Lage Landen Competition 2012

Well, the (second edition of the) Dutch/Belgian national GW-supported "De Lage Landen (Lowlands) Painting Competition" is done. And oh my - this was a feast for the eyes..!

First, ofcourse, I wanna share that I made Gold in Warhammer Fantasy Monster (Engine of the Gods), and Silver in both Warhamer Fantasy Single (Sigvald) and Duel (Space Wolf vs. horror). Yay and hooray all over. Too bad that Saint Celestine (40K Single) did not score top 3, but as I saw the competition, I can hardly say it should have. All winners were well deserved, and I have very muchh enjyed your pieces. It has inspired me, as I hope my work has inspired others.

David Heathfield giving pointers

About that competition: even though I scored less than last year (which was, in all respects, even for me hard  to top), I feel that I scored better. Last year, I *ahum* hardly made a big effort to paint for that competition. As the event was new and young, so were the participants. The level of quality was not very high, although the effort to participate was ;) When I scored so many trophies then, it did not felt satisfying, for I felt it might have been too easy: I did not win because I was a good painter, but perhaps because everybody else was not (don't mean to offend anybody here though!).
This year, I saw the coming of awesome pieces of art, and the participation of some great painters that had not participated previously. I knew beforehand that this would be the competition I was waiting for.
And by gods, it really was a tough competition. I have seen so many great pieces, and have been able to talk to so much more great painters that I have a lot of respect for. I have felt really humbled! Then, to see that I still ended up with some prizes, proves it to myself that I am truely good enough to be ranked among those painters.
As I reflected on the enormous increase in quality of entries in comparison to last year, I really feel that this event will soon (if not already) could be compared to the official Golden Daemon events.

I have had an incredible time: I have made new friends, we have made arrangements to gather up and have some paint sessions, and a couple of us might even try to get the Massive Voodoo team to come over and host a workshop. That would be a good one!
I am sad that I did not take the opportunity to clamp onto special guest David Heathfield (see above in the centre - no, I am not in that pic!) from the 'Eavy Metal team, but I always feel uncomfortable when there is such a crowd trying to do the same. Well, that's my loss, I guess. Maybe next time...

Congrats to all winners, and may we see eachother again in the near future! Happy painting ;)