I often daydream. It's a terrible affliction, or at least it is if you have a tendency towards procrastination. One of the classics is how would my minis company go if I 'had money'. How much? Well, if I could pretty much do whatever I wanted and largely without worrying about making a huge profit. Though I'd assume that I'd have to find some commerciality to it or it'd just be an expensive hobby instead of a business. But what would I do.
Well, I probably wouldn't sculpt much. I'm probably not the only sculptor who isn't overly enamoured with the actual process of sculpting day in, day out. That would end up an occasional thing. Instead I'd be constantly on the hunt for mad sculptors who I could give mad ideas to and let them run in crazy directions, just to see where it would lead. I can imagine some amazing miniatures ending up being made this way. Kind of a reverse Chinese Whispers where the concept grows with each piece of the puzzle. My ideas going to a concept artist who has power to pick and choose my ideas and embellish to their own whims and then onto a great sculptor who is under orders not to be constrained by the artwork. With real money behind me and no worry about conquering the world, I could probably offer above their rates to let them go totally nuts.
The blank canvas... Ah, I've talked much of blank canvas miniatures over the years. I love the vibe of Mithril Miniatures though not so much the execution and I'd love to do a range along those lines, possibly stretching the blank style yet further to truly create a canvas for confident painters to show off. A man can dream...
Gothic Horror Fantasy. An idea I've always loved and something that I may explore a little. My zombies are a step in that direction but I'd love to cut loose and do something 100% more bonkers and have wonderful artists painting crazy scenes of deadites, witch hunters, possessed windmills, mad arcanist scientists and their insane creations all wrapped in blackened iron fences and twisted thorns and ivy. Something to inspire me beyond my wildest nightmares.
It could be a life of miniatures from off the map, mock leather bound rulebooks telling stories with hidden meanings, dragons and monsters from the darkest depths of the world... and probably a new Shae.
And me at the centre, lost in my little world of little models... maybe messing about with a paintbrush between weaving my web...
... if I had the money.
In reading back, that post kind of got away from me. Think I started daydreaming around the time I started talking about gothic horror...
ReplyDeletelmao! brilliant post!
ReplyDeleteyeah go for it - give form to the dream - be possessed or at least obsessed - some of the greatest ranges of minis that ive witnessed over the years have been bon of the manic muse .....
ReplyDeletejust preparing mi desk for a days work and i just realised that the small manor house kit i mounted on a tree looks very similar to a post mill - it was inspired bi a much bigger conversion bi AM of the manor house sinking into the ground converted via scaven parts into a mill - its been on his window sill for months - i will to nag him to get it finished .......
ReplyDeleteGood plan, everyone has at least one too many projects sat upon their shelf that really should be sorted. Over the last week I sorted out those zombies and, as of today, it's dive back into another project I've been procrastinating on...
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI have only been reading your blog for few days now, (thanks J.B. for the hint!)
But talking about that blank canvas. I have also thought about that when i'm designing my own sculpts.
In what point too much detail is added? Am i designing cool looking sculpt or sculpt that is fun to paint too?? sometimes the the borderline is so very thin=)
btw. If you ever manage to gain those limitless recources, remember to hire me in your company;)
Brilliant post Steve! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who does that :)
ReplyDeletethese posts all point in the direction that i am currently enjoying - a blank canvas or a very fussy detailed miniature are all very achievable when using multipart plastic kits - the quality has taken a dramatic leap in the last year or so and the large amount of types can allow some very imaginative uses - i love converting thereby creating an individual miniature - so much easier and versatile than metal - such funne .......
ReplyDeleteThe blank canvas is something I may have a shot at again at some point as I have a few ideas stewing to make it work. But busy with other stuff just at the moment...
ReplyDeletetheres two blank canvases at work with you steve - one being the work method of evolving the image of a miniatures line - the other, until i saw these zeds, being the clean and uncluttered miniatures you are known for - minimalist and very clean like your work area - you must have a clean and uncluttered life or perhaps you strive for such as just about everybody i know obtains clutter .....
ReplyDeleteOh, my work area. I keep getting comments about it but that was just after I cleared it up. I promise everyone it doesn't normally look like that and rather more resembles the bastard child of a building site and a bomb blast.
ReplyDeleteMy life is slightly less complicated but, if there's anything that more accurately resembles my workspace it's the tattered remnants of my mind trying to make sense of the world and failing with a spectacular flourish...
but youve created this blog - made very insightful observations - got youre own miniatures lines - make gorgeous figures etc ........ and im envious as over the bridge one cannot get a real pastie .....
ReplyDeleteNow all I need to do is draw a salary that at least equals the one I'd get if I was a trainee burger flipper at McDonalds. I can dream...
ReplyDelete... but I do have the pasty option. Had one this morning...
mi gran used to live 5 mins from kelly's - their pasties were ready bi late morning - munchcious - no wonder im overweight
ReplyDeleteWell, it's something I attempt to do! Quite honestly, I'm a terribly lazy individual. I have all these plans and I get all excited about them, but when it comes to sitting down and working out exactly how a sculptor could possibly work from my ideas, it all goes pear shaped. Is it too much to ask for them to peer inside my consciousness and get it right first time? Bah. In reality, I appear to have two very different stances. My sketchwork (when I can be arsed to do it!) tends to revolve around incredibly odd poses, lots of bald headed folk running about the place, and stuff which I'd never show anyone because it's just too odd. When it comes to making the things and the stuff I actually enjoy painting up, my tastes seem to be much more sober. I think it's partly the reason I'm much more interested in attempting to step back from the creation side, giving just the hint of an idea to a sculptor and see what comes of it. As I said, I'm a lazy bugger...Anyway, great musings as always Steve.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like you've drawn out your own center of the universe, in the middle clicking boxes and flipping levers watching the chaos and madness turn fruition into models and such. The freedom to sculpture is an important feat I believe when giving out projects, it's a bit like getting a sample of models and asking someone to paint them, when they ask "what colour" the response is nearly always the colours you'd think would look best. People love that sense of control and decisiveness as if to say "I think you have the best judgement on this, don't fuck it up!" gives people a sense of responsibility. I loved it when my old boss didn't force me to paint things in ways I wasn't 100% confident.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to your possessed comments I couldn't help but visualise instanteously Chad Mierzwa's "Haunted Tree" you know the fat tree with all the mutations, it's been in WD loads and is in the latest WFB rulebook. I think more possessed scenics should be done.
As for pasties, well it's a bit obscure but I have to say the wholemeal vegetable pasty Rowe's do is pretty nice, I only ate it because the other half is allergic to the egg in normal ones but when I did it was a beauty, I can't explain why it's so nice but it's worth a punt for £1.30 :-P
yup chads tree is simply gorgeous - im sure theres a windmill knocking about the studio - i shall try and remember to have a look next time im in .....
ReplyDeleteSurely you derive greater satisfaction from conceiving and creating your own works?
ReplyDeleteI know from personal experience sculpting can be a laborious process :o
There's too many plebs dialling up sculptors, sending the consequent fruit for manufacture, then sitting back taking the credit.
Nobody compliments a shopper on buying a pizza (yet it's the limit of many manufacturers input)!
With your particular thing, it's always appeared productivity is the weakness.
- The figures themselves are great, you just dont release frequently enough?