KICKSTARTER: DISCOVER THE PAINTING PYRAMID WITH JAMES WAPPEL

Este Kickstarter de James Wappel es para sacar una serie de vídeos que recopilan su sistema de pintado de miniaturas que el mismo ha denominado The Painting Pyramid. En principio serán 20 vídeos que recopilan todo el proceso desde lo mas básico que es la capa base sombreada a técnicas avanzadas.

Además habiendo superado alguna metas añadirá mas vídeos a la producción como puede ser la creación de peanas, elementos de escenografía, etc.

Explore the Painting Pyramid by working along with me!!

Teaching runs in my family, and I have been teaching small seminars over the years... first in watercolor painting and pastels, but eventually I began to teach miniature painting seminars.  These were incredibly popular, and lots of fun was had by myself and the participants.

I have tried to reach as many people as possible through my blog at:http://wappellious.blogspot.com/  by posting dozens of "how to" articles.  However, no matter how comprehensive I tried to make those postings, I had many viewers requesting videos, so that they could see how I was handling the brush, the palette, etc.  

This gave me the idea to create multiple videos covering a range of subjects.  Little did I know that the list would soon grow to over 50!!!  For this first batch, I decided on 20 painting subjects that cover all my basic techniques, and a good deal of advanced ones as well.

My goal for this project is to create the best possible instructional videos.  These will be 100 minutes long, broken into five 20 minute "chapters" to make it easier to follow along.  There will also be a scrolling text bar that will identify what colors I am using, or the type of brush.  Also, if I refer to a technique that is not specifically featured on that video, I will identify which DVD covers it.

The proceeds from the Kickstarter will provide the raw materials, such as miniatures, painting supplies, computer upgrades, new photo lights, producing the hard copies of the DVD's etc.  I will be giving daily updates here and on the blog as to the progress!

I have been at this for a very long time, so I hope to be able to pass on some of that experience to you!

Here is a listing of the various DVD titles.  The numbers on each banner match the list on the pledge column, so that you can make your choices.  As I get sample videos ready, I will try to replace the images with those samples.

We begin:

This is my most important video, which is why it is the first one I am filming. All of my other techniques flow from this!

As a watercolor painter by training, this was the only way I knew how to paint metals. Hopefully this will become second nature to you as well!

Freehand can be more than just logos and numerals!

Give your miniatures that healthy glow!

This technique ties in directly with #1 Shaded Basecoat, but dives into the concept of tinting and shading your miniatures much more deeply.

This video will show you how to paint the most commonly used human skin colors.

This fleshtone video covers those guys who forgot their sun screen!

This is perhaps the most challenging flesh color to paint, but perhaps the most rewarding.

This one certainly draws a lot of attention! For me, it is the most enjoyable of all the Non Metallic techniques.

This metal color is tricky, even for me! It takes a lot of subtle color changes to make this work well.

You see this one less often, but there is nothing like that green patina!!

This video is one of several that shows how to get the most out of each color by using temperature and saturation variations.

Look out! How do you keep those yellows from getting chalky or brown? This might help.

While this is a very often used color, there are many wonderful shades of this color that never see a miniature.

Blue is a favorite of mine, I must admit!

Going with a limited palette is a challenge, but it is a great exercise for your brain!

I have four "Non- Human" fleshtones, starting with a Dark Elf / Vampire color

I always have fun painting my purple flesh, spotted demonettes!

Every game needs its green skinned guys. This will cover the orc/goblin flesh.

Everyone always wants to play a Drow, don't they? Learn to paint them!

Do you want to roll like I do?  Heck no!  Unless you love rolling 1's!  This is a little peek at the dice that is included in some of the rewards:

Who knows what colors may appear!

For all you astronomy lovers out there, I am offering up some artwork out there from my days as a 2D painter!  Here are three of my all time favorite spacescapes, which are included in some of the higher level pledges.  These are 8 x 10 prints... something to have on your desk or cubicle!

My favorite painting which I ever did, combining my love of Sail and of Stars!

The cold vacuum of space is shown in full display here!

Need to warm up a bit? This should do the trick, although I don't want to go there to get away from winter...

This is all I have for now.  I hope that you will be interested in learning these techniques, and my (as I have been told) very unique approach to making them a reality!!!  Be sure to check out the blog, and my gallery on Coolminiornot under the name Wappellious.

OK folks! I am introducing my first Stretch Goal! If we get to $14,000, we will clear this first level of the Painting Pyramid! As you can see, backers will be getting something extra and we also unlock the door to Basing Techniques!

I also wanted to reward the 15 intrepid backers who pledged for the full set of 20 videos!  

Above all else, Wappellians are known best for the display style bases that they create for every miniature!  These were among the most popular hobby seminars which we taught at Adepticon.  Now they will be in video form!!

These additional videos will demonstrate how to create a variety of bases for your miniatures.  Marble, wood planks, rocks, crystals, snow, swamps, forests and more!  A setting for just about any army, game system or RPG.

Once these new videos are added, I will create a few new pledge levels to reflect this.  I am trying to keep this first stretch goal as simple as possible, give people some extras, and allow me to introduce more choices for people.

I also tried to make this first stretch goal pretty easy to reach!!!

The First Stretch goal has been reached!  Here are the banners representing the new choices.  These are some of my favorite things...

This is one of a number of basing videos showing how to use Sculpey clay.

Yar! Whether it's Pirate theme bases or even a tavern, use sculpey to create a fun scene for your mini.

There goes the neighborhood! Baked Sculpey clay is fantastic for creating that rubble!

I save my left over shards of baked Sculpey to make crystals. Now you can too!

Put those annoying landscaping rocks to better use! Make bases with them without needing a diamond tipped drill.

Create a nice forest setting for all those skinny guys with the pointy ears...

Use a variety of materials to make something for those 'marines' to stand on!

Bubbles and vines! Watch where you step!

Now that you have made those marble bases, it would be good to know how to paint marble. This will show a few ways to approach that technique.

This will show you how to use flex paste or gesso to make some snow and ice bases.

I hope that you will enjoy working on your bases as much as I do!!!

I see that it is time to announce another stretch goal!  At the $20,000 level, I will add new videos on painting large creatures and terrain building, as well as the introduction of new pledge levels... including all digital!!

I will create some new pledge levels to reflect these new videos, as well as introduce the all digital download pledges.

Both Coolminiornot and Ultraforge have given their blessing for me to add some new videos to the kickstarter featuring their miniatures!

First, we have some giant birds from CoolMini:

A Great Eagle, a Great Owl, and a second giant bird that I painted as an Osprey...

I also want to add a few demons from the Ultraforge line:

The Pleasure Demon, and Demon Prince are among the figures that will be featured.

And last but not least, Terrain Building!  Constructing warp gates, fantasy buildings, monuments and hills for your gaming tables or your army display boards.

Spice up your games with these great pieces of terrain!

So, let's get to the next level of the Painting Pyramid and unlock these videos!!

RISKS AND CHALLENGESLearn about accountability on Kickstarter

The biggest challenge to this project is learning to work with video editing. I have taken tens of thousands of still images of my miniatures, but moving images are brand new to me.

Fortunately, I have people close by who have a lot of experience in those areas. I have already learned a lot from them (it's very strange to be on the other side of the school desk!), and they are helping me avoid some of the "learning the hard way" experiences. If you look at my blog, you can track the work that has been done in this area, and the current efforts