I just finished another Evil Sunz Ork Deffkopta. I am excited because only two models from my Assault on Black Reach set remain unpainted. It will be a mile stone to complete the whole boxed set. I believe that I have more or less decided not to play armies of either Evil Sunz Orks or Ultramarines. I am painting models that I will most likely never use in a game. Well, I did play one 500 point game with the Ultramarines. I just bought the Assault on Black Reach box because I wanted to start painting and I wasn’t sure what to buy. As the months have past I have painted almost all the stuff from that box but I have lost interest in Orks and Ultramarines. Currently I am fascinated by Mantic Games. I have purchased 251 Undead models from the Mantic range. I will get into those once I finish the Orks. I really like the Mantic stuff because it is a great value for the money. The models look good to me although I must admit that I am no artist. I have no idea what makes one sculpt better than another. I just know I like the Mantic models. They say that they are faster to paint because the models have less detail than Games Workshop. That appeals to me. Although some people don’t like that. I am always excited by the prospect of finishing another model. It is the completed model that thrills me. I know that my models aren’t very good. I am not really competitive about the painting or the gaming. I just paint the models because I enjoy doing it. I am not really ever going to be a great artist. I am just satisfied if the model looks better with paint than it did with out paint. I have talked to some of the serious painters at my local game store and they can get offended by my attitude. I don’t know why. Some people are very serious about this hobby almost to the point of being grim.
Miniature painting reminds me of experiences I had with people when I attempted to learn something about wine. I really like wine. I really enjoy drinking wine. Here is the deal though. There are people interested in wine who think of drinking wine as some sort of competition. Some people can drink some wine and then tell you what kind it is and possibly even what year it was created. That is pretty impressive if you have ever seen some one do this. So when I was into wine I would read stuff online about different types of wine: Zinfandel, Chardonay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. I never quite made it as a wine connoisseur. I would go into restaurants and order a specific wine and the waiter would get mad. I would pick wines that were inappropriately matched to the meal. I still don’t understand why the waiter would react with anger when my order revealed I didn’t know wine. The cool thing about wine as far as I am concerned is that it is a great way to put alcohol in your blood stream and it even tastes good. However I have never been capable of appreciating the subtle differences in types and qualities of wine.
I guess that I am the same way with miniature models. I really like the models and the painting the same way that I like wine. Here I am painting models and it becomes obvious to the serious painters that I am not perceiving subtle variations in color. I don’t have the patience for the advanced painting techniques. My painting reminds me of coloring books I used in the first grade. That is pretty much what I have been doing. I just put solid blocks of color in a defined area. Highlights confuse me because I can never decide where one color should end and another color begin. So here I am failing to appreciate miniature painting the same way that I failed to appreciate wine. But I still drink wine and I still paint models. I am just not very good but still I deeply enjoy these activities I assure you.
They will actually sell miniature models to any random person willing to pony up the cash. They never asked me to prove my abilities as an artist when I went to the game shop to buy models. Now that I have the models I am not really feeling a great desire to prove myself to anyone. I don’t really get the whole competitive side to this hobby. I don’t think that I will ever play in a tournament or enter a painting contest. I hear terrible stories about bitter arguments that arise during tournament play. I am not eager to experience that. I just plan to play with friends. Painting contests are cool. I like to look at other people’s entries. I don’t think I will ever enter a model of my own though. I can assure you that a lack of artist ability does not reduce my ability to enjoy painting. Take care.
Color by Number 