A Josh Self-portrait

Back when Josh and I were in college together we played a lot of roleplaying games. For one campaign the GM actually had us playing ourselves rather than the usual fictional characters. Both Josh and I liked to draw various subjects from our gaming adventures and so on one occasion Josh decided to sketch himself. While going through some old papers I found this drawing from 1992.

You'll note that Josh decided to put a frame around himself. He is wearing his tree frog T-shirt that he owned at that time and he also has knee pads on just in case he got into a fight with the bad guys. It's funny how he looks so serious here when my memories of Josh are mostly of him smiling or laughing.


-Swinebread

A little more about Josh's painting...

I was there on and off while Josh was painting the minis in Swine's post below. I wish i could remember more about when Josh painted them. Every time Josh and I - and sometimes our friends Ed and Trevor - got together to paint it was a really good time.

Myself and Ed at first were the ones who taught Josh how to paint. I remember it started when Swine and Josh came over with a handful of minis as props for a game we were playing that day. They had painted a few, and a few were in various states of being painted, but most weren't painted yet. (At least that's how i remember it. Swine may have to chime in and correct me.) Even then i noticed Josh - and Swine - had a good eye for picking interesting sculpts. I mentioned that i painted minis as well, and Josh being the caring and interested person he was, asked to see some of mine. They were impressed with with what i had done and asked me how i did what i did. I explained to them my technique and how easy it was to do, and said i'd be willing to show them some time.

Sometime after that Josh and i started to paint together. Josh learned my technique and saw that it was indeed relatively easy to learn and a good way to make minis look good. And Josh, being the avid hobbyist he was, in just a couple of years became a much better painter than i. I loved that about Josh. That when he became interested in something, he put his heart and soul into it. Whether, it was acting, stage craft, photography, painting, or games, he gave it everything he had. And as far as i can tell, never failed.

I remember one time Josh, Ed, and i had an emergency painting session. Ed works at a local hobby store in PDX and had promised to paint an army of miniatures for one of the games the store sold. They had to be done by a certain day though, and Ed had been busy with his other job as well. He asked Josh and i to help him paint this army in one night before it had to be back at the hobby store. We all met at Josh's around 8 pm that night and painted until 5 am the next morning. Each of us worked on almost every mini together. Me dry brushing the base coat. Josh cleaning up my mistakes and adding some detail. And Ed finishing the detail and working on the trophy pieces. That army is still down at that hobby shop. It's an undead army of skeletons on the bottom shelf of a display counter by one of the cash registers. I won't give anymore detail because Ed was supposed to have painted it all. ;)

As good a painter as Josh was, he had one issue that was really hard for him. He had a hard time understanding when to stop. Knowing when a mini was finished. Ed and i tried to explain to him that there would always be something that needed to be fixed or a detail missed, but at a certain point you had to let go or face ruining all the other things you had done right on the mini. Josh had a hard time accepting this though. And because of this, he did not finish nearly as many miniatures as most people would in the amount of time he painted.

And so i come to a point.

If you are somebody who is lucky enough to have a finished miniature that Josh painted, hang on to it/them. It is a rarity. And it was painted by someone who was truly good at it.

Love you Josh...

A Birthday Present From Josh

Josh was an avid miniatures painter and collector the last decade of his life. He had many painting sessions with his friends but he often liked to work alone. I think he found it very relaxing. I was amazed at the level of skill he achieved and how far he pushed himself to improve his art.

Josh was a not just my friend but he was a friend to my whole family. He often came to my niece’s birthday parties over the years and one time he brought two Egyptian figures he’d painted as a gift. While I was over at my Sister’s house today, I found both figures on a shelf in my niece’s room. I picked them up and noticed how lovingly detailed they were and I thought: “here’s a real piece of Josh’s spirit.”

My photos don’t do justice to how well the figures were painted but you can get the idea. Notice how Josh attached each miniature to matching bases. It’s interesting that Josh chose Anubis and Bast. He loved cats and dogs so it makes perfect sense.




-Swinebread