Name: Petra aka. Petrelka (yes, I listen to both names)
Job: Software developer & engineer (as well as a part-time Quality Assurance person, aka. "automated
bug-finder")
Painting: first phase between 1997 and 2001, mainly D&D characters and a having a little look into
wargaming; after a longer pause I directly went into display painting around 2015 until now.
Media: mainly acrylics (Scale artist, Kimera, a bit of Mr. Paint, P3, Schmincke and AK), inks by W&N and
Liquitex. I am also currently trying out other color mediums, like gouache and aquarelle and trying to figure out
how to incorporate them into my painting.
Brushes: Still a Wamp brushes kickstarter and Broken Toad Mk. 2 fangirl, while currently looking for
alternatives (Rosemary, DaVinci, Isabey & Miniwarpaint brushes are currently on my table). I use a huge variety
of no-name brushes for going wild on bases and doing first sketches, where I don't need to worry a lot for wear
& tear of those tools.
Miniatures: I like a lot of things, but it seems to concentrate mostly on fantasy and cyberpunk (looking at my
pile of opportunities), no matter if full-body or busts. I am neither an army painter, nor a big fan of
over-sexualized content (still waiting for the day when gravity again reigns over boob size gravitation ;)).
Scale models: I don't like to paint and build huge models. So I never really got into the Revell model
building scene. But (!) I did build a couple of Star Trek ships (back in the Voyager time), and I fell in love with
the complete SeaQuest DSV model line from Monogram (back in the days). And, oh well, I am still looking for the Deep
Space Nine model with fiberglass lighting - but that most probably will stay a dream. :)
Sculpting: Ohhh, I have loads of ideas in my head - but ... well ... getting them out is still a bit hard;
learning curve and such things are steep. I am dipping my toes into that field as well, but nothing to show yet.
Inspirational Miniature Painters: You? Yes, definitely must be you! (I still find that most of us carry a load
of inspiration that just waits to be seen)
Other hobby shenanigans: I occasionally write short stories. I play in a marching band. I actually also paint
on other things, like computers, laptops, fridges, brush boxes, entire walls … sometimes even on canvas.
Gallery: putty&paint – most times not
up-to_date, but I'm trying :)
Wanna know my color management technique?
It always starts out so well, but then: utter chaos!
The tl;dr:
Hey, my name is Petra and I like to put paint on minis. :)
The long version:
So, who's here for the long introduction? Get something to drink, switch to your comfy pants and here we go! Welcome
to the jungle that is also called »my mind«.
My name is Petra, I am located in NRW, Germany and started painting when I was around 15 - a time when I also first
encountered D&D with my local writers group (yep, also doing some creative writing every now and then).
Everyone of our newly formed D&D group wanted to paint their gaming mini, and this is how it all started.
Morgan le Fay by Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures was
one of the first miniatures I fell in love with.
Back then I just started with a couple of white metal minis, some Games Workshop stuff (but already found out that I never
will be an army painter) and some wonderfully huge LotR dragons by Mithril Miniatures. I really liked the Skaven
armies - and then Mordheim appeared; I was super excited because you did not need a whatever-many-points big army
and the small skirmish sets also looked like one could paint them in an evening. So, I bought a couple of sets,
painted them, but never really found a group to settle with - mainly because tabletop gaming groups were not much
sought after in my school days (at least when it came to girls). We did play a lot of Magic, tho. :)
Back in the days when I didn’t know how to take proper pictures
(must have been around 2010 during my painting hiatus); and still my favorite GW miniature:
Aenur, Sword of Twilight (got my first one on the one and only White Dwarf I ever bought).
Then Rackham's Confrontation crossed my way and Warmachine, and whatever my little comic book store could get hold
of. So I painted (and all without this thing called Internet) and wondered whether I am just a weird person for having
weird hobbies that do not even comply with the "local (male) nerds": I went to creative writing courses for short
stories, and we also published a book. During this time I also started making music in a marching band; and never
was interested in going to the club or hanging out with other people on weekends. I painted miniatures, read books, and
wrote stories. By now I would say: a very regular introvert person (didn't know about that concept back then, though). So,
artistry is all over the place, and I choose to ... develop into software engineering. Sounds weird? It absolutely
is not - because there also lies a lot of creativity in writing code.
My first one and a pulse check in 2017. There’s a 14-years pause in-between those two minis.
During college, I completely stopped painting, mainly b/c it was too expensive and there were other things to focus
on. Fast forward to ~2015, when I rediscovered the hobby, dusted off my Citadel colors (at least some of them had not
been completely dried out at that point), took out some still unpainted Mordheim minis and ... uhm ... quickshade
(well, it gets the job done!). I found out that there are people on this so-called "Internet" who also like to paint
individual miniatures (and not hordes of similar looking marines). I stumbled over Painting Buddha and found my first
painting community with lots of chats, and some of these friendships still last until today. By that time, I
occasionally stumbled over tutorials by Massive Voodoo, and sometimes saw that they announced painting workshops. But every
time something was happening near my place, it was sold out in a flash. So I only watched (and admired) the MV team
from afar.
Sometimes I also sculpt a bit.
Let's talk about workshops! I had my first painting workshop ever with Meg Maples in Berlin at the end of 2015, and
she helped so wonderfully to reignite the fire for painting that this time I stayed in the hobby. Since then, I
also joined a lot of other workshops by a lot of very different and very talented people - because this is how I
learn best: seeing magic happen in real life. I aim for one workshop a year to leave my brain some time to digest
the information and incorporate it into my painting. It’s a journey with a pace that suits me, and I believe
everyone of you will find (or have found) their own best way of learning and speed.
And while we are at pace and speed: going to shows and conventions was also a very new thing for me. 2017 was my
first Scale Model Challenge (and since then I regularly join SMC), 2018 I joined Paint-O-Palooza (an event by the
former Painting Buddha crew) in Berlin. During the last Duke of Bavaria in 2019 I had the wonderful pleasure to meet
a couple of lovingly weird human beings, who not only shared the same nerdy hobby as me, but also kept Massive
Voodoo up and running - and by now I can call a lot of them friends. In 2022 I visited my first ever World Model Expo
(oh boy, that was huge and awesome!) and traveled to the Monte San Savino Show. And I am so looking forward to
finding all those little gems of shows over the next few years!
And yes, I couldn’t be more proud with my little astronaut's entry
on World Model Expo 2022. :)
Pace, speed, journeys ... what else is there? Imagination and creativity! Well, I must admit: I am a rather slow
painter - or better said: a very fast idea finder, but super slow in setting those ideas into practice; because
there are literally thousands of them that I have on a daily basis. By now I keep a journal to get them out of my
head, otherwise I would never even start, as the next crazy idea is around the corner and just a glimpse away. Some
of my friends also call me a "hobby butterfly", as I start things and then put them aside in favour of other
projects. I guess that's just how I roll, and having a clear vision from start to finish line ... is just not one
thing I normally follow. I don't just want to "paint it like the box art", but aiming for telling a story, to do a
crossover between two mostly unrelated topics maybe, or want to try out a new concept that I thought about.
Honestly, the thing never comes out the way I imagined it - but that's also the fun part: having a plan, throwing
the plan away in the middle of making, and after finishing then analyzing what I have learned. It takes super-long
in comparison to other ways of painting and planning a project, but then again I enjoy the process more than the
finished result. This is also why I have a ton of half painted miniatures in various degrees of progress sitting on
my shelf, but seldom finish them. But then again, maybe this is why I am also here? :)
A favourite color!? ALL OF THEM!
I also don't have a "favorite" color - it seems like I unconsciously try to use all of them in every piece I paint.
So, one of my "new years" resolutions for each mini actually sounds a bit like "but this time I try to reduce my
color palette for real!". Maybe one day I can make this come true, but today ... is not that day!
And with all of this said and written down, I hope you are still awake enough to be able to get some more colors onto
your gray army, because:
You should be painting! (j/k)
But honestly: no pressure!
Foster that happy painting spirit. :-*
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