Kuro Cleanbrush

Those blends do indeed look buttery! Way to go! :)

At the moment, it is invitation-only from Ron. However, if I remember correctly, last year he opened up general class submissions once returning instructors had claimed the spots/classes they wanted.

She looks awesome! I especially like that cloak!!!

If it makes you feel better, I get self-conscious about teaching a lot of my classes too! I feel like there are so many better painters out there (even in areas of painting that many consider to be my strengths), and so it can be hard to feel like I'm bringing appropriate value for the money. NMM? I have sort of an old-school style that is not as realistic as many of the modern Euro painters. Blending? Rhonda is even better at it, and I learned from her, so doesn't that make her class better than mine? Similar thoughts abound for any other class topic. At the end of the day, though, I remind myself that technical skill does not always equate with teaching talent! In this setting, being a great teacher is even more important than being a great painter. I have every confidence you have and will continue to do a great job with your students, and I hope to do so as well, so we can rest assured that our students will feel that their class ticket purchases were worth it! Plus, the money is not really about us so much as it is about defraying the convention/supply costs for Reaper.

Haha, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Kuro Cleanbrush (Ian Markon) Total Metal!!!: A Complete NMM Bootcamp (4-hour class, Friday) Type: Painting Level: Intermediate (you really need to be able to blend) Format: Hands-on (I do a step, you do a step, I do a step, you do a step...) Synopsis: In this double-length, hands-on class, I will teach you the basics of painting NMM. In the time we have, we will cover some general theory of NMM as we practice the principles on a mini. We will try to cover both steel/silver NMM and gold/bronze NMM. We will also cover a little bit about how to paint different geometries of metal objects as well as how to change the NMM to "polish" or "dull" it. This class is over lunch so that we can take a good break midway through, get some food, and (if people want to) squeeze in a few more minutes of practice as we eat, though I will not cover any new class material over lunch so that no one gets left behind if they need to step out for a more substantial break. Blending: Layering and Feathering (2 class sections, Thursday and Saturday) Type: Painting Level: Beginner to Intermediate Format: Hands-on (I do a step, you do a step, I do a step, you do a step...) Synopsis: In this hands-on class, I will teach you how to perform buttery-smooth blends through a method of layering and feathering over an opaque base coat. This is a comparatively brute-force blending method compared to glazing, wet blending, or etc., but it can reliably produce excellent results without the pressure of a ticking clock, and it is therefore my preferred method of blending. It can also be more forgiving, in some ways, than other blending methods, and it can be very formula-driven. These attributes make this method of blending a great first method to learn. (Note: My style of blending is very similar to Wren's [Rhonda Bender] style [since she taught me], so I would advise against taking both of our blending classes during the con as that could prove redundant to the student.) Faces and Eyes (Thursday) Type: Painting Level: Intermediate (you should know how to slap down a basecoat and have developed some brush control) Format: Hands-on (I do a step, you do a step, I do a step, you do a step...) Synopsis: In this hands-on class, I will teach you how to level-up the faces and, especially, the eyes of your minis. We will cover tricks to improve brush control to help tackle the eyes as well as general theory for making the eyes "pop". We will also cover general highlight/shadow placement on faces and (time allowing) the basics of how to give you minis expressions.

Wren covered pretty much everything (and probably a bit more) that we would go over in the class. The biggest tips I have are all essentially echos of Wren's advice about being unafraid to be sloppy where it does not matter in order to accomplish what you need to where it does matter. Stuff like painting a stripe for the eye instead of a dot can be huge if you have a hard time with the brush control/vision to do a perfect dot. Posture and bracing can be essential to calm down shakes. I even find that I will develop shakes from time to time if I get hungry, but quickly downing a handful of chocolate chips can have me back to normal in about 5 minutes if I don't want to break for a real meal!

Thanks a ton for the feedback! Unfortunately, within minutes of me posting, I got an email from Ron letting me know that he needed my class submission ASAP, and I wanted to default to something I considered one of my strengths, so I asked for a Faces and Eyes class instead. That portion of the miniature just adds so much, so I'm hopeful it will be a useful and interesting class! Thanks again!

Hey all! I'm thinking of dropping my Exotic NMM class this year (since I've offered it like 3 years in a row) and doing something new. Would there be any interest in a color shift class? In other words, we would talk about how to transition between vastly different colors through both blending and textures. Or, if that does not sound interesting, what new class would anyone be interest in seeing from me? EDIT: I didn't realize I needed to get my submission in so quickly, so I did not have time to wait for everyone's feedback; sorry!

Actually, I want to see how this piece is received when we bring it to ReaperCon this year. If people really like it, I was thinking about potentially trying to sponsor some type of team competition award for ReaperCon 2020. As far as how I would sponsor it, well, stay tuned for some rather significant information in the next few days!

I personally tend to work in 2.5- to 4-hour blocks dispersed between weeknights and weekends. However, I have found that I generally cannot get motivated to paint more than two days in a row, so (even if I am super invested in a long project) I generally paint two days, take a day or two off, paint two more days, take a day or two off... and repeat until the project is done. At that time I tend to take a longer break. The hardest motivational thing for me is to get that first bit of paint on the mini. Once that has transpired, everything gets better! Lastly, I try to remember that discipline is more important than motivation and start painting even when I don't much feel like it. Even on those days where motivation is lacking, just getting started is generally enough to make it enjoyable again!

Erin is putting in some major work on that base!

I'm really liking her, and the eyes get a "thumbs-up" from me!

Thanks all! I really appreciate the kind words! I do have to clarify, though, that the otter on the shield was actually not freehand. It is sculpted into the shield. My actual freehand is not that good! Thanks! You are not wrong; those areas don't read as SENMM as well. With the helm, that line of rivets actually interrupts what would have been my prime horizon reflection area, so I was unable to fit a nice wavy horizon reflection what it normally should go, and therefore the effect doesn't sell as much. With the breastplate, it's possible that my horizon geometry is off slightly (i.e. too angled instead of more rounded) and robbing from the effect. Also, the effect is easier with brighter blue sky colors, but I did not want to use those in order to not detract from the color cohesion of the whole scene. In more direct answer to your question, though, the effect is easier to pull off when used on round or cylindrical objects that are positioned such that they can reflect both the ground and the sky. Those plates which only "see" ground and those which only "see" sky can be less effective. I've done this technique on a whole miniature before, and (partially because of the above effect) the technique sells better on the back than on the front. The backpack in the pictures below is ideally placed for this effect. Note that I did not use the same colors as the Space Marine because those are more suited to a desert environment than the gray-skied lands I envisioned our current party being in.

Okay, so I apparently had a brain malfunction and totally missed his belt buckle! Consequently, while I was touching that up, I did some minor tweaks and FINALLY conquered my camera and got some good color out of it!