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Shame the cats are just table decorations, they’re properly cool! Good plan on the branches, the Feculent Gnarlmaw might be a good source of bells and branches to save some sculpting.
Lovely work on “Why?” the moon is stunning and well work true effort. The glow from it is fantastically realistic, certainly worth the effort

Your dedication to the artistic side of miniature painting is amazing. Fabulous work.

Wow. Fabulous work!

Your work continues to amaze. Excellent as always.

gobert wrote:Shame the cats are just table decorations, they’re properly cool! Good plan on the branches, the Feculent Gnarlmaw might be a good source of bells and branches to save some sculpting.
Lovely work on “Why?” the moon is stunning and well work true effort. The glow from it is fantastically realistic, certainly worth the effort

Excellent idea! I browsed through the Death Guard and Nurgle kits while looking for good bits, but somehow I totally missed this. Going to grab it the next time I visit the hobby store.
And thank you, glad you liked the last piece

youwashock wrote:Your dedication to the artistic side of miniature painting is amazing. Fabulous work.

Thank you youwashock!

Zambro wrote:Wow. Fabulous work!

Thank you Zambro!

Nevelon wrote:Your work continues to amaze. Excellent as always.

Thank you Nevelon!


I was supposed to write a "year in review" somewhere between Christmas and New Year, but something happened.
Guessing I must have fell through a wormhole or some such, as it was just yesterday when I wrote the last post. Right?


What seems to work for me nowadays is not to try and write steady updates on each project, as I try to do some hobbying nearly every day. Many times I'm working on multiple things simultaneously and I want to at least and try to keep things somewhat organized. However, I still do want to share work in progress pictures, thoughts and ideas with all of you lovely people. This thread has worked as a diary of sorts for me for a very long time. Even though I do post on Instagram and the local community's discord, I still feel the urge and need to keep this diary alive. Sitting down to write takes a lot more time than just posting a picture on social media platforms (I think I should actually put more effort into that), so I cannot do it daily nor even weekly.

So instead of updating very regularly nor even chronologically, I'm trying to combine the progress of certain themes or pieces to single post. This means that I might have pictures from yesterday in one post and have some from two months ago on the next one. But, as this is still my diary, I might just post a quick picture update here and there.

All the feedback and suggestions has always been helpful and very much appreciated. Any critique or suggestions for improvement are also very much encouraged.
I'm also very happy if I manage to ignite even a single spark of inspiration to any whom stumble upon these scribblings.


My goals for 2026 are to keep pushing my creativity and use of color, especially saturation and tonal variation.
I'm trying to learn to paint faster and to discover what really matters when painting for display. Trying to learn more about volumes and the importance of light placement. And finally to get rid of the "everything has to be smooth" syndrome.

As far as events go, I will be attending Golden Demon and Monte San Savino. There might be other events as well, but I'm not sure yet.
Regarding GD, I already have a bunch of ideas. I will be posting some work in progress pictures here, but it is entirely possible that I will keep the finished pieces hidden until the event. This creates more of a "wow" effect in the event itself, if no one has seen the pieces earlier. I might change my mind though.


As we are already nearly past the first month of 2026, I'm keeping the review of 2025 short:

I created a grid for Instagram to show eight of my favorite projects. I was supposed to take pictures of ALL the models I painted in 2025, but I never got around to it. Some of the pieces are at our game room, some are in a cabinet and some in storage. So this is the next best thing I guess.


Last year was a big breakthrough for me in terms of skill development and commendations.
First master's medals, first Golden Demon and a first best in show in the local scene have all got me baffled. But there is also the gnawing feeling of "will I ever be able to do this again?" and "was this just a lucky strike?". Especially as most of the medals have been given to the same piece; the Final Prayer diorama. I know it sounds weird, but these feelings are also quite natural. I'm hoping that one day, I will create something even better and more impactful. Until then, I will keep on working and slapping paint on these tiny little models.


One of the pieces in that grid is something I have not posted yet. There's also another, which was used for the December dakka challenge.
Both were Christmas presents.

First one was a Christmas Chariot made from an old ork board chariot I myself got as a Christmas present around 20 years ago.
I rescued it from storage, changed the crew to a couple of Night Goblins and built a plinth for it.







The second one is this snow globe thingy, I built for a lovely couple as a present. They are good friends of ours and play in a D&D campaign I'm running.
I called this piece "Wenena" as a reference to a water fey creature in the campaign. It was veeery hard to take pictures of this. It is built inside a "do it yourself" style kit using super glue. The model and base elements were varnished with acrylic satin and matt varnish to give some protection. Finally everything was sealed with hot glue. Hopefully the paint will stick!





Here's a small video to show the effect better (should play if you click it).



That about wraps up the year.





And as I'm already sitting here and writing, here's the first quick display piece painted in 2026: a Conan mini bust by Mindwork Games.
The piece is based on the work of Gerald Brom.

All the power metal, a Sword & Sorcery style TTRPG campaign and finally borrowing an artbook by Boris Vallejo has been building up some pent up barbarian energy inside me, which I had to unleash using a brush. I wanted to keep this piece as a challenge: "mix all the skin colors myself and paint the whole thing in one sitting". Though the my "one sitting" was in this case around 5 hours.
Even though there is a lot of room for improvement, I truly had a blast with the piece. And it was a nice change to paint a dude for a change






Thank you for looking!

 Ezki wrote:
Last year was a big breakthrough for me in terms of skill development and commendations.
First master's medals, first Golden Demon and a first best in show in the local scene have all got me baffled. But there is also the gnawing feeling of "will I ever be able to do this again?" and "was this just a lucky strike?". Especially as most of the medals have been given to the same piece; the Final Prayer diorama. I know it sounds weird, but these feelings are also quite natural. I'm hoping that one day, I will create something even better and more impactful. Until then, I will keep on working and slapping paint on these tiny little models.

Congrats on the awards - they're huge achievements. Imposter syndrome is normal sometimes, but at the end of the day, someone else has given you these awards because your work is excellent. No need to overthink it!

The last bust you have shown there has me in awe with that comparison to a Euro.

You amaze. The snow globe is fabulous, and the way your paint highlights and showcases the expression on the Conan bust is awesome.

With all the smooth detail you painted on the that Conan bust I assumed it was the size of a softball, then I saw the coin picture
You are truly amazing Ezki, those awards are no fluke, and the fact that you can see "lots of room for improvement" in the Conan bust shows why you somehow keep outdoing yourself. I'm looking forward to what pieces of art you paint in 2026 and beyond.

Ezki, it’s been a pleasure to watch you progress over the past few years. You were always a good painter, but the way you’ve kicked it on to another level is phenomenal. The accolades are really deserved given the effort you’ve clearly put in! The creativity is getting better too, that snowball is amazingly cool and I can hardly believe the Conan bust was done in one sitting

I showed my partner the bust. She thought it was good, and could appreciate the skill involved (as much as someone who isn't interested in the hobby can). Then I showed her the comparison to a euro. Mind melted. Amazing job again.

Thank you for your words. Truly.
And sorry once again for not getting back sooner. The urge to sit down to write comes and goes. Better not fight it, but to go with the flow or some such.

Zambro wrote:

 Ezki wrote:
Last year was a big breakthrough for me in terms of skill development and commendations.
First master's medals, first Golden Demon and a first best in show in the local scene have all got me baffled. But there is also the gnawing feeling of "will I ever be able to do this again?" and "was this just a lucky strike?". Especially as most of the medals have been given to the same piece; the Final Prayer diorama. I know it sounds weird, but these feelings are also quite natural. I'm hoping that one day, I will create something even better and more impactful. Until then, I will keep on working and slapping paint on these tiny little models.

Congrats on the awards - they're huge achievements. Imposter syndrome is normal sometimes, but at the end of the day, someone else has given you these awards because your work is excellent. No need to overthink it!

The last bust you have shown there has me in awe with that comparison to a Euro.

Zambro wrote:I showed my partner the bust. She thought it was good, and could appreciate the skill involved (as much as someone who isn't interested in the hobby can). Then I showed her the comparison to a euro. Mind melted. Amazing job again.

Thank you Zambro! I'm glad you both liked it

youwashock wrote:You amaze. The snow globe is fabulous, and the way your paint highlights and showcases the expression on the Conan bust is awesome.

Thank you youwashock! The face muscles are fun to paint on male busts, as they are usually very defined.

Syro_ wrote:With all the smooth detail you painted on the that Conan bust I assumed it was the size of a softball, then I saw the coin picture
You are truly amazing Ezki, those awards are no fluke, and the fact that you can see "lots of room for improvement" in the Conan bust shows why you somehow keep outdoing yourself. I'm looking forward to what pieces of art you paint in 2026 and beyond.

Thank you so much Syro!
The journey has been long, but there is much to travel yet.

gobert wrote:Ezki, it’s been a pleasure to watch you progress over the past few years. You were always a good painter, but the way you’ve kicked it on to another level is phenomenal. The accolades are really deserved given the effort you’ve clearly put in! The creativity is getting better too, that snowball is amazingly cool and I can hardly believe the Conan bust was done in one sitting

Thank you gobert!
Well, the hours put in can definitely be seen from my constantly deteriorating posture



Righto.
Things change and so have my plans.

I think it's better to "come clean" and show nearly everything I've been working on at this point.
I'm leaving some of the half painted Battle Sisters and other gaming pieces out, as those will be hopefully shown together sometime later.
My plan was to show a finished Exorcist at this point and to collect all the work in progress shots in post to neatly tell the full story in one message, but the bloody thing is not finished yet.
Showing you a teaser of it now, but will still pack everything from beginning to end when I finally get it done.


Let's start with the mini busts.
I enjoyed painting the Conan bust so much, that I had to paint three more over the course of the last three months.
Most of them were done within a day or two, but the "Lady of the Lake" took a bit longer.

All except one in spoilers, as they are somewhat NSFW.

Starting with the "Perchta" minibust. My inspiration for this piece came from the "Storm" from X-men. Also I wanted to practice painting dark skin, though I did not do very good job at it. Need more practice.



The second one is the "Titania" minibust. I painted her as a "Lady of the Lake" or some such. Inspired by "Eithne" from the Witcher universe.



And finally, my favorite of the bunch: "Star Witch" minibust. This had no clear source of inspiration, other than some general gothic make up (maybe one of the three daughers of Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil 8).
I'm very eager to paint the full 75mm version of this piece following the same color scheme, but much more defined.
Really tried to play with intentional roughness here and there to get the sense of unease. Too mild still. It's scary.




The next stop of this ride will be some Adepta Sororitas.

Some time ago I bough the Greyfax model, which I knew I wanted to convert into something. Ended up going with a Palatine.


I'm starting to really like the textured and rough magenta cloak.


To keep up with the theme: I might have mentioned, but I managed to source the old Exorcist tank half a year ago.
Building it was a true test of faith and I'm already nearing the 100 hour mark with it. There's still a lot more to be done.
But more of that when I manage to get it done and will (try to) show you the whole process.

The plan is to finish this to the Kontrast Painting Festival at the end of May. Also thinking of taking it with me to Golden Demon 2026 in Essen.















I have two other projects I'm working on for GD as well.
The first one is a AoS unit, which I have once shown in my Instagram stories.
Trying to keep them a bit of a secret, but I did not know the plan for it back then. So here it is in spoilers:



The other one is a 40k single piece. The current version I have not shown much anywhere (except in the local scene) and I try to keep it that way.
Some initial impact might be lost during the event, if many have seen multiple work in progress pictures.
That being said, I really enjoyed the openness and the support while building the Final Prayer diorama.

In any case, the piece will be a Corrupted Battle Sister. And yes, it will be the same one I have posted years ago on this very thread:


Though the head has been swapped since then. And quite a bit of other work done to it.
But other than that, same model, same staff.

Edit: ha! I knew I had posted the primed version somewhere. So this gal has made her appearance more than once it seems.
Still, different head. Did not stick with that one either.



Thank you for looking.
Until we meet again!

My gosh that's a lot of accomplished work completed!

The skin tones are- as always- incredibly well done, truly an artist's appreciation of the subjects applied well.

The cloak on the Palatine though- really exquisite. As if you could reach out and actually touch it.

Rock on!

Amazing work as always.

I was glad of the spoilers on the tram to work this morning! Great work on the busts and the tank is progressing well. That keyboard must’ve taken a while (more contributions to the bad posture ).

Love the WIP shots, hopefully you share the progress with dakka. Not sure how many attendees will see it here. The big squad already looks impressive with out paint so looking forward to that… almost as much as the resurrected corrupted sister!

Absolutely top work. We are lucky to have you around sharing those wip and finished pieces!

There's a bunch of your stuff I can't see for some reason, but what I can see is absolutely awesome!

The models in this thread are superb, thanks for sharing them.

Out of curioustly id love to know how you did the almost white wash affect on your sisters of battle vehicle.

Meer_Cat wrote:
My gosh that's a lot of accomplished work completed!

The skin tones are- as always- incredibly well done, truly an artist's appreciation of the subjects applied well.

The cloak on the Palatine though- really exquisite. As if you could reach out and actually touch it.

Rock on!

Thank you Meer_cat! It's always fun to experiment and study different skin tones.
The cloak is mostly thanks to the saturated pure pigment colors by Kimera and Mindwork Games.

Nevelon wrote:Amazing work as always.

Thank you Nev!

gobert wrote:I was glad of the spoilers on the tram to work this morning! Great work on the busts and the tank is progressing well. That keyboard must’ve taken a while (more contributions to the bad posture ).

Love the WIP shots, hopefully you share the progress with dakka. Not sure how many attendees will see it here. The big squad already looks impressive with out paint so looking forward to that… almost as much as the resurrected corrupted sister!

Haha, so for this kind of work I'll keep on using the spoilers!
The keyboard took it's sweet time for sure.
And I'll be posting spoilers, when I get some progress done and whenever I get my lazy ass on writing mode.

muette wrote:Absolutely top work. We are lucky to have you around sharing those wip and finished pieces!

Thank you muette! Glad you like 'em!

Olthannon wrote:There's a bunch of your stuff I can't see for some reason, but what I can see is absolutely awesome!

Oh? The pictures should work, but there might be some restrictions depending on the network or a country of origin. Not sure.
The gallery and my Instagram (tarkamos_mini_workshop) has most of the pictures. Just not the WIPs currently.

carlos13th wrote:The models in this thread are superb, thanks for sharing them.

Out of curioustly id love to know how you did the almost white wash affect on your sisters of battle vehicle.

Thank you! If you mean the latest, it's purely airbrushed. Will be weathering it a lot though.



Some progress pictures fresh from the painting desk.
We had a army painting session with a friend during the last weekend. I think I spent roughly 28 hours with a brush in hand, so it was quite crazy.
I'm trying to get the Sisters of Battle army finished before June, as we are once more having a friendly tournament in Warhammer World.
After I get them done, I will get back to my competition pieces. Except for the Exorcist, which will be a bit of both.

Picture time!

Starting with the Retributors.
Following the usual pattern. Might add a bit of weathering. Actually bought these a week ago, so it's quite neat to get them done so quickly.




Finished the Novitiates too. I had started these a while back.
Aimed for "rough and striking", with a more traditional "nun like" color scheme.


Got a bit lazy with the banner combining a bit of text with a large transfer. Might fix it up a bit if I have the energy.


Some progress on Morvenn as well.
Changed the head, as I'm not a fan of named and established characters in my armies. At least not on this one.


During the last couple of days, I did some work on the Sanctifiers too!


... aand finished The Miraculist.
I did not like the bald head and wanted to make her a bit more "withcy", so I sculpted some hair on her.
The front view is a bit janky, but I think the side turned out alright. Never done such a thing, so it was quite fun.





And since last post, the Exorcist has progressed a bit too. Mostly with the first layer of oils.
A lot of chipping and streaking ahead of me still.







Thanks for looking!

Really great looking sisters. That pink and white pops really well against the black. They’re going to be a stunning force on the Warhammer World tables. Don’t think I’ve seen a Miraculist with black sheer dress, looks really good from the front as well as the side

 gobert wrote:
Really great looking sisters. That pink and white pops really well against the black. They’re going to be a stunning force on the Warhammer World tables. Don’t think I’ve seen a Miraculist with black sheer dress, looks really good from the front as well as the side

Thanks!
I like to swim against the stream on many things. Plus when the whole army is wearing white armor, It's nice to have a bit of change.
Aaaand the black cloths add to the witchy vibes.

What? Two updates within a couple of weeks? I must be going mad.

Got the Sanctifiers finished.
They were truly fun to paint. Had a flu during the process, so I did some of the painting in a fever dream like state. Guessing it helped a bit.

The goal was to create a painterly looking bunch with visible, yet intended brush strokes. I'm really starting to love this style of painting.
With the slight conversions and head swaps I wanted to tell a story of a group consisting of ex guardsmen, civilians and other religious zealots grabbing arms to fight a local threat.





And some individual pics.





The clothes on the Miraculist look a bit too shiny on the pictures due to the varnish applied. It's much more matte on the tabletop.









I think the torchbearer with a guard helmet is my favorite of the bunch!



Thanks for looking!

The see through sheer robe affect on the mircalist is fantstic.

Also I genuinly would not have known you had sculpted the hair yourself if you hadnt said.

Looking awesome!

Fantastic bunch of fanatics. The deliberate brush stroke technique looks great, kind of like they’ve jumped out of an illustration