Volomir's Blog

Spring Angel 2013: Teaser of the full experience review

2013-06-18T15:47:00.000+02:00

And so I'm back from Moscow and Spring Angel 2013!

Winter Angel was "cooler" but I certainly prefer "warmth" :P
I think words cannot express enough my feelings and emotions towards this truly unique weekend in Russia.

Victorious Volomir receives deserved mockery from brush legend Kirill Kanaev (Yellow One, considered by many the best Fantasy painter in the world)
I was told this contest was one of a kind, but I had to experience it with my own eyes to really believe it. Rival to Crystal Brush in big prizes, it definitely has no rival in what a painting event should be. Very carefully and wonderfully organized by Katy and Sergey, the most beautiful and amazing couple of all times, Spring Angel had painters treated like true Rock stars. People are constantly fed and taken care of, and are able to attend great masterclasses, interviews, and see awesome miniatures. And everything is free to all attendees.

The best people you can find in Russia
With these characteristics, there is no need to say that Spring Angel is the way to go for painting contests. As Michael Bartels said, "The Champions League of all Painting Competitions". So far this year, Painting Crusade and Spring Angel... it will be really tough to top these two!

"Chiaroscuro" painting.
This post is only a little teaser of my soon to come complete report. I want to share with you everything that happened so that you can get a little glimpse of the russian magnificence.

My incredible harvest for this Spring (Angel)
And obviously I will show some new stuff presented... ;)

Spring Angel incoming this weekend

2013-06-13T12:04:00.000+02:00

I know, I know... The blog has been awkwardly silent lately. Well, everything happens for a reason!

The Spring Angel is taking place this weekend in Moscow. I have been preparing some miniatures for this important event, which for me is rival to Crystal Brush but in the other side of the world.

Check out categories:

Fantasy – SteamPunk 28-35 mm.
Sci-Fi 28-35 mm.
Monster.
Sci-Fi Vehicle.
Unit.
Open.

If everything goes well I might be entering some of them! I can't tell you which ones because I'm not entirely sure yet, last time adjustments might be in motion... but I'm very happy and confident I will have some new stuff to show all of you very soon!

So expect tons of photos when I return, and also, if you happen to be attending the contest, please feel free to come talk! I will also be doing a painting demonstration, so I will be waiting to meet all of you there.

A picture is worth a thousand words

2013-06-10T12:12:00.000+02:00

Let the hype begin!

Do Not Miss: May 2013

2013-05-31T23:59:00.000+02:00

These are the most interesting things I've seen in May 2013:

Old Friends by Iguazzu and Piqui: Really touching scene from the southern monkeys. The guy in the portrait is obviously the guy from Up!
Griminn by Roberto Chaudon: And yet another great sculpture from Roberto for Mierce Miniatures.
Ur-Fildyr by Thomas David for Mike McVey: Just pronouncing these two names together seems like some kind of sorcery is going to be unleashed.
Plague Lord Deadzone by Remy Tremblay: Mantic is developing a new game called Deadzone, and this is one of the miniatures for their new range.
Touch of Death by Raffaele Picca: The thoughts behind this great creation of Raffa put into words in this article. 450 hours in 5 weeks? Seriously??
2012 clash of Slayer Sword Winners: Interesting article depicting the opinion of different artists about last year's Slayer Swords. I happen to be one of the people giving their opinion!
Mephisto by Roman Lappat: Really cool paintjob for this amazing bust. I love the lava effect! Jungle boogie!
Mill scenery by Manuel Pariente: Impressive and very realistic mill scenery which you can see in Rafa Coll's Blog.
Dream and Nightmare by Amon Chakai "Foiatore" has done it again. Great idea and very well worked execution for this pretty awesome diorama.
Glaun by Roberto Chaudon Another super big and scary monster for Mierce Miniatures by Roberto.
The Walking Dead by Enrique Velasco (emuse) Months of hype around what emuse would bring to Crystal Brush! This is the marvelous diorama he presented that was first runner up in Chicago.
Mago by Roberto Chaudon Don't forget Roberto also sculpts busts! Really nice one!
How to make rust and corrosion Great tutorial to make rust easily and very convincingly in Coloured Dust.
How to sculpt a sword by Piquifl Piqui shows us in the newly rebuilt Cursed Monkeys Blog how to sculpt a sword from plasticard.

An early Do Not Miss for May with Elías Alonso

2013-05-30T13:04:00.000+02:00

I'll post tomorrow night the real Do Not Miss selection for the month of May (which by the way is really big this month), but before that, I needed to post this because it can't wait until tomorrow (you never know if you will run out of spots!).

The gods of painting know this is THE OPPORTUNITY.
I'm definitely going to try to make it happen! I'm already going to Pedro Fernández's sculpting workshop in Alcalá de Henares on the weekend of July 6-7, but no sane painter should miss this one!

Metals

2013-05-28T13:21:00.000+02:00

Metals are difficult surface to represent with paint. The natural shines that metal produces and its capacity for reflection of light makes it very complicated. In traditional painting, metal represented in two dimensions is relatively easy to achieve: we force contrasts and glares, and simulate reflections that occur naturally, limiting ourselves to the context of a single view. In sculpture painting, three-dimensional, this is something much more complicated. Glares and shines are something that depends on the relative position of the viewer to the figure, and therefore traditional methods do not work as easily, because, when we switch views, shine spots are fixed in one place and do not move with the viewer's point of view, thus ruining the feeling of metal.

Polished metal shines on a ball pen.
To achieve a realistic metal effect, paints wich metallic pigments were developed to simulate the natural shine of these materials. When painting with these pigments, all the surface acquires a metallic feeling, but despite being a good approximation, we do not get the natural reflection of polished metals (although with some very specific paintings we may get close enough). We will try to fool the eye forcing the glare to be always in the same position, as we do with any other surface in miniature painting, but this time the placement does not depend so much on the light scheme chosen but rather on our intention.

Even when rusty, metal still has strong shines.

Shines on metallic spheres.
The secret of metals is therefore represent the reflection of light in the appropriate manner. The more polished metals are, the more they suffer from specular reflection, i.e. the more they resemble a mirror in how they reflect those images. This is what we will try to do when trying to represent our miniatures. For this we will use two features that when properly controlled will define the quality of our painting:

The first feature is that the use of very strong colour contrasts is essential, going from light to dark in a extreme way. We will be able to go from black to white in silver metallics, from light to dark browns in golden metallics, etc. The great difference from painting any other type of surface is that we will extremely differentiate changes of places and position of highlights. The latter, which at other times is determined by the position of light sources, in this case is arbitrary, almost at will, representing the fact that metals act like mirrors. We will use all forms of contrast that we have seen and will use them combined with each other.
The second feature is the cleaning of transitions. Metallics with dirty transitions will not be believable, and this is especially critical the more polished the metal is supposed to be. When we paint metals with metallic paints we will play with gloss contrast, and that contrast is very sensitive to the smoothness of transitions, as improper blending of transitions in glossiness are easily noticed and spoil all the work.

Metallic armours with slight colour reflections.

Worn out metal with rust and blood effects.
In metal, light spots will be specular reflections of light rays either from the sun or from an alternative source of light. The shadows will be reflected images of nearby surfaces surrounding the metal, and we will ensure that the more polished the metal has to be, the stronger the reflection we will have to insinuate. These nearby surfaces mark the colour that we will use for the shadows. We will have to do a study of the metal surface to identify where the lights go, and what they are reflecting with the shadows. At times when there is no object close to the metal to be used as reflection, we will use a creative license. We will use the sky if the metal is looking up, so we'll use blueish colours, or the ground if it is looking down, so usually we will use the same colours that we use for the base. We can also use the predominant colour of the miniature, so that the metal is kept in harmony with the rest of the figure. The possibilities are endless.

Polished metal painted using metallic paints.

Polished metal painted using non-metallic paints
That said, let's look at the two most popular styles of painting metals that we have in miniature painting, True Metallic Metal and Non Metallic Metal (NMM). The two forms, despite having names so pretentious, are actually the same technique. The difference is that in the first one we will use metallic pigment colours and gloss while in the other we will use matte colours.

Happy Towel Day!!!

2013-05-25T20:15:00.000+02:00

It's that time of the year fellows!!!

¡Feliz Día del Orgullo Friki!.
Today is May 25! A super intergalactic coincidence of very important anniversaries happens on this date, and if you are a nerd (who I'm pretty sure you are since you happen to be reading these lines), I don't need to remind you that Star Wars was released today more than 35 years ago, or that it's Towel Day for the Hitch-hikers of the galaxy everywhere. Today is known as "Towel Day", or as an even cooler name that we have for it in Spain: "Día del Orgullo Friki" (translated as "Nerd Pride Day").

All of you must be preparing their best galas for the Nerd Pride Parades happening everywhere, or maybe preparing to re-watch Star Wars at home. I am celebrating it doing even more translations for the super DVD set from Painting Buddha, Season 1.1 "Target Identified". While resting from one of my long translating sessions, I'm sharing with you this wonderful teaser trailer for the DVD set, released today (obviously had to be today) by Mr. President Bartels from masterminis.net.

Check out the TEASER TRAILER!.
From Painting Buddha himself:

The Budget Box will be a no-thrills box which holds all the essentials you need to become a better painter: 6 full loaded DVDs in a beautiful DVD Collectors Edition and our Hero's Brad & Yanet (without the base) protected by a stylish metal box. And of course it had to be 42€!

But we are nerds, and we wanted more. So we stuffed all kinds of goodies into the deal and realized that - if we sold it for 42€ - we would be in the red. Not that red is a bad color, but hey,... A suporter box at 84€ is twice as hoopy as 42!

You wonder what kind of hoopy gifts we will put in the Budget and the Supporter Box?

Look at this bit of Wonderland!.
I tell you, I can't wait for this to see the light! Or at least... to finish the subtitles in Spanish! :D

Subtitle translation mayhem!

2013-05-20T13:32:00.000+02:00

You might remember this.

Join the Revolution, NOW!.
And these three motherfuckers:

The happy family of Ben, Mati and Michael.
Well there's some DVD goodness Season 1 coming very soon (seriously!). But all great release comes with great responsibility. And I wanted my fellow friends in Spain to be able to enjoy the videos even if their English level is not that great. So because of that, this week I'm immersed in a subtitle translation mayhem because I want to make sure that everything in the DVDs is properly subtitled, not only in English and German, but also in SPANISH!

Even Ben Komets will speak in Español too.
So you'll be guessing that with a 6 DVD (!!!!!!) translation task as huge as this one, I won't be doing much of anything else this week...

The brushstroke

2013-05-14T18:22:00.000+02:00

In my opinion, one of the most basic concepts in miniature painting is the proper way to use a paintbrush. The speed and quality of our painting depends on how well we know how to use it. Specially crucial is to control the brushstroke when we choose a style of painting based on layers or gradients, because in these cases the way we lay our brushstroke is the key of the process. Other styles like puntillism or wet painting permit us more freedom when choosing the brushstroke, but we should take into consideration how the use our paintbrush will affect our choice.

When using a painting style based on layers, the first myth that needs to be broken is that a brush to paint miniatures needs to be small. We are actually going to prefer using a brush with a big head, capable of loading a decent quantity of paint so that we don't have to go back to our palette every time we give a stroke. We will also prefer longer hairs because we are going to paint with the brush horizontally, using the pointed tip of the brush only when strictly necessary. Small brushes with short and little hair, though pointy, do not have enough capacity for paint loading and they will rarely keep paint wet from the palette to the miniature.

Comparison between a euro coin, an interesting W&N size 1 and a not so interesting W&N size 00.
To apply a paint layer, the brushstroke will be performed describing a plane instead of a line, we don't want to drag the tip of the brush, we do it laterally. With a wider brushstroke, paint will cover and distribute more homogeneously and we will take advantage of the load capacity of a good brush. Also, we will control better the pigment distribution this way.

With every brushstroke, we'll notice that at the end of the stroke, just before lifting the brush from the painting surface, we are dropping the biggest quantity of paint. The colour drop will be bigger the more we load the brush. This is a paint drop which could spoil a good job that seemed smooth if we don't control it. However, now that we know about it, we can use for our own benefit. If we are, for example, trying to do some shadows, we will make sure that the direction of the brushstroke is that which leaves that final colour drop in the area of maximum shadow, for the colour we are painting. The same will occur when painting lights.

If what we want to achieve is a homogeneous colour plane, the best thing to do is dilute the paint as much as possible. We need to master brush-stroking to be able to apply semitransparent layers of paint. Brush-stroking in planes or semi-planes is also key in this case. What we will control carefully is the dilution of paint, and the quantity of paint that the brush will load when painting. The more diluted the paint is, the more transparent the layer will be, and as we reduce the quantity of paint in the brush, the more control we will have over the effect and faster the process will be, because the paint will dry faster. If we load the brush too much, we have the risk of soaking instead of painting, and when there's too much water which does not dry fast on the miniature, the dissolved pigment will not be homogeneously distributed, it will disperse and crate paint stains.

The most important thing to consider is that we need to let each layer of paint dry before applying the next one. This is by far one of the most common and extended errors when starting to paint by layers. With every brushstroke we will deposit wet paint on the surface and if we use the brush again over that same surface before the paint has dried, instead of depositing more paint we will be moving around the paint previously applied.

Whatever our ability with the brush may be, the state and quality of our brush is fundamental, we must never be careless about it because this can be a continuous reason for frustration, or even a limitation to our painting skill.

Get a miniature painted by Ben Komets for free!

2013-05-13T10:58:00.000+02:00

You certainly can't win a miniature from an artist like Ben Komets everyday.

Well, our friends from masterminis.net are giving away FOR FREE a miniature painted by no other than Ben Komets himself, as well as other super cool stuff. Check it out now!

Obviously, this is post is not only to let you guys know that you can win, but also my lottery ticket to winning it myself! I certainly want some frei fick from Ben! God I hope I get it!

Also, stay tuned to masterminis.net in the next few weeks if you love me (of course you do!) and you want to know all about the DVD that's about to come out.

Liebe für alle! <3

WIP: Swordmasters of Hoeth Part 9

2013-05-06T11:48:00.000+02:00

Previously on... WIP: Swordmasters of Hoeth

I've decided that for the back part of the banner I will be using a simple yet effective elvish filigree design.

I just searched the web for cool elvish designs and then edited the motif to my intentions in the computer. Voilà!

So this is what I want to achieve. But first, I shall secure the other side of the banner. We don't have to compromise the work we have already finished!

Basecoating the banner with Dark Sea Blue, airbrushed.

The colour is very light because the priming of the banner was white. So I will work to shadows. Dark Sea Blue adding black, airbrushed.

For the final gradient I'm going to add some blue and green inks to the mix.

With the blue background I can start painting the filigrees. Very lightly at first; I just have a soft guide, something to let me get the proportions and be erased easily if necessary.

From that guide I start drawing more definite shapes. Notice how some of the lines do not correspond to the first guides. I am correcting the proportions as I advance.

As I progress with the new lines, I erase the underneath guides that were incorrect, just by using glases of the background colour on top.

The lines become more definite as the whole design becomes clearer.

So when I am happy with the line, I insist and insist over it untile the line becomes strong enough. It is always better to do it in one quick and clean stroke, but that is reserved only to the most dexterous painters.

Finally, I correct all the blurryness by cleaning the lines using the background colour. It could be a tricky task because of the gradient in the background.

Painting the other filigree should be easier, as I have the experience of the previous one and the proportions are clearer.

The process is exactly the same.

The trick is to user lighter lines as guides which will turn into thicker lines as the whole design progresses..

And when you are happy with the proportions, make them thick and final...

Clean the lines by using background colours...

And clean some more.

Stay tuned for a final roundup!

Do Not Miss: April 2013

2013-04-30T23:59:00.000+02:00

These are the most interesting things I've seen in April 2013:

Modelling weapon ornaments by Steve Party: Figurin TV makes this amazing video (in French) on how Steve creates his wonderful and highly detailed weaponry. I love all that Steve does, so this video even though it's in French, is A MUST.
Scale 75 new releases: This spanish company is giving it all with their new releases, and its consolidating Steam Wars as one of the most interesing miniature ranges of the market. Impressive tandem between Elías Alonso and Joaquín Palacios that turn to gold everything they touch.
Buzzcut from Remy Tremblay for Dreadball: By looking at the box arts from Dreadball you'd never tell that Remy Tremblay is behind many of their creations. I think they should paint his creations with more love.
Along came a spider by Piqui and Iguazzu: Cursed Monkeys new creation is this very interesting scene created with the pre-released Dwarf from Heroes and Villains beautifully sculpted by Jonatan Monerris.
AMT Torrent review by Rafa Coll: This very famous contest in Spain was celebrated in April and Rafa Coll brings us his personal review with lots of photos. It's divided in different posts so don't just stay in this first one linked!
Aradae Mawr: Another great sculpture from master Chaudon for Mierce Miniatures.
Tupac by Christian Hardy: Really cool sculpture of a lizardmen skink, super dynamic. I love it!
The Clockwork Man: Brilliant idea by Rafa Coll from a Sargeant Blackart miniature. Amazing!
Rime of the Merchant Marienburger: This absolutely amazing army has caught my attention to an extent I couldn't feel imaginable. Check it out, it's the Empire Fantasy army on the last part of the post.
Sibila del Oráculo de Delfos: A Step by Step article (in Spanish) by Pepa which in my opinion is absolutely essential. I learnt a lot from it!
How to make a woodbox for miniatures: Magnificent article in Hysteria Yard about how to create a wooden box to transport miniatures. No more excuses!
How to make simple spider webs: Interesting and useful video on 5th Dimension on how to do spider webs in a very simple manner.
Luz New York from Pedro Fernández: In Rafa Coll's Blog, first part of the sculpting photos of this wonderful miniature from Pedro Fernández for Nocturna Models.

A change of colours

2013-04-29T17:30:00.004+02:00

This September (2013), Volomir's Blog will be 5 years old! I have many things in mind to celebrate this really important birthday. Some of them are already prepared even though there are still a few more months until September.

One of the things that I was going to do, as part of the glorious festivities, is change the appearance of the Blog. The current one, with the Last Stand of the Crimson Fists background banner, and the current blue colours, has been in place for more than 3 years now, and I believe it looked a little bit old-fashioned as of now.

However, September is still a long way to go and the look&feel changes are already prepared! And I simply can't wait to show it off! So, instead of waiting until September, I've decided to buy the Blog an early Happy Birthday gift and update it... TODAY!

Say goodbye to the old dark blue colours...

And join me in welcoming the new yellow colours! Hello Mosin!

You'll see Mosin the cat and his legendary garbage can in even more places than before. I'm loving that "Raspura Oscura" yellow. More and more changes incoming!

High Elves WD Good Quality Pics Exclusive!

2013-04-25T22:05:00.000+02:00

There's more exclusives today in Volomir's Blog! Being a true High Elf lover as I am, I have to be the one sharing this. Check out these gorgeus photos from the new High Elves. Some of them have been already seen, but certainly not to this quality! Click on them to see them bigger. And remember, you saw it first on Volomir's Blog! Always bringing you the best of the best ;)

Golden Demon 2013 dates finally confirmed!

2013-04-25T21:10:00.001+02:00

I bring you as a complete exclusive this sneak peak of this month's White Dwarf.

For those not profficient in Spanish, this means that we finally have all of these dates officially confirmed:

GD US: July 27
GD Germany: August 11
GD UK: September 29
GD Italy: October 20

Good to see all these dates finally confirmed! Obviously no word on GD Spain and France, already presumed dead in 2013, but also no word on Japan and Australia, cancelled too? Note that GD Germany is not in Bochum, but in Köln, and not in November, but rather in August, as confirmed by internal GW sources in Germany. I'm guessing GW guys had no time to stop the printing of White Dwarf before they finally confirmed Gurzenich in Köln!

I am thinking of attending Germany, UK and Italy, following my 3 GD per year policy. Seems very doable according to dates!

Remember, you saw it first on Volomir's Blog!

The palette

2013-04-24T10:00:00.000+02:00

It's very common for newbies starting in miniature painting to try dipping the brush directly into the paint pot and then apply it to the miniature. I can't think of a less efficient and improper way of painting. Paint in the pot is too thick to use, it nearly always needs some watering down. Also, using just colours out of the pot will limit our range of colours to use since we won't be mixing them together. So to water and mix colours we use an auxiliary surface which we call palette.

The palette is the left hand of a painter.
Any surface may be useful to serve as a palette for the painter (could be a plate, a tile, or a plastic egg container), but it is always convenient to find a material which is able to prevent colour mixes from drying. In the case of acrylic paints, this is especially important because they dry easily when exposed, especially in dry environments (sometimes even inside the paint pot). To prevent this from happening we use the wet palette.

Wet palette.
The wet palette is composed of a material which lets moisture pass through, but not paint. Thus, paint on the palette takes a long time to dry because paint is constantly wet. To make a wet palette we just use a flat container (a dish or similar) where we make a bed of absorbent paper (paper towels or toilet paper). We wet this layer of paper thoroughly with water, and then, on top of this we will place a piece of baking paper, which is the material that allows moisture to pass through but not paint. This surface will be our wet palette.

Layers of a wet palette.
The wet palette needs to be renewed when the paper towel has dried. You will notice that this is happening because the baking paper will start to separate from the paper towel and the paint will dry fast. Before that happens we have to add more water, simply removing the baking paper and pouring water on the paper towel. Also, there may be times when the baking paper will be saturated of paint mixes. In that case we just have to replace the baking paper. The wet palette can be stored in the refrigerator, where it is able to maintain the paint wet even longer. This allows us to have our mixes on the palette for a long time, and save our colours from one painting session to another, even when some time passes between them. However, it is advisable to change the palette from time to time as prolonged moisture can lead to mould growth, and weird unpleasant smells.

My typical painting stand.
When painting in humid climates we will be lucky because acrylics will stay wet longer, even if we don't use a wet palette. In these cases, we will have more options to choose from. A very interesting one is using a palette which would have different pots where we can store considerable amounts of paint. We can use the pots to organize series of colours which will be useful when painting gradients.

Palette made from a pill container.
Without a doubt, it is advisable to try out as much palettes as possible and stick to that which we find the most adequate for our way of painting.

Crystal Brush 2013 results

2013-04-22T10:42:00.000+02:00

We have a new Crystal Brush winner!

The grand prize went this time to Jeremie Bonamant with this piece, "Game 08 Life":

Game 08 Life by Jeremie Bonamant
A truly wonderful piece which serves as the comeback for the legendary Bonamant, lost in Africa for three years for an amazing adventure biking around the continent. It seems like he is back for good, and how good!

Remember emuse's indiegogo campaign to get to Crystal Brush this year? Well the effort finally paid off! Second position for his wonderful diorama "The Walking Dead".

The Walking Dead by Enrique Velasco
Third position went to our beloved Raffaele Picca, with this amazing monster of nature being hunt down, in "Touch of Death":

Touch of Death by Raffaele Picca
Apparently winners this year were really really close! Quite a battle indeed, and a lot of effort must have been required from poor monkey judge Mr. Roman Lappat (with the help of all the voting CoolMiniOrNot community). These other remarkable entries were left out of the juicy prizes:

The Steam Piper of Hamelin by Matt Cexwish

So High de Marc Masclans y Diego Esteban
We have been told that there were lots of entries in Crystal Brush this year, but that there was a big gap in quality between the really impressive ones and the rest. Despite this, it seems that the number of great entries is growing slowly in this contest. Let's see if next year's Crystal Brush follows the trend!

As for now, congrats to all winners! Also, good to see some Spanish representation in the podium once again, keep up guys!

Crystal Brush 2013 this weekend

2013-04-19T10:13:00.000+02:00

This weekend Chicago hold's the third edition of CoolMiniOrNot's $10,000 prize contest: Crystal Brush!

Previous editions saw this contest establish and consolidate, but this year seems the confirmation. Many reknown artists have confirmed their presence in this year's edition, something that will definitely make it more interesting.

As you can see, I also didn't make it this year, I already have the calendar filled with events and contests I want to attend so Crystal Brush will have to wait a little more for me. But two spaniards will be there to fight again for the big prize! Good luck to Enrique (emuse) and Marc (mesklins)! We are very excited to see what you guys have created for this special occassion! Also, Spain has dominated Crystal Brush since its creation! (Alfonso-Diego silver in 2011, Diego silver in 2012 and Jose-Hugo gold in 2012).

There will be other great friends attending from other countries. Matt Cexwish, Raffaele Picca, Conrad Mynett... Roman Lappat will be judge (help him by voting your preferred miniatures on Sunday in CoolMini's website) and I also heard Michael Bartels will be there to make some noise! Good luck to all of you! Enjoy the trip and may the best mini win!

Expanding The Library

2013-04-18T13:36:00.001+02:00

In my opinion, wargamers are a natural mine of future serious painters. I was kind of a gamer back in the day, before I got lured into our little world of colour. That is why I consider that wargamers interested in the artistic part of the hobby should be carefully guided into the vast knowledge that exists around painting, which is overwhelming for them in most cases.

Classic old school gamer discovering his real passion: miniatures.
A few weeks ago I was imparting a painting class to gamers (you might remember my post on Festival de Espadas) and I noticed the big disconnection existing between gamers and painters. Even for tabletop painting purposes, there are a few things that I think are essential. To this purpose, I've decided to start a series of articles which will cover basic aspects of miniature painting, such as the palette, preparation of a miniature, priming, etc. I will continue in time to cover more advanced topics of painting.

The new incoming Library in Volomir's Blog
Even though there's tons of articles around the internet about it (the world is full of tutorials nowadays), I thought that I could do some good if I finished off some articles that I already have near completely written since long ago. All of the things that I will present here are obviously tips and tricks, basic stuff that most of the people already know (or don't), and also deeper thoughts on how I personally paint (there is no absolute truth in anything, this is no exact science). So, in the next few months you will find in the blog some articles talking about basic concepts of the miniature painting world. If you have any doubt or question about any of the topics, or if you want to share your own point of view and add stuff to the articles, you know you can contact me by either mail, facebook or leaving a comment in the blog. I'm looking forward to your feedback!

Back from Berlin (Painting Buddha style)

2013-04-16T16:11:00.000+02:00

I'm back from Berlin!

What a nice week surrounded by the most amazing people. There is a lot going on in Painting Buddha and I encourage you guys to follow what they are doing because there are some really cool proposals being cooked as I write these lines and the products that they will be releasing in the next few months are some of the best quality creations that we can see in the market currently.

Obviously I'm not going to speak about the triple DVD in which I have just participated because my impressions would be a bit subjective... but seriously, the talent that they have, the care that they put in all their work and especially the passion that they are throwing in (the company is practically non-for-profit so the prices are surprisingly low) really make a difference.

I'd say that what we will see released in the coming times is the result of a group of people absolutely in love with our hobby who have received so much from the miniature painting community that they are now going to give back a lot of that love by doing what they do best.

And the best part is that I sincerely had a lot of fun!

Golden Demon Germany 2013 confirmed!

2013-04-10T23:01:00.000+02:00

It's funny that I am in Berlin as I write these lines... but yes!! Seems like finally we will have a Golden Demon in Germany this year!

And in Köln! August 11 in the Gürzenich!!!

Ok, everything is too good to be true. A raise in prices for the ticket (50€ or so) and a limited number of visitors, 2000 tops, will accompany this year's GD in Germany. But OK, we DO have Golden Demon in Germany after all!

Read it all at Mr. President's post on masterminis.net.

Painting course in Madrid 27-28 April 2013 (in Spanish)

2013-04-08T11:54:00.000+02:00

This entry is to announce another of my painting courses in Madrid. I usually only announce them on the spanish part of the blog, but I figured there might be people speaking spanish which only read the english part of the blog, so I decided to copy the announcement here too! Just in case anyone interested happens to be able to be in Madrid that weekend. :)

¡Vamos a montar un nuevo curso de pintura! Como viene siendo habitual ya que los organizo a petición de la gente interesada, el curso está prácticamente lleno, pero aún queda alguna plaza así que si os interesa daos prisa que aún estáis a tiempo. Estas son las fechas:

Será por lo tanto un curso intensivo de un solo fin de semana ya que hay gente que viene de fuera. Esta es la información específica sobre el curso:

Lo primero, el precio del curso es de 95 euros. Vamos a pintar cada uno la figura que queramos, que previamente tendrá que ser aprobada por mí para asegurar que cumple una serie de requisitos mínimos de cara al aprovechamiento del curso. Por lo tanto, para el curso hay que llevarse una figura (que a ser posible preparamemos previamente al curso para ganar tiempo), pinceles y siempre que sea posible, un flexo o similar para luz. El resto del material lo pongo yo.

El curso se dará en mi casa. Vivo en el centro así que es fantástico porque está muy cerca de Atocha, en Madrid. Hay bastante espacio y estaremos muy cómodos y tranquilos. Además tengo todos los bártulos a mano y no tendré que moverlos, podremos usar el aerógrafo sin complicaciones. El grupo no será muy grande, normalmente los cursos son de entre 6 y 8 personas, para el mejor aprovechamiento del espacio y del tiempo que puedo dedicar a cada uno.

Éste será el temario del curso:

El curso serán unas 8 horas cada día, quedamos por la mañana, paramos para comer y luego seguimos por la tarde hasta que nos cansemos. El que sea 2 días separados lo hace menos cansado y más productivo, ya que veréis que son muchas cosas las que vamos a ver de forma bastante intensiva. Además así podéis practicar lo que aprendáis el primer día y luego preguntar dudas que os hayan surgido en el proceso el segundo día.

En la primera sesión abarcaremos los aspectos básicos y nos pondremos a pintar la figura que hayamos traido. El tiempo entre los dos días debería ser empleado para terminar la figura en casa a modo de deberes (o avanzar lo que se pueda) para luego revisar los resultados y comentar fallos y dudas. El segundo día daremos el resto del temario y terminaremos de pintar la figura completamente.

Puesto que el temario es amplio (mucho) y por experiencia sé que no da tiempo a verlo todo bien, os pasaré unos apuntes introductorios antes del curso para que los leáis antes del curso y tengamos ya algo avanzado. Así aprovecharemos el tiempo practicando lo máximo posible, que es donde realmente váis a sacar partido. Veremos muchas cosas y muy por encima, pero es el temario ideal para pasar de no tener ni idea de pintura a ser un pintor de concursos.

Y eso es todo. Ya os digo que aún queda algún hueco así que si estáis interesados, ¡mandadme un correo y lo hablamos!

The one with Torrent, Painting Buddah and others

2013-04-04T10:00:00.000+02:00

Ladies and gentlemen, this weekend Torrent will be holding the classic and famous contest of the AMT. It is considered one of the best in Spain (if not the most important) and every year it gathers a great deal of miniatures of the highest quality in both Fantasy and Historical sections. I consider it a do not miss contest!

In spite of this, I am going to miss it again this year. I don't know how I do it but every year it's the same story, something comes up and I can't make it. And of course, this year was not going to be different in that aspect. Can you believe I've never been to Torrent?

More news: I am sure all of you already know masterminis.net, Michael Bartels blog, and his initiative to revolution the painting miniatures world. Michael is a very inspiring super nerd that has decided to live the dream and leave his unfulfilling corporate life to create a singular miniature company based on a very particular view of the world which I'm sure all of you will be very in tune with. As a summary to all of those who live underground, Michael founded the company Painting Buddah and announced a juicy set of DVDs with tutorials from some of the most prestigious painters from around the globe and miniatures to follow these courses, for a very very interesting price.

Michael contacted me because he wanted me to become part of the initiative and offered me to be one of the painters for the second season of the DVDs which will presumably see the light in a few months. In fact, I already have my trip to Berlin programmed to record it. However, as you can read here, there has been some minor problems with the recording of the first season and Michale has decided to repeat the recording of the two first videos (Ben Komets and Stephan Rath). Since Stephan won't be able to visit Berlin until after the summer, it has been decided that the order of the painters will be modified and finally I will be part of the first season, and that way the first two DVDs will be on time. The funny thing is that thanks to this, all of those who asked for the DVDs in pre-order, trusting in the initiative without having seen the product, will now get, for the same price, the whole set of 3 painters of the first season.

Finally, talking about other stuff, Volomir's Blog has now joined the blog site "La Mazmorra del Poliedro", to unite all blogs about wargames and miniature painting in Spanish. You may now see this banner on the lower right side of the blog.

If you happen to be fluent in Spanish don't forget to check it out!

Incoming High Elves in May

2013-04-02T10:30:00.000+02:00

Games Workshop has a new policy for releases and it is evil. We are going to see a new army book practically every month with their corresponding new releases. Something that together with the unreasonable price rises that the company has been undertaking on their new products will upset a lot of people.

Even so, despite Games Day cancellations, despite price rises and despite Finecast, I am really looking forward to the release of High Elves in May.

As a big fan of High Elves (you must have noticed by now), I am eagerly waiting to see the new proposals from the old Games Workshop, let's see what they surprise us with now.

There has been many rumours, but if you ask me, what is it that I want to see? Well, for starters, this:

New spearmen
New archers
Monstruous cavalry on lions
Update of character models such as Korhil, Tyrion, Teclis, etc.
The Everqueen and her girls

I think that some of the things I ask for will come true, others won't. But anyway, let's see what happens. For the moment, I have only been able to see this photo, pretty disappointing actually (those ice crystals, why the hate?).

I have also read something about white lion cloaks on basic troops... that would be really sexy!

Whatever happens, it seems that this year is going to be a great High Elf year on Volomir's Blog.

Do Not Miss: March 2013

2013-03-31T23:59:00.000+02:00

These are the most interesting things I've seen in March 2013:

Metallic Color Comparison Chart: Massive Voodoo surprises us again with this magnificent and very useful chart to compare different metallic colours from various paint companies. Choose your metal!
Maya and Ronin from Romain: Two busts finished from the great Romain, which are absolutely impressive as always.
The return of Poupée Canope: Emanuele is back for good with this AMAZING new miniature, one of the most incredible sculpts ever in the history of Fantasy modelling, and resembling the legendary and never forgotten line of Crete Hurlantes from Ilyad. Pity it sold out in a couple of days, but stay tuned because I'm sure he will release more awesome creations in the future.
Knightmodels new releases: Another great batch of wonderful releases, from their DC licenses, their Batman game, and the great Saruman the White in 70mm.
Scale75 new releases: New line of Sci-Fi models, wonderfully sculpted digitally by Joaquín Palacios and painted by master Elías Alonso. And a new range of paints designed by Elías! Great news.
Pentesilea, Infinity: I've recently started to look a lot into Infinity (which appears to be the boom lately) and this new release is awesome. Reminds me of the good old days of Final Fantasy VII.
A Necron Lives Forever: Such a simple and cool idea. I love these little jewels of good taste!
You Shall Not Pass by Arsies: Great tribute to this wonderful miniature, painted by David Rodríguez some years ago.
Dyndraig Trooper by Roberto Chaudon: Another great sculpt by Roberto for the company Mierce Miniatures.