Hi Di Ho!
Today, I would like to share a couple of things with the Jungle:
...something, that occupied me recently...
A couple of Commissions for two of my beloved Customers (one is waiting way, waaaay too long and I feel super obliged to paint some especially nice Miniature and Lava effect)... So one Rackham Moloch, the First of the Rackham Chess Pieces, the Small Demon Tower and a Big Lava Base without it´s huge, winged Centerpiece (a Fire Lord, sculpted by someone in the Uk)...
...something, that made me think...
The other day, I was showing a couple of Architect Friends what I was doing with my (non existent) spare time... They were amazed and shared this Video with me...
It immediately reminded me of something I saw a couple of years ago in a small Cinema in Berlin... Not sure if I have ever written something about "The King Of Kong" yet, so the time has finally come now...:)... In my humble opinion, this is a very valuable film to see, especially for us Miniature Painters... Why, you might ask? Well... What is this about anyways? A short Synopsis...
Why I think this is important? First I was enjoying and laughing about the hilariously nerdy moments of this Documentary (cringed big time, too...:D...)... It starts out so trivial and is about a topic that seems so small, silly... but it gets very intense and "emotional" pretty quickly, escalating in something that can only be described as a Poetic Drama of Epic Proportions... It becomes clear that Playing Donkey Kong is apparently serious business for a small Group of People who spend thousands of hours mastering the secrets of the Arcade... The Documentary shows many other (real life) like - minded Donkey Kong Enthusiasts and their true passion... Most are playing for many years already and know a lot of hilarious Anecdotes about their Adventures...
I was kinda shocked to think about how this might probably be exactly how people from outside the Miniature World see our Occupation... Some simply don´t get it, some think it´s Silly, Pointless, Self - centered, extremely nerdy... Enclosed... Narrow minded... Kitsch... All in all not to be taken seriously...
Today, I would like to share a couple of things with the Jungle:
...something, that occupied me recently...
A couple of Commissions for two of my beloved Customers (one is waiting way, waaaay too long and I feel super obliged to paint some especially nice Miniature and Lava effect)... So one Rackham Moloch, the First of the Rackham Chess Pieces, the Small Demon Tower and a Big Lava Base without it´s huge, winged Centerpiece (a Fire Lord, sculpted by someone in the Uk)...
...something, that made me think...
The other day, I was showing a couple of Architect Friends what I was doing with my (non existent) spare time... They were amazed and shared this Video with me...
"This documentary follows the assault on the [Donkey Kong Arcade Game] record by Steve Wiebe, an earnest teacher from Washington who took up the game while unemployed." - IMDB.com
"Brian Kuh: You know, he's gonna have to play it perfectly, he's at the hardest part of Donkey Kong, and it's not gonna get any easier. So we may have an exciting moment here, or you know, the pressure may get to him, one of those random elements might happen. Sounds like he just cleared another board, but we could have a wild barrel, or some aggressive fireballs. I thought I was gonna be the first FunSpot kill screen, and then I had three fireballs trap me, I had the hammer in my hand, they still got me. So anything can happen in Donkey Kong. So for someone else to beat me to the kill screen would be a letdown, but lets see what happens, maybe he'll crack under the pressure and maybe I'll get my chance to do it first." - IMDB.com
Why I think this is important? First I was enjoying and laughing about the hilariously nerdy moments of this Documentary (cringed big time, too...:D...)... It starts out so trivial and is about a topic that seems so small, silly... but it gets very intense and "emotional" pretty quickly, escalating in something that can only be described as a Poetic Drama of Epic Proportions... It becomes clear that Playing Donkey Kong is apparently serious business for a small Group of People who spend thousands of hours mastering the secrets of the Arcade... The Documentary shows many other (real life) like - minded Donkey Kong Enthusiasts and their true passion... Most are playing for many years already and know a lot of hilarious Anecdotes about their Adventures...
"Walter Day: I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted the glory, I wanted the fame. I wanted the pretty girls to come up and say, "Hi, I see that you're good at Centipede." - IMDB.com
I was kinda shocked to think about how this might probably be exactly how people from outside the Miniature World see our Occupation... Some simply don´t get it, some think it´s Silly, Pointless, Self - centered, extremely nerdy... Enclosed... Narrow minded... Kitsch... All in all not to be taken seriously...
While reading Jun'ichiro Tanizaki´s "In Praise Of Shadows" and "Praise Of Mastership" and contemplating about aspects of Traditions like the Tea Ceremony, Calligraphy, the Zen Garden, Mandalas and so on... My thoughts went on and on... it sent me thinking about some rather philosophic ideas about Life, Passion, Devotion, Importance, Death, Patience, Ritual, Stupidity, Endurance, Goals, Challenges, Pain and many, many other things of mayor importance... I find it extraordinary how thoughts like that can be started from something that might appear so silly, unimportant as Miniatures... And I am very grateful for that... Comparing the Meditation like state most of us fall into while painting is very similar to many of the Traditions I mentioned in the beginning, they are simple to learn, but take a lot of time to master... And in the end, they still remain somehow pointless, yet meaningful to our Small Community... Everything and Nothing...
Why is it important how others see our Hobby anyways, you might ask? I think it is not important at all as long as you are simply enjoying yourself and having a great time meeting with friends at the Pre - Show Meet ups, Dinners, Spontaneous travels through foreign countries, Invasions of Painting Competitions, visits of Miniature related friends, etc. ... In the years of Painting Miniatures (more then 10 by now, uff... Time is fleeting), I have met at least 100 people I had to explain what this is all about... In the very beginning, for me it was never easy to mix Miniature Art with "real world" topics like my Studies, Jobs and things I wanted to do for a living... It felt like something inferior, something temporary, something to be somehow ashamed of first... I never felt in the right place as making Miniatures was something I was really good at and I wished I could transfer this somehow onto other things I wanted to learn and do in life... It sure was not easy to separate the "serious" from the "nerdy" world, but then luckily, I stopped completely worrying about all this and started to look on what makes this Passion so Valuable and Great: Understanding of Form, Colour, Texture, Light first and foremost, the opportunity to go through a Project from Paper to Product, a highly Creative way of expressing yourself, the superb and warm hearted, highly international and diverse Community, Passion and Stories of many passionate Individuals and many, many more things... Knowing the flaws and dangers of what we do is likewise important (Avoiding Traps like Kitsch Subjects, choosing of Immature Topics, the Glorification of Violence, mindless copying of corporate ideals / looks, etc.)...
So in conclusion, Films like "The King Of Kong" are a great way to take a step back and have a big, humble look on our small World, contemplate how others can see something most of us know and like deeply for a very long time, see where the advantages and challenges lie and see how we can use it to develop our personality... Never forget, at the end of the day it´s just about Painting happily... And much, much more that comes with that...:)...
Indeed, 79 Minutes well spend...
...something, that made me smile...
The Monkeys met a new, mysterious Friend on the German GD in Cologne a couple of months ago, a man only heard of in Legends (and seen clinging to a certain Slayer Sword made of Printed Paper Sheets in Japan ^_^) ... Christoph! With him he brought one of the most spectacular and intriguing Dioramas ever witnessed to man... After seeing it, I decided to give it the spotlight it truly deserves here on the MV Blog! Lots of pictures of his inspiring Project with lots of Sketches coming very soon! There is a lot to seen and to be excited about...:)...
Now, it´s your turn...:)... What do you think? What are your experiences with showing people your Miniatures and the whole World around it? Do we need to "explain" our passion, hobby, creative efforts to outsiders? Why? Why not?
Do you think it´s important for us to pass on the flame to others, so they can understand, share, continue and eventually develop our Art? What do you think others think when they see us do what we do?
Why is it important how others see our Hobby anyways, you might ask? I think it is not important at all as long as you are simply enjoying yourself and having a great time meeting with friends at the Pre - Show Meet ups, Dinners, Spontaneous travels through foreign countries, Invasions of Painting Competitions, visits of Miniature related friends, etc. ... In the years of Painting Miniatures (more then 10 by now, uff... Time is fleeting), I have met at least 100 people I had to explain what this is all about... In the very beginning, for me it was never easy to mix Miniature Art with "real world" topics like my Studies, Jobs and things I wanted to do for a living... It felt like something inferior, something temporary, something to be somehow ashamed of first... I never felt in the right place as making Miniatures was something I was really good at and I wished I could transfer this somehow onto other things I wanted to learn and do in life... It sure was not easy to separate the "serious" from the "nerdy" world, but then luckily, I stopped completely worrying about all this and started to look on what makes this Passion so Valuable and Great: Understanding of Form, Colour, Texture, Light first and foremost, the opportunity to go through a Project from Paper to Product, a highly Creative way of expressing yourself, the superb and warm hearted, highly international and diverse Community, Passion and Stories of many passionate Individuals and many, many more things... Knowing the flaws and dangers of what we do is likewise important (Avoiding Traps like Kitsch Subjects, choosing of Immature Topics, the Glorification of Violence, mindless copying of corporate ideals / looks, etc.)...
So in conclusion, Films like "The King Of Kong" are a great way to take a step back and have a big, humble look on our small World, contemplate how others can see something most of us know and like deeply for a very long time, see where the advantages and challenges lie and see how we can use it to develop our personality... Never forget, at the end of the day it´s just about Painting happily... And much, much more that comes with that...:)...
Indeed, 79 Minutes well spend...
...something, that made me smile...
The Monkeys met a new, mysterious Friend on the German GD in Cologne a couple of months ago, a man only heard of in Legends (and seen clinging to a certain Slayer Sword made of Printed Paper Sheets in Japan ^_^) ... Christoph! With him he brought one of the most spectacular and intriguing Dioramas ever witnessed to man... After seeing it, I decided to give it the spotlight it truly deserves here on the MV Blog! Lots of pictures of his inspiring Project with lots of Sketches coming very soon! There is a lot to seen and to be excited about...:)...
Now, it´s your turn...:)... What do you think? What are your experiences with showing people your Miniatures and the whole World around it? Do we need to "explain" our passion, hobby, creative efforts to outsiders? Why? Why not?
Do you think it´s important for us to pass on the flame to others, so they can understand, share, continue and eventually develop our Art? What do you think others think when they see us do what we do?
Thanks for reading all this... Hope you were not all too bored!
Posts
A great and thoughtful post, thank you, your work is exemplary and makes me want to join the online communities and show and discuss my (and others) humble efforts too.
very nice article! I just talked to someone about our hobby and was really fascinated about it. while we were talking he started telling me about his hobby : he is a plane spotter. sitting hours at the aitport and taking Photos af airplanes. He explanied to me that this would take him to a status of total calm and rest for his mind......
As you can see - were not hat nerdy as we always think. There are lot of other people out there that spending a lot of time to their hobbys.
But the goal is often same: rest to your mind of the "normal life", a few hours to take an outtime.