lol! Heya Meph! Not completely nuts. The UV paint needs a white base coat and white reacts to black light because its so reflective. But in regular lighting, the UV paint is white - at least the blue stuff is, the red is another matter. Anyway, I need to be able to blend up to white so it doesn't look completely ridiculous in normal lighting. That's what I'm juggling right now and had planned to experiment with this week until my dates got turned around.
Basically, what y'all are seeing is a crash course in experimentation so to speak while I also work to get something - normal - that will be my regular entry. You know, the fail-safe. lol!
As it stands, the centaur is going to be my Painting entry for sure, no fancy UV paint or anything on her. The commission female mage I also want to enter - she may or may not have UV on the orb in her staff and the one in her hand. I really would like to get her in the comp just because I think it would be cool for my client too. Both of these are Reaper minis so might qualify for the Sophie comp but I have a feeling my piddly stuff will get blown out of the water.
I think Ashantyr will also be an entry. I scraped all of the thick paint off and am attacking the gold NMM again. Struggles with the NMM aside, I think she's one of my best works thus far and the steel NMM on the sword just took a huge jump in improvement. IF I can get the gold NMM right, she might be a contender in painting.
Last but not least is the dragon. If I can get him to work between the UV and the metallic dry pigments, it will definitely be an advancement in getting different mediums noticed in the hobby.
If you Google commission miniature painters, you get a kazillion hits. So what makes me different from all the others out there who can paint a good, quality product. I'm not the best painter out there, I haven't won a Slayer Sword, so what can draw customers to choose me over all the other painters? I'm hoping that will be innovation and use of a variety of mediums.
I have a lot of fun being innovative and pushing the envelope when it comes to using different mediums. Granted, things don't always work the way I planned. As Mythbusters say, "Failure is always an option." lol! If something doesn't work, it doesn't work. But the important thing is the hobby is no longer limited to just acrylics, oils or airbrushing. We've got dry pigments, metallic pigments, UV paints dies and pigments, the semi-precious stones incorporated not only into the base but the miniature itself...and I know there is a ton of stuff out there just waiting to be discovered. So being innovative is what I hope will help my business stand out from the rest.
Succeed or fail, one thing is certain, I gave it my best shot. :highfive: