Evolution

Well, his is the boring part. Just lots of time spent putting down the base coats so that I can get to the exciting business of shading and highlighting. I did create one test model where I highlighted one layer up from the base coat, just to see what it looks like. Honestly, I had my doubts about starting with Midnight Blue because it has so much purple in it. As it turns out, Enchanted blue looks pretty good over midnight blue. Hopefully the ultramarine blue will look good on top of that.

Another thing I've been contemplating was how the ink wash over all the layers will look. I've read that applying a wash over all the layers ties them all together. Well, it seemed to me that this would just make the whole miniature look muddy. I decide to try in on an old Blood Bowl beastman that I had previously used to practice extreme shading on. The wash actually pull all the shading together and made the gradations less extreme. I can't wait until I try this on my Thousand Sons, so I guess I need to go out and get some blue ink.

I haven't done that much painting this week because I've been sick. Yeah, I came down with Olympic fever! No seriously, I've watched them like every night since they started. I guess I like to see people I've never heard of compete in sports that I don't understand. A luge is kinda like a disc of Tzeentch, right? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's a push. As soon as the Olympics are over, I'll get back to painting.

Oh, so I titled this blog entry "Evolution." We all know that the patron god of the Thousand Sons is Tzeentch, the changer of ways. And Tzeentch is also regarded as the god of progress and evolution, etc... Anyways, I was going to end this blog with a passage about why us gamers chose the armies we do and how our choices reflect back on our personalities... blah, blah, blah... After finishing the first couple of paragraphs, I feel a little silly writing about what my gaming choices say about my inner self. Maybe another time.

However, I have been thinking about how I've never read anything about why people do all this. I've never seen and article, blog, or forum topic that really steps back and examines the gaming phenomenon somehow outside itself. I mean, why do I spend time painting and blogging and playing? What is it in human nature that attracts some people to what is really kind of a strange hobby? What are the social and psychological factors in the gaming world?

I guess the bigger question is if someone wrote a study about gaming life and culture, would anyone actually want to read it?