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Melody,
I’m curious what goes on behind the curtain at Windstone-after seeing the photo of the 4000 baby unicorns in your gallery, it has me wondering-how long does it take the average painter to paint a production piece? How many painters are employed at Windstone now? Is it easier to paint the little ones like the fledgling and coiled dragons because they have less surface area, or is it easier to paint the Old Warrior, lap and rising spectral because they are bigger?
When you yourself paint special pieces for ebay, can you finish one in a day or is it an ongoing project where you do a little each day as the color scheme forms in your mind?Also, how many production items do you cast at once? Like-if you are working on the fledgling, do you make 1000 of them before moving on to another sculpt? Is this number higher or lower than “normal”? lol sorry for all the questions. You dont have to answer ALL of them 😉
Thanks for taking time to read!<3 Wolfen
WolfenMachine wrote:Melody,
I’m curious what goes on behind the curtain at Windstone-after seeing the photo of the 4000 baby unicorns in your gallery, it has me wondering-Quote:how long does it take the average painter to paint a production piece?
A male dragon should take1/2 hour start to finish. We are struggling to get that fast again.
Quote:How many painters are employed at Windstone now?
Right now counting me and Wendy, who is learning, we have four painters. We had as many as 24 painters in the old days!
Quote:Is it easier to paint the little ones like the fledgling and coiled dragons because they have less surface area, or is it easier to paint the Old Warrior, lap and rising spectral because they are bigger?
It is easier to paint big things up to a point… the Secret Keeper was a pain because the sculpt was so dern heavy.
Quote:When you yourself paint special pieces for ebay, can you finish one in a day or is it an ongoing project where you do a little each day as the color scheme forms in your mind?
It depends on how complicated the paint job is. Poads are often hand-brush painted and they take a long time to finish. I often work on one fancy poad for weeks or months a little at a time, whenever I get around to it.
I have gotten pretty fast at painting some pieces, once I know what I want them to look like -such as the bengal griffins. Figuring out the paint scheme in the first place takes me much longer, and I often end up with a few raffle prizes before I get it right. The most I can paint is about 8 ebay things (started) in one day. They usually get completed the next day, because they need to sit overnight before they are antiqued and detailed.
And then Pam returns them all to get fixed the day after that.Quote:Also, how many production items do you cast at once?
We try to do them in factors of “cart loads”, and the amount on a cart varies with the size of the piece. For example Spectral dragons fit 40 per cart. We are now doing much smaller batches of pieces than we used to, that’s for sure! We may only cast 250 of the fledgling before switching to another piece. This is because we still haven’t caught up with restocking , and we need all the pieces!
Quote:Is this number higher or lower than “normal”?
This is a FRACTION of what we used to cast in CA, but what is normal?
The world of retail is very different now with niche’ markets and online stores!That is interesting. Only 30 minutes for a male dragon! Does that include the details (gold and random painted scales) and the clearcoat?
kitsunelady wrote:That is interesting. Only 30 minutes for a male dragon! Does that include the details (gold and random painted scales) and the clearcoat?
That includes everything that is painted on.
ooo-ooo-ooo*hands waving about frantically*Apprentice painter here,will work for minimum wage,willing to re-locate. 😆
Well,when the economy picks up and the factory can hire again that is.Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.Ya know, I don’t think I could be a painter. 😳
How long are painters stuck painting the same production piece? Do they get to switch to a different production color or sculpt each day? Or do they stick with it for a certain length of time? How often do they get to change? Each day? Each week? Or does it vary based on what is in demand?
I’d probably go loony-tunes if I were stuck on the same color and sculpt for too long. You would find me laughing hysterically, painting all over the walls (and possibly on people) just trying to get my creativity out. 😈
That’s some really interesting information. What pieces are you casting now? Are you moving on to any of the bigger sculpts yet?
bayoudragon wrote:I’d probably go loony-tunes if I were stuck on the same color and sculpt for too long. You would find me laughing hysterically, painting all over the walls (and possibly on people) just trying to get my creativity out. 😈
This is why, as I understand, the best production painters are not generally artists*!!
* Of course they are artists in their own right, but not necessarily ones with overactive creative centers like you, I, or many other artists on the forum here!
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comJennifer wrote:This is why, as I understand, the best production painters are not generally artists*!!
So, there’s still hope! 😀
bayoudragon wrote:Ya know, I don’t think I could be a painter. 😳
How long are painters stuck painting the same production piece? Do they get to switch to a different production color or sculpt each day? Or do they stick with it for a certain length of time? How often do they get to change? Each day? Each week? Or does it vary based on what is in demand?
I’d probably go loony-tunes if I were stuck on the same color and sculpt for too long. You would find me laughing hysterically, painting all over the walls (and possibly on people) just trying to get my creativity out. 😈 We are still painting very small batches of each color but ideally we want to get painters painting the same thing for as long as possible. It takes a few hundred of something to even get up to speed! Yup, painting these things is no dream job. It is a demanding, tedious and frustrating job! 🙄 let me out of here
I have worked for Tyson Foods,Fasco Motors,shrimp factories down here so I know ALL about repetition.We get so good and so fast in those jobs it would surprise you.Humans are machines.At the Tyson plant,you have two weeks to get fast enough for the production line.I know artists would,of course,take longer but it is the same principle.Train your brain to do it right and the speed will come.Some folks can’t handle those types of jobs but me,I loved it.Turn on some tunes and get after it 🙂
Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.
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