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Hmmm…..about me, eh? I guess the place to start is right where you guys and gals expect----how I got started painting miniatures.

It can be summed up in one sentence: I’m a cheap bastard.

Around October, 2003, I got a call from a friend of mine asking if I wanted to buy some miniatures. I said I’d look at ‘em. It was roughly 3000 points worth of GW figures and the asking price was fifty bucks. Needless to say, I left his home with a box of tiny fantasy soldiers.

I pondered the box of pewter and plastic for about three months and soon realized that if I could paint ‘em, I could sell ‘em for a little money. Only one problem here…I didn’t know how to paint. So, I started contemplating the journey.

Anyway, I’m an IT guy, a techno-geek that lives the majority of his life in the left side of his brain, so “art” is a concept that almost, but not entirely, escapes me. Fortunately for me, my youngest brother Erick is a great guy and a wonderful artist. Erick's artistic forte’ is pen and ink, but we are all RPGers, and he had painted a few figures for some of his campaigns. Erick showed me some of his miniature art and explained that he used washes and a drybrush to accomplish those beautiful pieces.

I knew immediately that I was on the verge of learning the art, so I carefully considered my next question to him. I reflected on the magnificence of the art, and I mustered all of my intellect and artistic knowledge to craft my first question….

It came out as:

I’ve had several great mentors during my tenure as a miniature painter, and I reflect on their influences in my painting every time I pick up a Series 7. And as bad as I hate to (his ego is plenty big already), I have to admit that the single biggest influence in my painting has been from my very good friend, Darin Hlavaz.

Way back when, Darin took a would be drybrusher under his wing and taught him to “take it to the next level”. I say it this way because he not only showed me how to paint competition quality, he showed me how to push my own perceived limits, how to test my capabilities, and how to make that next miniature a little better than the last.

If nothing else, Darin has managed to tap my competitive spirit. I still compete with myself, mind you, but I now find my most noticeable advances come in my feeble attempts to best Darin's next masterpiece. Some friggin' day, dude...some day.

The budding of our friendship made the 2000+ hours I spent painting that first year worth every bit of the effort. A nice bonus was me achieving my original goal of learning a little bit about how to paint.

The funny thing is life always has its little ironies, and the irony here is that even after I learned how to paint, I sold maybe 5 drybrushed figures out of that first box for grand total of 20 bucks. So, I found out that “money” wasn’t what this quest was about at all. I had been led on a journey to find a true friendship.

Thanks D, for being part of this adventure. I expect we have way more to come.

When I paint, I will continue to be inspired by other artist’s works, I will continue to learn from these works, and I will continue to improve my own. And although I will continue to enjoy the painting, most of my enjoyment comes from, and will continue to come from, being surrounded by people that share my interests and goals.

There’s no doubt that I will continue to paint until age takes control of my hands and fingers, and I can no longer hold a paintbrush. But before that time, I can only hope that my daughter, Marina, takes an interest in “Daddy’s little metal men”. If she does, I’ll make sure I take the time to teach her. For when old age is upon me, as it will eventually be upon us all, I can take solace in the fact that a part of me will still be present in my children -----long after I’ve come to the end of my own life-journey. I’ll know this for sure the first time Marina says, “Daddy, look what I painted". I only hope I can respond without choking up, as I don’t know if my ego could take my wife laughing at me.

And that’s it in a nutshell, so in closing, cheers to you for being part of this wonderful hobby that is such a large part of who I am.

May your life be filled with joy at every turn, may your blessings be so abundant you can’t begin to count them, and, last but not least, may you find a yellow that doesn’t get grainy when you thin it.

And finally, love to my wife Marie, for her unwavering support of everything I do--- regardless of how stupid she might think it sounds.

I’m gonna paint now; I hope you don’t mind,

Kevin

© 2008 Kevin Clark and Darin Hlavaz