What I've been up to

I just wanted to do a quick update on what I've been up to recently. While painting miniatures is my idea of relaxing, making terrain is how I let my imagination go crazy. I'm fascinated with how a single piece of terrain can set the tone for a battle. But I'll save you from my poetic musings for another time. For now, enjoy a peek at what my group can look forward to.

My new favorite website (and why it's bad for my wallet)

Like most people, I have a host of websites I'll check periodically throughout the day. Most are geek related, but none have ever posed such a serious threat to my expendable income like a website a friend turned me to a few months ago.

Mantic's Recent Kickstarter

A huge congratulations to Mantic and their recent success on Kickstarter! For those who don't know Mantic, they're basically a group who broke off from Games Workshop and started creating models that could sort of pass for 40k and WHFB models if you squinted really hard (go ahead, ask me about my opinion of painting their Orx).

But it looks like they've finally struck out and given themselves a separate identity. They recently ran a Kickstarter project to fund their new game DreadBall - The Futuristic Sports Game. So how well did they do? Check it out.

Pushing Through a Bad Model

Like I said in my last post, painting is zen. If I have an hour or two free, I love nothing more than to turn on every single light around me, grab a paintbrush, and make a piece of plastic come to life.

But when I'm painting a group of models, it's hard to push past that one piece that holds zero interest for me.

What's on the Painting Tray?

I'll just say it - to me, painting is therapeutic. I get to paint models that I get to keep, and it's my time to try new techniques that I wouldn't dare risk on a commission piece. Plus I get to have podcasts and shows playing in the background, so I get to stay caught up with all my media entertainment (as long as no one asks me to describe what the actors look like!)

Being a work-from-home dad with a two-year-old boy and four-year-old girl, both with a healthy set of lungs and and endless amount of energy, I rarely get quiet time during the day. I'm allowed some respite for my commission work, but I will always choose to be a dad and husband first. So after a day of painting, keeping kids alive, and then hanging out with my wife, I'm ready for the house to quiet down and let me enjoy the silence.

Keep Moving Forward

If there's one good thing I can say about myself, it's that I'm never satisfied with the knowledge I have. There's always something new I can learn, and it drives me nuts if I'm not actively seeking to learn more about something.

This aspect of my character has been a driving factor in my painting. It took me from my first painted model to starting a business - that drive to learn and grow is what keeps me going and ensures I'll never settle for "good enough." On a bad day, all I can say is "what I know is good enough... for now."

I say that because I'm very excited about the new knowledge I've been putting in to practice.

Everyone Starts Somewhere
As I've been building the bulk of my commission painting business, I've been overwhelmed at how much is involved in just getting this thing off the ground. I entered in to it thinking a website with some basic info would suffice. It wasn't until I turned to my friends for advice that I realized I needed a big online presence, expensive equipment, a well-designed website, a decent logo... on and on the list seems to go!