The Chinese are coming!

Quite a strange thing to say on the day of the Epiphany (traditional holiday in Spain) isn't it? By the way, Happy New Year Everyone!!!!! This 2010 which has just begun is going to be a fantastic year for all of us, specially for me, 2009 wasn't so good at all. I began this post referring to China because my friend Piti told me yesterday that in GW website they have announced that the fist edition of GW national painting contest has been celebrated in China. They have called this event Golden Dragon (I love that name). They say it has been a great event and that they will be repeating experience next year. Photos of the winners have been uploaded (they are quite bad because they don't show any more than little details) about the only 2 categories of the contest, Fantasy and 40k.



40k 1st place by Li Chengxu



40k 2nd place by Cheng Jia



40k 3rd place by Ma Ji



Fantasy 1st place by Huang HeS



Fantasy 2nd place by Guo XiSma



Fantasy 3rd place by Huang HeS




You can see that chinese painting is quite promising and we all know that when chinese start doing something, they do it, and they really excel at it. We have to be careful because they can really outstand!


And talking about other topics, I hung pictures about my High Elf on Lion (Tribute to the Fallen) in coolminiornot. In a few days I will upload the pictures here and also an article about the creation process which I am finishing currently. Next post will contain photos of the creature!

Obi Wan Kenobi vs Anakin Skywalker, new from Knightmodels

This time they have really surprised me. Our colleagues from Knightmodels continue with their Star Wars line which is showing a very high quality. In their latest set of new figures, all of them excellent, we find this duel sculpted by Alfonso Gozalo and painted by Alfonso Giraldes (Banshee). Its a scene in 70mm like all other figures from Knightmodels. I think the photos speak for themselves.

My friend Alfonso Giraldes has returned stronger than ever and this time he has outdone himself. The painting is exceptional, I have no words. It'll be hard to paint this kit because with such box-art there will be no one able to keep up with this level! Banshee has also warned us because of the complexity of the scene. The painting is very challenging and will mean a great leap in the learning of all those who embark on it. I am really eager to paint it, but all my time is being spent on my next big project, and I can't get to spend it with other things. I'll have to wait I guess. Besides, if I buy it, I will have to paint it for sure, the price of the kit does not allow keeping it in the drawer! Also, Knightmodels has a new 30mm Star Wars line scheduled for the beginning of 2010, which promises to be exceptional. We will follow them with great attention.

www.knightmodels.com

IV Open de Quimera

This past weekend has been quite intense for me. Regarding painting matters, which is what interests us in this blog, we attended on Saturday the traditional "Open de Quimera", which takes place twice a year and is now in its fourth installment. It is a fantastic opportunity for us fans of the hobby in Madrid to get together, to present our latest works, to receive some awards and especially to have a good time with our colleagues. This edition has had slightly less participation than previous events, however the quality remained as high as always, and new generations of painters in Madrid are rising very much the level of the competition.

In my opinion, special mention for works submitted by emuse, darthgollum, Petrus, ARI-A-KAS, pumukyvan and Paloji. The one that surprised me the most was Paloji's Infinity one, which technically was not wonderful, but it was a beauty because of the colors chosen and the points of light that gave it a superb special grace. Congratulations to all and keep up the good work because the level is getting really high!

Personally, I decided to enter Malus Darkblade and the High Elf in Lion (whose real name is "Tribute to the Fallen") and the truth is that they both left a good impression. Everyone agreed that the photos I posted of Malus are not fair to the actual model, so I'm seriously thinking about reshooting them and remove those that are posted now as they are not receiving good grades in CoolMiniOrNot. The Elf in Lion won the category of Best Figure on a smaller scale of 54 mm and was named best figure of the contest (Best of Show). As a result I got a good string of hobby material courtesy of Quimera, and a super cool foam sword. My first Best of Show! Is it an appetizer of what is coming next year?

As you can see, I posted no photos of the Elf in Lion, but do not worry ... They have been already made and they are nearly ready to see the light!

I leave you a list of winners of the contest, but not before thanking Paco and all the people from Quimera for organizing a competition that gives us so much joy to many people. It is one of the best excuses to bring the whole painting community together in Madrid. For the next edition, I have been invited to be the judge. I hope to see you all there in the competition!

AWARDS

MASTERS
Historic - Pedro Rufo (Petrus)
Bigger than 54mm - Ivan Sempere
Smaller than 54mm - Rafael García Marín (volomir)
Green - Israel Gonzalez
Bust - Fermin Garcia

AWARDS FROM BRANDS
TALE OF WAR - Ruben Martinez (darthgollum)
INFINITY - Pablo Lopez (Paloji)
JMD - Pablo Plaza (Polk)
NOCTURNA - Pedro Rufo (Petrus)
PIZARRO - Enrique Velasco (Emuse)
GW - Jorge Valdes (Lord jasegev)

STANDARD
Historical - Juan Acosta
Bigger than 54mm - Javier Hernandez
Smaller than 54mm - Juan Acosta
Battle Group - Javier Hernandez

BEST OF SHOW
Rafael García Marín (volomir)

I leave you some of the best figures in the competition:

Malus Darkblade

This is my version of Malus Darkblade in 28mm scale for Warhammer Fantasy. The figure started out as a simple conversion created from pieces of Warhammer Dark Elves Corsairs. I had always in mind the fantastic illustration from the cover of the book ‘Malus Darkblade’, and as the conversion progressed, I knew I would have to do some serious modelling to achieve my expectations. Therefore, in the end is nearly a scratch built model, with only the hands, the sword, and back part of the torso being plastic parts. The figure won bronze in Single Fantasy on Golden Demon Spain 2009.

For those of you who do not know Malus Darkblade, I will tell you that he is a Dark Elf Noble of evil renown in the Warhammer Fantasy world. Malus was possessed by a Daemon called Tz’arkan. His quest to rid himself of this Daemon is legendary. At one point he succeeded although it cost him his own soul. It took many years after that to track down the Daemon again and win his soul back, only to have Tz’arkan imprisoned inside him again.

When leading his armies to war, Malus rides his famous Cold One steed called Spite and wields the fearsome Warpsword of Khaine. He is a very dark character; he can summon Tz’arkan and allow him to control his own actions to become more powerful. This is great risk though, as while possessed by Tz'arkan he can attack his own troops as well as enemies.

The darkness of Malus inspired me in one of my darkest times to paint in cold and deadly colours, reflecting my mood at that moment. I want to thank all of my friends for their support, specially Elias Alonso (Morsi) for all his help and for collaborating on this figure.

I hope you like it, and as always, comments are very welcome!

Links to coolminiornot:
green : http://coolminiornot.com/237289
painted version : http://coolminiornot.com/237287