What is PAINTPOCALYPSE?

Everytime Mark, Seb Archer and myself get together, invariably at painting events, we get inspired by other peoples’ projects and just how far the miniature painting scene has gone since we all started painting. When we were judging at Crystal Dragon 2018 we even discussed doing a challenge between the three of us, PAINTPOCALYPSE!

The idea being that we all work on projects throughout the year. But not just any projects, ones of epic proportions. Well, 2018 has come and gone. And we didn’t do it. The year was insane for all three of us. However, 2019 is upon us and there is no time like the present to start a new painting journey.

The rules are simple:
Paint EPICALLY!
Have Fun

We have a deadline of January 2020 to finish at least 1 large project where we push ourselves and each other to grow, learn and advance our painting. The project needs to be something that really pushes our skills and helps us level up.

Motivation

What many may not know is that Mark, Seb and I have all been friends for a long time. There used to be this great painting forum back in the day called OzPainters. It was one of the best resources and best communities online back in the golden age of forums. I heard about it when I started my painting journey back in 2004 and signed up. That is where I met Mark and Seb. Both of them were very active members of that forum and excellent at giving advice. I got to know Seb and we kept in touch off and on for a few years. He was one of the best mentors I could have asked for, especially given the vast distance between the US and Australia. To this day, I don’t think he knows how much he inspired me and influenced my painting. The man is a legend!

The three of us have always been painters with a purpose. Seb and Mark, along with a bunch of other Aussie painters, used to produce entries for Golden Demon throughout the year. They painted with the end goal of going to Games Day, seeing the other All-Star Painters in Australia. There were painting logs posted on OzPainters throughout the year., advice given, evolutions and progress were made. The Australian Painting Scene back in the 2000s had a fierce reputation.

For me, I was always painting for competitions in the US as well as doing box art and commissions. The unfortunate side effect of moving to Australia is that there aren’t any painting competitions since Golden Demon moved out, that the three of us aren’t involved in as judges. And therefore, we don’t compete so there is no conflict of interest. That has meant we have sort of lost our motivation and have struggled to find a replacement. Add to that we feel like we have been left behind while the miniature painting community has so quickly evolved into a very different beast the three of us knew once upon a time. We needed something to get us back in the saddle, pushing our limits.

And thus PAINTPOCALYPSE was born!

We have been feeling a bit nostalgic lately and want to recapture some of the magic and camaraderie we felt back then. We want the inspiration, the drive and the friendly competition. We want to be held accountable and kept on track. We want to feel that spark that we once did that we sort of lost along the way with life getting more complicated as we’ve gotten older. We want to return to simpler times.

And so, what better way than to start a painting diary, share our work as we go and give each other advice and encouragement.

If you want to join us in spirit and make your own epic creations, use the hashtag #Paintpocalypse2019 and share your progress!

Let the PAINTPOCALYPSE begin! Paint Epically!