All-Terrain Monkey

Why not have the person running the painting competition that year make a video outlining the five judging criteria, what is looked for in each, and how the five apply to each category *John says while throwing Proctor under the bus* to publish a couple of months before ReaperCon? :D

#56 is me staring at a mini in Chubby Monkey mode.

Hey! Sorry I missed Anne's plug earlier! I do have the distinction of teaching a well-regarded class for the past, what, seven or eight years or so? In any case, classes are always available the day of the class, though you want to be at the register as early in the morning as possible to reserve your slot. How Not to Suck has typically allowed 2-3 extra seats as it's literally me talking for two hours straight non-stop to kickstart tons of mini-painting goodness, so if you haven't gotten a slot yet don't despair.

Besides, if you're asking questions of another painter or instructor on how to do something, they'll often ask if you have a recent mini to show them so they can figure out where you're at in regards to painting, or if it's a mini that has the technique in question they'll be able to tailor an answer specific to what you're asking about .

Thanks Jay, she's my favorite too (don't tell the others). Not bad on the stereo CashWiley; I think it works well for two minis close together, but the group shot spread out was hard on my eyes . Hey RedTwoX! Looks like you're off to a good start! Bring in any examples you have into the class and I should be able to up your game quickly .

Hey Cash; it's actually pretty easy. Get a nice lightbox going, and have some method of stabilizing your camera. I use my Samsung Galaxy S, so to stabilize the phone I have a ziploc bag full of rice. Set up the mini in the box and then set up your camera for the shot, but instead of centering it in the view shift your camera to the left until the mini is framed on the right side. You still want to have the focus of the shot on the face/upper body though so if your camera either detects or lets you select the focal point be sure to do so. Take the shot, and then without changing anything else about the setup slide your camera to the right parallel to the plane of the photo you just took so that you end up with the mini framed on the left side. Ensure the focal point and take another picture. Then all I do is load it into photo editing software (GIMP or Photoshop will do), load both images into the same image, and erase half of the one on the top layer to allow the bottom layer to show through; if you framed the photos right you should have both images clearly showing. Make another layer, use a circle tool, and paint a white dot above the head of one of the layers. Then, cross your eyes and place another dot over the head on the other side, and drag/adjust as needed. Voila!

5 Klockes, two Van Hornes, and a Guthrie, so 62.5% Klockenbooty.

I think in any class that lists you as Scheirman you should show up wearing a cardboard goatee and give painting advice opposite to what you'd normally say. Cackling maniacally is optional.

This is reposted from my display thread since Bedlam, PhD asked me about what How Not to Suck was all about. How Not to Suck is two hours of me figuratively talking non-stop (I have to pause to drink water) to tell all about everything from miniature tools and prep to how to layer. It's a pure demonstration class where I send two minis on constant circuits around the classroom to help people see that the physical process of how to transition from extremely dark to extremely light colors is not mystifying, easy to do, and is something anyone can replicate. Like I say in the class, if I can do it, _anybody_ can do it :D. It goes over basecoating, washing, layering, lining, how to prime, clean a mini, and how to make watching paint drying exciting. It's full of tips and advice I gleaned from other painters over the course of several years of 'Cons interspersed with my own observations as someone who can paint about as well as... well... what you see above. :D

Oh, fine, but only 'cause it's you Doc (and I'll post this in the other thread as well). How Not to Suck is two hours of me figuratively talking non-stop (I have to pause to drink water) to tell all about everything from miniature tools and prep to how to layer. It's a pure demonstration class where I send two minis on constant circuits around the classroom to help people see that the physical process of how to transition from extremely dark to extremely light colors is not mystifying, easy to do, and is something anyone can replicate. Like I say in the class, if I can do it, _anybody_ can do it :D. It goes over basecoating, washing, layering, lining, how to prime, clean a mini, and how to make watching paint drying exciting. It's full of tips and advice I gleaned from other painters over the course of several years of 'Cons interspersed with my own observations as someone who can paint about as well as... well... what you see above. :D

Oh, and I completely stole Rhonda Bender's idea. I know, I'm a horrible person. http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/47737-a-few-by-john-bonnot-for-people-looking-at-his-classes-shamelessly-ripped-off-from-rhonda-bender/

I know, I know, Rhonda did it first. Doesn't mean it's not a good idea :D. I'm teaching the quintessential ReaperCon class "How Not to Suck" twice this year as well as a class on NMM. Being in school since August has cut down immensely on the amount of time I have to paint and post on here (I'm procrastinating on finishing up some Java homework for tonight right now actually) but I'm not out of practice in the slightest. Here's a short sample of some of my paintjobs, and as always you can look at the ones in the paint crew gallery here: http://www.reapermini.com/ShowcaseGallery/John%20Bonnot/latest/ Edit: Forgot to mention that the pics that are side-by-side of the same thing with white dots above them are stereoscopic. Just cross your eyes until the white dots align, then traverse your eyes downward, and if you do it right you should see a "3D"-ish view of the mini.

Hey Loim, rather than go through the class again, come see me with minis you've practiced on (you have been practicing like I told you to, haven't you? :D) and I'll refresh you on the basics again.

The tops of the paint caps are dabbed with the paint itself, the caps have the SKU of the paint in sharpie on two sides, and they're arranged in the paint boxes in numeric order with printouts of the names, skus, and swatches in order on the lid of the box. Once you start remembering Brown Liner is 64, etc., it becomes easy to find them quickly.

I just want to add that, as I'm probably the person mentioned for drinking the paint, I didn't do it to prove it was non-toxic, but my not-dying was an added bonus.