Crystal Brush Awards

Adepticon has many fine tournaments and contests that take place over the course of the show. But only one of them gives away $10k to the winner. That's the Crystal Brush Awards, the culmination of a year-long painting contest process that ends up in Chicago. Well, the overall winners have been announced, and we're here to give them to you.


Bronze:



Oz
Francesco Farabi

Silver:



The Tribute
Michal Pisarski

Gold:



Space Wolf
Sergio Calvo Rubio

Congratulations to Sergio for his win!

Here's a link to all the winners for this year's awards: 2017 Winners

Arguably the biggest painting contest of the year is the Crystal Brush awards that have their finals every March during Adepticon. If you'd like to get free travel to the show, you can do so by winning one of the qualifying events that are held throughout the year. Salute is having a Crystal Brush Qualifier event, and they've posted up the details.




From the announcement:

Well it is the new year and that means not long until Salute 2017!

We have made a few changes to the prizes at Salute, there will be a trophy for First place, a Second place and reintroducing a Third place in each numbered category (1 - 12) below:

Also we are pleased to announce that the generous CMON team have agreed to give the winner of the Salute 2017 Best of Show an incredible prize, as well as the Salute Chalice pictured above, the winner will be awarded reimbursement by
CMON Inc. for round-trip coach airfare from the winners location to Chicago, Illinois, for the dates of the following AdeptiCon convention and the Crystal Brush Awards.

Any questions please do get in touch! Paint brushes at the ready!

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This past Sunday at Adepticon, the Crystal Brush Award were handed out. Painters from all over the world submitted their entries, all with the hopes of being the one to go home with the $10,000 top prize. We've already posted up the winners, but now we've got the video coverage from the awards ceremony as well. Plus, there's interviews with the three overall winners.


The full Awards Ceremony:


Interviews with the 3 Overall Winners:



Once more, congratulations to all the winners and to everyone that entered. You're an inspiration for all of us to try and increase our own painting skill in order to reach such a level.

Be sure to check out the Crystal Brush website for Qualifiers coming to your area.

Well, it's been a long road. Crystal Brush Qualifiers have been held. World-renown painters have submitted their pieces. The judges and you have had your say. It's now time to reveal the winners for this year's Crystal Brush Awards.
And the winners are *drumroll.......*


Young Talent
Necromancer by Milo Lemoine
Goro (Angry Horn Cat) by Alex Drescher

Best Wrath of Kings
CAGE by Sam Lenz

Best Dark Age
Michael by Frank Kahsar

Sci Fi Single
1st: Solitaire by Kirill Kanaev
2nd: Achilles by Steve Garcia
3rd: Achilles by Jaroslaw Drabek

Sci Fi Vehicle/Monster
1st: Yann’s Salvage by Justin McCoy
2nd: Mongo Gets A Boo-boo by Matt diPietro
3rd: Squalos by Frank Kahsar

Sci Fi Unit
1st: Uyuging by Steve Garcia and PanOceania by Tom Schadle
2nd: Palantine Guard by Caleb Wissenbach
3rd: Space Wolves by Jaroslaw Drabek

Fantasy Single
1st: Goldfish Dreams by Jessica Rich
2nd: Savior – Forty Years by Sam Lenz
3rd: Ur-Fildyr by Richard Eaton

Fantasy Vehicle/Monster
1st: CAGE by Sam Lenz
2nd: Gorthang the Swamp Master by Karol Rudyk
3rd: On Thin Ice by Rex Grange

Fantasy Unit
1st: Gold by Fabrizio Russo
2nd: Nurgle Plague Kings by Rich Erickson
3rd: Blood Reavers by John Margiotta

Historical Single
1st: Homecoming by Matt diPIetro
2nd: Northumbrian by David Powell
3rd: Walkin’ Boss by Alex McCutcheon

Large Scale
1st: Garrosh by Sergio Calvo Rubio
2nd: The Black Hole by Francesco Farabi
3rd: Grommash vs. Mannoroth by Fabrizio Russo

Chibi Style
1st: After Midnight by Elizabeth Beckley
2nd: Cute but Gross by Mark Maxey
3rd: Jester Michael by Proctor

Diorama
1st: Atonement by Kyriakos Simos
2nd: Guardians of the North by Ben Komets
3rd: No Hope by Aaron Lovejoy

Busts
1st: Shieldmaiden by Kirill Kanaev
2nd: Medieval Tournament Knight by Ben Komets
3rd: Tywin - After the Battle by Matt Cexwish

Overall

3rd: Goldfish Dreams by Jessica Rich





2nd: Garrosh by Sergio Calvo Rubio





1st and Overall Grand Winner: Atonement by Kyriakos Simos





Congratulations to all the winners and everyone that entered. Honestly and truly, these figures are some of the greatest you will ever see. And keep an eye out to Crystal Brush for your chance to win a qualifier and get a trip to the finals.

As you saw in my gallery the other day, there's a lot of fantastic models in the Crystal Brush this year (the cases filled up a lot since then). Every entry is absolutely awesome, but only one will be able to take home the grand prize. And you can have a help in deciding which model that will be.


You have to be registered for the CoolMiniOrNot forums in order to cast your vote. Full details on how to vote are up on the Crystal Brush website. So head on over there, or the CoolMiniOrNot homepage and you'll see a banner that directs you where to go. You'll get to see high-resolution pictures of all the entries there (much better than I can take with just my phone through the case), to help you in your decision-making.

It's always a very close competition. Your vote could make the difference and help someone go home with $10,000.

Go vote here now!

One of the big draws to Adepticon is the Crystal Brush Awards. Every year, painters from all over the world gather together in order to try and get the $10k grand prize. I elbowed my way through a crowd in order to get you some photos of some of the entries submitted so far.


The talent on display is breathtaking. The detail is astounding. I find the reactions are generally split, when someone sees the models. Either it's "this inspires me to paint" or "I'm just going to break all my brushes, because I'll never be that good." I hope you fall into the "inspired" side of things.

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We're less than 2 months away from CMON Expo 2016. Things are really starting to get busy over here. Lots of buzz around the office as preparations are solidified. Being Friday, it's time once more for an Expo Update. This time around we've got info about a new contest, a new event, and a new guest.


For contest, that's the CMON Expo 2016 Painting Contest. This is a Crystal Brush Qualifier, so the grand champion gets their choice of $100 CMON credit or their travel paid for to and from Adepticon 2017 for the Crystal Brush Finals.

For new event, that's the Realms Open Championship Super Qualifier that will be taking place at the show. There's actually 3 HeroClix events planned for the show. That's right, the Expo isn't just for CMON events.

Finally, the Guests Page has been updated. Jeff Yu, artist for CMON will be there. You can talk to him all about graphic design and games. Artwork can really make or break a game, and having someone like Jeff around helps make CMON's some of the best out there.

That's it for this week, but stay tuned as we get more updates about the CMON Expo 2016.

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Crystal Brush is one of the biggest painting competitions of the entire year. Painters from all over the world work long and hard to create their masterpieces that they hope will net them $10k in prize money. You can check out all the winners in all the categories here, in case you missed it. Well, now we've got the awards ceremony video, as well as video interviews with the winners. Check them out below the cut.

The videos:

Awards Ceremony:


Kirill Kanaev Interview:


Ben Komets Interview:


Jessica Rich Interview:


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Adepticon is here and gone. I hope everyone had a great time and everyone made it back safe. The only thing is that it seems Con Crud is going around the office now. Here's to hoping I miss out on catching it as people make it back into the office.

Anyway, we've got the final batch of photos from the show, including photos from the Crystal Brush Awards Ceremony (video will be up soon as well).

Go have yourself a look-see.

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On Sunday, March 22 at Adepticon 2015, painters and fans of the hobby gathered around for the fifth annual Crystal Brush Awards. The first place winner walked away with $10,000, second with $2,000 and third with $1,000. Doing what you love can really pay off! So who won big? Check out the winners after the break.

Best Wrath of Kings:

Gold - Frank Kahsar

Best Dark Age:

Gold - Mary Profitt

Silver- Sam Lenz

Bronze - Katie Martin

Best Science Fiction Single Figure:

Gold - Sam Lenz

Silver - Drew Drescher

Bronze - Katie Martin

Best Science Fiction Unit:

Gold - Adam Huenecke

Silver - John Margiotta

Bronze - Katie Martin

Best Science Fiction Vehicle or Monster:

Gold - Tom Ales

Silver - Damon Drescher

Bronze - Justin McCoy

Best Fantasy Single Figure:

Gold - Sam Lenz

Silver - Ben Komets

Bronze - Katie Martin

Best Fantasy Unit:

Gold - Sam Lenz

Silver - Joe Orteza

Bronze - Marcin Ignasiak

Best Fantasy Vehicle or Monster:

Gold -  James Wappel

Silver - Elizabeth Beckley

Bronze - Marcin Ignasiak

Best Historical Single:

Gold - David Powell

Silver - Tom Ales

Best Historical Unit:

Gold - Tom Ales

Silver - Jeff "Bexley" Andrajack

Bronze - John Margiotta

Best Historical Vehicle:

Gold - David Powell

Silver - Tom Ales

Bronze - Justin McCoy

Best Large Scale:

Gold - Kirill Kanaev

Silver - Jessica Rich

Bronze - Rich Erickson

Best Chibi Style:

Gold - Mark Maxey

Silver - Sam Lenz

Bronze - Drew Drescher

Best Diorama:

Gold - Ben Komets

Silver - Matt DiPietro

Bronze - Tom Ales

Best Overall:

Gold ($10,000) - Kirill Kanaev



Silver ($2,000) - Ben Komets

Bronze ($1,000) - Jessica Rich

Congratulations to all of 2015's Crystal Brush winners! We will have photos from the event soon, so stay tuned.

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The fifth annual Crystal Brush Awards are now open for voting! This celebration of talent in the world of miniature painting gives equal choice to users and judges. So don't miss your chance to see some of the hobby's best talent in action and award them for it. Winners will be revealed at the Adepticon awards ceremony later today.

Head here to place your  votes!

Update: Voting looks like it is closed, but you can still check out all the great entries right here.

NOVA Open is coming up this weekend. They've got lots of events as well as the Capital Palette painting contest, which is a qualifier for the Crystal Brush. Will you be there?



NOVA Open Website
Crystal Brush Announcement

From them to you:

Capital Palette 2014 is coming up this Labor Day Weekend, 28-31 August, at the NOVA Open gaming convention in Washington, D.C.

Capital Palette is a qualifier event for the Crystal Brush. The Best in Show winner receives a prize package which includes his or her choice of $100 in CMON store merchandise, or round-trip airfare to compete at the Crystal Brush Awards 2015 at the Adepticon gaming convention in Chicago, where you can compete for the Crystal Brush $10,000 top prize!



Capital Palette grew quickly in its second year in 2013, tripling in size from its debut year to include 32 artists and 132 entries. This year, Corvus Belli's Infinity creator, Gutier Lusquinos, is hand-delivering new models from Spain - painted by Ángel Giraldez, their renowned studio painter - to be on display throughout the convention!

Categories:
• Sci-fi
• Fantasy/Alternate Reality
• Historical/Modern

In each category, there are subdivisions for:
• Small Single (Characters, individual infantry/cavalry models, etc)
• Large Single (Monstrous creatures, vehicles, etc)
• Collection (Squads, Dioramas, Artist's portfolios of miniature, etc)

In addition to the nine podium awards, NOVA will also award a Fan Favorite, as well as the Best in Show award.

Also, be sure to check out the Hobby Seminars: basing, displays, led lighting, freehand, blending, and much more, including Masterclass with Justin McCoy of Secret Weapon Miniatures; Green Stuff with Martin Jones; Building Terrain with Eric Cacace;...almost 20 unique seminars!

And, of course, NOVA Open is a top-tier gaming convention, with over 750 attendees in 2013. There are tournaments, narrative campaigns, open gaming, and demos.

Four days of gaming! Including organized play for:
• Warhammer 40k
• Warhammer Fantasy
• Warmachine and Hordes
• X-Wing
• Infinity
• Malifaux
• Flames of War
• Bloodbowl

Crystal Brush posted an article talking about another of the qualifiers for this round of the Crystal Brush awards.



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From the post:

Greetings, miniature fans, we’re pleased to announce that the Bay Area Open Painting Competition will be a Crystal Brush qualifier again this year! We’ve seen some fantastic models from this convention in past years and are looking forward to the results. The overall grand prize winner will receive his or her choice of $100 in CoolMiniOrNot store merchandise credit, or round trip airfare to compete at the 2015 Crystal Brush Awards in Chicago, Illinois.

Bay Area Open 2014 will be held July 26th and 27th, in San Jose, California, hosted by Frontline Gaming. The weekend will be filled with Warhammer 40K, Warmachine, Hordes, and Warzone events, plus hobby seminars with multiple award winning painter Caleb Wissenback. Painting competition details will be posted on the BAO site shortly. If you’ll be in the area, check it out!

Crystal Brush has announced that the first official sponsor for their 2015 awards is Terrible Kid's Stuff.



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From the announcement:

We’re proud to announce our first sponsor for the 2015 Crystal Brush Awards. Sergeant BlackArt’s Terrible Kids Stuff will be a Diamond Level sponsor, with the option to create a special award category. This relatively new Italian company produces eye-catching, unusual limited edition models in a variety of scales. With some of the world’s best concept artists, sculptors, and painters on the team, Terrible Kids Stuff is rapidly adding new dimensions to our hobby. Stay tuned for details on Terrible Kids’ participation in Crystal Brush!

Crystal Brush has posted up the details for the finals to be held at Adepticon 2015.



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From the announcement:

Join us from March 19th to the 22nd for the biggest AdeptiCon yet! We’re excited to be holding the Crystal Brush Awards in a new and larger venue, the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center. More space, more games, more food, more fun! The AdeptiCon hotel block is open for booking now, and event registration is expected to open in November.

The Crystal Brush Awards for 2015 will take place over this weekend, with entry submission opening on Thursday, March 19, and closing at noon on Saturday, March 21. Competition categories, rules, and judging/voting procedures have all been updated for 2015 on this site. There are a few minor changes from previous years, so please check these pages if you’re thinking about submitting entries.

We look forward to seeing everyone–especially all our qualifier winners–in March. Watch some of the best modelers in the world compete for the $10,000 grand prize!

Origins is this weekend and Crystal Brush will be there.
They've updated the information page to show entry and award times while at the show.



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From the website:

Entries may be submitted Thursday and Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 15, at 1 p.m. Full rules and competition categories are given below. We hope to see you there!

Nova Open will be one of the qualifiers for the Crystal Brush. Be sure to make your way to Washington, DC. this August for your chance to qualify.



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From the announcement:

NOVA Open has grown in just a few years to be the biggest wargaming convention in the Washington, D.C. area. We’re happy to announce that for 2014, their art competition, the Capital Palette, will continue as a Crystal Brush Qualifier. The Best in Show winner will receive a prize package which includes his or her choice of $100 in CMON store merchandise, or round-trip airfare to compete at the Crystal Brush Awards 2015 in Chicago!

NOVA Open will be held August 28-31, in Arlington, VA. Full details, including registration and hotel information, can be found at NOVA Open’s main site

Crystal Brush had a qualifier over last weekend at Templecon. Well, they've posted up the photos of the winners.
Full gallery here.
Comparatively, my models look like I painted them with a paintball marker from 100yds away.



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From the post:

We had a wonderful turnout at this year’s TempleCon! We’re pleased to announce that the overall winner form TempleCon 2014 is Guillaume “Yaum” Juneau’s Mountain King! As a winner Yaum has earned a trip to Adepticon 2015! We can’t wait to see what he has to bring! Check out the other winning miniatures here!

Hussar 2013 is showing off the winners of their painting contest. There's some really beautiful minis in the set. You should all go check them out.



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From the post:

The winner of H2013 is Stefan Johnsson (from Sweden!). This editon was more 'international' than ever :) We had painters from Germany, Slovakia, Russia and Sweden and lot of polish painters of course. Level of competition was very high. Total quantity of entries - 114 (comparing to edition 2012 +40 entries more:).
Here you can find gallery with nice photos of winning and honourable mention entries

Crystal Brush lets you know where you can go to become one of the finalists for the Crystal Brush competition next year.



From the update:

We at Crystal Brush are always so happy to know the world of miniature artistry is talking about us, and we are always glad to know when another prestigious painting event is gearing up to show some great works of art! A lot of these events take place at bigger conventions, trade shows or gaming gatherings around the globe. When one of these events qualifies for a little extra attention and works with us and our sponsors, we call these events…

…The Road to the Crystal Brush!

Today we are happy to announce not one but TWO future events that have applied and qualify as Road to Crystal Brush events – The 2014 Feast of Blades, and the 2014 Las Vegan Open!

Kublacon held a Crystal Brush contest during the show. They've posted up an album of the entries as well as the winners.



From the announcement:

I have the album posted now for the KublaAwards.
David Diamondstone is the overall winner and Crystal Brush Qualifier.

CoolMiniOrNot Expo is coming up this weekend (as if I'd let you forget). We'll be running a lot of events, including the first qualifier to the Crystal Brush finals next year at Adepticon.



From the update:

Later this week the Cool Mini or Not family is hosting their first annual Cool Mini or Not Expo in Atlanta, Georgia! Don’t forget that it will be here at the Expo that we at Crystal Brush will be hosting our first Road to Crystal Brush Qualifier event for the 2014 Crystal Brush finals!

Take a second and hop on over to the www.cmonexpo.com website and register to attend… and take your first shot to be flown out to the Crystal Brush Finals in 2014!

Don’t miss your chance to attend the great show AND win some airfare with your amazing miniature artistry while you’re there!

Good luck!

Crystal Brush gives $10,000 to the grand prize winner. So if you ever wanted to see an interview with someone who just won $10k, here's what it looks like.

Crystal Brush brought together painters with all different styles they use in creating their masterpieces. In this interview, Raffaele Picca talks a bit about some of his process.

Crystal Brush is truly an international competition. See the interview with 1st runner up Enrique Vezasco Sanchez.