Hope you all had an excellent holiday! I walked away with a new lightbox, some Broncos gear, and the new Stronghold Assault book, as well as the time spent with my loved ones! I'm still out of the studio til the 2nd, but expect some hardcore painting to start out the new year!
So 2013 has come and gone and, I don't know about you all, but its been quite a year! Tons to paint, lots going on with both the business and my personal life, and some big plans for 2014! Lets just jump right in, shall we?
January
School was kicking my butt early this year as I was starting my final semester of school! I was still wrapping up pieces for my local Ogre Kingdoms player.
February
February was one of my biggest months I'd had in quite some time! I got and finished my first Blood Bowl commission; a Necromantic team called the All-Madden 2045, and every player was a pun from an actual NFL player.
I also traveled to Denver for Genghis Con 2013, where my Giant Chaos Spawn won my first award for SLW; plan is to go again this year and bring home a first place award this time!
March
Finished two good-sized armies this month; an IG Allied Detachment, and an all-female Henchmen force.
March was also Lost Souls 2013, run by my buddy RTGamer. We're hoping to turn this bad boy into a full-on convention in Pagosa Springs this year, so stay tuned for more information on that!
April
Crunch time! With my final semester wrapping up, focus jumped back to school for the month. I had some pieces entered into my Senior Art Show!
I also finished my first Heldrake commission, a stock Nurgle monstrosity! I still need to paint mine...
May
May went by in a blur! I wrapped up two commissions; a Valkyrie for a client on the East Coast, and a Realms of Battle Board. Those Battleboards paint up super fast, and would be the first of two I'd paint this year!
I also took a little trip to the land of the Nile. Its a beautiful country, even if its in perpetual revolt right now. We got lucky and were there between uprisings. You can see my goofy mug rocking the Arafat Headwrap in the back there!
June
The summer was incredibly busy, as I was traveling to see my girlfriend, working at the shop, and trying to keep up on painting. Unfortunately, painting took a little bit of a blow here, and would cost me later on (That's a story for another time though!)
Started doing some High Elves for the guy I was doing Ogres for earlier this year also!
July
Completed the biggest commission I've ever painted! Nearly 200 Armageddon Steel Legionnaires, all pewter! While my brain was really fried at the end of this one, I paint to see awe-inspiring groups like this!
More High Elves too!
August
Two commissions I should have finished earlier, but that's neither here nor there. Thunderwolf-Heavy SW, and the Dreamer Malifaux Crew!
September
September was nuts! Not only did I do a ton for my client's High Elves, but also completed an entire set of terrain for the hobby shop in Farmington (I painted their battleboard in May).
October
Lots of charitywork this month! Extra Life 2013 consisted of so much Super Smash Bros I needed an icepack at the end of the night! The Cygnar Group raised about $400 for Magilla's charity in SoCal, so I'm extremely happy about that! I found some time to finished Arkos' bodyguard squad of Warp Talons for my own Alpha Legion, which I'm extremely happy with! I also started painting Skaven for the same client I've done Ogres and High Elves for all year, starting with the Screaming Bell!
November
November was crazy busy! Lots of commission work and a little personal work. I repainted and finished my Baneblade, just in time for Escalation! Gotta say, love that expansion, I've actually gotten to play with my Baneblade with it! This guy was originally for sale, but I might hold onto it now...
As for commissions, I had some Defense Lines (so many stretchy guardsmen!), an all pewter Khador Cavalry group, and a Forge World Vulture! Lots of fun projects in November!
December
December has been almost as busy as November! I've done a little work for my Alpha Legion by getting my Helbrute finished up (Thank god for the Iron Man movies for saving my sanity painting that skintone!). I also completed another full set of terrain for Good Games down in Farmington; that's a table and a half worth of terrain in under two weeks! I also started on a Necron commission that I'll wrap up this weekend!
2013 brought a lot of changes, both good and bad, for Smells Like Wargaming and myself. Every year is a new learning experience, and I'd like to think I've learned a lot about myself and the business this year. 2014 already has some grand designs and expansions planned, so stay tuned this next year my dear readers, and enjoy the roller-coaster ride with me!
Have an excellent New Years folks, and I'll see you all in 2014!
Granesh
