yani

I don't know about the majority of people, but when I've been told that what I've said is inaccurate or contextually inaccurate, I will change what I say. Sure I'm going to be ignorant of a lot of things (I didn't know that about the teepee), but how hard is it to say "tent" afterwards? People jump up and down about presumed offensive titles (coz "black" is a bad word apparently) so the language has to change in order to not be "racially" offensive, but when it comes to culture, it's fine? Ultimately, to me, it comes down to respect for other people and their lives. Would people be equally non-chalant if a Japanese mini manufacturer created an image of a man in a cowboy hat, boots, cigar in his mouth and grinning and that little tie, holding onto a rope that is tied around the neck of another man who is in rags, very skinny, and looking despondent and called it "Confederate Bill and his slave?". Or just of a man with a large afro and called it "Gollywog"? Would Reaper dare to have a mini of a person covered in a white sheet with a white pointed hat and call it "Klu Klux Klansman"? For crying out loud, Americans got upset over a skit performed in Australia where four men painted their exposed bodies black and did a tribute song to Michael Jackson. "Racism" they cried, over some obscurity known as "blackface" in which this skit had no relevance to that other than the fact that, in order to represent the Jackson 5 accurately, the men painted their skin. But, oh, Australia was very insensitive to America by allowing this skit to be performed on a television show, even though it had been performed in that EXACT way ten or so years earlier with no outcry. So, ultimately, what I'm getting to is that there seems to be a double standard: Americans can be ignorant and insensitive of other people's cultures but as soon as someone even touches theirs in a way that - even though it may be historically accurate - is negative, you'll bet that the country will be up in arms about it, and it'll be discussed by people from Oprah to Rush Limbaugh. What's wrong with wanting to be culturally accurate? Doesn't the miniature in itself show that it's an asian woman? There's a geisha-looking character from the L5R lot that's called "courtesan". Why not call this mini that, and still get the message across, since from the name "Oyuki" we can see she's also of Asian descent? I'm not waving the PC flag and saying it could be considered offensive, I'm just a bit of perfectionist and the title is just inaccurate. But I can roll with it. Just a little upset that it perpetuates both the stereotype of Geisha as prostitutes, and of Americans being ignorant louts. I've been trying for the last four years to get the latter stereotype fixed, but some people just keep throwing themselves back into that hole....

Great job! It looks amazing

I recognise that it was meant to be a stereotype/generalised figure, and I honestly don't have problems with seeing stereotypes. Like I said, I'm not normally the one to wave the PC flag (actually, I'm far from it). We'll always attribute "Native American Chieftain" with one because of how he looks; he could be called "Tony the Talker" and we'll still see the figure as a native american chieftain. With this mini, take away the title as we see an asian woman wearing a kimono. We could call her "Gemma the Graceful." but it isn't necessarily showing that the woman is a Geisha. I'm just contesting her title. It'd be like if Achmed wasn't holding a gun and wearing a bomb vest, and was instead just standing there with his hands in his pockets, and yet because he was wearing desert-like attire and had his face covered, he's called a terrorist. Just an example of attribution error: if a person is Muslim, he must be a terrorist. If it's an asian woman wearing a kimono, she must be a geisha. But, I agree. It would be lovely to have a "true" geisha type.

I have two friends that are Japanese, and rather than "OMG we must boycott Reaper, and Dallas, and Texas for being such inculturally insensitive pricks!" they are more along the lines of "Huh. they did it wrong. Mildly annoying" As amusing as I find the Crocodile Hunter, not all Australians sound, act, or look like him, yet it slightly irks me that some people, in the interests of being either humorous or trying to connect (I don't know) do a REALLY bad Steve Irwin impression.

There was a lovely paintjob of this mini in Showcase right now. While the mini in itself is very lovely, I am a little disconcerted with the title of the mini - calling her a "Geisha." There are two types of "geisha": 1) they are female entertainers, required to be proficient in singing, dancing, and the art of conversation. We see these in the film "Memoirs of a Geisha." These are the traditional type. 2) They are female prostitutes, a notion populated around the end of WW-II where women would call themselves "geisha" and sell themselves to GIs. This is the Western view of Geisha. This particular mini represents the second type. I know some Japanese people that would be a little upset that a representation of a "geisha" looks like the prostitute-version. It just seems a tad bit culturally insensitive (especially for a piece that isn't meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek), and I'm not normally the one to wave the PC flag either. I dunno. Maybe I'm just not used to seeing something normally so prudish being, contextually, hyper-sexualised, especially when painters take the title as inspiration and paint accordingly, like having the white face. And I guess my upset is inherited from the Japanese displeasure that there are prostitutes that called themselves "geisha" and now the western world seems to think that's what geisha are. Like if our greatest socialites, actresses (both film and stage), and dancers were viewed by the world as being whores. Probably would cheapen the achievements of Meryl Streep, Jackie O, Judi Dench, Anna Pavlova, Joan Sutherland, etc. Sure, some women use sex tapes in order to gain popularity and entertaining gigs *coughParisHiltoncough*; the rest are not that crass. So imagine if Ms Streep went to Japan, said she was an actress, and had the person go "oh, you sleep with many men." Again, not trying to step on people's toes - there is never a right or wrong way to interpret and paint a mini. I'm just having a little whine about the title of the mini, and calling an Asian woman with a kimono in a near-stage of unwrap a title that isn't really true. I think there could be a more appropriate title. Geishas aren't usually the only Asian women that wear their hair like that, either. Maybe a more apt title would be "Oiran"? And, yes, I would like some cheese with my whine. :)

Sorry you don't like the sculpt. You're right on all the points you make on the Geishas, but this was not meant to be a historically accurate figure. The assignment was for a "pinup style" Geisha type with a traditional type hairdo. No offense was meant or implied by either the sculpt or the title Reaper decided to give it. I do like the way the mini is painted, very well done! It is always fun to see how our sculpts are visualized by the painters. Bob Actually, I think the mini sculpt is lovely and I don't think there's anything wrong with the piece, per se. My beef is really with the title - calling it "Geisha." Maybe more appropriate would be "Courtesan"? "Entertainer"? "Lady of the Evening"? Merely my opinion, and this little bit has nothing to do with the gorgeousness of the mini or the beautiful paintjob of the OP.

I think the mini is painted very well, the greens look rich and the obi is nicely detailed. But I'm going to go on a slight rant on the accuracy of the mini, if you'll forgive me for a moment :) Geishas typically wore lots of layers of clothing. You wouldn't see their bared shoulders, let alone cleavage, and certainly not a hint of any leg! Just seeing the back of the neck is erotic enough. The japanese are very prim and conservative. I understand the painting works within the confines of the mini sculpt, but calling this mini a geisha is grossly exaggerating and probably refers to the prostitutes that called themselves geisha in post-WWII era - they are not THE geisha of Japan. Ok, my rant is over :) It's the mini sculpt and title, and the tendency for people to paint accordingly that I'm a tad upset about, not so much the painting job here. I think it's done very nicely. (and yes, I could understand it could be passed off as a geisha relaxing in a private garden or something, but, again, that's under the supposition that geisha relax with a painted face. They actually only paint their face when they're about to go entertaining, which means dressed up to the high nines. but again, rant on the mini itself, not the paintjob. Not trying to be insulting, so I apologise if it's interpreted that way.)

One thing I think you should consider is the overall lighting/shadow of the troll. Zenithal lighting, I've seen people reference it as. Essentially, the lower part of the troll should be darker than the higher part of the troll. And by darker, I mean by using cooler tones. I think you can go a lot deeper in the shadows for the parts on his lower back down through his legs; same as I think the highlights on the top of his head/back should be brighter and more warm.

Using sprue cutters to cut paperclips will damage them. I've made that mistake a few times...

My go-to mix for caucasian is a mix of the fair triad and the golden triad. I base with Golden skin/fair skin 1:1 and shade and highlight with the respective highlights/shadows mixed together.

There's always the option of using round tokens with the monster picture on the front and a bloodied monster picture on the back - if you did the games day recently, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I always seem to be using the Bone or Ivory Bone triad in every miniature.

Bah. Here, now, the sun is perfectly timed to rise about 7am, and set about 5:30/6. Throw in daylight savings, and I'm arriving at work when the sun peeks above the horizon. Sigh.

Go with your gut feeling - that's how I do it. However, I tend to go with the mid-tone on the gradient, do the entire area with that midtone including highlights and shadows (making sure to use highlights and shadows in colours that I'm not using the gradient in, just for ease of use), then with glazes, add in the gradient extremes. Touch up when finished.

I like to compare glazing with transparency in Photoshop. ie, a glaze is supposed to be the equivalent of a 90% transparent setting on the layer/paint. It's enough to provide a tint, but it doesn't saturate the area with the colour.

That's something more gamers need to do as well, instead of bashing each other. I was reading through one of the enworld forum threads the other night where a topic like this was really getting out of hand between people who weren't even in the same country where they would have to play with each other. See, told you that discussing RPG mechanics is akin to discussing religion. I read the Wizards D&D forum on my lunchbreak, and man, there's a lot of DM bashing there. And always by the same vocal group of people that need someone to say "you're right" in order to obtain validation of their opinions. And it was just over DM styles of play!

My group always does a form of rolling. Like, the most recent game I set up, I was the one rolling 4d6, and re-rolled 1s. The players then looked at the result, and nominated their attribute to which the stat applied. Only one person complained about it, and it was our resident power gamer that has to have control over everything about his character. It was only until he realised that the spread I had rolled was rather high comparably to the traditional spread used in Point Buy. I like rolling. But I'm never truly "set" on one character concept that I have to have my stats spread any certain manner. If what I get doesn't fit with one concept, oh well, move onto another.

I'll let you play the Wookie this time :)

I went to a school with a school uniform and a lot of rules regarding appearance and whatnot. I didn't emerge from that as a mal-adjusted member of society. I attended the school; in order to attend, I had to follow the rules. Seemed OK to me. Same thing with my workplace. There's a dresscode and an expectation that I don't turn up to work in my pajamas and slippers. I don't feel it is removing my freedom. Seriously, if there is such a big deal over a little kid's hair, why not make a bigger deal over the haircuts required by the men in the military, since women aren't required to cut their long hair? Just cut the kids hair! He's gotta learn that in order to get what he wants (i.e. an education), he may have to make sacrifices (i.e a hairchop).

A dark purple for the dorsal spines, I think. Looks great so far!

I'll second Winamp. I use it constantly. However, I haven't tried recording MP3s with it, but all the items on your "must do" list are able to be performed by Winamp.

I'd like to see a copper-toned dragon :)

You did a great job on shading the cloak!

I made ornaments too, only I utilized glitter. Yours look beautiful.

Wow, I think the base rocks! Oh, and the painting is pretty good too :p