It was a long, cold winter here in the South. We had an ice storm, snow, sleet, and I managed to survive being snowed in for a total of two weeks – one of which was my birthday week. I hate cold weather. I hate everything about it, and even though it’s necessary for the life cycle, I despise winter.
This was my view for most of February. As pretty as it was, the brown got old lol.
When spring came around this year, I was desperate for color, and I realized how important color is to our mood, energy level, and overall well-being. A simple addition can brighten up a room and make you feel better. So here’s a quick celebration of color, which also inspired me to paint (sneak peek)!
I started improving my mood by redecorating a little. Throw pillow covers and pillows, new rugs, and new placements. These immediately brightened things up!
Next came the flowers! Inside and out. I keep fresh flowers on my table at all times, but these were recent bouquets, and they were perfect because they always give me something pretty to look at!
Last weekend I planted these beauties. Now that the grass is getting greener, they’re the perfect outside addition.
And last, the work in progress…This started as a green and black canvas I painted out of boredom. I was so inspired by color and my flowers, I decided to paint one of my favorites: the iris. I will post about the finished product once its complete, but there will be two paintings. I don’t claim to be an artist, but it goes to show that color can bring out the artist in anyone!
Feel free to share your springtime happiness in the comments section, and Happy Warmer Weather and Happy Easter to all those who celebrate this time of year!
Hobbies are a great way to relax, escape from the world, and show your creative ability. They can be lots of fun and a special way to show someone you care when you make them a one-of-a-kind gift. This month, we’re featuring an artist who includes art as a hobby. Not only that, but he also has an ecommerce business, which could be considered a hobby as well — a hobby that pays! We want to thank him for his time, and feel free to share some art love in the comments below!
RevPub: What are the things you make/create?
So far, I enjoy making paintings using wood. I love being able to cut the wood in any shape and then painting the details on it. I’ve also done Perler Beads, but these are less works of art and more of following patterns.
RevPub: What do you enjoy about having art as a hobby, and do you ever sell your stuff?
I love having art as a hobby because it takes my full concentration. If I’m thinking about something else or stressing about something, my complete focus is on my works of art. I’ve never sold the stuff I’ve made for me, but I have sold stuff requested by other people.
RevPub: How do you get the ideas for your art?
Usually I get my ideas for wood by seeing a really cool picture and thinking, “Oh hey, this would look really cool in different layers of wood.”
RevPub: What’s your favorite thing you’ve built/created/painted and why?
My favorite thing I’ve created would either be a Playstation door knocker that I have hanging outside my room or my Majora’s Mask painting.
RevPub: What do you sell in your ecommerce business?
I mainly sell books, but I’m starting to learn more about VHS, DVDs, and CDs.
RevPub: Would you recommend others sell things on eBay/Amazon?
If you don’t plan on doing it as a main job, I would recommend selling on eBay for most people. It’s easier to learn, there aren’t nearly as much fees as Amazon, and the auction system for eBay is amazing if you don’t know how much you should charge people for something.
RevPub: What’s the coolest thing you’ve sold?
I don’t really have a coolest thing I sold. Most of the books are the same. I did find a book on How to Train Your Miniature Donkey that sold for about $40, which was pretty great.
Graphic design is in more than you realize. It takes a designer to build those eye-catching ads, the customized phone cases, and awesome T-shirts. This month, we’re spotlighting an up-and-coming designer and very cool guy, Zach West. Be sure to check out his stuff at zwgfxdesigns!
Media types: Graphic Design, Drawing, Video Editing, Gaming, Social Media
RevPub: What made you want to become a designer, and are there any artists who influence you?
I started designing shortly after I graduated from high school. I discovered gfx forums, which are message boards dedicated to learning to design. When I joined, the community was focused on designing tags/signatures that appear below the user’s post. Some of the designs that people in the community were designing really inspired me to become a designer. They were industry professionals, but if I showed you some of their work, it would blow you away. THE artist who influenced me was a man on the forums named Cleveland Paige aka +mw.pmi. His work was amazing, and I made it my goal to be that good one day.
RevPub: What are your favorite things to design? Is there anything you want to do but haven’t yet?
My favorite things to design are signatures/tags and photo manipulation pieces. The feeling of accomplishment I get when I’ve finished one of those two are greater than the feeling I get from anything else. Plus, they’re just fun to do. As far as doing something I haven’t yet, I really want to get into illustrating something. Drawing and then using a tablet to ink and color the drawing in Illustrator is something I really want to get into.
RevPub: What are the must-have tools you need to draw or design?
For drawing, pencil and paper lol. That’s all I need. For digital designing, besides the computer and software, the pen tool is a must. The pathfinder bar in Illustrator. All the tools have their uses, but those two I use almost always in my designs.
RevPub: If you could design or draw anything for someone, who would it be?
It’s hard to pick one person lol. Probably Lindsey Stirling because she’s so awesome! 🙂
RevPub: You just graduated from college. Any tips for students entering the field?
Design as much high-quality work as possible for your portfolio and design work that you would be required in the design industry. Also, try to get experience anywhere you can!
Working on Citadel miniatures is generally a pleasure. I’ve always loved model kits. Like Hans Gruber from Die Hard I appreciate their attention to minute detail in small scale. That being said the tiny size of some Warhammer models is slightly limiting. You can’t paint extreme detail, well I’ll rephrase, I can’t paint extreme detail, as well as I’d like.
Needless to say the chance to assemble and paint a larger-scale model has been attractive. No I can’t play a fun war game with them, but the hobbyist in me can appreciate it.
So when I found this great Mars Attacks Martian trooper model at a local store I grabbed it quickly.
He’s far larger than Warhammer models but I still used all those Citadel painting tricks I learned, base coat, wash/shade, layer, drybrush, effects method.
He was plain white plastic, with an aluminum lamppost. I primed him white before applying the base coat. I had to rubberband his face to keep it together. He looks like a Hellraiser Cenobyte…
I left his nifty space suit un-shaded. It looks bright and cartoony that way.
I loved his victim and it gave me a chance to use lots of effects paints in gruesome detail.
His face and head were a bit hit-or-miss. I thought I’d ruined it. I actually used very watered down Emperor’s Children followed by watered down Fenrisian Grey. Then I dry brushed Fulgrim Pink, Dechala Lilac, and Baharroth Blue in various layers to get the face correct.
This guy was a lot of fun and gave me a good feel for what painting larger models will be like, especially since big centerpiece models seem to be the wave of the future in 40k!
Next back to my Sector Imperialis, and an even bigger painting piece!
RevPub: How long have you been writing, and why do you enjoy writing horror?
I’ve written professionally for 20 years but have only penned my dark “psychological torment” short stories for the past four. I don’t really classify my stories as horror, which to me evokes images of slashing, blood, and guts all over the place. Cutting a character on the face so they’ll see that scar in the mirror for the rest of their life…that’s what gets my interest.
RevPub: Who is your favorite author and why?
I rarely read – wish I did – but my favorite author is Edgar Allan Poe, and a major reason is because I received a book of Poe short stories for Christmas a few years back and loved it. Until then, I hadn’t read a book since The Great Gatsby in 1994. Oh, I recently read Stephen King’s On Writing, which has good tips for any writer. It made me quit adverbs.
RevPub: What is your favorite piece you’ve written and why?
I like several – Murder Day, Thankless, To Son, To Daughter come to mind – but perhaps my favorite is The Adam’s Apple, one of my first efforts. It’s written from the perspective of a cat, even though cats creep me out.
RevPub:If you could be any fictional character, who would it be?
I recently read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Being that big monster would be kinda cool, and I’m 6 foot 5 anyway. Plus, I look good in a suit coat.
RevPub: What scares you?
I watch those Swamp People alligator hunter shows on TV, so I hope to never come across any gator. Snakes I can also do without – maybe all reptiles bother me. Not much else does.
RevPub: What does a writer need in order to write horror? Any advice for those wanting to write in the genre?
I keep saying that I don’t read much, but I do occasionally search the Internet to find bizarre, murder/suspense-related scenarios that occur in this big world. In addition, I used to be a newspaper reporter and covered a criminal/police beat, and I recall several life-in-the-shadows stories from those days.
I just keep my eyes and ears open. For example, I thought of a story called Blind Date while eating lunch outdoors at a Florida restaurant that fronted a canal, and that became the setting for the story. I also give credit to my parents, who always corrected us kids whenever we used incorrect English growing up. That might have led to my English degree, then my interest in writing. Thanks, Sylvester and Patricia.
And for any writer, having a good editor is vital. My editor is actually this interviewer, Raven Petty, who always edits my short stories before they post, helping to turn my proverbial swine into pearls.
Realm of Battle Sector Imperialis Work In Progress
This year I got myself the coolest birthday present I’ve ever gotten myself.
The day I moved in to my new place I decided to spring for the new Stormclaw Warhammer 40k set. I found a trusted seller on eBay was selling it as a rate and ordered it from them. The week it came out I received a message saying they didn’t get as much stock as expected and wouldn’t be able to send it. I could get a refund or use that money to buy something else. While cruising their page I found they were selling the new city scape, Sector Imperialis, at a reduced rate as well. So I applied my Stormclaw money to it and got a 330 table top scenery set for $158 dollars. It was great.
It has been a nice project and one I’ve been looking forward to. A large-scale painting project that can be easily customized and personalized.
I wasn’t quite sure where to start so I watched these videos and soldiered on:
I followed most of these recommendations the letter. I changed the ground color to Mournfang Brown and ran out of Skavenblight Dinge (go for four pots, I have used three there’s enough in the bottom of them for touchups and nothing else) so I used Stormvermin Fur around the Aquila sections.
Straight road sections. Clearly needs touch ups, but for 3-4 hours work it’s going faster than expected.
The T Sections.
This metal section has been touched up a bit. Still need to go back over the Skavenblight, but it’s going quickly. A thin card will work well to keep the right colors where they’re supposed to be.Running out of Skavenblight made me use Stormvermin around these sections. It’ll mix it up nicely I think and will blend well.
I’m going to mix Nuln Oil and Drakenhof Nightshade instead of Athonian Camoshade to give it a dirty blue color instead of earthy green.
My painting rig. A big piece of cardboard would work as a pallet but since I’m painting all six sections at once I’m standing up most of the time. The traditional version comes in handy and is only $5. The brushes were $1 each and my water container once contained lunch meat!
I’ve still got the bronze colors and touch ups to do on the basing of this painting but believe it or not this much work only took about 4 hours. It goes fast. I’m looking forward to finishing basing and I’m very eager to start detailing and working on the colors to see what happens. I’m going to take Duncan’s recommendation and try Nurgle’s Rot some of the sewers, and maybe some water effect in some of the other sewers.
This project, at 6 feet buy 4 feet, eats up paint. These are the pots I’ve used thus far…
I’ll post more of them as I go. It’ll start to match my NEW Imperial Guard army, which I’m starting in the next week!
In other news…check out the site in the next few weeks as there will be some new merchandise (Finally) I’ll post once the designs are done!
Feel free to share your springtime happiness in the comments section, and Happy Warmer Weather and Happy Easter to all those who celebrate this time of year!
Revenant Publications 