OUT ON A LIMB

[...]

I also like your Fantasysmith’s Notebook.
The articles on painting miniatures are of great
interest—I paint respectably but with your continued
help I will arrive, also!

Tom Kliebhan
—Winfield, IL
(The Dragon #37)
 

Plea to painters

Dear Editor:
I am in the process of writing a book
devoted to the painting of miniature figures
for fantasy, adventure and military games. This
detailed, step-by-step instruction manual will
cover all of the techniques and materials used
in painting miniature figures. Hopefully, it will
benefit both the novice and master miniature
painter, in addition to broadening the interest
in miniature hobbies within the general public
and among other model hobbyists who
have not yet ventured into this area.

This book would not be complete without
incorporating the vast knowledge of those
who are the recognized masters, and those
who deserve recognition but do not exhibit
their works. Even a neophyte may have some
fresh, innovative ideas to offer which will
benefit everyone.

I am asking all miniature artists, regardless
of status, to help create what I hope will
become the basic work in this area, a book for
the novice who aspires to excellence, and a
technical reference for those who have achieved
it.

I know many readers of DRAGON magazine
will want to participate in this exciting
project. The book will provide a forum for
those at every level to exchange ideas, improve
their work and the work of others, add to the
excitement of adventure and fantasy games,
and, perhaps of greater significance, encourage
new interest in this fascinating endeavor.

I have developed a questionnaire for miniature
artists who wish to participate. It provides
some guidance in covering all of the
various aspects of painting miniatures. Readers
may obtain a copy directly from me. Clubs
can get a supply of questionnaires from me or
may publish the questionnaire in their journal
or newsletter.

Submissions on painting miniatures are
welcome in any other form as well (articles,
photos, original monographs, etc.). Every
contributor will receive full credit in the book;
all organizations who participate will be listed
in an appendix along with information on
their activities and membership data.

I sincerely hope you will support this venture
and I welcome participation from all of
your readers.

Alan L. Abramsky
No. 5 Muirfield Court
Roanoke, TX 76262
(Dragon #49)

Dear Editor:
I am very interested in miniature figures. I
(and maybe other readers interested in the
same topic) would like to see more pictures of
painted figures as in issues #63 and #68.
Maybe some other figure painters would want
to send in pictures of their miniatures, and
you could set aside a page or two to display
them. I would also like to see more figure
reviews in future issues.

Michael Blum
Farmington Hills, Mich.
(Dragon #71)


Without meaning to sound mysterious,
Michael, I can say that we’ve made some definite
arrangements to print some more full-color
photos of miniatures within the next
issue or two. And if you saw last month’s
magazine, you know we’re resurrecting our
figure review column, now being prepared by
expert evaluator Kim Eastland.

Setting aside even just a page or two for
figure photos isn’t as easy as it may seem;
sometimes an article will end up running
longer than we estimate, and pages get taken
up that we would have liked to use for other
things. We ran out of room in this issue and
couldn’t give you another “Figure Feature”
right away — but the column will return next
month, and we hope we won’t have to miss an
issue again. 

— KM
(Dragon #71)