Comrade's Wargames

In February I once again took part in C3 GameCon, a small local game convention held at a community center here in Corvallis, Oregon. I participated in the inaugural event in 2022, so I was excited to host some events for this year’s convention.

Up first on the agenda was a reprise of my popular drop-in painting workshop. This emerged as the most popular session at last year’s convention, so I wanted to recreate that experience and also put a little bit more planning into it. I have vivid memories of attending “Paint & Take” events at GenCon, where companies like Reaper or Privateer Press would set up a bunch of tables with a random assortment of paints, and then let you grab a free mini and try out some new colors and techniques. These events are super accessible … literally you just sit down and start painting using whatever’s on the table in front of you. I wanted to bring that experience to C3 GameCon.

We ended up structuring the workshop as two back-to-back hour-long sessions. They were designed as drop-in events, where someone could sit down, grab a paintbrush and a free mini (generously printed by my buddy John) and try their hand at painting. I provided all materials – paints, brushes, minis, palette paper, water cups, as well as a little tip sheet.

I had 25 seats packed into a little side room at the convention, and I’m pleased to report that my sessions were “sold out,” all seats occupied by painters of varying experience levels. Most were novices, but a few had advanced skills. All were welcome!

Last year I tried to inject an instructional element to the painting workshop – offering step by step lessons to some participants, while others just jumped right in and started slinging paint. This year, I skipped the detailed curriculum in favor of a more open, come as you are type of experience.

Jim and Rian from my local game group dropped in as well, and they really helped out with setup and teardown, as well as providing that “veteran perspective” when new painters had a question. Here’s Jim (right) and I (left) toward the end of the evening, celebrating a fun event that hopefully kindled some hobby flames for these new painters.

I’ll definitely do this session again next year!