Dave Taylor Miniatures

THE ART OF… – The next publishing project

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Working on creating Armies & Legions & Hordes AND Terrain Essentials has certainly shown me that I love the whole publishing process. Brainstorming ideas, refining them, talking with people passionate about their art, and then making the ideas a wonderful reality – it’s all an amazing thing to be a part of. So, I have decided to throw myself wholeheartedly into the world of publishing books for the worlds of tabletop gaming and miniatures painting!

I have plans underway for about 15 books over the next 2-3 years, and these plans begin with a new series of books that will grow over time – THE ART OF…

For more than 30 years I have spent a great deal of time talking with hundreds of artists who paint miniatures – for fun, for a living, for relaxation – and I am always intrigued to learn more about their philosophies, approaches, and processes. Some of these artists have spent decades refining their technical skills, while others bring their “traditional” art training to the miniatures world. Some draw inspiration from the most unusual of places, while others find it in popular culture turned on its head.

THE ART OF… series of books will highlight fantastic miniatures artists from around the world, bringing their thoughts and passions to stand alongside their magnificent and inspirational work. We’ll be featuring both individuals and groups in this series, as we explore innovative approaches, studied refinements, and even tangential influences.

These books will be both a celebration of the artist and their art, as well as an opportunity for them to present their thoughts on particular topics and let the world know why they approach their art the way they do. These will NOT be “How To” books, but rather complements to their existing outlets.

This is just the beginning of THE ART OF… series. With so many wonderful miniatures artists, there is so much potential to explore.

Volume 1 – THE ART OF Miniature Monthly

Miniature Monthly is a collective of three professional painters from the US – Aaron Lovejoy, Elizabeth Beckley-Bradford, and Matt DiPietro – who have a Patreon (Miniature Monthly) producing painting tutorial videos. All three have been studio painters for a number of different companies and they each bring something different to the table.

The Miniature Monthly team will cover:

  • Creating a team/collective – looking at The Painters’ Guild and Miniature Monthly
  • Striking a balance between Speed and High-end painting
  • Freehand – Adding depth and texture
  • Smooth Skin – featuring work on the Kingdom Death minis
  • Chibi Art – how painting chibis differs from “standard” miniatures
  • Ancient methods with infinite possibilities.
  • The Art of miniatures – Finding your voice and engaging with the audience.

https://www.patreon.com/miniaturemonthly

https://www.facebook.com/miniaturemonthly

https://www.instagram.com/artoflovejoy/

https://www.instagram.com/miniature_mistress/

https://www.instagram.com/mattdipietroart/

Volume 2 – THE ART OF Christof Keil

Christof (aka k03rnl) is an artist from Germany who has made a name for himself with his incredible kitbashes and conversions and his work to turn 2D artwork into 3D pieces. Christof’s day job as a blacksmith working on enormous metal sculptures has given him a precise eye for balance and motion. His work can be found on Instagram and YouTube.

  • Kitbashing – a focus on anatomy, balance, silhouette
  • The Black Phalanx – a kitbashed project
  • Sculpting – creating reliefs and busts
  • Painting Black – an exercise in mimicking the masters
  • Black Templars Diorama– recreating the John Blanche art of 3rd Edition

https://www.instagram.com/k03rnl/

https://www.instagram.com/black.phallanx.sculpts/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfsw4HOpTJ2MWvSbiBCT7-g

Volume 3 – THE ART OF Ana Polanšćak

Ana is a professional miniature painter from Croatia who is widely regarded for her world-building miniatures art. Her converted and sculpted miniatures blend seamlessly with her terrain work to create dark corners of worlds that beg to be explored – at your peril.

  • World Building – a focus on selecting a starting point and key developments. Working on your own worlds and collaborating with others
  • Gardens of Hecate – a world created by Ana
  • AoS28 – Hosting the LEGEN and the Sunhold campaigns
  • Sculpting – What it’s like to turn concepts into physical sculpts for the miniatures market, and reliquary/artifact creations

https://www.instagram.com/gardensofhecate/

https://gardensofhecate.com

THE ART OF… Kickstarter will launch on April 30th, 2021, and will be designed to fund the first print run of all three of these books. Very exciting!
So, make sure you are signed up for the Dave Taylor Miniatures newsletter HERE to get more information as we build this range of books.

Cheers
Dave

 

Terrain Essentials is now available to the public!

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It has been a long road, navigating a global pandemic and a friend/author with health issues, but we made it!

In December of 2020 we began the distribution of Terrain Essentials to our wonderful Kickstarter backers. While most packages went through smoothly, we did have some Covid and Brexit-related concerns that have now been sorted out. The response from more than 5,000 Terrainiacs worldwide has been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone has been floored by the comprehensive, yet easily comprehensible, way that Mel has presented all of the examples throughout the book.

We hope it will become the go-to terrain-making guide for decades to come.

In Terrain Essentials, Mel has laid out all of the “essential” information in a logical manner, with each new section building on the previous one. The information covers the following topics:

• Planning.
• Tools & Materials
• Techniques
• Bases & Boards
• Groundwork
• Grasswork 
• Rocks & Hills
• Trees & Hedges
• Water & Snow
• Buildings & Kits

Here are a few example spreads for you to check out.



If you are in the US and are interested in picking up a copy, you can get it from either:

1) Your local game store, who can order the hardback book from Alliance Game Distributors or Bridge Distribution OR
2) You can order the hardback book and/or the PDF version online from Ironheart Artisans by clicking on this link: https://ironheartartisans.com/shop/product-category/dave-taylor-miniatures/

If you are in the Rest of the World, you can get it from either:

1) 1) Your local game store, who can order the hardback book from Warlord Games OR
2) You can order the hardback book directly from Warlord Games by clicking on this link: https://store.warlordgames.com/products/terrain-essentials
3) 2) You can order the PDF version online from Ironheart Artisans by clicking on this link: https://ironheartartisans.com/shop/product-category/dave-taylor-miniatures/

Mel and I would like to thank everyone who supported us via the Kickstarter, and everyone who will support us by picking up a copy of Terrain Essentials!

Cheers
Dave

Our Terrain Essentials Pre-Order store is now open!

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We are very pleased to announce that after an incredible Kickstarter campaign we’ve now opened up the BackerKit Pre-Order store. If you supported this project during the Kickstarter, you will be receiving your email survey for the pledge manager today, and if you unfortunately missed the campaign and would like to support us with a “late pledge” you can now do so be heading through to our Pre-Order store HERE!

Thanks for your support. Be sure to like our Facebook page and sign-up for our newsletter to be kept up to date on all of the Dave Taylor Miniatures goings on.

A New Look!

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Legio Custodes DreadnoughtWelcome to the new look davetaylorminiatures.com! For the last five years this website was a bit of a landing page that I could send prospective clients to so that they could read a little bit about the services I could off their small miniatures companies. Now, however, I’m starting to branch out a little more, and have added a publishing string to my bow. You can now find out a bit more about what I have going on in the world of miniatures wargaming, and keep up to date with every development along the way. My thanks to my friend Marc Raley for helping make this update possible.