Prophet Miniatures: So how long have you been painting?
CJ Cummings: I've been painting for five years [at the time of the interview, now seven years].
PM: Besides painting miniatures, do you have any art background?
CJC: I'm a self-taught graphic artist/illustrator. I've currently gotten back into college, attending the Academy of Art in San Francisco. I'm studying 3D computer animation.
PM: So how were you first introduced to the miniatures
hobby?
CJC: It was during a walk through at DundraCon after doing an SCA demo. [Note: members of the SCA, Silly Costumes Association, dress up like knights and beat each other with sticks] I saw some people playing a game of Warhammer Fantasy Battle using High Elves and Bretonnians. I didn't know this at the time of course. Someone showed me the Chaos Codex for Warhammer 40,000 and pointed me to the Con flea market. After picking up 'Waagh da Orcs', ''Ere We Go', and an original 'Rogue Trader', I was struck by the feral imagery contained in the iconography. Seeing this as a possible way to decorate my barbarian/Celtic armor, I went to Epic Worlds in Castro Valley and picked up the Orc and Goblin army book. I used the Evil Suns icon as heraldry and found it intimidating on the battlefield!
I loved the historical flavor to the illustrations and frequented the store to purchase army book after army book. Then I came down with a severe case of the flu and was stuck at home for a couple of weeks. I was able to purchase a box set of GW paints, a few brushes, the Grotfang Warlord model and a box set of plastic Orcs to paint while I was bedridden. Using the painting guide Mike McVey wrote in ''Ere We Go', I painted up my first unit and general in that time and later purchased the core rules. But by then, I was hooked!
PM: From that introduction, what led you to try your hand at competitive painting?
CJC: I was going to a game at DundraCon and the tournament was filled. So as I passed back, the mini-painting entrants were dropping off their pieces. I had an extensively converted general, that looks horrid now compared to what I currently have done, and a converted chariot for my orcs. I entered them and won a 2nd place with my converted Orc general.
PM: Lack of gamer love sends you running into the arms of the painting community. How many times have I heard that one... Do you still play any miniatures games?
CJC: I play Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Blood Bowl, Mordheim, and AD&D d20.
PM: So do you consider yourself more of a gamer or painter?
CJC: Both! I paint for gaming and often put my gaming pieces into competition. Recently I've found that my models get beat up in tournaments so I've changed the quality in which I paint. I keep my gaming armies neat and proper, but without blending and I paint for competitions with a more artistic feel; I've added wooden bases, engraved plagues, extensive conversions and more ornate base composition to tell a story or give an empathic mood/feeling. I'm hoping to bring miniature painting to an appreciated art form like historical gamers have.
PM: What was your first painting contest experience like?
CJC: I felt like my adrenal glands were wrung out like a sponge! (laughs) In fact I still hate the waiting and competitive process. I'm a nervous Nellie, picking out perceived flaws in my own piece when put up against other entrants. Since I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what the judges were looking for. But I spoke to the winner, Josh Essoe, and he told me what to expect the next time around. Which led me to White Dwarf and every painting tutorial I could find!
PM: Let's fast-forward a couple of years. How did you feel during your first Golden Demon competition? Were you just as nervous then?
CJC: Well that was a bit more surreal. I was going with the hopes of making the first cut. It was my first year and Golden Demon veteran Josh Essoe was filling me in on the politics of entering the Demons. So with that in mind I entered, went to eat with the 40K List crew, then came back to find the judge's decision was already made. I was surprised when I won 3rd place my first year! Bouncing around like a madman is more like it! It was odd too because I don't think I could have done it without Laszlo's help with my blending. I wouldn't be where I am without Laszlo. I'm sure the mini-painter and gaming lists are tired of hearing every year how I couldn't have done it without his help. Too bad! (laughs)
Through my career as a mini-painter, I've gone to him as a newbie wanting help with blending and grown as an experienced painter striving to achieve the skills of his Master. I tease him that he's the Jedi Master and I'm the Padewan. (grins)
PM: Let's get back to the Golden Demon competition. There always seems to be some sort of controversy surrounding the contest. How do you feel about the current state of the Golden Demons?
CJC: Rules are rules. Abide by them. I'd like to see the current rules relaxed a bit more to allow more artistic license. Since the top winners, many of them proven Golden Demon/Slayer Sword winners, didn't follow the rules [in Baltimore 2002], I fear it has set a precedent that will be followed for years to come. [Since this interview the USGD basing restrictions have been all but eliminated, and the "Hardy Clause" has been added, stating that entrants must do all the work on their own entries.],
PM: Assuming that someone is able to follow the rules, what do you think makes a good painting competition entry piece?
CJC: Blended without sign of brushstrokes or lines of demarcation. Fluid/dynamic movement in the figure, bright vibrant color schemes, interesting banners, and unique conversions are always attention getters. The entry should be converted, even if it's just bending a leg or arm to better the pose. Many of the stock models are very static and do not convey any sense of life in the figure. This is a personal bias though, a good miniature doesn't have to be converted, as Brett DeWald has shown many times. Also important is a base that accentuates the figure, but doesn't overcrowd it.
PM: Most gamers and casual painters really have no idea how much effort a good competition figure requires. How much time would you say you spend on a Golden Demon entry?
CJC: From conception to finish, 4 months. This is time spent working with conceptual sketches, buying bits, converting, sculpting/resculpting, and then painting. And the entry doesn't end with the mini. If a standard is included, that too has to be designed and created as well. And this is time that is taken where it can be taken. I often think ahead on what I will do/create/paint while I am at my day job, so when I get home I am focused like a laser beam and ready to get into the artistic fugue. And I do a couple pieces at a time, so when one is drying/hardening/etc., I can be working on another.
PM: Are there any specific figures that you look back on as milestones in your development as a painter?
CJC: Grotfang, the first mini I bought, had a shield from a Bretonnian added to his banner pole. That was my first conversion. My Emperor's Children HQ mark my foray into blending and composition. My Mordheim warband was where I started my path to highlighting black properly.
PM: What is the all-time favorite figure you've done?
CJC: There are two. One is my Orc Warlord, Bahgtru Bonesnappa. This is where all of my skills have come home and been applied. It is a display piece only, and will soon be followed by all of my leader models from my gaming armies. The other is the Kroot piece titled 'Death of the Bow'. I have tried to convey a story that showed, through iconography, how the Kroot have gotten their Tek from the DNA of Ork Meks. It was inspired
by a Southwestern piece of the same name.
PM: What about your favorites among other painters' work?
CJC: Laszlo's dioramas are top in my book. Then there are the pieces that were influential in my painting and conversions: Matt Verzani and his Grom the Paunch Chariot, Everything Jakob Nielsen has done, Adrian Wink's Orc Warlord started me on the path of converting, Brett deWald's dioramas, and Chris Borer's Sister of Battle and Crimson Fist squad.
PM: Who are some of your favorite sculptors?
CJC: Brian Nelson gets top billing. If it wasn't for his Orcs, I doubt I would have picked the game up. But he's taken a very Rankin/Bass/Tolkien-esque feel with these creatures that has pulled them past the early buffoons they once were. Then there's Jes Goodwin. He's Kick Ass! I like some of the Rackham sculpts, though I admit ignorance on who created them. And finally the Perry Twins and their ranges are very real, even when creating a Fantasy or Sci-Fi miniature.
PM: What do you think is the most important thing to keep in mind for those new to the hobby?
CJC: I'll quote my Perspective professor, Joko: "When you first start, you will suck. That's okay! Just keep doing it. You'll get better. It may take awhile for some people, but you will get better."
And from me: Ask Questions. That's the only way I was able to learn.
PM: What can we expect from you in the future? CJC: I'll be heading to the Chicago Golden Demons in July with the hopes of taking home a trophy. [CJ won two trophies in Chicago 2002], After that I'll step back for a bit while I continue with Art school. It's amazing how much time and effort goes into making a winning entry, and the same can be said for creating an art piece that is worthy of an 'A' grade. So I'll change focus to Art, though I'll still be creating dioramas and painting my gaming armies in my free time.
PM: And after you finish school?
CJC: Hopefully I'll be in the Animation Industry, helping to make films! And after a long hiatus, the Golden Demons had better watch out! (grins)
PM: And lastly, the question that's on everyone's mind: Are you now, or have you at any time, been associated with the Japanese adult film industry?
CJC: Only when tuition is due.