First Introductions

This is the inaugural posting for my new blog. I figure I will outline the purpose behind it and the method I'll be using to post new pieces as well as use it to outline a little bit of background about myself.

I have been painting miniatures for tabletop wargames for about 12 years. Of the last 12 years, I have taken off the last 4-5 years to focus on finishing college and marrying my wife. Now, age 30, I have a lot more time available, having completed both of these goals, to game. As I began to think about what I wanted to play ( because I have a metric tonne of WarHammer 40k Eldar and what used to be arespectable force of Warmachine Khador) I remembered that what I REALLY enjoyed about the hobby was the painting and modeling aspects and not as much the gaming and competing aspects. Certainly, I have a FLGS (Friendly Local Game Shop) in my town and a very genial group of gamers that are both friendly AND quality competition (a combination that is difficult to find), but I haven't really located anyone that shares a similar enough interest to my own regarding painting and modeling that I can communicate with regularly. Even in the vast and hegemonic expanse of the internet, I have dipped my toes into a couple of decently well-known forums that are 'craft'-centric and found the waters cold and virtually non-responsive. This leads me to the impetus of this blog.

The purpose of this blog is two-fold:
1) To chronicle my earnest attempt to advance my own painting skills using whatever information I can find. I don't aim to win a Golden Demon or other such high acclaims, instead, I simply wish to advance my skills in order to produce a painted miniature that I can look at and be happy about the work I've done. Self-Improvement.
2) To search out and locate other gamers and mini-painters with a similar interest advancing our own skills to a level that we are happy with. As a craft-centric community, we can lift each other up and improve ourselves through actual interactive contact with one another rather than being forced to compete with everyone else in trying to scramble for the threads on the coattails of those hobbyists that are pre-emininatly looked up to for their skills and ability. We should be a community that helps each other to grow and succeed, rather than one that must compete for scraps of information that is generalized for the masses because those fortunate and skilled few cannot possibly responds to all the demands on their time by those that wish to learn.

I will be posting WIP (Works In Progress) pictures of whatever I am working on. Ultimately, I hope to be able to start and finish one minature per week , roughly Tuesday to Tuesday depending on my schedule, or if its a solo or hero model, or 4-5 miniatures a week if I am working on a squad for an army. In this way, there will be a chronicled record of the work Ihave done that I can use to track my own progress. I will be posting my current WIP's very soon and plan on posting a blank, un-primered model everytime, before I begin to paint.

I don't know that many people will be reading this at all, or ever and that is fine with me. I do hope that anyone who does choose to read this blog, is just as willing to share with me their own progress, as I am willing to share with them my own progress and together we can take are skills where we want them to be.

28mm Painter