Announcements: New companies and competitions

Every so often I like to take the opportunity to bring companies or figures and competitions to people's attention.  There's a lot of neat stuff out there but sometimes these things don't get noticed by that many people.

New Site - FigureMentors

Okay, I already mentioned this in a post the other day, but since I'm announcing stuff I might as well say it again.  There's a new painting site I'm working on called FigureMentors.  They've already got a lot of great content (articles, tutorials, reviews, etc).  If you haven't already, take a look and subscribe so you get notified of future posts.
http://figurementors.com/

New Company - Black Sun Miniatures
http://www.blacksunminiatures.co.uk/

They've been on facebook for a few months now, but only just opened up their website/webstore to actually start selling their figures a few days ago.  So far all they have available are some 75mm figures and a bust.  But, if you look through their facebook page you'll see more stuff coming, including some 35mm figures.  Of what is currently available this is my favorite.  I already ordered a copy and can't wait for it to arrive.

Sculptor - Nelya

This is a sculptor I found through a post on facebook.  I've seen her work before (she did a lot of pin up and some fantasy sculpts for Andrea Miniatures), but I was only recently aware that she had been the one who was behind those pieces.  I really like her latest piece, a 90mm version of the Hell Courtesan.  Some great opportunities to paint skin tones and her clothing could be simple or covered in freehand work (either would look great on this piece).  She intends to get the figure cast and sell it herself.  She's still working on the details on the production of the kit, but I will let people know when it's available.  I didn't think I'd do another Asian piece for a while once I finished the samurai, but this is one I'd love to start painting ASAP.  I will definitely be getting one once it's for sale.

Competition - Golden Vinci's
This is a competition going on for the past 5 or so years run by another painting site.  You can read about the current competition here (English version of the rules aren't up yet, so you may need to use Google Translate if you're not fluent in German).
http://dievincis.blogspot.com/2016/06/golden-vinci-2016.html
You can also check out last year's English version of the rules (seems like this year is pretty similar)
http://dievincis.blogspot.com/2015/01/golden-vinci-english-rules.html
You can also check out last year's winners to see the level of competition
http://dievincis.blogspot.com/2015/09/golden-vinci-2015-and-winners.html

I've been to join the past two years but never got around to creating an entry.  Hopefully that will change this time.  The announcement just went up on the 1st of this month and the deadline isn't until Oct 1st, so plenty of time to put something together.