Interview With
Mamikon
Mamikon is a renowned miniature painter with around 18 years of experience, known for his award-winning work in Golden Demon competitions
Hi Mamikon – Could you introduce yourself please?
Hello everyone! My name is Mamikon but you might know me by my old nickname Noki or NokiStudio. I have been painting miniatures for about 18 years and I love our hobby!
How long have you been working with Redgrass?
I am not sure exactly how long but it feels like forever. At least 6-7 years I think and I have to say, you guys are really the best company I have worked with. No disrespect to others, who are also great people, but you really take it to the next level.
How did you start miniature painting?
I’ve started painting in the early 2000s after my brother introduced me to the wonderful world of miniatures. I have taken a few breaks from painting but when you enjoy something that much you can’t quit forever!
When did you start painting at what you would consider a serious level?
I’ve started painting well over 20 years now. I’ve had a few long and short breaks, but I’ve only started painting seriously around the end of 2016, trying to level up and prepare competition pieces for competitions like Golden Demon. In my opinion, a serious level of paintjob is when the piece is painted to a standard that can compete at one of the top level painting competitions. It does not have to be Golden Demon (as nowadays even past slayer sword winners are not guaranteed a trophy there with their level), but if you paint to a level that can get you an award in Standard categories at SMC, I think your level is serious. Of course, there are different levels of “serious” painting, but if we are talking about a general standard, I think this describes it best for me.
Describe your painting style in 5 words?
Clean, crisp, contrasting, bright, pleasing.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Back in the day you got your inspiration from the incredible White Dwarf magazine and then later from online forums about miniatures. Nowadays it’s mostly social media. The internet allowed us, the artists, to show our hard work instantly and it’s absolutely fantastic to be able to share your art with fellow painters.
What are the most important techniques for a miniature painter to know?
In my opinion every aspiring painter should understand how glazing works as this technique allows to achiever great effects on your models. Glazing might take some time but sometimes you have to pay a price to get great results. In this case you pay with your time. Top tip: when glazing have a hairdryer near you so every step takes seconds, not minutes. This will save up a ton of time and you will be able to master glazing a lot quicker!
Have you ever participated in a competition or won an award? What is your proudest achievement?
I have participated in several Golden Demon competitions and some smaller events. I was very lucky to win 5 Golden Demon trophies in 2018.
Proudest…it is very hard to name something here as I still haven’t achieved things I would be really proud of in competition miniature painting. I have painted quite a few pieces that I am proud of, but if I have to chose one thing to summarize what achievement makes me most proud, it is the fact that I have created over 110 painting tutorials for my Patreon just in 2023 and I continue to develop new tutorials all the time. I feel very passionate about teaching people how to paint, to show painters that you can paint well, without overcomplicating it. I think some painters like making things a bit more complex than they have to be, so I do the opposite by showing people the most efficient way of painting everything.
Mamikon uses these Redgrass Painting tools
What was it like to enter Golden Demon? Would you enter again??
Entering and winning a Golden Demon has been a dream of mine since the very beginning of me in this hobby. It is definitely a fantastic feeling to enter, as you can showcase all of your hard work to other likeminded painters and see their incredible work on display. But at the same time, as soon as you enter, you get nervous, especially if you are like me and you want to win every time. It is not a very healthy experience, as you try to calculate your chances of winning. So you get more and more nervous with every new amazing miniature you see. And it should be the opposite. You should be happy to see more and more incredible miniatures. I have a thing where if I see more than 2 “dangerous” (as my French friend Alexis like to call them) entries in my category, I just relax and start saying “wow, that mini is freaking incredible… I am screwed!”. So it’s a combination of wanting to win and wanting to enjoy the incredible work on display. Lately, as I did not have the time to paint any proper entries for GD for a few years now, I’ve started to care less about the “chances of me winning” and focusing on enjoying the minis and friendly conversations near the cabinets. I have also decided to create the pieces I want to have on my shelf after the competition, and not pieces that have the best chances of winning. It is after all a celebration of our miniature painting hobby, and it should be treated like one.
What do you think makes a ‘pro painter’?
There is a common misconception that a professional is someone who just makes money from what they are doing, as it is in fact their profession. At the end of the day, you can paint to a very low, super basic gaming standard and sell your models on ebay, which will make you money, but it won’t make you a professional. Being professional means much more than that. You have to master certain techniques, understand them and preferably be able to explain them to other people. You have to be able to produce high level results (in this case well painted miniatures). And I just want to mention, that winning a competition is not needed to be a professional, nor does winning a competition necessarily make you a professional.
What do you most enjoy about miniature painting?
This is a fantastic question because once in a while, I want to remind myself what I love about this hobby the most, to reignite the flame of passion that I have for it. Since I was a little kid, gazing over Golden Demon Winners Special White Dwarf journals (yes, the white cover ones), I remember the feeling of joy after looking at incredible miniatures, crafted and painted to a level of traditional art. So for me, the most satisfying, enjoyable thing about miniature painting, are the pieces of miniature art, created by the amazing painters in our community. It is also the feeling that I get when I finish a piece for myself or for a competition. And finally, the events, where you are surrounded by incredible painters and their work, and you can forget the time and all of your problems while standing next to the cabinets, that are full of miniatures, talking to fellow painters, till 4 am in the morning.
How do you start a new piece?
I start with a feeling. Often when I scroll through the social media or websites related to miniature painting, I see a piece of art that inspires me and evokes a strong feeling in me. When this happens, I do the following:
1) I check if I can bring this artwork to life.
2) If so, I check if I have the models needed to create it.
3) If that also checks out (or I order the models needed online), I start planning the whole piece, from base building to color combinations.
4) After that I just fulfil the plan I’ve made, with some variations made along the way.
What is your favourite miniature that you have painted?
As I am a painter who prefers clean painting, I will say that my favourite models I’ve painted is the Spire Tyrants Leader as it is the cleanest model I have painted. I was studying ever millimetre of that model to fix every single mistake, so it really makes me proud.
What is the key tip you would give to a miniature painter who wants to improve?
Think about what you are doing when you are painting. Don’t just use your feelings (like I do criminally too often). If you think “why did I put a highlight here?”, you will learn much much quicker. And also don’t lie to yourself. If you are honest with yourself, you will be able to identify your mistakes and weaker spots and improve upon them.
Do you set hobby goals for yourself at the start of the year? Do you have anything exciting coming up?
I absolutely do set hobby goals for myself and I try to over deliver them every year. First and foremost I want to create as many great tutorials as possible. I also want to paint at least 3-4 great pieces that I can be proud of. I also want to help as many young painters as possible with “Mamikon Philanthropy” – a project I’ve started last year to help the less fortunate painters with paints and hobby tools. I have many exciting things coming up but I can’t really talk about them. I wish I could! But if you wait, you will see some very cool things from me in 2024 🙂