HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY!!

And here we are! Another year older, another year wiser (more handsome, intelligent, talented etc. etc.) on The Art of Caesura!!









Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! It really is a joy to be celebrating the second anniversary of this blog with you fine folks, be you old or new to The Art of Caesura, you're all very welcome! 

Now, gather 'round, we've got a veritable smorgasbord of celebrations in store for today: Reflections on the year, the annual Top 6 Minis of the Year Award (yeah, I couldn't narrow it down to 5), And even a surprise mini that I've been secretly working on over the past few weeks specially for today's post...he's just bursting to impart big fat birthday wishes!

I want to start by thanking you all again for your continued readership and support! I love checking out the analytics and revelling in the fact that there are people (and likely bots) from over 30 countries checking out my little hobby blog on a weekly basis! 

I'm proud of what The Art of Caesura has become as a weekly blog for the past two years. The past year alone has seen us celebrate the 100th Blog Post, the creation of a blog logo (a Blogo?), plus I got married and enjoyed all the associated excitement (stag party, honeymoon)! So it's been a big year for the blog and for me, let's see how we did...

Lets flesh this thing out a little. In the blog's first year I managed to paint 63 minis, this past year we blew that out of the water with 74 painted! I know that might not be much for some people, but it was a busy old year for me and I'm proud to have painted more than ever before! I must say, that a lot of it is having you guys and gals here to motivate me! So thank you!

As for my wedding svelteness, I'll let you be the judge of that...hahah.

You might notice that my goals for this year are a bit different than previous years. I feel that I've managed to stick to my weekly schedule of painting and posting for two years now, so that's kind of a given. Instead I'm looking forward to pushing myself a bit more this year. I've put down the goal of learning 3 new hobby techniques, and I already have my sights set on two of those with a really ambitious army project I've got planned for this year. Perhaps involving Milliput and water effects...

The other quick thing I wanted to say here is that you'll notice that my other two goals aren't miniature related at all! What gives!? Well I noticed that I still had the original subtitle for my blog up that I almost just put as a placeholder all those years ago, "The Art of Caesura: A Happy Blog of Hobbies and Life in the South West of Ireland" and I realized that because I haven't been brewing much beer since the wedding, that it has become more of a hobby blog. I considered just taking the "Life" out of the subtitle, but then decided to go the other way and use the blog to chronicle some of our adventures in this wild part of the world. So you can look forward to a bit more diversity this year on The Art of Caesura!

But don't worry, the focus will still be on miniatures. And with that segueway, let's take a look at what I consider to be some of my finer efforts of the year. Behold, the annual...

Top 6 Models of the Year:

Just click on the pics to be teleported back to the relevant post.

6. The Merchant (The World of Smog) - I said it at the time, I'll say it again, this is one of my favourite World of Smog minis. I like his earthiness, and am happy with how his blue skin turned out.

5. Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai (The Lord of the Rings) - Just a beautiful little vignette with a nice contrast of earthy tones and metal. 

4. Mad Dok Grotsnik (Warhammer 40k) -  I had fun creating the "operating room" on the base of the good doc.

3. Death Marshals (Malifaux) - If "dynamic" could be moulded into plastic it would look like these guys!

2. Ogroid Thaumaturge (Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower / Age of Sigmar) - Maybe it's the nostalgia of having painted this guy around the time of my stag party and wedding, maybe it's because he beats the pants off us in the Silver Tower, regardless the reason, this guy made it to number two on my list!

1. Orruk Wyvern (Warhammer / Age of Sigmar): It feels like my Pick o' the Year came out of nowhere this year, but maybe that's just because I completed him back in April. It's always fun having your own take on a classic mini and I was really happy how this guy (and his base - once I got him back on it!) turned out!

This year, an honourable mention goes out to the People's Choice model: the one that has driven the most traffic to my blog this year: 

Master Fox! (The World of Smog)

What do you think? Did I miss your favourite? Was it Delphan Gruss? or the Spartan? Maybe Leveticus or the Black Templars Intercessor Marine? How 'bout the Grot Shaman? Let me know in the comments below!

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And now, the last thing I can cram into this already mighty celebratory post is the model that I've been secretly working on for the past few weeks specially for today's celebration, it wouldn't be a birthday party without gifts...

It's a new year, so have a Great (Unclean) One!

You might remember the "before" picture from last years' New Years post...

Like the Kraken for last year's birthday blog post, I wanted to do another big special model. I think a greater demon ticks the boxes of "big" and "special". I want to give this guy his time in the limelight next week, but He had to pop by to bestow Nurgle's birthday gifts on us all. Yum. 

And with that we mark the big fat end to the second year of The Art of Caesura! Thank you so much for tuning in through these past couple years, I hope to see you for many more!

Watching: Manhunt: Unabomber

Reading: Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer

Gaming: Vermintide

Next Week:

Bring your bleach...