From the gloom the soft padding of uneven feet can be heard, in the distance a faint light can be seen. The figure hobbles into focus, the light shinning as bright as daylight in the darkness as the ganarled figure slides onto his throne and leans over his desk with intense blood red eyes. With two rainbowed fingers, he picks up his latest creation and with a critical eye he pulls the model close to his face, till fiend and lifeless metal stare at each other lifelessly. The metal sculputre of some far future warrior brandishes its weapon fiercely at the giant clutching it, and for a second beleives itself doomed as his free hand strays towards his tools...

With etheral movements, never moving his gaze from a duel of minds, the fiend paws open a pot and begins to paint his latest indulgance, noticing with some misery his work left to one side. Realising he has less and less time to finish them, he puts down his brush and the mighty warrior is cast down, out of favor where once it was love, in favor of necessity...

I'm baaaaaack

So how did games day go last year?

Well it was crushing to say the least. Its not till you've actually got your models next to the best in the world that you see its flaws. Mistakes really can't be gotten away with on this level, and my base had a lot to be desired if i'm honest.

So what does this year hold for me?

Well I've been thinking a lot about the hobby recently. Theres been a few times I've considered quitting entirely. The something special happened. I got comission work. A hundred and twenty quid profit worth of comission...

Thats what I needed. Someone having faith in me. It's bloomed from there really.

So whats this series all about then? Well this time theres no games day tribulations and put offs to be concerned with, simply because I can't go. Games Day falls on the 25th, and I move into my apartment in Preston on the 19th. It'd be utter insanity to spend around 60 quid getting tickets and such knowing I'm no where near the best thats going to be there.

So I try my luck somewhere else. Namely in the world of comission painting. My theory is that I can sell roughly one auction a week on ebay, and two comission jobs. After all manner of foolishness that leaves around about 100 quid a week.

Over the course of this series I want to try and prove to you lot, and to myself, that I can survive on professional painting alone. I've wondered if it was possible for anyone to actually do this for years, and it seems it is possible as theres several groups that are thriving in the area of miniture painting - take dark art studios, a team of around half a dozen who paint figures at my level for twenty individually. The cost of the comission I did if bought through them would have been nearly 400 pounds so clearly a living can be made off this!

chickens