Hey Guys! I hope you've been enjoying the adepticon coverage. Today I'm actually going to talk about my experience at adepticon outside of carrying a monopod around and taking 1300 photos. The main reason I went to adepticon was to meet fellow bloggers, #warmongers, and some of my favorite miniature artists. What I would experience is far more amazing and wonderful then I ever could have imagined. (Note: I apologize for anyone whose name I don't remember. Note2: If you go to an event like this, make sure you have business cards, so drunk forgetful Greg can remember you better! This post is also a link fest)
Don't take the city taxi's from the airport, you'll be REALLY SORRY
I got to adepticon a day before it began, giving me plenty of time to settle in. I wasn't in the main hotel, as it was filled up almost instantly (I really hope I get in there next year, as I really want to participate in the friendly!) so I went exploring!
The hotel was pretty nice, about an 8 minute hike from mine (as long as you cut through everything). It was pretty empty though, as most people were setting up, and I felt a bit awkward walking around the vendor hall while they set up. Later I found out I could have volunteered for a possible upgrade to a VIG bag!
So I went to subway to load up some subs for the week (great way to save money vs hotel food, and to be a tad healthier) then proceeded to eat at carvers, with a gigantic concrete milkshake which was amazing.
Back to the con, i noticed people walking into the vendor hall, so I snuck in and had a peak around. Holy moly the bones booth!
So I went to subway to load up some subs for the week (great way to save money vs hotel food, and to be a tad healthier) then proceeded to eat at carvers, with a gigantic concrete milkshake which was amazing.
Back to the con, i noticed people walking into the vendor hall, so I snuck in and had a peak around. Holy moly the bones booth!
Kinda of glad I checked my luggage! Otherwise I'd be heading home a poor man! It was here that I ran into SFC from Twitter (@SFCatchYouLater) who is a chicago native and an awesome guy! Then Brandon from GMM Studios came up and introduced himself. Brandon did the amazing (photos will NEVER do it justice) golden throne piece. Both guys were really friendly, and it was great to finally meet them!
It was then time to get into line. I was ended up next to Owen from miniwargaming (or was from miniwargaming? I don't know anymore), and Anthony from Pirate Monkey Painting. Both great guys! Also a Dark angels player, who I can't remember his name. Starting out really strong! I noticed someone I thought was James Wappel walking around, but he was in the VIG line and couldn't quite get to him. Oh ya, always pay for VIG access...they got so much ridiculous swag!
It was then time to get into line. I was ended up next to Owen from miniwargaming (or was from miniwargaming? I don't know anymore), and Anthony from Pirate Monkey Painting. Both great guys! Also a Dark angels player, who I can't remember his name. Starting out really strong! I noticed someone I thought was James Wappel walking around, but he was in the VIG line and couldn't quite get to him. Oh ya, always pay for VIG access...they got so much ridiculous swag!
There was also a ridiculously giant bitz store in the main hall, with a badger airbrush booth nearby! So leaving the main hall, after having a chat with a ton of cool people, I saw brandon, James wappel, and another gentleman having a chat. I walked up and introduced myself. The one guy was super ethusasitic, and I ran into him constantly at the con, and for some reason I can't remember his name right now (I feel awful about this, because he was constantly saying hi and was awesome!). James was actually excited to see me, and invited me back to the bar to hang out. (To hang out with JAMES WAPPEL).
So here I am at the bar, hanging out with James, his wife, Larry (a forgeworld fiend), Dave Pauwels, Chris Borer, and possibly a few others I can't quite remember. To say it was an experience was an understatement. Talking about painting, inspirations, military history, and just shooting the breeze for hours. What a great evening.
So here I am at the bar, hanging out with James, his wife, Larry (a forgeworld fiend), Dave Pauwels, Chris Borer, and possibly a few others I can't quite remember. To say it was an experience was an understatement. Talking about painting, inspirations, military history, and just shooting the breeze for hours. What a great evening.
The next day I went to the con early, so I could get as many photos as possible. Ran into the FrontLineGaming guys (Reece, Frankie, Geoff), those guys are just awesome. They are extremely friendly and laid back, totally great to hang out with, always happy to see them! I also ran into a few people I saw at LVO and Nova, which is nice when you are a con where you didn't go knowing anyone directly! I was walking around carrying my deff dread (crystal brush didn't open till 10am), so I took some fun dread selfies which will be up on friday. Also got to show misterjustin my dread in person, and get feedback. (He's been helping me with the rust effects). Then it was off to my first class!
Hands on with Weathering Pigments - Misterjustin
My first class was with misterjustin from secret weapon. I've had a few classes with him before, but never his hands on one. He's a great teacher, and very helpful (in and out of class with questions). He went over a variety of techniques with using pigments, including using a qtip to control surface deposits, which I hadn't ever thought of before!
Tricks to True Metallics - Meg Maples
Meg did a class on how to use shadows and highlights to create really cool metallic highlights. The technique was really simple, but boy will it take practice. I completely failed at the technique during the class (i got the concept, just need practice to execute), but I did come up with a really cool beetle carapace armor! The most interesting part about a lot of these classes is the interaction between the artists and the partipants. Getting answers to random questions (such as competition pieces, inspiration, etc). Every one of these classes has some tidbit of information that may not have anything to do with the class, but was crazy informative just the same!
The Glazing Technique for Miniature Painting -Rhonda Bender
Rhonda's class was all about making Glazes. I'm a huge fan of painting with washes, but never knew the exact difference between a wash and a glaze. (glazes are really thin paints applied to tint layers, washes are for adding contrast/color to recesses). The best advice I got from her class was seeing exactly "how thin" the glaze needed to be. The tip she used was to paint the glaze over a piece of paper with text on it. You should easily be able to read the text through the glaze. If it reduces the text opacity too much, its not thin enough!
I honestly don't remember what I did after this class. I may have run into minature tim who is a fantastic painter, and a wonderful guy! He's also been on an excellent track towards gaming fitness and I wish him the best of luck in his endeavors! (It's really great when you meet someone that you blog a lot with, and keep running into each other!)
I also had some great chats with Miniwargamer Jay (including watching him film one of his bat reps in realtime!). All during this time I'm also constantly running into Brandon, who is painting like a crazy man (all of Jeff's Dragon Forge Bases!)
I honestly don't remember what I did after this class. I may have run into minature tim who is a fantastic painter, and a wonderful guy! He's also been on an excellent track towards gaming fitness and I wish him the best of luck in his endeavors! (It's really great when you meet someone that you blog a lot with, and keep running into each other!)
I also had some great chats with Miniwargamer Jay (including watching him film one of his bat reps in realtime!). All during this time I'm also constantly running into Brandon, who is painting like a crazy man (all of Jeff's Dragon Forge Bases!)
The next day was more painting, more friends, and some amazing hands on stuff. Today I ran into Ashley during the friendly (highly highly highly recommend everyone sign up for friendly) who is a local (VA) player, and fellow blogger! Took a billion more photos, then it was off to the next set of classes!
Liber Titanicus: Painting Lords of War - Dave Pauwels
This was one of my all time favorite classes. First off, I met Dave Taylor right as I walked in, and I've been following Dave's blog forever! I also met Damon Drescher who did the amazing Jade Knight. Second, I wasn't even going to take this class originally, it was the ethusiasm of Dave Pauwel that excited me to take it, (having met him with James the day before), and boy was this a great class. The interaction between all the people in the class was incredible. From the first 30 seconds of the class I was taking notes. Everything from prepping models, to ways to better secure and transport them, painting techiques, decals, weathering...you name it. Best class ever. And also the most expensive because now I want a warhound. Let me tell you, it was a joy just to see these models! (This was also a bonus class. A slot was available, so I was able to pay and stay!)
Composition: Value, Space, Color - Matt DiPietro
Matt is a studio painter for Privateer Press. This was his first time teaching this class, and he did a great job. The first half was about color, and due to a bad projector, had some trouble getting the point across. But when we got to composition, wow! Matt took us on a journey, answering questions, and showcasing some of his absolutely incredible pieces to show how you can control the users eye with composition that transcends miniatures and turns them into true works of art.
Blood, Puss, Guts, and Gore - Michelle Blastenbrei
Michelle did the blood puss and guts class. She went over how you can use a variety of clear paints with this tub of UHU stuff, to create the most gooey and disgusting creations. She would laugh with glee after everyone made another gross zombie. I couldn't take the UHU stuff back with me, but I hear you can get it from amazon....
The Incredible James Wappel -Super Bonus
And this is where Zab will get jealous. James really took me under his wing at Adepticon. He introduced me to other artists, shared all sorts of artist insider info, and best of all, allowed me to watch him work for hours. He would paint, and talk about what he was doing, why he was doing it, what he was thinking about while he painted...it was the most informative session I've ever been to. He is an utterly fantastic teacher and an inspirational painter. What he does in mere minutes most of us couldn't do in days. Such an absolute life changing experience! You will look at James work and think it looks amazing. But then you see it in person. There is a reason he is so respected and admired. He paints in a method that makes everything look effortless.
It should also be noted, that the area James is painting in is an "open painting" area setup specifically by the artists themselves, so that anyone could just hang out, paint, and exchange tips. Wow...just wow.
It should also be noted, that the area James is painting in is an "open painting" area setup specifically by the artists themselves, so that anyone could just hang out, paint, and exchange tips. Wow...just wow.
Intro to Display & Competitive Painting - Justin MCcoy
Another bonus class! James had to go around 10, which was just when Justin's next class started. So I waited to see if slots were open, and there was, so I was able to pay him on the spot and got in! This class was all about painting for competition, and it was informative beyond all expectations. A lot of the class was about using competition to sell the story, and how to think about prepping a scene for competition. After the class, we all got a late night viewing of the crystal brush, where Justin talked about the entires, and would also (gulp) critque your entry if you asked. I did (boy that was nerve wracking), and he pointed out that I needed to concentrate on avoiding the middle (symmetry bad in competitions), and work on focus using cool/warm tones. A very informative class, in which I met a lot of great artists, including Katie Martin who went on to win 3rd in the single category!
After this I was a bit beat and passed out (class ended around 1am). The next day I woke up at 5am so I could get to the team tournament and take photos. Probably not going to do that again because I was wrecked all morning! It was ok though, because I finally ran into the Lonely Havocs who are an awesome group of guys, and even had dinner with them! Also had the pleasure of meeting Sabrina from itsacoyote workshop!
But time for even more painting classes!
Object Source Lighting (OSL) - Victoria Lamb
Victoria Lamb is an incredible artist. You may not know her directly, but I guarantee you know her work. She brought OSL to table top miniatures, and is a multiple golden daemon winner. Her class was extremely informative, full of awesome miniatures, and she gave 1 on 1 feedback while you worked. Seeing her winning entires, in person...just wow. The lictor piece was jaw dropping! There isn't any point of putting a photo of it here, as it doesn't do it justice.
Intro to Different Styles of Blending - Caleb Wissenback
Caleb's class was all about dat blending. Six different types in rapid fashion. More of quick intro's then applied knowledge. Caleb made it all look easy with demo's of each techique, followed by one on one questions. It will definitely take years of practice to be able to even come close to his level of skill, but it was a useful class non the less! I also sat next to an awesome artist, that I can't quite remember his name. I hope he leaves a comment! He was really helpful in helping me with the blending techniques.
After all the classes...there was a massive huge party. All the artists were there, as well as many of the table top guys. I had a blast hanging out with everyone, from the FLG guys, to tablewar guys, to James and his crew, to people from Nova, misterjustin, Matt, Victoria, Anthony, Liz, the list goes on and on and on. Even finally ran into Yaum la machine! (Who I had been tweeting with over the weekend). This left quite an impression on me. The community was healthy, vibrant, fun, and above all us, welcoming. It was like finding another family, and I won't soon forget that, and will try to always attend adepticon from now on because of it!
I did learn something though...plan for these parties I couldn't make it past 2am, but the party went till 5am! And I still had one more class...
I did learn something though...plan for these parties I couldn't make it past 2am, but the party went till 5am! And I still had one more class...
Liber Metallica - Dave Taylor
My final class was also a bonus class. It was Dave Taylor's! A class on nothing but metallics! Dave layed out the class in an easy to understand method, and even provided his "secret wash" recipe to all the attendees. He shared his shading and chipping techniques, as well as how to get the best out of certain metals, and even provided a really nice hand out with great photos to help you follow along. A great class to end my adepticon! Thanks Dave!
Adepticon was a wonderful, fantastic, amazing, educational time. I thank all the instructors, all my new friends, the organizers, and even the vendors for making this one of the most memorable events I've ever attended. I'll be back next year, and can't wait to see you all again!
