Concerning style...

Over the last year or so I've been thinking a lot about personal styles of painting and sculpting. You may have seen quite a bit about my painting style revamp on here of late.

I'd like to talk a little bit about styles and something that rather surprises me. It's that painters and sculptors rarely work outside their tightly defined style. Personally I like to muck about with mine from time to time to give me a fresh perspective and generally keep the inspiration up. Of course that brings us to a related point: conscious versus unconscious style.

I think I'm a good example to use when it comes to this phenomena. I'm quite well known for reinventing the wheel with regards to my sculpting or painting styles. I'm the guy who was known for this...



and then suddenly went to this...



Quite a dramatic change and personally I don't see much of a style in common but I keep hearing that people can still see the 'Buddle aesthetic' in them and talk of clean lines and elegant forms which are both inherent in my process. But definitely an unconscious thing in this case as one reason I made this massive change was that people kept going on that my figures were undetailed and lacking texture and I'd always considered that to be my intention. Eventually I wanted to go ahead and sculpt something that was totally different.

Despite unconscious stylings bleeding through the change it does bring up an interesting point to ponder upon. That point is not to always do things in the way you always do them just because that's the way you always do them. For most this is a hobby and although you are free to do things in the same way, sometimes it's good to do something totally different. It's then quite fun to look at this totally different approach and see what unconsciously is still there from your normal style.

I kind of got onto thinking about this style issue over the last few days due to a few comments I heard about my new job working for Games Workshop. Obviously this is going to mean that my style will be mutating once more as I work towards adding my figures into a range produced by rather a lot of people and needing it to fit in. A few people seemed worried that my personal style would get lost in the shuffle and I'd end up sculpting cookie cutter figures. I really don't see that happening and, even with another style change, I thoroughly expect people to finally see my work for GW and say 'hey, that's a Buddle fig'. I mean, they've a large team of sculptors and I can still pick out Jes Goodwin's work from Brian Nelson's or Mark Harrison's or Mike Anderson's. They all work in the GW style but there's still loads of room for individuality.

Of course we never know where the changes might end. Five years from now maybe you'll see me sculpting a giant monster on a computer. Now THAT would be a style change...

Moving on to new things...

If there's ever a lesson to learn it's that as much as things may seem like they're going to stay the same, you never know when life is going to throw you a curveball or a new path. I've been rather up in the air for the last few months with things going on behind the scenes and my future has seemed rather uncertain. You've probably noticed that the blog has been a little erratic of late with regards to updates and that my miniatures releases haven't had a proper focus. This is because three months ago I applied for a position as an in house sculptor with Games Workshop. These things tend to take time to work out and I've now been offered and accepted said position.

This means that over the next week or two I will be shutting down operations on my miniatures business as it's not something I can run alongside my new job and, frankly, I'm looking to be able to relax and have some proper time off outside of work (something that every self employed person out there will no doubtably understand).

Right now I can't wait to get started sculpting cool stuff for GW as many of you will know I'm a long time GW geek and there's always been the part of me that wanted to work with their imagery. Plus it's going to offer me the new challenge of sculpting for plastic. A challenge that I relish as I do like plastic figures.

Not exactly sure what happens to the blog but the plan is to keep it going. I'll just have to work out what I'll be writing about.

Now I think I have a few mad weeks of sorting out a move from Cornwall to Nottingham...

Sculpting a photo of a mini....

I had a conversation with another sculptor the other day regarding another of those curious phenomena that I am so drawn to writing about. In this case it is all about the styles in which we are sculpting these days and the pressure to sculpt in a certain way.

It's no secret that minis are becoming more detailed, scarily so in some cases. The point put to me and something that I have thought myself in a round about way in the past is that we're no longer sculpting for the person to see in reality and that we are now sculpting figures to look good in photographs (usually shown many times larger than the figure itself).

This is perhaps not surprising as very few companies out there are selling their figures to people who will make their decision whether to buy or not based upon looking at the figure itself in reality. No, in this internet age, we are shopping via photos on computer screens and probably looking at a pic that is 500 or even up to 1000 pixels high. The problem with this is that it's a totally different ballgame for a sculptor to make a figure that looks good under such circumstances and it's not uncommon to find that you get the figure and the figure that the sculptor has probably sacrificed his sanity and eyesight to sculpt is not an easy paintjob because it's so finely worked. Such figures are of course incredibly impressive and, as a sculptor, I am constantly blown away by such things but, as a painter, I still gravitate towards a bolder style of sculpture that looks good at 30 odd mm tall but might look a little clumsy/strange when blown up to five times it's actual size. I think the key there is not to show it quite so large. Zoomed in is one thing but there are limits (I try to make my mini pics on the small side but large enough to see the detail).

I do sometimes worry about how many sculptors are going to burn themselves out (or just strain their eyes beyond repair) to live up to the demands of detail and giant pictures. This pressure is there. I've ended up suddenly sculpting in a much more detailed style now and it does worry me a tad. My figures are being very well received but I'm very aware of just how much time I spend under an optivisor these days...

A pack of rats... with spikes...

Spyglass Asylum is my fairly analytical stream of consciousness regarding the design and manufacture of minis from the point of view of someone inside the industry. Much of this is with regards to the design, sculpture and painting of the minis themselves.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to another blog I read: Spiky Rat Pack. This blog is the home of okkiW and izeColt, two insane hobbyists sharing said insanity with the world. I'm linking there because it's almost an opposite and counterpart to what I do here. I talk the creation of miniatures from my experience and analysis of the industry as I see it and the 'spikys' cover much of the same ground but from the perspective of someone not yet sucked right in to the industry and they do it with an enormous amount of enthusiasm (and there's talent to go with it).

I'm not going to share pics of their works here but instead will just offer you the link to go and check their stuff out. I'm watching their many crazy projects with interest and am greatly looking forward to seeing where it all ends up.

Just click below to enter their world...

Spiky Rat Pack

More paintjobs...

Still playing with my washes...

My latest Spyglass release was a good chance to try out my technique in an emergency as I had to paint three figures in short order.



First up was the 32mm version of my old 54mm Eolith sculpt, Autumn. Perversely my newer sculpting style meant that the small version had more detail than the large but that's the way it goes. Still, new painting technique meant she still didn't take much over an hour.

A quick basecoat over black of mostly Foundation paints. Flesh was Tallarn mixed with Skull White. The green is Knarloc with a little Dheneb Stone and the brown is Calthan with a little Dheneb Stone. I two toned the corset to bring out the swirls (just a little extra Dheneb).

Custom brown wash all over. Thraka Green Wash over the green to take a little dirtiness out of it and then Gryphonne Sepia over the whole fig. I added a few careful highlights using the basetones mixed with Gryphonne Sepia and she was done. Bit fiddly on the highlight stages but she came out quite nicely.

Next up were the zombies...



The fat guy zombie was just a dream to paint. Flesh was Dheneb Stone with a little Gretchin Green. Darkened the mouth and eyes. Painted the teeth and white of the eyes in pure Dheneb. Khemri Brown with a little Dheneb for the trousers and Dheneb alone for the trousers.

Custom Brown wash all over then Gryphonne Sepia all over. Finally sploshed a couple of layers of Baal Red for the Blood. Done. About thirty minutes painting, if that. Very happy. The little girl was similar. Flesh was Dheneb with a little Mordian Blue in it. The dress a mix of Mechrite Red and Iyanden Darksun. I added a slight highlight to the dress with a little extra Darksun in it. But the same washes and blood stages. You kind of lose the bloodied eye in the photos...

Anyway, just a few hours painting and my month's releases are done. Went rather well all in. Certainly beats slaving away for days...

Should you be interested in these figures they're over at www.spyglassminiatures.com

Painting Heroes: Martin Footit...

Right, here is my bloody late first painting heroes article. Sorry, been a little under the weather this week (though I finished a very overdue paintjob on my fat zombie earlier that I will share soon).

Anyway, my first painter to talk about in this potential series of articles is Martin Footit. I'll make no secret of the fact that I like looking at the Eavy Metal style and most of my painting has been somewhere along those lines. Martin is certainly a GW style painter and cut his teeth with many years on the 'Eavy Metal team before moving on to being a sculptor and producing a great deal of rather nice and painter-friendly figures.

I'll take you through three of Martin's works and talk a little about why I'm generally in awe of his work.



This is a closeup of Martin's subtle conversion of the Inquisitor scaled Eldar Ranger (that means it's 54mm(ish)). IT was probably seeing this figure that first really made me take note of Martin's work. I saw it at Games Day where it was entered in the Open and I got a good close look. Frankly I thought it was the best painting I'd ever seen. The painting is just immaculate here with perfect blends everywhere. What really grabbed me was the shading. All too often shading on a mini can get muddy but on this figure it was just so... vibrant but utterly appropriate. A classic lesson in the idea that it's not always the quality of paintjob but the choice of colours and the tones within those colours that can make a paintjob rise (though in this case, it was hardly making up for sloppy technique elsewhere).



This Blood Angels Terminator was Martin's entry in the Open at GD last year and romped home to win the category. Again, it's not so much the colour scheme but the tones used in the colours that make the figure glow. All coupled with an exquisitely judged base/setting where everything works together to draw the eye in to the main figure without overwhelming it. Very easy to do with a large base like this.



Again, this wizard brings us back to the core of what makes Martin's work so special. Check the perfectly chosen and applied shading on the off-white fabric but also the details of the pages of the book or the pink nose. And again we have the figure placed in a small setting which has become something of a Footit tradition. Often his bases are quite vast but here it's a lot more subtle.

The greatest praise I can give is that when I was painting my Greatsword for the last Golden Demon, the question I was generally asking myself is 'what would this figure look like painted and modelled by Martin. Now, I'm not quite as accomplished as him but it paid off pretty well with a silver demon so that ain't half bad...

Painting heroes...

Been thinking a lot about the whole 'best mini painters' thing. As many of you will know I picked my top three sculptors a few months back and it was very tough to pick them. So much so that I wimped out of putting that top three in order. I've had suggestions that I should do a similar series for painters...

... that's a tough call.

There are many great sculptors out there and picking three was difficult but if there are many great sculptors there are huge numbers of great painters. Certainly by comparison. I'm not sure it's possible to nail it down to a top three that I wouldn't want to change every other day as my moods swung. So, I'm thinking a different approach. I'm calling it Painting Heroes. With Painting Heroes I will not make it about top threes or rankings I will simply, every now and then, post about a painter that I think is bleeding edge amazing. The painters whose works make me drool.

So, who will be first? Well, in the next few days I will post my first Painting Hero. Despite the difficulty of ranking painters there is one painter out there who I just adore the works of and was the first name to spring to my mind.

Not saying who that is today but would immediately like to open up the floor to you, the reader, to comment here and tell me who your choice for a painting hero would be. I'm curious as to how many of you might choose the person I'll be blogging about next...

Oh, and before anyone thinks about it I'm using Hero in a unisex form here. I just thought Heroes sounded good and I don't want to be messing about with writing hero or heroine every other line when talking about this in general.