New Year New Army Completed

Good tidings dear reader(s) wherever you may be.  I hope all is as well as they can be amidst the uncertainties of our time.  It's been some time since I've given a hobby update and while the blog has been quiet, it's been busy on my end!  As I mentioned in the earlier post I've been using painting as a way to do some self-care for my own stuff and as such, I've managed to reach some goals for the year!  So let's dive right into some of what I've managed to get done!

I didn't quite realize that it's been...a few months...5 maybe...since my last update.  It's been a wild time for everyone across the globe and typing things hasn't been on top of my list.  As much as I've been busy with work and managing life, I've been painting a lot as well.  I've taken myself to a challenge of "let's see how many I can paint in a single batch" and just kept increasing the number.  Right now the highest I've painted as one batch is 60, but looking through some of these pictures it's been large group after another it seems.  Let's start off with the smallest group size of 10, the ladies of the Escher gang in Necromunda!

I toyed around with using the color green throughout the models.  I wanted them to be an Escher cult of Nurgle that started to dip into toxins/poisons with their diseased patron and so I went with a cooler/pale flesh tone with some hints of green.  I did part of their armor using Scale 75 Orcs and Goblins set green and also contrast Warp Lightning with some highlighting/shading.  Overall I was really pleased with the vibrancy of the green compared with the pale skin and the black leather pants!

The Pox Walkers are the models that started this whole "see how many I can batch paint" deal because I grabbed one randomly to show a friend how "you can get quick decent results with contrast, see?  I hate these models but with contrast...huh...well...I actually really like that...damn I guess I need to paint these nerds up."  So 40 Pox Walkers later with majority contrast and some weathering/rusting effects and here we are!  I aimed not to do any sort of prep work other than what I already had, so if the area didn't have a strong primer presence then it just became natural shading.

So next came the Plaguebearers which I went off of the mutations in the Pox Walkers being blue, so then naturally they needed to be blue too!  Another set of 31~ miniatures using mostly contrast paints with some highlighting and selective shading.  In this case, I took an "I don't really care" attitude because my goal was speed and tabletop "good enough" rather than effort for a display piece.  I think I took more time with the skirmish game sorts because they tend to have smaller numbers of models whereas Pleaguebearers I can remove en masse.

 Then came the big project.  The Ossiarch Bonereapers.  This time I was going for something a little bit more than just "slap the paint on" as I did with the previous two.  My goal was still to try and get them done quickly as I could, but now to a new level of quality.  I managed to knock out this whole army in about 7 weeks time with taking breaks here and there.  Overall I am very pleased with the overall outcome and the tone of the army.

Finally, I've started a new army project, this time I'm going to knock out the Hadross from Wrath of Kings.  I started experimenting with airbrushing some inks on some of these models and I've been learning a good chunk of stuff on how to use them.  My biggest takeaway is that I have discovered that I really, REALLY, like using white ink as part of zenithal priming.  Prime the model in black/grey, and then hit them with some white ink.  It takes about 2-3 passes but for smaller batches of models it really stands out!  I've had some issues with white priming since contrast paints came out but this technique was smooth, effective, and gave me some great results.  Another thing I've learned is that you should probably get familiar with the intensity/color of your ink before airbrushing them...because I didn't realize it was going to end up looking that intense...I still like it and will work with it but yeah, just be careful.

PURPLE

A year later after contrast was released I've come to realize a lot about my own painting style, approach, and attitude.  It's truly been a game-changer for me and painting without contrast kind of sucks for me.  As I painted these Hadross Deepmen mostly without it, it's been agonizing and I just haven't enjoyed it as much as I might have if I had just used contrast initially.  I just don't like it as much and truthfully I'm not trying to become a Sam Lenz, Vince Venturella, or Angel Giraldez.  I'm just a dude trying to get his models pained so I can play games with painted models, and they look somewhat decent.  As a podcast, I've listened to (link right here to Trapped Under Plastic) mentioned, that I am going to paraphrase, a good 85% of the work is the base coating and shading and the rest are the highlights and details and I've taken that to heart.  Contrast knocks out 85% of my time with decent results that I then build on with the rest of the details.  Whether I choose to put more effort into that 15% or not is up to me as most of the model is done already.  I love it and for all the flak I give GW it's a great product I will continue to use.

I hope all has been well with you all out there and that you are taking care of yourselves out there.  If you've done any hobbying please feel free to leave a comment/link and let me check out your work!  If not then until next time take care of yourselves, happy hobbying, and good luck out there!

Self-Care and painting amidst the "Everything"

Good tidings to you all fellow wargamers and welcome.  It's been a rough year so far for the world with everything that has been going on here in the US and globally and it's been challenging for many to cope.  So I wanted to take this post in a slightly different direction than I usually do because of what's been going on and while I could write as if nothing is going on it would not be fair for you dear reader to not acknowledge the reality of where we are as a people.  So without focusing on doom and gloom here, we go!

When I originally wrote some form of below it was during a time when the "biggest issue" was the outbreak and spread of the COVID19 virus.  Since then we have been through A LOT of other things here in the US.  It's been a really tense and stressful time for many people.  Myself being a counselor in the mental health field, have been working with folks dealing with new stressors and their own mental health pieces.  It's been challenging for many, and myself with my own mental health challenges have been figuring out how to navigate everything so that I can help those who need it.  That's partly why I've not kept up with this blog as I would have liked, but here we are in hopefully what is a moment of calm to shelter from the storm at large.

As wargamers, I would dare say that there are many of us who are struggling with some of these issues right now.  Therefore I want to help encourage you in this time and offer some insight into parts of our hobby that may not have been considered therapeutic before.  With that, I have to throw out the caveat (thanks to our litigation-happy nation) that this is not intended to diagnose/treat/provide any services to anyone who is suffering from mental health conditions.  If you suspect that you suffer from mental health concerns and need additional assistance please consult your local provider for referrals to services as available in your local area.  This article is not to be taken as mental health advice/research/treatment/etc but a source of encouragement and some considerations to be taken.

A big thing that I am going to advocate for in this time is the concept and practice of self-care.  It's a pretty common buzzword I hear a lot online that for many translates to "treat yourself" or "spend money on spa days/chocolate/whatever."  Self-care is simply making sure you take care of yourself and get the things that you need to keep going.  There is a lot of stress/anxiety/depression going around and that has an impact on interfering with self-care practices. We can easily forget at the moment when folks are faced with new challenges, old stressors, and the events continuing to take place in our world, that part of regular mental health care includes practicing self-care.

Self-care as we clinicians help clients with often incorporate things like making sure you're eating well, getting good sleep as much as possible, getting some exercises in, socializing to some degree, engaging in activities, etc.  It's about taking care of yourself in these trying times and not some sort of fantasy that society thinks you need to do.  Self-care is a personal/individual thing and while these are some suggestions for you feel free to adapt things as you need to for your routine.  I want to caution that doing self-care isn't the same as getting actual treatment or help.  This won't treat depression quite like a counseling session would, or get to the root cause of issues.  What this will do is help the foundation of "you" being at a stronger place so when those things do hit then you're hopefully in a better spot to handle them.  These things are bad enough as it is, but it's even worse when you don't feel great in general already and then it hits you.

So I've found in my experience hobbying, specifically painting, has an interesting effect on anxiety. Now I preface this with: it works for me, and I hope it helps you but if not then that doesn't mean something is wrong with you.  I've noticed that for me painting has a grounding effect on my anxiety. What I mean by it being grounding is that anxiety has a tendency to push people into this zone of "what ifs."  You know it's like you start going "what if X happens, and then what if Y happens, what if I do Z," and so on.  Grounding techniques can help bring you back down from that zone and back to your 'normal' sort of state.  You have to focus on the here and now instead of the "what ifs," so things like the colors/textures/shapes/painting can help manage some of these anxious feelings.  Personally, I found that painting plus some audio medium like a podcast has done wonders for my stress and anxiety.  It's helped bring it from some pretty high levels to something more manageable, and that's truly the goal of self-care is to make all the stuff more manageable.

Like I said it may not work for you, but if it's something you're able to do and need something to help focus on something then give it a shot.  You might find something new to help out in times of great stress you never thought of before.  It's a wild time right now with a lot of uncertainty, fear, confusion, stress, and so on so please take care of yourselves.  Do the self-care and be safe out there.  If you are reading this and you feel like you need additional help then I encourage you to go talk to someone whether it's a local counselor, crisis worker, or whatever it is you have in the area.

Well, folks, that's all I got for now.  Take care of yourselves out there, it's a crazy time and my hope is that we get through this with our health (mental and physical) intact.  Hopefully, some of this stuff helps you out, if you're already practicing it then great!  If not then I hope that it encourages you towards keeping yourself sane and floating in these times.  Next time I'll go back to the usual hobby posting and help give a break from the real world.  Until then folks stay safe out there and take care of yourselves.