Tell us a little about yourself
Um…well, my name’s Joe Karame, I’m 41 years young and spend
my time between designing kitchens for folk who don’t understand how much these
things cost (and get most upset when I can’t give them what they want for a
couple of quid and a pack of crisps), painting miniatures for people and
running JoeK Minis! What can I say, I live a charmed life.
How long have you been painting, and what made you get
into the hobby?
I’ve been painting since 1981 (more or less), which hurts
when I type that.
As for what make me get into the hobby, my route lies
through my fondness for fantasy and a love of the old Fighting Fantasy books.
As GW was founded by the authors of these books, it wasn’t long before I
started noticing little lead figures appearing everywhere and I was pretty much
hooked from them on!
Have you ever won any competitions?
Only really ever entered one competition, and that was back
in 2008 after my long hiatus from the hobby (all of 15 years!). I got a little
pin in the Open category for a piece I spent very little time on and had
absolutely no thought of it placing! This is a lesson I try and shout at folk
who can sometimes get far too over-excited about these sort of things ;) .
Name three things at your workstation you couldn’t live
without.
My mug of water, my lovely triple tube light and a white
tile or two.
Do you have a brand or size of brush that you favour
using over others?
Rosemary and Co brushes, Series 33s. I use a number of
different sizes, but most of the leg work will be done with a larger No.2,
detail work with a No.1. I’ll occasionally use a 00 for eyes and the like, but
really as long as you have a decent point on the thing (and R&Cos usually
do), then you should be fine with the larger ones. I’ve used all manner of
brushes over the years from basic synthetics to W&N Series 7s, but I always
return to the R&Co.
What’s the last model you finished painting for your own
collection?
I have to say I rarely paint for myself these days – aside
from the Odyssey figures of course – but I admit to picking up the new look
White Dwarf and painting up the Chaos Warrior it came with. That was great fun!
True Metallics or NMM?
Whilst I think NMM can look stunning from a technical point
of view, I’ll always prefer true metallics!
Do you use an airbrush and if so, what do you use it for?
I’ve got an
airbrush, used it a few times and realised that it really wasn’t needed in my
life (despite numerous people mumbling on about the features and benefits of it
to me). Quite honestly, as a very messy person at the best of times, the
cleanup operation involved in maintaining the thing are just far too much for
me to deal with. I have absolutely not issues with them in their multiple uses,
and If they came with some little chap to clean and prep it for the next time I
use it, then I’d be all over it. Not the little chap, just the airbrush, mind.
Do you suffer paintbrush envy? Is there a particular
painter that you wish you could paint as well as?
Not especially. There are loads of painters out there who I
admire and love, but I’ve never really wanted to paint like anyone else. I think it probably stems from starting in the
hobby when I did and the only place you got to see other folks’ stuff was in
White Dwarf or popping along to a model show…which really weren’t the greatest
of places. I still think the works of John Blanche and Mike McVey are some of
my faves!
What do you feel the need to improve and why?
A bit more patience would be a good thing. I find if I don’t
make the most of the pockets of inspiration I get, I lose interest very quickly
with things! Having said that, painting for other people focuses the mind
something good. But even then I’m constantly aware of sometimes pushing things
before they’re ready to be added to, and you end up wasting more time correcting
those silly mistakes!
Do you, or have you ever, felt like a Noob with just his
Paintbrush?
Not for a long time – I definitely did back in the early
1980s when I was a youngling. And I most definitely did in 2008 when I came
back to the hobby (there I was thinking green flock would still cut it as a
basing material…sigh), but these days I’m without a feeling of ‘noob’ :)
Is there a colour that you seem to favour and like to add
to your models when you can?
Easy – Turquoise. It’s by far my fave colour and – despite
clients sometimes protesting – if I don’t put at least a splash of it on any
figure I paint, I’m convinced the world will end.
What are three things you’d want with you if you were
stranded on a desert island?
Some nice blank paper, a brushpen (I love brushpens so much
it hurts…), and probably some nail clippers…having long nails is a terrible
thing, and unless appropriately manicured, you get awful hang-nails. Which irritate.
Of course, if the desert island had some sort of power
supply hidden within, then that’ll all go down the tube and it’d be all
technology baby.
Here are a few examples of Joe's work - I particularly love the Dragon!
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| Fire Dragon Ancient from Warploque Miniatures |
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| Dark Lords Warband from Warploque Miniatures |
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| Mantomba from Warploque Miniatures |
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| Sea Troll Bull from Warploque Miniatures |
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| Old Grogg from Warploque Miniatures |
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| Cataphractii Terminator from Forge World |
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| Paul Bonner's Trolls of Trudvang from JoeK Minis |
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| Jungle Gremlin from Warploque Miniatures |
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| Lek'Saa and pet Grishak from Anyaral - The World of Twilight |
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| Lorenti Pargal from Anyaral - The World of Twilight |
Joe's store - JoeK Minis is currently open for business but will be closing soon for Christmas so if you fancy getting yourself a little something to paint for his Odyssey painting contest (more on that on Facebook and in Part 2!), get moving now!
If you have a question for Joe, leave it in the comments below and we'll put it to him to be answered for in Part 2.
