The important bit, Jason's work!
Who is Jason in his own words...
So you want to know a bit about me, eh?
Well as you can see from the “eh” I am a Canadian, right now I live with my wife in Bathurst, New Brunswick, a small mining city with little to do but watch hockey and snowmobile. There is little to next to no gaming community here, so I have plenty of time to paint and embark upon my other sorted projects.
I started getting serious about painting around the fall of 2002, around the same time my wife and I got married. She really encouraged me right from the beginning to keep at it because apparently she had no idea what it was to be a painting widow. After about a year of painting I entered my first competition. I put a lot of work into my entries for it, at that time a lot of work was 40 hours a piece. I did okay for my first time out, I placed in every category and won 1st place in 40k single, not too shabby, but it was just a local competition. There I met who was to become a great painter Vince Hudon, although I don’t remember him at the time (shhhh don’t tell him that) since then he has become a great source of encouragement and a good friend. He paid me a great compliment later saying that was the first time he had seen miniatures that looked like they actually would be printed in the White Dwarf.
After a couple of years of painting for myself and constantly trying to improve my painting skills I decided to go into commission work, since that time I have been painting nonstop and loving it. I continually try to experiment and improve upon my painting and love a challenge from a customer to do something interesting and new.
In the spring of 2006 I attended my first Games Day. Thankfully I had Vince to show me the ropes. Overall it was a great day I was even able to meet the likes of Jeremie Bonamont and Angela Imrie. The judging didn’t go in my favour though, but I still managed to make first cut with three out of the four entries I took and brought home a Bronze for 40k squad. Many said I should have received the Gold, even the Silver winner, which gives me the drive to do better next year.
Thanks for reading!
Ja a.k.a. No Remorse
Interview with Jason
Cheredanine asks
Wet blending or dry? which do you use/prefer and why?
(and if it is wet blending any chance of a tutorial?)
Typically when doing a display piece I layer with thinned down paint, which would be the equivalent to dry blending. When doing gaming pieces though I glaze, with which sometimes I do wet blending.
Gareth asks
Do you think creative and clever ideas can win you a competition over painting technique?
Yes and no. Yes for the fact that if you do a clever conversion or create something that really stands out you are more likely to be chosen by the judges, but your painting ability must be among the best at the competition as well.
If I were to give advice on the subject it would be that spend at least as much time creating a piece as you do painting it, typically those are the pieces that really stand out.
Quase asks
Do you work with focal points to draw a judges eye?
And if yes, could you elaborate a bit on how you apply them?
Focal points are a must in a competition. First thing you need to do in a competition is capture the judges’ eyes, not such an easy thing to do with such a small canvas, especially if there are many entries.
Perfect examples of things that can be used as focal points are banners, fill them with freehand don’t leave any empty space. Other things you can consider are any big flat surfaces, or capes etc. Make sure to use as much freehand as possible on the areas.
It is much better to spend your time on large pronounced details, like those mentioned above, than to spend it making sure the iris of eye is the perfect shade of blue, as the latter will go unnoticed to the judges, but if you have the time, go for it, every bit counts.
Woulfgar the Vengeful asks
1: What is your favorit food?
Hmmm… Tough one… I would have to say properly done gourmet nachos and salsa. Nothing better than fresh cherry tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, green onion and Jalapenos smothered in old cheddar cheese, on a bed nice yellow tortilla chips.
2:How long did it take you to get good with Green Stuff?
Well I avoided using green stuff for years when I was first in the hobby, thinking it would take me forever to use it properly. Then a competition at my local GW store forced me to stretch my limits, so I decided to try a conversion. That model took me about 40 hours to convert, but after I had finished with that mini I had a very good working knowledge of green stuff. From there I went and bought proper tools and played a bit more. That I think is the key, play with it, try small conversions out, then grown to larger ones and fully sculpted bits. I have yet to try a full sculpt, but plan on it soon.
Woulfgar the Vengeful asks
1: What is your favorite terrain piece and how did you come up with the idea?
Ah, terrain… Not my specialty in the least. I think the best piece I have made for terrain was the display base for the Wild Riders I put into the SWC competition, if you can count that as terrain.
2: What time did it take you from beginning to end?
I would guess around 20 hours
3: How do you get into the mood to paint?
Honestly, its crazy I know, exercise, of any kind really, playing Wii Sports, mowing the lawn, or walking my dogs. It gets my blood flowing and creative juices running.
4: Do you listen to music (what kind) or do you snack (name) while painting?
I usually listen to audio books while painting, keeps my mind active. Snacks… is coffee a snack?
reds8n asks
1: Which brand of paints do you use and why ?
Vallejo Game colour and Model colour. I use game colour mainly for base coating and there are some colours in that set which just don’t exist in the Model colour line. I use model colours for the HUGE amount of earth tones and variety of paints, plus they work very well with mediums like glaze.
2: Which brand of brushes & why ?
I use Raphael Kolinsky Sable. Ah, so many good things to say about these brushes! First they keep their shape, last for about a year even with heavy use, as long as they are maintained, and because of the sable hair are easy to clean.
Zog asks
1: How much time do you spend trying to come up with a basing idea?
For a display base, I usually have a good idea what I want the whole piece to look like in my head even before I begin the project so I start from that. It may change a bit once I start working on it depending on the components etc, but typically stays true to the mini(s). Also I don’t do the display base until I have finished off the mini, so I have all that time to fully understand what the base should look like when completed.
2: Do you sketch out the whole model before you start or do you just make it up on the fly?
Most of the time I have a good idea of what I want the mini to look like and what colours I will need to use. And on those occasions I don’t have a good picture in my mind’s eye, or I just want to experiment the mini turns out to be a great disappointment or is just left unfinished.
Brother Lysander asks
What motivates you/how do you motivate yourself to paint?
MONEY AND FAME, BABY! I wish lol. I must admit I love getting feedback on how much people enjoy my work; it gives me the boost I need to start the next project. Although, if I can get paid for painting all the more reason hehe.
Krakgrenade asks
When coming up with an army centre piece, how many trial models do you tend to go through with...
Colour schemes
Conversion attempts
Basing trials
...before you actually paint the final product?
One. Okay so that is not quite true… For colour schemes I sometimes have to repaint an area dozen times to get it right, which can turn out to be a real pain. So now I go through and figure out exactly what colours will be going where before I begin using my handy dandy colour wheel.
As for conversion and bases, I have never done more than one attempt. I might add a bit more detail, etc. here and there, but the basic conversions have stayed.
Macewind asks
How do you decide which colours to use? Do you use already tried and tested schemes or invent ones of your own.
As I mentioned before, a colour wheel is your friend.
Invent mostly, I really buck against the “proper” colour schemes, but if I am selling the on Ebay I will abide by the general colour scheme, with my own little twist.
Who do you aspire to paint like and where do you find your inspiration?
Oh easy question that, Jeremie Bonamont! I saw his work up close at the Canadian Games Day and wanted desperately to put out something like that. Mind you since then I haven’t painted many display pieces. For gaming pieces and sheer speed I look to none other than our own Gareth, he has inspired me to put out fast quality game pieces, and for that I am truly appreciative.
My inspiration comes from two sources, and I know the first one will sound corny so bear with me. That would be my wife; she gladly goes to work each day and lets me sit at my painting table, without a complaint. She has encouraged me with my painting from day one and has been to every competition I have been at. She also is great at giving critiques. My second source would be from my imagination driven by a childhood growing up with roleplaying and lots of fantasy and sci-fi material.
max_dammit asks
Do you ever look back at your old models and say "what was i thinking"?
Lol all the time!
Kaoscontrol asks
1: When do you find the point, when painting a mini, that you've gone over the top?
When I push myself to go beyond my comfort zone, and succeed in what I was trying to achieve, that is when I consider I have gone over the top.
2: What technique (other than glazing) is a technique you've found to be one thats used constantly?
MMM – using NMM techniques with metallic paint.
Sargaule asks
Do you prefer to paint your own original color schemes, or doing pre-defined ones, like Ultramarines, Blood Angels etc...and why?
As stated I try not to use defined colour schemes. I have never been one who has followed the “flow”, I always like being a bit different and standing out from the crowd.