Keep Moving Forward

If there's one good thing I can say about myself, it's that I'm never satisfied with the knowledge I have. There's always something new I can learn, and it drives me nuts if I'm not actively seeking to learn more about something.

This aspect of my character has been a driving factor in my painting. It took me from my first painted model to starting a business - that drive to learn and grow is what keeps me going and ensures I'll never settle for "good enough." On a bad day, all I can say is "what I know is good enough... for now."

I say that because I'm very excited about the new knowledge I've been putting in to practice. Those of you who follow miniatures painting probably Lester Bursley, aka AwesomePaintJob on YouTube. While he may not be the number one painter, he's probably the most well known, and for good reason. His custom wash recipe is the greatest thing to happen to me as a painter. But before we get there, I'd like to gush about how much I love washes.

Until now, I thought the only washes out there were Badab Black and Devlan mud. It turned a model painted like a McDonald's toy and gave it some shadows, fake highlights, and made it look less pristine. And on the tabletop (which is the level I like to paint), it looks great on the eye. So surely there is nothing else I'd need, right? Fortunately for me, my curious side didn't let me rest on that idea too long.

One day I was inspired to try use regular GW washes to paint my Orks, and I discovered how powerful the effect of washes can be. My Ork Warboss is currently my favorite figure I've painted, and it's all due to careful applications of Thraka Green to give his skin natural shades and highlights. There was plenty of detail work left for me to paint, but the effect on his skin was perfect!


When he was finished, I was officially sold on washes. They are a bit trickier to use than just slapping Devlan Mud on a base coat, but the results are so much better! It's unfortunate that everything can't be painted this way, but I suppose too much fun would spoil me.

That brings us to Les's wash recipe. When I first got serious about painting, I was able to get some amazing paint supplies from a friend, and part of that included the artist inks Les recommends for his recipe. I'm painting up a copy of Super Dungeon Explore, and I decided to try his recipe to paint them (almost) entirely with washes. I could immediately see the different. The wash flows exactly where I want it to go (with minimal coaxing from my brush), and doesn't leave those annoying "rings" where the pigment groups up and dries.

I'll have a WIP post soon so I can really show it off, but so far I'm really excited to experiment with all the different inks I have and see what washes I can come up with. And since I know this won't be my last stop as a painter, I'm equally excited to see where this takes my painting skills!

"Sonic Fan Film" New Trailer

You might remember Eddie LeBron and Blue Core Studios for their ambitious "Mega Man" fan-film a few years back. Shortly after that, they announced they were going to take a swing at "Sonic The Hedgehog;" and with the film's release date apparently approaching (last I'd heard it was going to be a short instead of a feature) there's a new trailer - and yes, that's actually Jaleel White returning to voice Sonic:

SGC Kickstarter

SGC 2010 was the public debut of The Game OverThinker and my first con as a professional, so you'd better believe I'm psyched at the idea of it possibly coming back. ScrewAttack is aiming to make that happen via Kickstarter; because that's what the cool kids are doin' these days:

Check it out HERE.

EPISODE 72 - "NecroThinker: The Last Stand"

Not totally sure what was up with viewable/not-viewable earlier in the week, but now it's Saturday so here it is: The OFFICIAL rollout of our second big mailbag show AND (for those who stick around after the main show) the climax of the NecroThinker story-arc. Enjoy!



I'll be brutally honest: I'm not 100% satisfied with how everything came together on this one. The important stuff - the G1 Mailbag Questions - worked out just fine, but I had plans for the "battle" stuff that intercuts the questions and the big sendoff for NecroThinker that life just sort of got in the way of.

The main "bullet points" are all in there: Night-time sword fight, MOTU reference, reveal that OverThinker can use the two Stones the way he used Fire/Ice Flowers previously, turn RetroThinker back to normal but leave some doubt as to what degree the NecroThinker persona remains (or was always there) and - most-importantly - OverThinker deciding to keep NecroThinker's true identity a secret. So, structure-wise it does what was necessary.

My main regret is that I had wanted the actual fight to take place somewhere a little more visually-interesting than the abandoned parking-lot. Ideally I was hoping to find some kind of quarry/industrial location(s), but nailing one down that we could use, was reasonably safe and well-lit at night just never availed itself in the timeframe I wanted it to and the rest of my life got so consumed by bigger, more difficult things... so ultimately the best solution was to go with what we had on hand - especially since, after all, the skits are of secondary import to the "meat" of an episode; especially a Q&A.

As for where we go from here... still working that up. Unseen personal-apocalypses notwithstanding, the plan is to get these releases back on a more regular/reliable schedule. The next "arc" for the skits will likely begin pretty-much right away; but - without giving too much away - doesn't necessarily require as much direct involvement from The OverThinker himself or as much "on-location" shooting as this one did. I have a feeling people are going to dig some of the stuff that'll be showing up.

Everyone Starts Somewhere
As I've been building the bulk of my commission painting business, I've been overwhelmed at how much is involved in just getting this thing off the ground. I entered in to it thinking a website with some basic info would suffice. It wasn't until I turned to my friends for advice that I realized I needed a big online presence, expensive equipment, a well-designed website, a decent logo... on and on the list seems to go!


But as a friend recently said to me, "everyone starts somewhere." A simple statement, but it reminded me of who I was and what I wanted. I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset, yet I'd forgotten the basic principles of starting a business. If I want my dream to succeed, I have to give it a good start. Sure I could have started with a sloppily-designed website and improved it as the business grew, but what does that say about where I want this to go? If I want to go big, I need a strong foundation. Best foot forward, and all that, right?

 So here I am, starting a blog; something I was sure I'd never do. But Ray of Paint Studios is my dream, and as I continue to create this business, I grow more and more excited to share it with others. This is going to be an amazing experience, and I hope you'll stick around and enjoy the ride with me.

It Lives

As part of moving into the new place, I've been looting my parents' house for old stuff I can still use. One discovery turned out to be my original NES and collection of games; which tonight underwent a thorough disassembling, cleaning with rubbing-alcohol (system and carts) and reassembling.

The entire process was tweeted game by game (sorry, people who don't like tweetspam, I was excited is all.) and this is my favorite photo I took of the process - you can't quite see it in this image, but the NES is on a shelf below the Wii and XBox; connected via the HDTV's inexplicable-yet-welcome coax input.

ALSO: You may or may not be able to watch the newest episode HERE.

I still haven't fully furnished the place - money is kinda tight right now, to be honest - but I'll be springing for some kind of plug-extender so I can properly get the oldschool big-ass AC adaptor into my surge-protector (the NES was plugged into another, not-always-convenient outlet for this test run.

After that? Let the word go out to every sold, pawned, yard-sale'd, lost and forgotten NES cartridge on the North Shore: I am coming for you, and you WILL live again!

Episode 72 Now Up... Kinda... Look, Read The Post...

EPISODE 72 is now up at ScrewAttack. It's supposed to be for Advantage members only until Saturday, but it looks like it's viewable by everyone right at the moment; so... watch away, I guess. I expect it'll snap back to proper "Advantage Preview Only" status sooner or later, but if so it should be viewable by all on Saturday either way...