First testemonial....

After such a long break from painting (probably close to 14 years) it has been a lot of fun getting back in to this. That I was able to find a great client not long after getting back in to the hobby has only made it better. Especially when that client turns out to be one hell of a guy and says things like:

As an artist and a businessman, MisterJustin is a complete professional. His constant goal is to satisfy his customer to the fullest and he does so by his extraordinary talent, patience, and a vision to understand what the desires of his customer really are. I invest too much time and money into this hobby to have something done without real effort. After having him paint some of my pieces, I'll never look elsewhere. His level of quality and care is unrivaled.—Bill N.

Good thing I've been drinking, otherwise I'd blush!

CMON submission gets "Mini of the Week"

Whenever I have to spend a lot of time on the phone, most of it on hold, I cruise the blogs and geek sites that I frequent. My first stop today was coolminiornot.com (as geek as it gets for me, that) when I noticed the following in the news section:

Ainu's Mini of the Week: Scratchbuilt G-Scale Billboard by misterjustin

For me, this week's miniature was a dead giveaway. Misterjustin is a highly active painter and hobbyist, bringing us new, inspired submissions with each week. But for me, the painted and scratch-built Billboard that he built for his step-father in law's birthday stands out.

The freehand paintwork is nothing below professional, and should make this piece the focus of the railroad track. What I can really appreciate besides the freehand, are the small touches that add a sense of authenticity to the piece. Buckets of paint, spatters of paint on 'Bill's clothing, the excellent graffiti, and especially the lights up above.

There is, however, room for improvement. The billboard seems too small at this scale, as the painter could merely jump down from that height which isn't quite accurate. But this still does not overshadow the details of the piece, though it should be taken into consideration considering that the whole board is being built from scratch.

This 'miniature's basing (not sure if something this large qualifies as a miniature!) was done very creatively without being unrealistic. The trash and sheet metal fit in well with the construction site feel exuded from this piece.

To conclude this week's mini of the week, I'm sure that his step-father in law will be one very happy man.

Ainu's Mini of the Week: Scratchbuilt G-Scale Billboard by misterjustin receives 8.1/10.

I am just about as pleased as I can get. This site gets hundreds of submissions each week and is the most active miniature painter community online -- so this, this made my day.

WIP - Ultramarines Captain - "Final"

My wife is beginning to think that I'm crazy. As I improve the models I'm interested in painting are taking longer and longer to finish -- but are, of course, packed with a greater and greater degree of detail. Now when I talk to the award winning painters and find out they'll spend at least 45 minutes on a face I'm not as surprised.

This guy was a lot of fun and bits of him are certainly the best work that I have done to date. There are a few little things that I would like to go in and change but I know better than to fiddle with him at this point. Putting him down is the hardest part though.

Size comparison: the circle on the banner is smaller than a dime and is just a touch over .25 inch. The little man, including his base, is 1.25 inches tall.

Now it's on to the next piece - and forcing myself to finish the pieces on my table that I am no longer interested in. I also got another shipment of tanks and vetrans on commissions which are going to be fun to paint. YAY HOBBY!

Launching the painting blog....

After much hemming and hawing I have finally decided to move all painting and related content from my personal blog and give it a new home here.

This means that my portfolio site has come down, obviously. I will work to get some of those resources back online over the coming days. If anyone out there on the Intarweb is actually said resources a gentle nudge would certainly speed me up.