matthikins

Post-op: Days 8+The second week after a vitrectomy has been all about the horizon line–the place where the gas bubble in the top of the eyeball meets the regenerating fluid in the bottom. At my one-week check in appointment, the ratio of gas bubble to fluid was still north of 60%, meaning that I had less than 40% of my field of vision available to me in my left eye. That 40% was good enough for…

1: Retina in DistressI noticed one night, I think it was a Sunday, that when I turned my head I saw a jagged, thin, vertical lightning flash in the left side of my left eye’s field of vision. Googling that turned up a range of results from “no big deal” to “retinal detachment”. The next morning I noticed there was a small patch at the very bottom of my field of vision in that same eye that…

There’s a lag between painting figures, photographing them after month’s end, and then writing up words to go with the pretty pictures. Reflecting on the figures I painted up a month or two ago helps me figure out stuff, but the results of those thoughts on painting and process don’t show up here for at least a month or two. These figures from January were painted prior to the thinking I did in…

Lots of words this month about process. Feel free to skip the words and scroll down to the pretty pictures if you’re so inclined. Continue reading Figure Painting 2025: Grinding through December

I’m running way behind on these write ups, so I’m going to keep the musings in this one brief. Continue reading November

For the first time in a while I dipped below the figure per day pace. October is the run up to the November instance of the biannual Oddmall show that I vend at, and preparing for that ate into my painting time quite a bit. Continue reading Figure Painting 2025: October Conflicts

I had to push a little in September to hit the one figure per day threshold. Had quite a bit of fun, but also frustration, with the old school figures I painted this month. Touching on something I mentioned last month, I think physically organizing my paint table and handles into streams is a concept I need to dive into. Maybe five chunks of figures: Old school, possibly cycling through one…

I didn’t quite keep up with the bonkers pace of July, but I did manage to come close. Part of why I paint figures is because I enjoy the process, but the other part is the finished product and how that finished product gets used in games. I don’t know that there’s a difference in satisfaction between painting a few highly detailed character figures vs. a few dozen rank-and-file soldiers or fuzzy…

I got off to a good start with year 4, with some decent volume. A lot of the volume was easy and/or repetitive stuff, but it was in service of larger goals, like getting the Aliens board game ready to run at Dragonflight 2025. Continue reading July Painting: Getting a Jump on Year 4

June started with free copy of Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps, courtesy of the Memorial Day (Weekend) raffle at my FLGS, Nomad Games and Hobbies. By month’s end, I’d played games of D&D5 and Aliens, started watching The Eternaut on Netflix, read two Charles Stross books and the first Harry Dresden novel, and gotten in a bunch of painting. There would have been more game playing but one…

The first couple of weeks of April were spent driving around the western US: stops in Oregon, California (north and south), New Mexico, Colorado, and Idaho to visit family. Along the way we hit some game stores and thrift shops. Since getting back there’s been some painting and some gaming, including Conquest ’25 and Enfilade, but a little less writing and drawing than I’d like. Continue reading…

Had a couple of big distractions this month between attending ECCC and vending at the Oddmall (not to mention prepping for it), but still managed to pump out 29 figures. Had fun at both and did well sales-wise at the Oddmall despite the interesting times we live in, but those interesting times made the distraction of painting figures, and playing with them, that much more welcome. Continue…

It’s been a hell of a month. February was book-ended by two D&D sessions of the family game and there were a pair of sessions in the Friday night Eberron game as well. On the Plex front, I finished watching season 2 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and started watching Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (think Snowpiercer meets The Walking Dead but with a steampunk feudal Japan replacing the snow) as a…

The calendar year got off to a productive start, painting-wise. I’m typing this on the second day of February as news of tariffs and the dismantling of essential government agencies comes out of DC, and I think we’re about to get a very practical lesson in how much hobbies can buffer a person against the realities of today’s political climate. That’s assuming you have time, budget, and spoons for…

November was a bit light painting wise, mostly due to vending at Oddmall over Veteran’s Day weekend. December picked up some, if only because I had several days off over the course of the holidays. Continue reading Figure Painting 2024: November-December

October was fairly productive, and included a decent amount (40%) of 3D printed figures. There was a bit of contention towards the end of the month with prepping to vend at the November Oddmall, but I still managed to paint 26 figures. Continue reading Figure Painting 2024: October Installment

There was a bit of fall off in September from the insane pace of August. Part of that was a little bit of burn out, but another part was time spent playing with the new 3D printer. My idea of a “killer app” shows up towards the end of this installment. Continue reading Figure Painting 2024: September Installment