You’ll have to excuse me if I ramble a bit here, I'm thinking
out loud. Not a particularly tidy process.
When I first found out about hobby blogs, I (naturally)
followed the ones that did something to catch my attention -
Interesting
paintjobs? Followed.
Unique conversions? Followed.
Ideas I wanted to steal and
improve upon? Followed.
You get the
idea.
I’ve seen blogs fall by the wayside in a similar manner to
my own, and i’ve seen them go from producing average content every so often to
great content on a weekly basis. While real life can always get in the way
(remember my spinal surgery a couple of years ago? That gets to happen again
soon!) the blog always seems to sit there like the loyal pet, waiting for the
owner’s return.
I normally visit the blog every day, sometimes multiple
times a day to see what everyone else is up to – my blog list to the right
became my feed. None of this RSS nonsense for me.
Special mention should go to Ron at the sadly now defunct,
From The Warp. I figured the way to push the blog was to get it on his
blogroll, at the time (to my knowledge) the most read. Probably not the best
way to go considering the slapdash nature of the updates but It seemed to gain
a few readers who may not of discovered the blog otherwise.
So bringing me to the point of my little ramble – what do
you want to see from the blogs you read and why do you read them regularly?
Seeing as I like to read blog posts with pictures in, here's a hint to a project coming in the future.....
Oh, blood bowl, nice. Which team?
ReplyDeleteAs to your questions, I have ammassed quite a few blogs looking around and most of the reasons you listed i agree with.
finding things that interest me, paint jobs I aspire too, models I wouldn't buy myself, games systems I wouldn't buy but like the look of the models (recently this is 15-20 mm modern warfare blogs).
I have found inspiration and techniques in the blog world, there are some very talented and motivated people out there, and I find that inspiring.
Cheers fella. Im finally going to get on with the Chaos team box I picked up in Germany a couple of years ago. Also got some Cheerleaders and a couple of Star Players to do to go with it. Only need some of the mutations then i'll be happy to run with that.
DeleteWithout sounding like a mindless fanboi, my honest answer would be "anything painted by El D" Now I know that's a crap answer, but its true. I love your style, Steve, and have enormous respect for you as a painter, I often find myself liking stuff you've painted when I've previously dismissed the actual models as not being to my taste or poorly designed. That said, if you're taking open suggestions as a thought experiment, I'd vote for taking yourself out your comfort zone, playing with systems/scales/factions you've previously overlooked.
ReplyDeleteCheers Dave, very kind of you to say.
DeleteThere may well be a departure from the usual comfort zone at some point in the near future, i've got a copy of Open Fire coming from Battlefront for the club to use so i'll have some FoW to play with. Should be interesting to see how long I can go without breaking any of the infantry.
The Open Fire boxed set is great, I'm sure you'll enjoy all the detail on the infantry! Just take care with the Shermans as they take a lot of effort to assemble. Dry fit everything. Twice.
DeleteCheers for the heads up. No doubt i'll be bitching and moaning about the build in a few blog articles.
DeleteI was hugely surprised and pleased to see you posting here again. I have huge admiration for your painting, and would love to see anything you produce up here, if only as a more permanent library than any forum could be.
ReplyDeleteObviously some INQ28 would be good.... ;)
But in seriousness, I would just love to see more of your stuff.
I've got a post in mind as an explanation of why I came back to the blog, but a catalogue of work is certainly on the list.
ReplyDeleteThere will be some INQ, I just don't know when. It'll happen in a natural way I think, i'll come up with an idea and drop everything to work on it. Im just trying to work out a way of doing it without wheeling out the usual tropes.
Well, I'm always up for discussing any ideas you have. I'm in the midst of converting a few more characters (one week of term left!) and then I will be sending them your way.
DeleteLooking at going into business?
Let me get the rest out before you send any more ;)
DeleteWill be putting myself out there for more commission work, could use the cash at the moment. I had a page up before the blog wend silent, thats something i'll get back up when i've got some time to sort through all the details.
Hi Big Steve. Your work is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to see, and would bring me back to your site, is tutorials. I have been painting for years and never got passed 'average' painter. Reading step by step guides, brushes used, how you prepare your paints, your set up etc etc would be awesome as you are a phenomenal talent. You could really help someone like me improve.
Thanks Khall. Tutorials are something im going to look at more in the future. Im thinking about some more useful articles to do with paint and other equipment at some stage, just a case of working out what I want to cover and when.
Delete