About

It seems that new 'painting studios' are being created on a daily basis. Almost each painted mini you find on ebay these days is referred to as 'pro-painted'. I believe that people are perceptive and smart enough to judge the quality of painting on their own so I leave the evaluation to you. I'm just a guy who enjoys painting minis and occasionally does commission jobs.
The blog originally started as Independent Painters and I used to run it with a friend of mine. However, he now devotes most of his time to his promising career in law so I ended up changing the name of the blog. This change also reflects a major shift of focus as now I write mainly about the best tabletop game there is - Malifaux.

Welcome to WhatTheFaux.

Viruk

My real name's Wojtek. Teaching English used to be my main occupation before I changed to the corporate side.  I live in a fairly small city located more or less in the center of Poland (Grodzisk Mazowiecki). I'm a lucky guy as I have a beautiful and intelligent wife who not only tolerates but also likes my hobby. I also have two daughters who keep me as busy and happy as possible these days.

At my old workspace with two more
 enthusiasts of the hobby

Painting miniatures is a way to unwind after work for me as I find it very relaxing. I paint on a daily basis, sometimes just a few strokes with a brush, sometimes more if I have enough time.
Warzone was a game that actually got me into this hobby. It had great fluff, wonderful artwork by Paul Bonner and... clumsy and ugly miniatures with exaggerated features that were at the same time full of character. After that I got into Mordheim and for a while ran a band of the Possessed. I had a short period of fascination with WFB but it didn't last long and my promising army of Chaos stopped at two regiments.

Peter Jackson's screening of The Lord of the Rings rekindled my interest in Tolkien's world. It also coincided with the release of GW's LotR SBG. I've painted most of the miniatures from this range but never really got round to playing it. However, even today I keep on painting miniatures from this range (mainly commissions).

After a few years, LotR was pretty much replaced by WARMACHINE. I really liked the Iron Kingdoms universe and its factions seemed very interesting to me. I put together a small Cryx force, played a few games and... sold everything when I discovered Malifaux. I played a few games and really like the card mechanics. The miniatures from the range are fantastic and the unique settings and well-written fluff are elements that make this skirmish game so good.

I've taken part in a few online painting competitions with varied results but those more notable were:

- 2nd place in The Trick or the Treat category Rotten Harvest - December 2011
- 2nd place in The Trick or the Treat category, Rotten Harvest - November 2013

- 2nd and 3rd place in No Ma'am Malifaux Painting Competition - October 2013

- Black Queen international painting competition July 2014
1st in Single miniature (Abuela Ortega)
2nd in Large/Mounted miniature (Hooded Rider)
1st in Unit/Squad (McCabe)
2nd in Masterclass (mounted McCabe)

- Best Painted Crew (Players' choice) at Agram Arena Malifaux tournament - July 2014

- 3rd place in Wyrd Frozen Moment Painting contest (Dreamer) - February 2015

- Black Queen international painting competition July 2015
1st in Large/Mounted miniature (Lord Chompy Bits)
1st in Single miniature (Dreamer)
2nd in Unit/Squad (The Swamp Hag)
3rd in Diorama/Duel (It's the End of This World as we Know It...)

- Black Queen international painting competition July 2017
2nd in Single model category (Big Jake)
3rd in Masterclass category (Johan)
3rd in Crew Category (The Queen's Return)
3rd in Large/Monster Category (Luther the Pascha Hare)

- Best Painted Crew in Polish Malifaux Nationals 2018 (Titania)


- Black Queen international painting competition July 2018
1st in Single model category (Lilith)
1st in Crew Category (Zoraida and her friends)
2nd in Large/Monster Category (Cyclop)
3rd in Bust Category (The Baron by Savage Forged minis)

My articles published in Wyrd Chronicles:

Painting the Depleted (issue #8)
Working with Malifaux plastics (issue #20)

The blog originally started as Independent Painters as was co-authored by a friend of mine. However, he has pretty much left the hobby and now focuses on his professional career. This is what he had to say about himself when we were starting out:

Hal
Currently I'm best described as law student, which seems to consume most of my time. Other than that I'm splitting my time between painting minis for war games, playing guitar or getting hit by a puck on an ice rink. I started minature painting couple of years back (6 I think), it's just my way to express some creative emotions I have plus it's a great way to relax ;) Some of my works can be found on CMON http://coolminiornot.com/artist/Haldir+z+Lorien


Reagsy
Not an painter but it's hard not to mention him. He's the architect and the author of the design and layout of the blog. He's also an extremely talented artist and working with his is always an enjoyable experience. Check out his website and feel free to contact him if you're looking for a good graphic artist or a photographer.