Influential Miniature Painters and Why - Jock Ramage

First a little by way of explanation the purpose of this mini series of articles. So, a bit of an experimental post as it were. If the content attracts enough interest, I will do further posts on painters that had an impact on the way I paint. There are many!

What follows is an occasional feature that I plan to do on some of the painters out there who have had an influence on the way I go about things with a brush in hand. Obviously, I have picked up a number of influences over the years from many a great many people, sometimes very subtle sometimes now; but this series of articles will concentrate on the people who had a jaw dropping effect upon me.

This post has gone through a series of edits; I have tried to keep things simple and away from how the original "Art College Crit." resonated! LOL

Miniature painting is often a just seen as necessity to get the miniatures on the table top to get a game going. There is nothing wrong with this approach, indeed it was the very same approach I carried into my Thirties and continued to utilise. Then something happened. I can't quite put my finger on it but my attitude changed. I wanted to do a much better job and with that came the willingness to take the time to do the job to the best of my ability. Perhaps my training at Art College had an influence? Perhaps purely because I was lucky enough to be in a club that had three excellent painters and I began to see my own rushed paint jobs as substandard? The truth is I cannot nail down what it was that changed my attitude toward using the brush nor exactly when it took place. It just did. And, with the exception of a four or five years hiatus, I have no looked back.

Please do not be tempted to judge my musings here as some kind of miniature painting elitism. It is not meant to be so; I realise that painting is a very broad church and it is the variation of styles and methods across the spectrum (sorry, bad pun) that make it such an interesting and consuming pastime. An obsession to some degree u=in my case (hopefully of the healthy kind?).

What is very clear to me is that a just over couple of decades ago I would spend hours sifting through the net studying the work of others. Until that point my painting had been very utilitarian. I remember well the website initially responsible for launching me on my quest to paint to a better standard was Tom Wiess's TWFigurines. I saw Tom's work almost monthly when Duncan (RIP) was editing Wargames Illustrated. That was it. I was hooked. If you look at my painting today I believe that there is strong Tom Weiss influence in the way I layer paint. 

I suppose that what I am trying to say, in my own typically clumsy manner, is that I walk on the shoulders of giants. Some have gone on to be quite famous painters and some not. A gross injustice in my humble opinion but a fact nevertheless. 

One such influential painter was Jock Ramage. It might not be immediately apparent but there is a lot of Jock's influence in my brushwork. Having done a Fine Art degree at Uni; what immediately stuck me about Jock's work was the "painterly" style contrasted with the very deliberate brushstrokes marking out their territory on the models. All very studious and aimed at a specific effect. All his miniatures, in a word I do not like using when describing miniature painting, "pop". "Pop" is a word not usually used in the high brow world of Fine Art to describe a contrast that brings out a three dimensionality which would not be apparent other then for the painter's skill in defining a contrast. This is certainly appropriate when describing Jocks work. It is not meant to describe the buttons or face on a miniature. (Another pet hate of mine [and yes, I'm being a little pedantic] is "muted" which actually means, in layman's terms "greys", which are in fact  mixes of colour.

What was also very appealing was the mixing and matching of different manufacturers not to mention his seamless skill in conversion work. From my perspective, some of the conversions would not sit well with one another (and not be my choices) but Jock always manages to pull things together and create a homogeneous whole. As mentioned above, much of this is down to very careful colour selection and purposeful brush strokes. I know Jock was in the army, I could not say if Jock had any formal artistic education but the choice of colour, manner of painting certainly indicated a natural flair for such things. 

A almost everyday port of call on the net was Jock's webpage. when it was in existence. A real feast for the eyes. Sadly the website is gone and I had to ask permission from Jock to present the images to you. I think you will find them interesting, somewhat different and certainly very inventive. 

Byzantines:

More Byzantines:

And More:

Mughals:

Timurids: