A Withdraw & Return

So It’s been a while since I updated the desk blog and from some words recently following the completed marshal that I was in a mentally creative rut. Following the Lion, coming from a wonderful high sometimes can bear down a low. And it was later on after some time soul searching that it was a potent cocktail of self expectation, doubting my abilities, and clouded judgment. I needed to dig deep and step back from being much more open that I’m normally am with my process to listen to myself and search for answers. I will have more of the full process and lessons I’ve learned though the month of August in that time to share with you all shortly. As I think it’s just as important in creating good art is to be taking care of your creative core.

One of the key ideas was to take pressure off myself and paint with freedom on some projects which held no expectation other than a due date. Initially I thought it would be too stressful, but having a time frame to complete projects is good for me to wake up each morning with a purpose and something I can set to achieve. Even if its just getting some paint down on a model without resistance in blocks of time, I’ll take that as a win. The first model I completed in this free form painting is the new Tyranid Lictor model. And if there is anything in the games workshop collection that can remove myself from geometric shapes, armour, metals and just be loose is painting one of these insect alien creatures. Covered in strange bone and exoskeleton limbs, with sharp claws and a stalker pose. And most importantly, there isn’t any expectations to the alien for me. Just go and start making brush strokes to see what I can generate with these shapes. Happy that it turned out pretty good & managed to film the process with it actually being usable. I was hesitant to film it, but I went with my gut and said I’ll leave it recording and if it sucks I’ll just dump the footage and just put out some pictures and IG post to call it a project for Warhammer Community.

Building confidence I then went to the Sigmar Marshal and wow what a model which really picked up my creative flow back into what I needed. To help me ease my mind back into the flow I decided to work in a very similar colour palette from the Lion. Part of me was to work and face some inner daemons by using a similar colour palette of green and yellow/gold, but to purposefully not look at my notes of the lion and help to trust myself again. Just picking paints off the rack in front of me to reach the hues I wanted and also not to look at pictures of the Lion as well. No references, no pressure, and just go in and learn to trust my judgement. To further distance myself from the ussual process, I approached the Marshal in a new angle fashion, thats with a pre illumination with the airbrush which I rarely do. As well blocking in all the base tones of the model at the start to get a feel for the colours and again, trust my creative instincts and give me a situation that will help them come forward. The only reference I had in front of me the whole time I was painting was an illustration from my friend Chris’s Kickstarter game An Age Contrived which I painted all the minis for that were used in the promotional materials for it. Specifically the tree knight which is to little surprise has a LOT of green, yellow and orange in it. This was less of trying to copy, as it was to serve as a reminding feeling of what I had when painting these character for him. Maybe you could tell in my past words about my works, or if you’re starting to pick it up in this post, that feeling and emotions are a powerful driver to my work. Those aspects I value greatly to propel my work forward, and finding relationships to techniques, colour, light and shape to what I’m feeling towards the figure has always served me well.

Coming in last is none other than a legion that’s close to a personal favourite, and that the White Scars. The Ordu of Jaghatai. This may surprise some, but the scars have always been in a love/hate relationship. Ok maybe hate is a poor word, but that saying has a ring to it which I think gets the feeling across. I love the green within the white and the atmosphere with the contrast of the red. Each iteration has never completely hit it perfectly and the number of hours I’ve spent pooling over my notes, writing theories down of various processes I could do for the scheme and obsessing over both my desire to perfect the scheme as well as creating it in a way that’s achievable to paint for the tabletop. Cause hell I love the game and really really want to play with the Vth legion on the tabletop with my friends. More study and the month I had in deep thought helped me greatly to approach the scheme in a new way question what was really bothering me with the colours and come to a conclusion which you now see here! This test model was done just today and I’m in preparation to paint another behind the lens to share with you all! I’m totally fueled for the white scars so that old tutorial of the jetbike will soon be moved to a relic of the past. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have in the feeling of joy and relief that my obsessing over these desaturated shades of Green/White can help you paint white. I’ll take all the initial pain of coming up with the scheme, and you can experience the pain of keeping the process clean ;) Besides nothing super easy is ever satisfying and the true prize comes from honest work and dedication. Ok I love some easy wins as well, but you get the idea :P

Thanks again for being patient with me over the month of August and I look forward to returning to being more active here and sharing my creative process from my desk and giving you more reference photos of my work for you to enjoy and study alongside tutorials.