Sharing a bit of nostalgia

[Rodnik]

I was looking through my display cabinet this weekend--to get some pictures together for web updates and such, and I ran across a little gem of a miniature----and thought I\'d share it here.

For those of you who know me, you\'re aware that I picked up my first brush a little over 2 years ago. Since that time, I\'ve gleened what info I could from the web and other painters, and CMON played a fairly large part in that---for obvious reasons.

So, with that---I give you a mini I painted about two years ago---just to let some of the newer painters know that we all sucked (really bad in my case) at one time or another...

and most of you have seen this one recently---my Atlanta Demon entry---but just to provide some basis for comparison:

I just thought some of the folks here my like to see this. After I took the pictures, it surprised the hell outta me. Granted, I\'ve painted some 300 miniatures since the little dwarf lady , but I rarely look at any of my old stuff---as I\'m much too busy painting....

I just thought the community might like to see how much you have all influenced my painting.

Thanks for the help guys and gals.
Enjoy,
Kev

 

[menace]

Wow, that\'s like 3 a week!! I\'m just startin and i\'d be lucky to do 1 in 3 weeks

All said, it is really inspirational to see this comparison, i think i\'ll look through all my fav artists now and see what their oldest were like.

I\'m particularly impressed with the shading and patterning combined,

I hope i\'m this good one day

 

[Ogrebane]

Thats a huge jump in two years. Ive been painting for 15 years and havent gone that far with my painting. So what bits did you learn to get where you are now. I would like to enter in the OZ GD and I need to be at least as good as you are. Great stuff.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

WOW, that\'s some HUGE improvement in a short time. Well done.



I want to save Jose\'s mini\'s. If he continues and improves it would be fun to post a painting timeline.

 

[Ebonbuddha]

Good stuff.

 

[GreenOne]

I really don\'t see a difference, where do we vote for the dwarf lady ???

Seriously, from what I\'ve read on some recent threads, I can say your patience and dedication to improvement is an exemple for us all, well, for me at least.
No wonder you got that good, you train like a samurai, if only I had such discipline.

Most folk out there can\'t even dream of reaching such standards in a lifetime.

 

[airhead]

Kevin, I\'ve got draweres full of minis painted to almost the same level as the girl. At the time, I thought I was a pretty good painter (back in the 70\'s & 80\'s) We used oil-based enamels (Pactra military, Humbrol, Testors, etc.). Dry brushing and inking were about as good as you could get. Trying to thin the paint to layer resulted in painting thinner on the layer under and it all washing off.

To be honest, if Temperance had not pointed me here a few years ago, I would still be painting at around a 5 and thinking it was wonderful.

 

[Rodnik]

Thanks for the supportive comments, but when I pulled that little dwarf lady off the shelf *sniff*..I just had to share.

@OgreBane

So what bits did you learn to get where you are now.

I\'m a long way from being an authority on painting, but if I had one thing to offer it would be this:
There\'s no substitute for ass-in-the-chair time (my favorite line). I just spend alot of time painting and working to improve. I have no natural talent, so I have to make up for it by superglueing my arse to the chair.

Almost as important as the chair time is following the *good* advice you\'re given. If someone takes the time to offer a critique, try to at least explore the possibility of improvement rather than move to the mode of self-loathing or defensiveness.


@GreenOne

I really don\'t see a difference, where do we vote for the dwarf lady ???

lol I would *never* subject myself to that bit of misery. I\'d be afraid she\'d score a 9+, and the next thing you know I\'d develop a nervous twitch, and run through my neighborhood naked screaming DEMON DEMON DEMON. The neighborhood watch would have a problem with that, I\'m sure.

No wonder you got that good, you train like a samurai, if only I had such discipline.

I don\'t know about training like a samurai, but I probably do spend more time doing this than my wife can truly appreciate...


Kev

 

[Patrick]

I\'ll say it here too! Excellent progress!

Nothing beats practice and patience. it applies to playing musical instruments and it applies to other forms of art as well.

 

[Grimvar]

Hey Rodnik,
as yourself I\'m painting for a little over two years now and I\'m amazed by your progress (& productivity).
I have to agree that patience is crucial. At the moment I\'m struggling to take a further step in improving my painting, but that would require to take quite a bit more time per mini. And after maybe 5-6hours for one model I\'m getting this \"Finish-That-Damn-Thing-And-Move-On\"-feeling. But I\'ll try to overcome that in the future and paint some more layers instead...

 

[No Such Agency]

Originally posted by Rodnik
lol I would *never* subject myself to that bit of misery. I\'d be afraid she\'d score a 9+...

I think it\'s safe to say that you don\'t have to worry about that

 

[RedSevenBlue]

I\'m hoping that I\'ll one day be as good as you, I would love to see you at next years GD, what\'s your entry gonna be, don\'t spoil the colors!