A toast to the year behind us, and a "hip hip" to the year ahead of us. And to say that 2013 was a busy year would be an understatement for me it seems.
Although not the greatest year with regards to pure numbers of models painted ( I fell quite short this year with only 214 models completed ), but the quality of some of them really shot through the roof!
But let's see how the year went for Old Mr Lee here.. and what I got up to.... including but not forgetting this quiet spell that hit since mid-November!
January!
Looking back, I can see that I completed not 1, but 2 Arjac Rockfist models for 2 different clients. Seems my paint job was quite good for it or something :) I also began to paint and finish up some pieces for Massive Voodoo's banalicious painting contest. Something that I am still proud of entering even though I did not place because it gave me the opportunity to see where I need to improve and to give me a baseline on where I was as a painter!
But I did have a lot of fun doing the pieces, and the feedback later in the year from Roman and Raffa was great to have!
February!
In this month, I saw myself diving back into the UK Comms project more. Mostly working on the Cleaved variation models for the army in the form of Servators. However it was also my 7 yr Anniversary with my wife, and so as a gift I painted up a nice ceramic couple that we found at an art store in Kadikoy during a walk one weekend. By far one of my more favorite pieces to date at the moment, and something that is allowed to sit in the living room unashamed.. mostly due to the lack of weapons, guts, blood, or dirt ( Mrs Lee hates dirt in her living room! )..
I was also able to finish my first vehicle in what seemed like ages.. the Nephilim Fighter for my Dark Angels. Whom have sat in their box of despair all year since..
March!
This would be a massive month for me.. mostly due to the trip to Augsburg to hang out with Roman in one of his beginner classes.. so pretty much the entire month was dedicated to that, and getting ready for it. I have to say that I was beyond nervous going this after my experiences in Aachen before with Stephan's class. I was not sure how I would fair compared to the rest of the class.. but that was obviously short lived after seeing the atmosphere put on by Roman, and Raffa when he was not busy with his super secret Crystal Brush entry..
I did get some more UK Comms units finished up. The Catachans, some Khorne berzerkers ( both regular and now in extra punchy Terminator armor! ). But there were mostly filler articles being done here from guest writers from Turkey helping me out.
April!
Another crazy month for me, but this time for another reason. As the prep for my move to UK was leering at me, we needed to sell out house, and it seemed that the market was sort of in our favor cause our house sold within days of being put up for offer!
But this also means that I had to pack, and move to somewhere "temporary" in the meantime. Which meant taking down the studio... not a task I was looking forward to, that much I can say with certainty!
So there were a few more guest posts ( Thanks guys! ) and a very limited paint work that ended with 3 Plague Drones painted up in a very vibrant color scheme. To which were put to shame when I saw Ben Comet's work for GD Germany later in the year.
May!
Here we see Mrs Lee and myself head off to Spain for a week to get away, but also some more work done on the UK Comms. This one comms batch was taking far longer than I liked and I blame it solely on my motivation to paint in general. That and all the distractions!
June!
And June was all about the Gangers!These guys were amazing to paint up though, and I really put the Jarhead Beginners course to good use here on the leather trenchcoats. To which I had a complete blast at painting up!
I also began to work on a converted Belial character for a Sci fi topic on Brushbrothers Forums. Though, I do not believe it turned out as nicely as I would have hoped, so more work to be done on that front in the future!
July!
The 5 year birthday of my Son occurred this month, and we spent it with many parties. But it was also involving a lot of product reviews, and a trip to Japan! Wow! Has been over 15 yrs since I had learned the language, and realized once there that I forgot pretty much everything.
August!
The big month for me.. this is when I began my first real showcase piece.. Alice in Wonderland.. Steampunk edition! And one of my first projects to get a really good score over on P&P as well!
But it was also my time to head back to Germany for a quick trip to Berlin to meet Bruddha Micha, and his Painting Buddha crew.. and then to head to Koln for Games Day Germany! Where my little Gobbo vs Nurgling dio got a finalist medal!
September!
Well the travels did not stop in August though, as I was back in Hamburg, and partially Berlin, again in September! This time for a massive 11 days of painting alongside the Voodoo Crew Roman and Raffa! Taking in their advanced class, not once, but Twice!!!
First weekend was the tame one.. where I followed the rest in what to paint.. being the Brekk Bust. Or as mine was called.. the Turkish Brekk Fez! heh.. Great group of painters and peoples hanging around. Lots of talent in the class, and great people whom I hope to run into again in the future!
The time between classes was spent in Berlin whereby I picked up the piece that I would work on in the second class. And the second class is when all hell broke loose with regards to new skill levels being taken for learning how to paint! And this was due completely by the model itself.. the Wild Hunter from UDock!
It would provide me with endless ups and downs throughout those 3/4 days.. and I think I can attribute some of my new grey hairs to this piece as well!
But of course it would not get finished in that month, and the rest of September would be spent prepping my Work visa and Passport for our eventual move to the UK!
October!
Most of the time spent here again was spent with paperwork. So the articles themselves were mostly concerning the results of BAM, and a couple of Dark Eldar models that I somehow got roped into painting for someone at the club.
I would also get a bit deep in my thoughts on the journey of painting so far, and the value of the painting classes!
November!
Or to some Movember... but for me it was the month of the hairy dwarf.. and getting this bad boy finished before my mate's birthday in Izmir! Was a tough run, but I managed to get it to a spot that I was comfortable with, and was able to give it to him in person.
Now in hindsight, I wish I did NOT give it to him right away. As there are a few spots I would like to have painted further on it. That and to tour around with it a bit as well to show it off some more.. but such is hindsight.. it being 20/20 whereas foresight is more like a pensioner with cataracts..
But we did have some good times in Izmir.. but I think it was due to the beers! And yes.. Mario did join us for beers.. we are just that cool!
December!
And then in December I did... um... well.. no posts whatsoever! This was due fully and utterly because I was in full on transit to my new home in the UK! To which I am happy to say that we have arrived, moved in, and still just sorting things out. Actually.. I just received the intraweb to the new house today as it is.. so hence the massively long post to kick off the year! Though while waiting for the internet to get hooked up, we did do a bit of exploring around and seeing the sights..
And now I begin the longer journey of trying to reset up my studio, and get back into the swing of painting. I can confirm that I have received a few models over the holiday season, and that I am working on them a bit. But I can also say I am a bit rusty, and this will be slow going!
So it was quite the year, jam packed with lots of travels, reviews, and even some painting occurring within it as well. Which is odd in comparison to the year before which was more painting, and less travelling.
But to mark the new year, I have updated the blog ( in case you haven't noticed yet! ), and plan to do a lot more travelling in 2014 than I did in 2013. Mostly due to the sheer number of conventions and events happening in UK throughout the year ( Salute anyone? ), and also that it is easier to fly to Germany from here than from Turkey! Actually my first trip will be to head back to Berlin end of January to learn more about basing from the one and only Matt Cexwish! Who I have had the pleasure to meet on several occasions so far, and am looking to seeing him in many more to come!
Plus I hope to drop into the Bruddha lair, and see what goodies ol' Micha there is brewing up for 2014! Expects lots of event coverage, reviews, workshops, and more from Mr Lee throughout 2014! And if there is something that you really wish for me to cover this year.. let me know! Who knows.. maybe I can make it there and deliver some of the news back to everyone else!
Cheers and thanks for following! Even after such a hiatus!