It must have been at Claymore, perhaps in the year 2001, maybe 2002 that I first encountered the Gripping Beast display stand in all it's (old school) glory, all beautifully painted vignettes of new and older released miniatures from the hand of Darren Harding. Each vignette inspiring, each element so absorbing; leaving me with a wonder of how such detailed work was possible.
Until about 2001/2002 I hadn't really paid that much attention to my painting. It was a case of paint, plonk and play for me! It was good enough but I have to say, and I really do not mean to blow my own trumpet here, nowhere near the standard I can reach with a little effort today. This is the crux of the article, like the Influential Miniature Painters and Why - Jock Ramage on this blog, these scribblings are about miniature painters that have really had an impact on me and perhaps how they effected my own painting.
The immediate impact at looking at Darren's work was the attention to detail, the extremely tight, crisp brushstrokes. The depth of imagination and historical knowledge. Just take a look at any of the images presented here and you will see such sharp work; the clothing, the shields the armours, the basing of the vignettes. It is hard to believe, even now, the shields are not transfers and are in fact freehand work from many years ago. The banners wonderfully hand painted too boot.
Having the delightful experience of encountering the Griping Beast stand at many shows in the early 2000's, being able to get up close and personal to the vignettes, something new always on display gave me the impetus to give the precision freehand a go, and whilst I might never not have reached the same standard, to get all arty farty about it, as Anselm Kiefer said, "You cannot achieve the impossible. You can only dream of it and try it." I think Darren came very close with his meticulous tight brushwork.
