NaMoPaiMo day twenty eight

 The last part of NaMoPaiMo is a circus.

People are painting all day...

and into the night.

We are tired...

but determined.

There's still plenty of time.

Probably.

Maybe.

Heh.

Despite the challenges, people are finishing.

More than one hundred models have been added to the Winners' Circle just today.

This includes mine, by the way.

So keep going, my tired friends.

I believe in you.

You've totally got this.

Probably.

Maybe.

Heh.

And if not...

That's okay, too.

Either way, it's been a pleasure painting with you this month.

Let's do it again next year.

Start to finish with Christine Jordan

One more and I'm calling it a night. Here's the creation story behind Christine Jordan's Big Batcarus!

NaMoPaiMo 2026

by Christine Jordan

February 4: Primer achievement unlocked! Big Batcarus in progress!

February 10: I finally got color on my horse! Really wanting to have the basecoat done by tomorrow so he'll be ready to go to Katsucon with me Thursday!

February 14: Trust the process, whatever that is.

February 16: I have two sides and one wing section done.

February 18: One entire wing officially done.

Now that I've gotten this far, I can show you how those patches started. They are literally just irregularly shaped blobs applied with a small flat brush. From there, I use a small detail brush to define the edges.

February 22: Finished all the black patches.

I also decided I didn't like the hair on the body, so I'm working on darkening it to be more cohesive. Mane/tail/feathers are gonna stay "hot" I think.

February 23: What I've accomplished today. I think I'm down to hooves, horn, and eyes! And chestnuts...

February 24: More good light! Interference blue added! Just details left now!

February 26: SOON.

February 27: I DID IT! Blue lava boy is finally done! What an experience, trying to do all of this in a month, and with no real guidelines for how to do it! But he's done and I can finally relax! 

Congratulations, Christine. Your bat boy is awesome, and you've definitely earned some relaxation!

NaMoPaiMo showcase: Jillian "Stormy" Morrell

Perfectionism is the enemy of progress. 

We all know this, and yet, we all struggle with it. Even on a "fun" project, most of us want perfection. In this guest post, Jillian Morrell - better known in the hobby as Stormy Strike - shares her story of letting go and just having fun. Thanks, Stormy!

NaMoPaiMo 2026

by Jillian Morrell

I did it! I completed my 2026 NaMoPaiMo model!

While this was supposed to be just a fun and “simple” Valentine’s Day themed decorator for me to paint this year, I actually did get frustrated with it early on into painting. I considered stripping it to start over or even giving up on it completely this year. I realized the main culprit of me not being happy with it at that time was simply that I had fallen into my frequent plight of worrying too much about trying to make it “perfect.”

Perfectionism is a common problem I face with myself when making art. When I finally broke through that mindset and accepted that this model didn’t need to be perfect, that it’s okay if has flaws and mess ups - it was supposed to just be a fun model for myself after all! - I was able to really make progress on it and enjoy the process more.

Aside from the photos of my completed model, I’ve also included a photo of most of the supplies I used...

and a collage of photos with the progress pictures I took (when I remembered to take them Haha.) The top of that photo is of two different rough concept ideas I put together in Photoshop back when I was originally planning on using a different mold. I find it fun to see how my original ideas changed and adapted over the course of working on the model.

Thanks again, Stormy! I love your cute little decorator in his all his imperfect glory!

NaMoPaiMo showcase: Anja Schmidt

The Winners' Circle is getting wonderfully crowded now. I made this collage last night, and there are at least another twenty five horses who have been added since then.

My model is very nearly done. I took the day off to work on her, but between layers, I will be sharing some of the amazing models that have been created during this year's NaMoPaiMo. First up is Anja Schmidt's custom Duende.

Anja writes: I did it! Yay, Team Last Minute! He was a secret Santa gift from Ilona Himmelmann and I was so happy to receive him.

I fell in love with him and decided to paint him for NaMoPaiMo.

He is painted with oils. Here you can see the steps.

His name is Cielo, which means heaven.

Congratulations, Anja, and lucky you! This was a fabulous gift. I love Ilona's custom work, and you absolutely did it justice with your finishwork!