The auction of the chaplain didn't go as high as I would have liked, but I really can't complain. People only pay for what they can see, and the pics weren't top notch. Granted, the painting wasn't top notch either, but enough people at work told me that the photos don't do the mini justice that I've taken steps to improve the photography.
Behold, at upper left, a picture of my work in progress (WIP) Ultramarine sergeant. It was photographed in my new light tent, a 12" cubic enclosure that distributes light wonderfully inside. As you can see, it can facilitate a
very distinct photo of a very small item. One main challenge now is to learn to use the Ott light properly. The reds in the front part of the eye lens looked might lighter under the Ott light, so I must remember to look at the mini under different lighting conditions to ensure that I don't spend an hour blending reds on eye lenses (cough*tonight*cough) only to find that the blending is invisible without the tiny simulated sun of the Ott light.
Just for a moment, I would like to blather on about "employee contribution" to health care. One of my relations was going on about how unrealistic it is in today's world for teachers in some-district-or-other to not have to pay for at least part of their own health insurance, that to have their employer pay for
all of it was some sort of anachronism that shows a disconnect from reality.
I don't subscribe to his point of view.
You cost your employer x dollars. That's how you are seen in the whole accounting scheme: a cost of x dollars, representing your total compensation. Whether 90% of x is paid to you in cash and 10% of x is paid to a health care provider on your behalf or 100% of x is paid directly to you does not change the value of x. My employer does not require me to write checks to Blue Cross for my health insurance. If tomorrow they told me that I would be responsible for $100 a month of my health care costs, the term for that is
pay cut. A decrease in total compensation. X has changed at that point. If health care costs increase, that is the equivalent of a
pay increase. Again, x has changed. Why is total compensation so hard to grasp?
One more thing... I've heard people claim that because some people don't see the actual costs of their health care, they are more likely to go to the doctor frivolously, wasting the health provider's money. Again, not a position I support. As an analogy, are you more likely to eat the sandwich that someone brings to your house and puts in your fridge or the sandwich that you bought at the store? I would assert that the money paid for the second sandwich leads to a desire to get
one's money's worth out of it, whereas the seemingly free sandwich may be taken for granted. I take some of my health care benefits for granted. That is truth. If I had chosen my own health care policy and had written a check for
each and every benefit I would be
darn sure that I was getting my money's worth out of that policy. There is a layer of abstraction between me and the cost of the benefits since everyone in our local receives (and pays) the same. Perhaps what the above claimants actually want to see is a higher
deductible for services, just to add a little pain to the process. Or maybe they just don't like things that
seem free, but really aren't. I suppose there are people who get upset that pro wrestling is scripted too.
I'm starting to realize how difficult painting a black mini is. Not only that, but I've chosen a white tabard, the single hardest color for me to paint. The results of tonight's painting session were less than stellar, as you can see.
Match of the evening! With auction #2 freshly on the block, I immediately dove into the work for auction #3. At the same time I also spent a little time on the Dwarf Thane that Bill already paid for. /guilty
My coworker Brian convinced me to adjust the image a little, and the result is at left. I have to remember that mere reality pales before my monitor at home. At work, all the pics looked like they had a brown film over them. Brian found some pics of similar color schemes on CMON and convinced me to color adjust for better clarity, and to add the backdrop. That's funny.... at 3:30AM the pics seem to look fine. Didn't I write about this earlier?
Yeah, this is clearly the best thing I've painted. I am so excited to put this one on the auction block. I posted it on CMON, just to see what initial reaction will be.
This fellow is shaping up about as well as I could expect. It is very encouraging that each thing I've painted lately has seemed like the best thing I've painted so far. The chest scroll is such a marked improvement over last night's train wreck. Please enjoy my flounderings.
I've decided to post a number of WIP pics for this fellow. The highlights on the blue are working out alright. (Are they? Any CMON'ers who wander in here, can you even see them?) I have no excuses for the poor execution of the word "ULTRA" across the front of the mini. While inscribing "ULTRA" across ones chest may seen odd (read: stupid) it is a fairly common sight with this chapter, and since I plan on selling this one I might as well stick to canon. Rest assured, the little banner was back to being solid color by the time I put the paints away. I'll try again with the micron pens tomorrow.
The auction of the chaplain didn't go as high as I would have liked, but I really can't complain. People only pay for what they can see, and the pics weren't top notch. Granted, the painting wasn't top notch either, but enough people at work told me that the photos don't do the mini justice that I've taken steps to improve the photography.
Remember when I mentioned the super glue accelerant last night? Well, being the intelligent guy I am I thought, "I should rinse these off before priming them, since I don't know what effect the accelerant will have on the primer." So, I ran them under the faucet for a few seconds, being careful not to get the basing wet (since they are based mostly in cork, and I was afraid something would happen to the cork if it got wet.)
Here's one I didn't expect: I crave the approval of people I have never met. It's true. Of 51 people who decided to indicate what they thought of this mini, the majority said "meh... 6." When it was at 6.8 I was quite pleased, but 6.1 is downright depressing. And now that it has 51 votes, it won't show up in the randomization. 6.1 is its new home.
Project: Send the Howell's to Family Camp is underway. I posted the Chaplain on ebay tonight, and got a starting bid within the first half-hour. Granted, the starting bid was only $1, but it's a start. Now, if I can get it to go up by $1 per hour for ten days, everything will be set for camp.
so that nobody forgets, these things are really small.
I finished the Chaplain last night after getting a few tips on CMON. I think the final product looks good... better than anything I've painted so far, I'd say. The problem is, yet again, the photograph. I think I proved yesterday that I can take a decent picture with the lighting I have now (two clip lights with daylight incandescent bulbs and my Ott light) but what I took last night is rubbish. Of course at 3:00 AM when you're trying to post something on eBay, these sorts of things escape your attention. What looks so poor today looked pretty good then. No, I was not drunk.
I've been staying up way too late painting again. Along with the endless slog of dwarfs, I've chosen five minis to paint for immediate eBay sale. The first WIP is a Space Marine Blood Angels Chaplain with jump pack. It's a mouthful, but it's a fairly popular version of a Space Marine army, and I hope the character looks good enough that someone will want it.
