Display Painting Blog

Yet another epic 2025 convention! The Nova Open has really grown into a cool cross-genre, cross-game event hosted in DC (interesting historical tidbit, at the very hotel where Regan was shot) that has become a staple of my gaming year. And the number one thing about it that I love is that I can take […]

Almost getting there! At this point, I’m going to pause on revisiting the transparent veil busts by Owlsome Creations until MFCA later this year. But it’s getting close. I think now its in that endless refinement stage, which has been a real challenge with this skintone and white veil! But almost there! I do like […]

So this year, I’ve set out to do something I’ve wanted to do every since I was a little kid (at least in Middle School)- enter Golden Demon! I’ve entered several painting competitions at this point, including some really great ones, and I’ve seen a number of Golden Demons, dating back to the old Games […]

Now that 2026 is here, I thought I’d recap the fun projects I did in 2025 and took out to show people. Not all of these started life as ‘display’ pieces, but I have a pretty loose definition here, which is anything you show people so they ooo and ahhh over it. This year I […]

Hoo boy, what a year! This year I had the good fortune to get out and about, even internationally, to attend a ton of cool cons! For the miniature wargaming and painting community these kinds of events are critical – as a physical hobby with a strong social aspect, people’s gaming and painting reaches a […]

So I’ve used minis to help make a number of presents over the years, although I usually concentrate on foodstuffs that people would be excited about. Last year we were traveling (which was great) but it put a damper in any DIY present plans. This year, I had a little inspiration (and time) for some […]

I’ve continued to work away on the transparent veil bust, including my second version! I got one in a workshop at Nova with Natalia and Owlsome creations, and had bought the second at Adepticon last year. It’s been fun to approach both versions, but with very different tones and materials between the two. Applying the […]

I’ve been slowly making some progress on this very cool Vesper bust by Owlsome creations (https://www.owlsome.shop/). There is much blending to do, but I think at this point the effect is working and I’ve been inching towards something nice! After some coaching with Matt, the metals are also reading a lot better. Will probably set […]

So 2025 has been a crazy year of cons- hopefully I will get some brief recaps of each and an overall perspectives piece pulled together for the end of year! But with the madness of the end of year coming up, I did manage to get one more con squeezed in – PAX Unplugged 2025! […]

So long ago I backed the Infinity TAG Raid boxed set, which I was pretty excited about having enjoyed working through Infinity Defiance, which was a bright spot of gaming I did during the pandemic with my bud James. We both had copies, so we could play remote and still see the action, or play […]

So I continued to play around a bit with the oil painting project, letting it start to set, and finishing up the base! I added a bit of wood stain to the base to give it some depth, just some Varathane I had lying around, and cleaned up the ground, adding a small water effect. […]

So, if its not immediately apparent somehow, I have no particular background in painting and art, and I’m really just mucking about and might as well be fingerpainting my toy dollies. But, I find painting sort of endlessly and intrinsically fascinating so I always like diving into new areas. Over the last few years, I’ve […]

As I’ve gotten more into painting display models, I’ve also got more into bases, plinths and diorama building. These serve a critical role to either frame the piece (in the case of a simple plinth) or complete the story (in the case of a scenic base or diorama). These days, there are endless products, manufacturers […]

Here is a quick little scene I painted for the Badger Games Rob Baker Memorial Painting Contest. We all painted the same little Viking duo this lovely sculptor had put together for them. I’ve been painting a lot of vikings over the last few years, and it was fun to play around with the fire […]