Game Changers: the miniature paintjobs that most influenced the hobby / art

[VeristicalBlaze]

Nice thread! Agreeing with Grashnak, not only oldies but there are new ones too. Things like Kingdom Death/Adam Poots. He is the same way as John Blanche, most would say you like it or hate it. Although KD is more controversial in terms of style.

 

[Garshnak]

Here is a relatively interesting timeline of the history of historical wargaming:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/timeline2.html

Which is kind of the origin of the whole current miniature painting scene.
As wargaming developed, the miniatures became more detailed and complex and more importantly more varied as fantasy and sci fi were added into the mix, it increased demand and interest of craftsmen and the birth of new ones.

I think it would take me quite some cross referencing and lots of google searches to check this timeline against all the other companies. As I know at least, Games Workshop was founded in '75.

Wait, I hope I'm not going too much off topic here sorry. Just awfully interested in the whole cultural history of the miniature figure painting scene and such.

 

[Kelly Kim]

I see everyone has gone over to 'game changing' individuals.

Gah, you're right. I'd like to bring this back to my original premise: the top ten WORKS OF ART within our hobby, that changed our hobby. I'm very open to doing a completely separate top ten list for "Game Changers" in terms of individuals. John Blanche, Victoria Lamb, Mike McVey, etc, deserve a more in-depth blog / article. For this first list, I'd really like to dig into specific pieces and dissect them. What did they bring to the game? What was the hobby like before, during, and after this piece? Where did it get featured, and how did it enter our collective consciousnesses like a song you can't get out of your head?

I wouldn't mind other people's thoughts on these particular pieces. By having a few "sound bites" and quotes from various other painters, it would help reinforce the idea that these works didn't just influence me... they really did influence the hobby as a whole.

 

[BPI]

John Blanche's chaos minotaur with Mona Lisa banner for me. My image of toy soldiers as flat coated in enamel tin toys or Brittan plastic pre-paint cowboys & indians was blown away by that little bit of sculpture covered in oils, acrylics, ink, varnish and who knows what else. The idea that conversion was acceptable rather than trying to preserve the integrity of the original sculpt, that bases didn't have to be flat grass green, etc. It totally blew me away


Only a personal vote of course but it's a model I've read others refer to as influential. Lots of stuff in those early WD's of course but that minotaur is the definitive example for me.


Cheers all, B.

 

[Egrimm van Horstmann]

Regarding John Blanche - he has to be in the top 10 !
I don't consider him such a great painter, but he really inspires!
The first miniature diorama I have seen was made by him and this really changed my perception on miniatures
http://realmofchaos80s.blogspot.de/2012/06/dioramadrama-john-blanches-undead.html
I've seen this dio in nottingham live and still think, it's awesome !
Why don't you take it as John's sample ?

cheers, van Horstmann

 

[Tommie Soule]

John Blanche's chaos minotaur with Mona Lisa banner for me. My image of toy soldiers as flat coated in enamel tin toys or Brittan plastic pre-paint cowboys & indians was blown away by that little bit of sculpture covered in oils, acrylics, ink, varnish and who knows what else. The idea that conversion was acceptable rather than trying to preserve the integrity of the original sculpt, that bases didn't have to be flat grass green, etc. It totally blew me away


Only a personal vote of course but it's a model I've read others refer to as influential. Lots of stuff in those early WD's of course but that minotaur is the definitive example for me.


Cheers all, B.

Good choices!

 

[10 ball]

Well if were on about minis rather than people that changed the way the hobby went, as I said McVey all the way! ( see how that rhymed )

View attachment 19554View attachment 19555View attachment 19556

 

[Dragonsreach]

Here is a relatively interesting timeline of the history of historical wargaming:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/timeline2.html

Which is kind of the origin of the whole current miniature painting scene.

I'm sorry but that timeline is so inaccurate and missing so many companies from the UK (Britains/Hinchcliffe) as well as rule systems designed for larger models Medieval/Arthurian games. Including ones which were partially designed by Peter Cushing.

 

[Trevor]

There were a couple of painters in the late 80s that featured in WD that were amazing (for the time). I forget their names, Fraser Nicols was one maybe? Anyway, they were the first time I saw blended, and strongly highlighted minis.
Whoever it was that first did true metallics in NMM style. In Australia it was probably Sebastian Archer, but I know he was strongly influenced by European painters, so not sure if he was the first.
EricJ's dark maiden was a standout mini for me, painting, lighting and freehand combined in a unique way. http://www.coolminiornot.com/78320?browseid=4724658

 

[Yuggoth]

I would suggest "Alien Contact" by Nakatan. Its a gamechanger in that I have never seen such fierce moral and PC discussions in mini art before.
Even those who hated it said that it "opend pandoras box"

Edit: After re-reading your original post I`m not sure if that is the kind of gamechanger you are looking for, sice it has nothing to do with the paintjob per se. Maybe you could make an extra post about controversial subject matters later on?

 

[Kelly Kim]

I would suggest "Alien Contact" by Nakatan. Its a gamechanger in that I have never seen such fierce moral and PC discussions in mini art before.
Even those who hated it said that it "opend pandoras box"

Edit: After re-reading your original post I`m not sure if that is the kind of gamechanger you are looking for, sice it has nothing to do with the paintjob per se. Maybe you could make an extra post about controversial subject matters later on?

That's an awesome idea for yet another top ten list for my blog. Thanks! I've seen that piece on CMoN, and while I couldn't help but admire how well done the piece was, it still made me a bit uncomfortable to look at. Seeing as art is supposed to evoke some sort of reaction in the viewer, I think Nakatan did his job as an artist amazingly well.

Add in the "Golgotha" piece by Victor Hardy, and the story behind his intent, and how it was recieved by Games Day staff (and the public), and I think I've got at least 2 entries for "The Top Ten Most Controversial Art Pieces in the Miniature World". And if you add in the "Wet Nurse" model by Kingdom Death, I think we're up to three now.

 

[Kelly Kim]

So far, I think these are the front-runners for my Top Ten Most Influencial Art Pieces (order as yet to be determined):

1) "Rescue of Sister Joan" by Victoria Lamb
2) "Griffon Rescue in Real Cup" by Brushguy (Dirk Stiller)
3) Matt Cexwish's 2011 German Slayer Sword winning diorama
4) Vincent Hudon's 2004 Canadian Slayer Sword winning Khorne Champion
5) John Blanche's Minotaur with Mona Lisa banner
6) Mike McVey's "Horus vs the Emperor" diorama
7) Mike McVey's "Green Knight"

And I'm still not 100% decided on the last 3 spots. As you can see, I've come around a bit, and no longer think that a single artist can only occupy a single spot on this list... truly innovative and influencial artists can change the direction of our hobby more than once in their lifetime, I guess.

I'd still like to get one early Rackham model on the list... but right now I'm leaning towards one of Jennifer Haley's earliest Fianna paintjobs, as those were the first Rackham models I was personally exposed to. The European painters might disagree with that choice though, and as a Canadian, I know that the world doesn't revolve around North America (or even just the english-speaking world).

GW still dominates much of miniature painting history, simply because of their high profile and exposure. That's definately changing though, and I think this would be a VERY different list in another 5 - 10 years or so.

Thanks for all your help so far, guys! And please keep the suggestions and feedback coming!

 

[Yuggoth]

Good list! Maybe you could try to contact some of those on the list for a mini (no pun intended :-D) interview?

As to the second "controversial subject matter" list, I remember some discussions about a diorama showing a concentration camp inmate looking at a little bird and a sculpture of a dead baby (both technically exellent). Unfortunately I don`t have names or links, but I`m sure someone else can point you in the right direction .

 

[VeristicalBlaze]

I think you meant this paint job, Yuggeth?
http://www.coolminiornot.com/295146

 

[ozymandias]

Steve Blunt's nurgle chariot that won the gold demon in 1989. It was a complete change in style for the era and for me made me revisit how i painted. That was the start of the end of the cartoon colours.

 

[KruleBear]

I have to a agree with Tommie on John Blanche...love his style or hate it...his mini's were some of the first to convince gamers that minis could be works of art instead of just bland tokens. McVey took this to the next step and 10Balls examples are excellent.

My first ah ha for what mini's could be though would have to go back to Shepherd Paine's "How to Build Dioramas" book. His Historex conversions made me want to make art from his Napoleonics to old west to WWII dioramas. To me starting at Blanche or McVey is being a bit myopic.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ_LO1EbabpDT4zBdIuHrzyaIAzwBiELUnNcuilZpuU8wZhFlY3TA

 

[Kelly Kim]

Oxymandias, do you mean this chariot?

http://demonwinner.free.fr/uk/1989/golden_demon_winner.php?categorie=8#1st

I vividly recall this model as well and was in awe, although I can't say I changed my painting style because of it. However, I'd be curious as to whether or not Mike Butcher was influenced by it at all... it looks a bit like his style, and he went on to win a number of "Best Painted" and "Army Appearance" awards in North America for years and years with various Nurgle armies. His stuff did influence a number of gamers and converting enthusiasts, I'm sure of it.

KruleBear, I actually own that exact book by Shepherd Paine! I picked it up on a whim at my local hobby shop, which I was picking up a pack of birch seed leaves. Great stuff, although I think I'll leave him out of the list, for the same reason I'll leave Miguel Jimenez out. They don't work much in 28 / 32 mm scale, and nothing with a gaming background. The line between "gaming miniatures" and "figure / military modelling" is getting so blurred these days, but I think we all have a rough idea what is in our "genre", and what isn't. If there was a model / work of art within our genre that we could point to, where we could say, "This is when someone successfully drew influence from outside our hobby, and introduced it to the miniature art community, which led to a revolution in painting", then that's the project I'd like to add to the list.

On that note, there's a really nice annual publication called, "Spectrum", which features "The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art". Every year, tons of artists submit work to a panel of guest judges (top artists like Brom, Dave Dorman, etc., along with Art Directors from publishers like WotC, Marvel Comics, LucasArts, etc.), and a few get selected to be featured in the next book. A few years back, for the first time that I know of, a miniature was selected to go into the book. It was a Cryx warjack painted by Alison McVey, and last year, a sculpt by Allan Carrasso(sp?) was included in Spectrum 19. I thought those were bold steps from our genre into the outside art world. We've been drawing influence from 2d art, computer games, comics, movies, etc, for eons... could it be that the reverse will slowly become the norm? If so, then that humble warjack could be considered a truly influencial game changer.

 

[Milosh]

Kelly kim; i like where this is going. The true break through in miniature modelling of figures began with Bill Horan. It was shep who discovered what he had to offer and grew his talent. It was the california boys who rolled up on euro militaire and took it by storm. I understand keeping the genre away from each other but they are one in the same. Each segment feeds off of the other, so to keep shep and horan off the list is missing the big picture of your project

google the land stand at gandamack. This piece changed everything for our hobby.

 

[uglybug]

How about Sheperd Paine? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheperd_Paine

Sorry didn't realize he was mentioned. Silly not to include him because he worked in a larger scale.
I'm a huge fan of his and every year at the mfca show his widow or friends bring in 1 or more of his old displays to view and they are just mind blowing. Last year they had the one where the guys are below deck maning the cannons, gun deck of HMS Victory it's called. Almost everything was scratch built including making the cannon barrels on a lathe.
But I guess H.G Wells isn't the father of wargaming because he used 54mm

 

[Dragonsreach]

KruleBear, I actually own that exact book by Shepherd Paine! I picked it up on a whim at my local hobby shop, which I was picking up a pack of birch seed leaves. Great stuff, although I think I'll leave him out of the list, for the same reason I'll leave Miguel Jimenez out. They don't work much in 28 / 32 mm scale, and nothing with a gaming background. The line between "gaming miniatures" and "figure / military modelling" is getting so blurred these days, but I think we all have a rough idea what is in our "genre", and what isn't. If there was a model / work of art within our genre that we could point to, where we could say, "This is when someone successfully drew influence from outside our hobby, and introduced it to the miniature art community, which led to a revolution in painting", then that's the project I'd like to add to the list..

So basically what you are saying is that unless its converted/originated from GW you're not interested.

That's a pretty blinkered view and as I and several others have tried to point out to you model painting has been going a lot longer than that. You've ignored the sculpting works done by Philip Hinchcliffe in 54, 75 90 and 100mm sizes which in the 1970's pushed the standard of Napoleonic models so far forward. Not to mention his 100mm Samurai in full O-Yorai armour which was ground breaking in both the level of detail and complexity and at the time was a staggering £60. (More than my monthly wages at that time) Add in the 54mm miniatures from New Hope Design commissioned to accompany the Osprey books series taken directly from illustrations done by David Hook and others and that is a huge amount being left out.
Don't forget toy soldier history doesn't just start in the Victorian era, it harks back to the time of the Pharaohs as carved and painted toy soldier figures have been found in Egyptian tombs.