Sadly many pictures got lost because some major trouble my PC and I had earlier this year, but here are the ones I got!

The miniatures were shown on a podest, recreating living rooms from 1800 to today. Of cause, who didn't start on the room floor when we were young.

Being there before anyone else is one of the rather cool benefits of being part of it!

Yes, cowboy and indian is wargaming. I really liked how they showed, that playing with that backgrounds was there for a long time, and sometimes isn't that obvious as tanks and plasma rifles!

People saying there wasn't such cruel play in our days should know these toy soldiers from worldwar one, showing war cripples and wounded to the children, telling them there are such things rather than painting a sweet world without violence....that breaks when they read their first newspaper.

Good old knights and castles...

Napoleonic wars tin soldiers, pirates and 200 year old painted backgrounds. 

Before their were even tin soldiers, the children made their own cavalry out of paper. These are original toys of the here famous painter Kügelgen.

Come on, who sees his own room in this?

The grand opening was guided by reanacters of the famous Völkerschlacht of Leipzig, who replay the battle every year and a large Larpguild from Dresden.

What a fancy building to hold a wargame exhibition.

Another benefit of taking part is the free whine at the opening.

I really liked what they made of their limited space and money. There were many games you could actually play all day long. They had consoles, PCs and really nice people explaining everything. One of my favorites was the tutorial to make your own paper cavalry from 1800.
I also liked that they didn't judge, there was an open guest book and the opinions went far. When I told my dad about warhammer I never thought of stating that the cowboy fort and my knights castle also were a kidn of wargaming. In the end there was one message: Give boys two sticks and they will beat each other, playing knight or start shouting pew pew and have a shoot out. Not because they understand the concept of war and death, but rather because it's our nature and the competing part is relevant. The living of tales and the winning (or learning of losses) is the thing that stirs children's fantasy. And often, it's not about hate and violence, but rather roleplaying.

Door 16 - the final of redmaw canyon

And so another series of tutorials comes to an end. Today the last part of Redmaw Canyon went live and after 8 episodes I've shown you everything you need to know to build your own gaming table. I am really happy that the second gaming table series is finished and so many of you tuned in!

Door Number 15 - The last breath

Hello monday lovers and monday haters,

nice to see that you came back for some miniature madness..... Today I want to continue showing you my finished miniatures from 2014 - and we go back to "historic". This time with a Soldier of the 57th Middlesex Regiment from JMD. A realy nice sculpt like so many of the JMD stuff, but sadly they had to close down some time ago....
With this bust I tried to stay near the box art, but not to close. A bit fluctuation in the intensity of the dye and traces of abrasion can alter the colours of the uniform quit a bit - but enough of that, I think you want so see the bust.

As always feel free to give feedback, offer criticism and - if you like - leave a vote at Putty & Paint. And if you have questions, just ask them.

Have a good start into your week,

Lukas

Door number 14 - Painting the generatorium

And we go into the 7th installment of  our redmaw series today!

Door number 13 - The work of a master

Hello again,

its time for another review. This time a beautiful sculpt from the one and only Raul Garcia Latorre. You might Know him for his many awesome and sometimes even breathtaking historical sculpts, especially but not only from Latorre models - a company which is sadly out of business, again, and which miniatures are hard to get nowadays. But Raul doesn't do exclusively historical miniatures, he also has done some beautiful fantasy sculpts, probably some of his best can be bought at MProyec, highly detailed resin models with a very limited batch. I, myself, have three of his MProyec works lying around - and luckily some more of his other stuff - but today I like to show you the Thorag bust.

Like all the MProyec stuff Thorag comes in a simple but safe and sturdy cardboard box filled with those foamy stuff to protect the miniature. And, again like all the other MProyec stuff, a signed print of the artwork is added - a really nice touch, especially when it comes to limited miniatures, and a trend that spread through the hobbys, thank god, I really like those little details....

As you can see Thorag is a very angry and characterful bust with nice details. 

Speaking of details, just look at this close-up of the breast-belly plat. It is just breathtaking how fine and precise those engravings are. And a bit intimidating, when you realise that you have to paint those... Again, Raul Garcia Latorre shows his awesome skills with this sculpt. Fine and sharp details, a clear concept, a certain mood and character and an outstanding understanding of volumes and behaviour of different materials and textures. The bust offers just the right amount of predefined details and room for some creative freedom while painting. Due to the extreme fine details I would recommend the bust, like most of the MProyec stuff, only to experienced painters. As a compensation to the level of detail and higher workload concerning the painting progress, the cast is nearly flawless. No mould lines, no flash or bubbles. You just can start painting right away after unboxing. That is, unless you want to replace the precasted base of the bust. This might result in a bit of sawing and sanding, but it might be worth it - at least it is what I will do.

Finally, let me say that you get a beautiful miniature for your money and I can recommend following MProyec on FB.

Stay tuned for more and come back for another door of the advents calendar tomorrow.

Door 12 - To'ad - keeper of a sacred place

Heyho people of the internets,

yesterday we didn't manage to open a door. Martin is sick right now and I had to much work on my hands. But today we are back, and brought some pictures along. Without further words, enjoy them.

To'ad - a warrior of ancient times
he stands loyal to his duty
guarding the long forgotten temple
deep in the jungles 

where scarcely a soul bothers to go.
But in the name of sleeping gods

he will stand watch for countless millennia more

until they rise again from the depths 

This little fellow from Aradia miniatures was a real pleasure to paint - like most of Alan Carrasco's sculpts.

If you like him, leave a comment, aske questions and got to Putty & Paint for a vote.