Hi folks,
It’s been awhile. How have you been?! I hope things are well with you! Life has been a bit crazy the past year-and-a-half and a lot has changed since my last post. During that time I have:
moved to a new place (still in Wisconsin though!)
learned how to sail and received my US Sailing Keelboat Certification
greatly changed my lifestyle and lost 40 lbs!
gone back to school to get a Master of Science in Data Science
I’ve been working hard to complete my Masters degree on a fairly ambitious timeline, which has pretty much dominated my life for the past two years. While I have enjoyed being a part of a wonderful community, meeting new people, and sharing in the joy of miniature painting, I found it hard to keep up with all the communication, social media, blog posts, Patreon classes, and Twitch livestreaming— with little time left for actual painting! When I could find time to enjoy my once beloved hobby, I would start shaking with anxiety. I became overwhelmed with guilt and shame from the past projects I had taken on and not finished, thinking of all the things I still had yet to do and all the people I was probably disappointing. (Side note: my doctor is convinced I have ADHD and wants me to get evaluated by a specialist… and I’ve been accidentally putting it off for a year. Classic.)
Soon after this, I decided to take a step back and focus on schoolwork and improve my physical and mental health. This meant dedicating myself to an exercise routine, changing my diet, cutting out alcohol, and processing some emotional trauma in therapy. It sucked, but I got through it— I had my last alcoholic drink in August 2021 and lost 40 pounds through old fashioned hard work, diet, and exercise. Since then, life has consisted of coding, research, writing papers, taking tests… and when I’m not studying, I’m at the gym lifting heavy stuff and feeling like a total badass.
My only regret is that I stopped painting… until recently!
A few months ago, Shoshie Bauer from Shoshie’s Minis contacted me about a unique project she’d been working on. I was incredibly excited to work on “Nice Catch” and found him such a joy to paint (even though I had “Part of Your World” stuck in my head for days).
Without further ado, here is the first miniature I’ve painted and finished this year:
Work in Progress Photos
While I’ve painted many miniatures since I started in 2014, “Nice Catch” is definitely a first for me in many ways! First of all, I learned that I had no idea how to paint abs. You can see in the bottom right photos below, the “Before” and “After are quite different. While I used Jules_Illustrated’s concept art as a color reference (below left), I found myself struggling to paint the abs that FurryNtheBeast had so nicely sculpted! So I had to look up some references (oh darn) and I’m sure my Google search algorithm will never be the same LOL
While the muscular “pinup style” physique is always fun painting challenge, I found myself especially connected to the joyful energy of the piece and, being half-Filipino, I thought the sculptor did an incredible job capturing the unique facial features that many folks of my ethnic descent share: the wider, flatter nose, the expressive almond-shaped eyes, and even the “puffy” undereyes when we smile (something I always disliked about my own face but now somehow a little bit less after painting this guy!)
After I experienced some big life changes that took me away from miniature painting, I just wasn’t sure I could return to it– I had lost a lot of confidence in my skills after not being able to paint for so long. A big thanks to Shoshie for thinking of me when it came time to paint this figure! Not only did this project take me out of a serious creative funk, “Nice Catch” was a true joy to paint and rekindled my passion for miniature painting.
So I’m back!
I can’t say that I’ll finish anything on time until I graduate with my Masters (LOL I swear I’ll go get evaluated for the ADHD thing soon), but I’m finally not terrified to sit in the chair and just paint. And that’s a big deal for me.
I’m often asked about skin tones and I miss teaching my “Painting Multicultural Skin Tones” class at conventions and local game stores— I hope to do that again soon! I personally find it fun to challenge myself to paint a variety of different skin tones and this guy was no different. I played with different glazes and tried to avoid making him “too pink” or “too orange”, so you’ll see I used a lot of different colors (I’ve collected so much paint over the years). It’s not necessary to use this many colors but here’s what I used in my organic, experimental process. I figured I’d type this all out like I used to do for my old Patreon classes :) I hope you enjoy! (All paint colors are Reaper MSP paints unless otherwise noted) Click here to see the list in Google docs Word format.
For those that stuck around to read allll the way to the bottom of my ramblings— a special thank you for your support! I’ve felt so disconnected from something creative that I once loved and the community I enjoyed being a part of… I want to apologize for my absence and I hope you can forgive me. If you have any questions, please let me know— I’m open to talking about my experiences if there’s a chance it might benefit someone going through their own struggles with physical and/or mental health.
I’m not sure if or when I’ll return to regular livestreams or if I’ll reboot my Patreon classes, but I’m getting back into miniature painting with baby steps. Things are still incredibly busy but I imagine I’ll have more time after I graduate and get a job using my new Data Science degree (ideally one with a good work/life balance!). In the meantime, I want to sincerely thank you for your support— I hope we can paint again together soon!