Across the Fediverse - tiikerikani

Tell us a little about yourself, who are you, what do you do, and what interests you about mini painting?

"I'm a Canadian living near Helsinki, Finland. I work as a technical writer focused mainly on documentation for software developers and am currently searching for a new job that doesn't force me to use AI because it is unacceptable to my conscience as an (hobby) artist."

"The arts are the main way I express myself. When I was younger I'd draw and write (emo) poetry in addition to painting. Becoming a professional writer has sucked most of the joy out of writing, so what's left is mostly visual art."

"I fidget with my hands a lot so detail work is my comfort zone and it helps me overcome the constant restlessness in my mind. I'm one of the people who never received an ADHD diagnosis as a child (and still doesn't have one) because clinicians back then didn't understand what it looks like in girls."

How did you end up on the Fediverse/Mastodon/Pixelfed?

"I'd already mostly abandoned my Twitter before that site got run into the ground. I lurk in indie RPG circles and those people were migrating to Mastodon so I went along. I like that different instances attract different crowds, so by default your feed has content that (probably) interests you without having to go look for people or tags to follow."

Want to share any contact information?

"I'm at @tiikerikani@dice.camp for mostly painting stuff (and complaining about work)."

"Am I allowed to mention Instagram? My painting pics are usually cross-posted at @tiikerikani on IG, and it's where I post pictures related to my other interests since my friends are there."

How long have you been in the mini painting hobby?

"I go through a lot of different hobbies, but I started painting miniatures regularly at the end of 2020. During the COVID lockdown I got to know one of my coworkers pretty well as a friend and he paints WH40K.

But it's not my first rodeo; I painted my first figures in early 2000, when I was in middle school. One of the teachers was into SCA and also painted Warhammer Fantasy figures during lunch break. He showed a few of us the basics (and let us use his paint). Strangely there is no record of this teacher in the school yearbook. Was he just a student teacher? I'll never know."

Are you primarily a wargame player or a mini painter?

"I am strictly a painter. My brain isn't wired to think in terms of strategy and tactics, so wargaming doesn't interest me at all. This is also liberating, as it enables me to paint whatever figures I want and not worry about whether they fit into game lore or suit a particular game."

"Choosing which figures to paint is as much personal expression as how I paint them. Human/humanoid characters - female characters in particular - usually reflect something of myself."

In your own words, what level of painter are you?

"I don't really define myself in terms of skill level, since I paint mostly by intuition and experimentation. I like being self-taught; I might skim through the pictures in a tutorial but will try to figure out how to do it without studying the instructions. I think that focusing on making things look box-art perfect distracts from what I'm trying to express, which is that my past and my feelings are imperfect and messy."

What mini(s)/ model(s) are you using for your current project?

"I recently got a big box of discontinued Warmachine figures. Archduke Runewood seems to go well with the Patrol Dog so I'm going to sculpt a base for both of them together. (To be fair, both are Cygnar figures so you'd expect the aesthetic to match.)"

What is your favorite part of the model(s) you are working on? What makes it your favorite?

"I've already finished painting the main part of the cape because I really like painting capes."

What are the most important paints that you are using for your current project?

"My paints are mostly Army Painter, but I use some Vallejo paints as well. There's the odd Citadel paint pot but I mostly buy them on discount. I like the really solid coverage with the Citadel base paints."

"Depending on the project I'll use the Army Painter Speedpaints, although I want to go a bit traditional and avoid them as much as I can for this one."

What do you like most about them?

"I like that AP is decent quality at a budget-friendly price point. I'm also a fan of dropper bottles (when they aren't clogged) because they discourage the habit of sticking your brush directly into the pot and contaminating the paint."

What do you like least about them?

"Some colors separate really easily and don't mix well despite putting in mixing balls and flinging the bottle around for a while. And there's always a few bottles (especially metallics) that have this problem where the paint oozes out when you remove the cap even though you haven't even shaken it too hard and the room temperature hasn't changed so it shouldn't be pressurizing."

"I'm pretty excited about the renewed AP Warpaints Fanatic product line coming later this month; they're supposed to have fixed the mixing and coverage issues but it might be a while before I actually need to buy a color from there."

What are you learning while you paint the model?

"I seem to have been painting a lot of plate armor recently. I'm trying to get more comfortable with metallic metals before attempting non-metallic metal."

"I think I've figured out how to do highlights on white, too."

Have any cool events coming up that you would like to share?

"The (newly renamed and revamped) Cold North Open takes place in July during Finland's biggest gaming convention, but I won't be participating. As much as I'd love to have more people see my work, it really isn't intended to be shown in a competition context."