The first three volumes of a series of books about wonderful miniatures art.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Another free PDF tutorial unlocked!
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, May 21, 2021 at 03:43:32 AM
As we close in on the final days, we are hoping to see quite a few supporters who checked us out early on, (but didn't pledge at the time) return and join us on our journey. When they do, they'll see that ALL backers at $20 or above will receive FIVE free PDF tutorials. Included in those tutorials is the one we've just unlocked - Ana Polanscak's tutorial on dark, burnished steel (such as that seen in the photo above). Our thanks to everyone who has made this possible.
New Stretch Goals Revealed!
After Ana's tutorial PDF, we have Christof's art card Add-on, but where to next? I've chatted with the artists a bit over the last few days, and they've agreed that we should add some new goals that keep adding value to your original support. That means that we're adding three new Stretch Goals, each of them adding eight more pages to the books. Your books won't cost you any more, they'll just have more great content (and seeing the material coming in from the artists, having more page space will be great).
Are these a bit ambitious? Perhaps, but we're all confident in what is being created and we know you are too!
Cheers
Dave
Just two days to go!
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, May 19, 2021 at 12:32:04 PM
Thank you all for joining us on this journey! It was lovely to wake up this morning to another Stretch Goal smashed. Well done, everyone!
This now means that you can add a quality slipcase to your pledge for just $12. These slipcases will be designed to hold all three of these first Volumes of THE ART OF... series and really set off your collection.
Now we're ready to keep marching towards the next two Stretch Goals: an excellent PDF tutorial from Ana and a set of art cards from Christof!
How can I add the Add-ons?
We've had a few supporters ask how they can add the Add-ons to their pledges, so I figured it might be a good time to point that out go through the process.
Here are a few images from the Kickstarter App on a phone to guide you through. If you are using a desktop/laptop the names of the buttons you are looking for are the same, although they may be found in different areas on your screen.
Step One: When looking at the campaign page on your app (or online) you will see a box saying "You're a backer!", click on the green button "Manage your pledge".
Step Two: On the next page you will see a button that says "Change your pledge". Click it.
Step Three: Adjust your pledge total buy adding the amount of the Add-on you would like (in this example it's the $12 slipcase being added to the All the Books! pledge level) to your pledge amount.
Step Four: Click on the "Continue" button.
Step Five: Click on the "Confirm" button.
Then, once we enter the pledge manager stage, you'll be able to select the specific item that you wanted (and add others, if you would like).
Hopefully that helps everyone who is new to Kickstarter, or hasn't done an Add-on before. If there's something that isn't clear, please pop a question in the comments or send a message and we'll help you out. :)
Just two days to go!
We are really coming down to the wire now. We've had a great campaign so far, and all of the artists are busy working away on their writing and photography so that we hit the ground running when it comes to actually producing the books. We hope you've enjoyed the look at the sample pages. Following the campaign we'll continue to show the occasional sample page so that you can follow our progress through creating these tomes.
As always, thank you for sharing with your friends and hobby groups. It really does help us all.
Cheers
Dave
Introducing Matt DiPietro (and two new Stretch Goals)
almost 3 years ago
– Mon, May 17, 2021 at 04:42:04 PM
This is Matt's workspace. You'll notice the lack of chair and the elevated wet palette. Matt suffered from back pains while working as a studio painter, but has been able to stay painting for the last five years by standing while he does so.
And now it is time for our final introduction, Matt DiPietro. Here's what Matt had to say:
"Hi! I'm Matt and I consider myself a multi-faceted artist and teacher, specializing in fine-art painted figures. While I certainly worked as a studio painter for Privateer Press for a number of years, my personal work spans all aspects and genres of our art form and I continues to push the limits of my craft with each project.
My studio – Contrast Miniatures – is located on the beautiful coast of the Pacific Northwest United States. It is here that I creates my work and teach the next generation of miniature artisans through private coaching, and through the online video tutorials for Miniature Monthly. I have also had the opportunity to travel, meet with other miniatures artists, and even judge prestigious painting competitions like the Capital Palette and the legendary Monte San Savino Show in Italy.
I'm incredibly excited to be working with the Miniature Monthly team and Dave to put our book together."
You can hear Matt talk about more of his art here with Vincent Venturella:
We have just crossed the $72,000 threshold and unlocked the FREE PDF tutorial from Elizabeth Beckley on OSL (Object Source Lighting)! Now we are marching towards the awesome slipcase Add-on at $78,000. I'm personally a sucker for the slipcase.
It is also time to reveal the next two Stretch Goals beyond the slipcase. We have another Freebie – a PDF tutorial from Ana Polanscak on how she paints her dark, burnished steel. Following that, we have a set of art cards from Christof Keil that will feature a variety of his favorite kitbashed miniatures!
FINAL DAYS!
We have entered the home stretch for this campaign. We have just over four days until we reach the conclusion, and in that time we'd love to make sure we've reached as many painters and miniatures enthusiasts as possible. In addition to all of the social media posts that we'll be putting out and about, I've updated some of the graphics on the main campaign page, so that everyone can see some sample pages. I'll post them here too so everyone can get an early taster of what's in store. (Note: the text hasn't been completed or edited, and these pages aren't the final versions, but certainly give an idea of our approach)
Thank you all in advance for your support and for sharing this campaign with your friends and gaming/hobby groups. It means the world to us.
Cheers
Dave
Introducing Ana!
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, May 14, 2021 at 11:32:50 PM
Ana's workspace
In today's update we get to introduce you to Ana Polanšćak, a wonder miniatures artist whose work I have been following for almost a decade now. Her distinct style, attention to detail, and supernatural themes are all things that I love to explore on a regular basis. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a tourist, but Ana is the perfect tour guide:
I’m Ana, a miniaturist focused on creating grim, immersive worlds through tabletop miniature projects. This encompasses everything from modelling, sculpting, painting, building scenery and crafting gaming paraphernalia, to writing, game design, graphic design and miniature photography. After more than fifteen years of painting and sculpting as a hobbyist, I became a full-time 'brush for hire'.
I discovered tabletop miniatures and wargames in the early 2000s, when I saw Warhammer in a flyer from my LGS. I was immediately captivated by the idea of it all. Small country, niche hobby, not too many people in it. Although I’ve been active in my local club – UMS Agram – for many years, my hobby really expanded when I found an online community with shared interests in narrative skirmish gaming and heavy miniature customization. I started my blog – Gardens of Hecate – in late 2012, originally focused on the warband project I was working on at the time. This gradually grew and a long train of projects came through the blog and my painting table. I met many other artists and picked up a lot of new skills since I started on my path. Had a chance to collaborate on projects and events in the Inq28 and AoS28 communities, and even be an editor of a successful specialized magazine (28).
As aesthetic and mood are of great importance to me, I make effort in keeping a consistent style in my converting and painting. My focus is on gaming miniatures; a tabletop wargame is a multimedia experience that allows for a variety of smaller creative projects to interlock. My worldbuilding exercises have not always been tied to wargaming. I used to shape worlds separate from miniatures, and often struggled to figure out what I should do with them. From an early age I dabbled with comics, novels, short stories, picture books... But at some point I figured out that using my worlds as settings for games suits me best, and this became my primary creative outlet from then on.
My aim is to keep going further, explore new ideas and angles, build worlds and make games... To share my work, inspire others and be inspired in turn.
Here are a few sample pages from Volume Three - THE ART OF... Ana Polanšćak. Please note that not all the text has bee written yet, and some of it is yet to be edited, so think of these as concepts that capture the content.
A few years ago, Ana hosted and event for friends called LEGEN, where knights and their retainers were called upon to rid the village of a plague of giants.
The Chapel of St. Hubertus is a location from Ana's Gardens of Hecate setting.
Ana has made several card decks over the years, first for use in Malifaux, and then for other games.
Thank you to everyone for your support, and for continuing to share the campaign with your friends and miniatures painting enthusiasts around the world!
Cheers
Dave
Another Stretch Goal is passed and we continue marching on!
almost 3 years ago
– Tue, May 11, 2021 at 11:50:41 PM
Thank you and welcome to everyone who has joined us over the last few days, we're very happy to have you join us on this journey!
Today we've marched past the $66,000 Stretch Goal, and the book covers will now include shiny silver foil logos and names. A very cool quality upgrade that will cost you no extra. In December of 2019 I met with my printing contact (he was visiting PAX Unplugged from Lithuania) and during that conversation he showed me some samples of the various things they can do. Their silver foil work was wonderful.
Our next goal will be another Freebie - a tutorial PDF from Elizabeth Beckley about OSL (Object Source Lighting) that promises to be very "illuminating" ;)
If you would like to hear more about Elizabeth and her journey through miniatures painting, you can listen to the Brush Wielders Union podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/51030488 Host Simon Berman digs deeper into the kinds of things that Elizabeth like to paint and just how she has become not worked as a studio painter for many miniatures companies, but also a content creator for Plaid (arts & craft mega-company) and the co-owner of a board game company!
New Stretch Goal Revealed!
After Elizabeth's PDF tutorial, we march towards our Slipcase goal. I really love beautiful books about miniatures and wargaming, and a slick slipcase is something I'm definitely a sucker for! When I ran my first campaign for my book – Armies & Legions & Hordes – I offered up a slipcase as a stretch goal without properly researching it first, and was quite surprised to find that they are more expensive than I would have thought (for the relatively low-print run of ALH, they were the same cost as the books themselves). This time around I've done my homework and can offer up these three-volume slipcases as an Add-On for $12, once we reach the Stretch Goal. The images above are just mock-ups, (of course) and the final design may change, but I'm very happy that we can offer this for this excellent start to the series.
Onwards and upwards!
Let's keep moving forward, and sharing the campaign with friends and painting groups around the world!
