Artist or Craftsman

 

What kind of Painter are you looking to be? By this I mean what is the end result you want. Are you an     An Artist or a Craftsman. Let me explain the difference, at least as I see them. 


    An Artist is looking to create something with the primary focus being aesthetics, to look at it up close, and is usually not meant to be handled or used during a game. These might be something you put on your shelf or enter into a high end contest. This is type of painting will take a lot longer to learn, and require more advanced techniques.

    A Craftsman however is looking to create something functional, a game piece, something meant to be handled, something meant to be looked at from a distance. These can also win contests and have tremendous detail, you just may not see as much Object Source Lighting(OSL) or Non Metallic Metal(NMM) as those tend to be more labor intensive techniques.

    This isn't to say that the two types are mutually exclusive or that the techniques for one have no place in the other. .a craftsman can create something visually pleasing  and an artist can create something functional. Its the techniques and tools that differ every so slightly and knowing when and how to apply them.

       I personally am a Craftsman painter. I paint minis that are meant to be played with.  My strength is being able to batch paint figures to a high standard and then I like to spend a little extra time on the officers, leaders and characters. For historical armies I also like to create little vignettes, or scenes that can be placed around the battlefield(especially at convention games) for a little added flavor and visual interest.

    For the most part this blog is going to be dedicated to learning how to paint larger armies, batch painting, detailing, glazes, washes, EYES.. oh we will have lots of discussions on eyes. I will also try to offer resources for those looking to learn more advanced techniques, like the aforementioned OSL and NMM, though there are plenty of people already doing that who are much better at it than I am.


   





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