How do you explain it?

[Onis Lair]

Wait... there are paint by number nudes? I need to hunt some down.

Anyway i\'m Modderrhu with telling them I paint miniature figurines or just Miniatures. If they look confused or ask i go into the D&Dexplination. Although i must say the best confused and glazed look of pity given to me over painting miniatures was when my current job interviewed me and asked what i did to relax and i had to explain about miniature painting. lol

 

[Trevor]

Since the LOTR films, I often say I paint LOTR minis, more people have an idea what you are talking about then.

If they haven\'t looked at me like I\'m insane (so not very often) I usually mention Golden Demon, a national painting competition seems to add a bit of acceptence.

 

[automaton]

Ah yes, the eternal dilemma! In my experience, mentioning \'the 40yr old virgin\' is a recipe for disaster haha, I was getting along nicely with this girl at a party, but then I mentioned it and aaarrrghh...I really talked myself into hole with that one, and was unable to recover......haha, don\'t try it!!

Last time I was out, I actually carried a miniature with me inside a glasses case in my pocket, as a visual aid for explanations - I agree, it\'s so much easier to explain if you can just show an example! The only problem was that I became a nervous wreck for the whole night, worrying about breaking the mini in my pocket haha. So, back to the drawing board I guess!

It\'s always good if there\'s a computer nearby so you can fall back on good old pics from CMON.

 

[Ogrebane]

I like to play with boy dolls. But first I have to dress em up. I like to give them all names and back stories then me and a bunch of my mates all sit around and play with them together.

Most people I know think that Im crazy \"Billy Thorpe I think\"

I also go for the artistic expression thing or at least it keeps me off the streets and out of guns shops.

 

[AinuLainour]

Sebastian - That\'s like Leonardo da Vinci carrying the Mona Lisa through town to demonstrate that he\'s a painter lol Well, maybe not on quite that scale.


And I don\'t tell people, so if they ask, I show them my minis and if they\'re interested, CMoN.

 

[XeO3]

i just tell \'em i paint miniatures. if they look at me quizzically i\'ll explain in more detail, but most people either just say \"oh...\" or know what im talking about.

 

[Hoblit]

Some friends of mine like to refer to it in conversation as \"He plays with little mans\"

Generally, I start with the gaming side of it and then move onto the painting. I generally equate it to risk or Turn based strategy games on the computer.

Of course, it\'s not generally information I volunteer unless the person specifically asks.

 

[clover]

Thankfully I\'m old enough and don\'t hang around people who make fun of me so I generally say \"I play with toy soldiers at the mall\" If they don\'t want to know more that usually ends the topic. They probably think I\'m a right nut. Otherwise I just refer people to the GW store in the mall and they usually know what i\'m talking about.

 

[StarFyre]

For me....

I always go for the truth.

For Shilps, I believe I told her the first email I sent to her after replying (she emailed me first).

I basically introduced myself, mentioned education, what i do for work, my interests.

So it was sports/weightlifting, D&D, painting miniatures, warhammer.

However, I never actually said WHAT they were.

Then, her next email to me, she broke it up in sections, so in the hobby section she asked about them.

Then i replied in detail to all her questions and linked to CMON gallery.

However, I also pointed out that I\'m not a good painter/sculptor (ie. artist) and linked to Jeremie\'s site, Allan C\'s site, Vincent Hudon\'s work, Ritual, etc and showed what real artists can do!!!! hehe My point was trying to show, like anything, it\'s a real art. Ie. She saw freehand on a miniature and asked how they do that. Essentially, the same stuff you would do on canvas or paper CAN work on a miniature but since the surface is generally smoother, and is smaller, you have to accomodate for that. When she started to understand it as art, as opposed to toys, she understood why I care for my minis so much

She had never heard of this hobby and had never heard of GW (sad, since she went to university in Nottingham, about 10 min away from GW head office)..hehe, so she was quite interested.

However, what made her think it\'s interesting, is seeing the better artists\' works (She loved Cedric\'s dwarf for GD France, Jeremie\'s elephant blew her and her mom away..being Hindu, Victoria Lamb\'s lighting she thought was pretty!)

She then asked me when will I be able to sculpt/paint like that. hehe



Sanjay

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by AinuLainour
Sebastian - That\'s like Leonardo da Vinci carrying the Mona Lisa through town to demonstrate that he\'s a painter lol Well, maybe not on quite that scale. Yeah but didn\'t it take Leonardo something like 30 years to get to the stage that Mona Lisa is at now?
Plus, just think of all the paint chips the mini\'d get.

 

[War Griffon]

Originally posted by philologus
I usually just tell them that I collect and paint toy soldiers. After they see the figs themselves explanations are tailored to that individuals tastes. The really incredulous are shown some key E-bay auctions and when they realize there is also money to be made, their respect goes up some.

I am similar to an extent, normally onboard in my down time/lunch hour when it is quiet I will sit in my workshop/office and paint so anybody coming in usually asks what am I doing so I tell them I collect and paint toy soldiers in various scales. You can see the look on the facs of some and know they are dying to extract the micheal until they actually get a closer look and see exactly the amount of detail that has gone into the piece I am working on for it\'s size.

I think in a way most people associate the hobby to 12 -16 year olds in a shop shouting their heads off and throwing dice. When I tell people how much some people are able to get money e from selling on EBay they stand there with r jaw touching the floor.

 

[rextalon]

I met a woman who seemed to be okay with my hobby at first. It didn\'t take much explination. After we were married I overheard some of her family bashing my hobby behind my back. Then she started demanding that I keep the hobby in a certain room. Less than a year later we were divorced.
I\'m married again. My new wife has painted minis with me. She enjoys the hobby and apreciates the artistic nature of it. I get the impression we\'ll be together for a long time.

To answer your question, when people ask I tell them I sculpt. When they ask what I sculpt I tell them, \"What ever I want, but normally human figures.\"

 

[War Griffon]

I am currently seperated she knew about my fixation for toy soldiers from the start.

For a while I stopped painting but then she encoraged me to start again, after a while she reckoned that I was spending to much time on the hobby and expected me to be able to paint for a brief half hour here or there in the end she wanted me to stop again, any hobby she had lasted a short while...we couldn\'t agree to do anything together so in the end a 10 year relationship with a bit of marriage on the end was called to a halt.

God help me if I actually bought more, even though I don\'t smoke or go out drinking...

Don\'t know if I want to get married again I think I have becoeme to independant for that but if I did then she would need to understand my fixation with toy soldiers why I do it etc as well as have a hobby or two that we could both share.