It’s already 2026?! Feels like it was just August a few weeks ago. Q4 2025 was a whirlwind of activity, and my January is already hectic enough with a work project that’s had some night and weekend hours (it likely didn’t help that I slept 10.5 hours yesterday, and 15h on New Year’s Day from being worn out). Add in how Q1 is my busiest season at work, and it’s going to be summer before I know it!

Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out what my goal is for the year for painting. I tend to do better when having a goal in mind, and when swapping tips and tricks with others, so what I landed on was trying to improve my display painting. I plan to do that through conventions this year!

There is… a lot going on this year. Convention-wise, I’m planning to attend, either as an attendee or as a demo agent:
– Philadelphia Area Gaming Convention (PAGE) in Oaks, PA (Jan 15-18)
– Gencon, Indianapolis, Indiana (July 30 – Aug 2)
– NovaOpen, Washington, DC (Sept 2 – 6)
– PAX Unplugged, Philadelphia, PA (Dec 4-6)

There’s others I’d love to attend, and might – MEPA, for one, in March – but things like Adepticon are likely a 2027 trip or later. But! These conventions all mean I need to paint up like crazy and try to see if I can represent my painting well in competitions!

• Philadelphia Area Gaming Convention (PAGE)
  • I’ve never been to PAGE before, but I was given the heads up about it from a fellow demo agent, so I’ll likely be in the Battletech/Shadowrun area for the most part.
• GenCon
  • Another new one for 2026! Going with some friends, though I might also demo a bit. Hoping to catch at least one KDM game. We shall see.
• NovaOpen
  • I. Love. This. Convention. One of the first ones I attended, and I’ve been going for about 4 years now. One of my best friends and I go and split a room – he runs off to the war games, and I run to the painting classes to try to get better! At some point I’ll need to write up the notes I jotted down of tips and techniques I learned from classes.
• PAX Unplugged
  • My second-most attended convention, and pretty close to me so my Nova friend and I just carpool up each day. It’s a blast, and I demo’d a lot in the 2025 convention, but definitely one to check out.

Why conventions?

Well, that’s because it gives me a chance to “ooh” and “ahhh” over miniatures with other people who are just as giddy at seeing the fantastic paint jobs displayed as I am! It’s nice to talk about my hobby in real life with others also in the hobby, especially since this literally involves sometimes watching paint dry. People are friendly, and offer advice, which rocks! Lastly I’m competitive as all get out, so having something concrete to strive for helps. (Painting rivals, anyone?)

How do I intend to improve?

There’s only one surefire way to improve, and that’s… well, painting more. I’ve got plenty of models to test ideas on or practice techniques – looking at you, Kingdom Death! – and even if I only improve by 0.001% each model, that’s still progress. I still have most of the armor kits from KDM core game to use as test ones, and GCE, along with other models I’ve picked up along the way. NMM is still a long term goal that I’ve babbled about enough that even my non-painting husband recognizes the term.

2026 Game Plan!

If I can figure it out, I plan to start streaming painting again during 2026. 🙂 Hoping to get my office set up, but if that fails there’s always the basement + a small heater so I don’t freeze. It’s been a while and I figure I might as well help others out.

I also plan to put out more KDM build guides, since I will die on the hill of they need more of those.

Last but not least – finish models. FAR too many of mine are 80% done. I need to get over the last slump.

But, those are some ramblings to welcome in the new year. What are your plans for 2026?