Sid's Shenanigans - Motivators and Habits of a Painter

  The other night, I just sat a my computer trying to think of ideas to write for Shenanigans today. I was drawing a blank for most of the night. It seemed like none of my ideas were really good. I got a little frustrated and just put my ear buds in, and listened to Metallica. This song here actually:

  Then I began to write down whatever came to mind, and then it suddenly hit me! Before I listened to Metallica, I didn't have anything to motivate me. I literally sat in a perfectly quiet apartment, and I couldn't focus on anything. However, as soon as I put in those noise makers, I began to feel a lot more comfortable and was able to write stuff down.

  What really motivates people to paint? For me it changes with the day, and what sort of mood I am in. First , example was already given. Music is a real motivator for me to get going on a painting project. I can't stand to have a quiet room. I need some background noise, or something going on.

  Along that theme of having background noise, I also like to have a movie or a TV show going. I grew up on Robotech. I love the show still, and I do watch it from time to time. I just started watching it again recently, and since I have seen it many times, I was able to get a lot of painting done. There is a noticeable difference in my ability to stay focused on a project between when I am watching/listening to something or in a dead quiet room.

  I really enjoy painting, but I do need that little something to keep me going, so I can get my models done.

Sid's Return to School...and Shenanigans!

  This week I will be back to school again, and that means I will be on a more routine schedule.  Also, I will be very busy with school work and painting time will dwindle. Even though I am very excited to be back in school and to be closer to getting my degree done, but I love to paint and I still have a lot to do with my current project.

  Speaking of my currently project, I am in the home stretch! I just finished some scouts, Skaldi, Sons of Bragg, and a couple of casters. I will try to get those pics up soon, and tonight I just don't have the energy to post pics and create links. I just want to write tonight, and share some thoughts that I have had.

  I was reading the PP painting forums, and found a little golden nugget of wisdom. I credit this find to Legendaryrat.

Gallery Page is up!

I have the beta for the Gallery page up and running. Go check out what I have so far on the gallery. Please send me some feedback, and I will improve it for a better experience. There is a page link on the left to the gallery page.

Sid's Shenanigans - 07/07/12

  Oh man! It has been a while since I last wrote for Shenanigans. I have been very busy since my wife has been home, work, and the holiday. Speaking of which, I hope that everyone had a wonderful USA/Canada Day. I enjoyed some fireworks with my wife and her family in Wyoming. Man what a blast (pardon my pun)!

  Anyways, let me go ahead and update you on what projects I am still working on and completed. I have finally set my self down and put up a schedule of what time and how long I would be painting. It's still taking a bit of effort to get in the habit of doing it, but whatever.

  I picked up a commission from Trevor Christensen, and it is a big one! I will be painting a large array of Troll and Minion models in his collection. This is the largest undertaking for me, and I have become very very busy, because of it. Not meaning to say that it's bad, and it is most certainly not. I enjoy a challenge and an opportunity to really test my endurance in painting. Later in the post there will be an example of what I am painting for him.

  So, let me show you what I have done so far!

Sid's Shenanigans - 06/21/2012

   It has been really difficult since being back from Lock and Load to get back into the normal routine of posting on the blog. I realized that I needed to force myself to do it anyway, just so that I don't stop doing it completely.  I love posting stuff here on the blog, but I feel that there is something(s) missing, that I should do to make this site better. So I have come up with the following things:

1. Get a Gallery Page
  I have been stewing about this for a while, but never really done anything with the idea. I will have to work with thegreatblah to get this page nice and clean looking. Also, I want it to be user friendly, so that you don't get lost in the interwebs.

  I will also be posting project pics from projects past, so a lot of them you have already seen, but it is more for my benefit; I like to see what I have done in the past, and keep a record of it.  This gallery will all be based on commissions, that I pick up.

Sid's Lock and Load Photo Dump!

  Hey everybody! I just wanted to post these pics I took at Lock and Load, and not give much commentary.  A lot of if you have already seen at other cons and websites, so no need for me to explain. Here they are!

ENJOY!!

Lock and Load Finishing Touches!

  I will have to skip the Tenacious Techniques for this week, because of my Lock and Load prep, so this will be a short post about what I have done to prepare for my 3 days of awesomeness! I am so excited to go to Lock and Load this year, and I had so much fun last year.

  I am hoping for some good tournament play as I compete in the Masters Tournament, and really improve my skills as a painter and photographer. On the podcast, I mentioned a couple of my classes that I will be attending, and now let me give you the full rundown of my weekend.

  1st day you already know will be the masters qualifiers. 2nd day I will first have sculpting scenic bases, and then I will have a huge run of classes: Concept to Book, Color Theory, and Concept to Table: LEVEL 7. Now we have been already told that LEVEL 7 will be a board game of some type, and I am really excited to find out more about it. the 3rd day I hope I will make it into the finals, but we shall see. In between games and lunch breaks, I will be taking pictures of the scenario tables with fully painted armies locked in heated battle; Then the models in the Grandmaster Painting Competition will get some snap shots, and then any other awesome things that I can find (keeping in mind of the media disclosure agreement of course).

  So here is what I have been working on:

Sid's Shenanigans - 5/13/2012

  Well, it is that time again for more of my shenanigans! It is getting close now to Lock and Load, and I am finalizing preparations for the master's tournament. I realized last week, that I won't be able to finish all my models before the event, and that posed a serious problem to my tournament play.

  I needed to have front arcs on all my bases so that there is no question as to where they are on my models. So, I have decided to put off painting the Borka Family Reunion tier list indefinitely (or possibly after Lock and Load), and focus on basing and painting all the bases of my models, so that I am ready for masters.

  I spent most of this morning prepping my trolls, and I felt conflicted as to how well I will be able to paint the rest of the model. Then I thought, that it should be a huge deal, as long as I paint carefully around the feet I will be fine. Anyway, that is all my stress that I am wading through until L&L hits. Now I'll show you what I have completed.

  I have already posted the pictures on my Facebook page, but here I will give a little commentary:

Tenacious Techniques #3

  A few weeks ago I had the chance to go spend time with the good ol' parents. We went to dinner as usual, since I don't get to see them all that often. Afterwards, my dad allowed me to use his airbrush kit to paint some (or most) of my troll heavy warbeasts. Ever since that first time I used it, I have always wanted to get my own, but lack the space in our apartment to store it.
  As I painted, I realized how little paint I needed to use to cover all of my warbeasts. It was frickin' awesome! I base coated my Mulg, both Earthborns, regular Mauler, and bomber, with half the amount of paint I use to paint half of those models.

  Today I am going to go over how to take care of your airbrush kit first, and then go over some exercises to practice your technique on the airbrush.

Sid's Shenanigans - 04/08/2012

  State of the Painter 

Address (Sort of)...

  This past week was a "Spring Break" of sorts for me at work, since I work for a High School. My initial thought was, "Oh sweet! Now I have tons of time for painting!" Sadly, this was not the case, as events, broken cars, and other things seem to creep in on my extra time. 

  I did, however, find some time to paint and prep my models and finish some projects I was working on. My progress has been slowed on the Borka Family Reunion tier list, because of other painting obligations took priority.

Tenacious Techniques #2 - Basing

  I have seen some awesome bases, that people have done over the years; I have always wondered how they did that. Hardcore hobbyists have put a lot of time and effort into making their scenic bases. I wish I had the time to practice sculpting and basing techniques, but life would have me take care of the more important things in life.
  Today I am going to go over how I do bases for my minis. It saves a lot of time, but it is in no way a masterpiece winning technique. So let's get started:

Pricing Changes for the Painting Service

My prices for the painting service has been lowered.  Go to the Pricing Guide on the right of the page for the new prices.
  I have Warmachine/Hordes, Warhammer, and not yet released prices for Malifaux.
 I will post some pictures soon of some examples of my work, and what you can expect to see in your own models! We'll see you this weekend for Tenacious Techniques!

Sid's Shenanigans - 03/13/2012

  Welcome back, and sorry for the long wait for the next shenanigans. I was at a tourney that Saturday down at Game Haven, and had little time to paint or post anything. Today I have some good stuff to show today! I have some Kayazy Eliminators that I have been commissioned to paint finished. Then I will be showing some WIP's of Boomhowler and Co. for Borka's Family Reunion List. So without further adeu, let's kick this pig!

Tenacious Techniques #1 - Painting Ethereal

    Welcome to the first ever Tenacious Techniques, where I pick a painting technique and attempt (sometimes foolishly) to use the technique or style on one of my models. These post are going to be a short series, and I'll keep posting as long as I have ideas(bah i'm such a noob)! Just a little disclaimer, though; Some of these are merely attempts at styles and techniques, to better my skills as a painter. If you have other ideas of what I could do for Tenacious Techniques, shoot me an email at slaphappysid@trollbloodscrum.com.

    This week I have been dabbling in two techniques, but I will only talk about one of them: Ethereal style.

Sid's Shenanigans! - 02/26/2012

I do apologize for the delay in posting, but much like Goris, Life sometimes take priority. So I want to do a little 'catch-up' with what I had in mind for painting posts.

   First, I want to mention that I loved reading the Vox Populi post on LHR, and seeing those theme forces painted. So, I wanted to get a theme force painted too, even though Vox Populi is over. I will be posting what I have been painting for Borka's Family Reunion theme force. I really love this theme force, and I played it a couple times, and I have loved playing it everytime. It is a blast to play!
  Second, I will still be posting commissioned painting pictures along with my theme force pictures. I will do some commentaries on them of course. These and the them force pictures will be posted every other week, and they will be listed as 'Sid's Shenanigans!'
  On the other weeks I want to do some posts about techniques I have learned, want to learn, and in the process of learning. For some of those who wonder how I paint things, I will post pictures and some step-by-step processes of my techniques; I will also dabble into other techniques and do some research. Then, I will post pictures of my attempts at these techniques.
  Now that I am back in the swing of things with painting posts! Let's begin with the Shenanigans!

Sid's Shenanigans! - 02/05/2012

  Welcome welcome Scrumites and Scrum bums to the new Sid's Painting Service page of Trollbloodscrum! I will be updating it from time to time to make it look nicer. This post I will be posting pictures of my kriel warriors; They are currently a WIP, and I am am just doing the min unit right now, and then I will do full unit, then the UA, and finally Caber Throwers.

  Since most people don't like to read any of my posts, and just want pictures, here you go!

Sid's Shenanigans! - 01/23/2012

I know this is late, but I wanted to make a quick post for the week, as I begin to finish up the last of the MHSF. Here are some pics of a few models left to paint:

I also want to announce for this week's challenge, I am going to paint a model that I should have painted a long time ago. I have been pestered and harassed to paint it, and I finally have begun to do so. I will be painting the Extreme sculpt of a Khador Destroyer! Yeah! I am so excited, and he is going to be so awesome. Not only that I am going to put him up for auction as soon as he is finished, so if you want to get you hands on him, keep your eye on Ebay for him. He could be yours in the near future!
For now, See Ya!

-SlapHappySid

Sid's Painting Service Facebook Page!

   I finally put up a Facebook page for the painting service, for those who like to facebook a lot. For now what I will do is post pictures of past projects into their own albums, and from there I will be able to put up links to the Shenanigans posts.

  I will add more cool stuff to it once I think of it, and have more time to invest into polishing the page. Thanks guys for the comments on the models, and we'll see ya around on the interwebs!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sids-Painting-Service/170717729699802?sk=wall

-SlapHappySid

Sid's Shenanigans - 01/15/2012

  Oh snap! It's the first Shenanigans of the year, and it's great to be back on the painting track. I have my schedule finally in order after the wedding and honeymoon stuff. Now let's get down to business! Since we are going to be doing the weekly challenge, I will be moving my Shenanigans to Sunday. Same ol' Shenanigans, different day. I will also be able to paint a little everyday so I can post on Sunday.

  I also mentioned on Twitter, that I will be opening up my painting service to all miniature games, and I'll use our current pricing as a reference should you need a quote on models. They will not be exactly that amount for other games, but we'll work something out to get the best price for your models to be looking great!

  Today I will be posting some pics of the Mage Hunter Strike Force and my pMadrak. I am not done with the unit yet, but I have been making some serious progress. There was more detail than I realized, but since it is only a table-top quality project, I will be able to get through it quickly. So here are your beloved angry elves WIP pics!