Contest Lustria Online's Sculpting contest! (Version 2.0) An apology - Contest closed completely

Define clue plz...
I've done some tuts (and you know where those are) but if you mean ideas, then it's mainly from googling.

Bad news, good news, bad news combos....

Bad News: These are going to take a smidge longer than I'd like.
Good News: This is because of some goings on I'm having to prioritize, BUT these will be to the benefit of everyone on Lustria Online, regardless of whether you entered the contest or not.
Bad News: I can't tell you what it is, not yet.

 

Photos up soon, you've all been so patient and understanding and I can't thank you all enough.

Life updates too, I quit my job.

 

I wanna play sculpting, when’s the next contest ;D?

 

This is a bad time to quit your job, how you gunna pay for all the new summoned units !!

 

Can't wait to see your work

Good point

 

I'll go light on details (for obvious reasons as it's never a good idea to talk about your job/previous job online and all grievances associated with it).

I'm sure one or two of you may know, or think you know what my job is and so to those people I would like to ask you to not say anything with regards to what I do, or the company I work/will have worked for.

As short as I can put it....

My job is a physical one, not an office job, because I despise office work with a passion, which is why I trained later in my life.
The company I work for had accumulated a two and a half year backlog of tasks within that field from simply not monitoring it, or having personnel visit the clients and conduct surveys. I was hired to clear this backlog and keep up to date with the monthly tasks as they came in.

After which point my contract/job description would shift to being evenly split cover monthly tasks and do more of the physical jobs.
I took me 10 months to clear the backlog and honour all the monthly generated contracts on time, I re-designed and improved the systems, client reports, feedback, standards, etc to a stage where clients were much happier, more remedial works/additional jobs were created, bringing more money into my company.

Things then turned sour, I was not given extra on site jobs as agreed, my then manager in fact would effectively palm off more and more computer and office based work on to me, sometimes with only 15 minutes notice. I got "salty" had meetings, raised issues and flatly got told "you knew what you were getting yourself into when you accepted the contract".

I found work elsewhere and told them I'd been offered a job,

Things changed within the space of an afternoon (which should have been a warning to go anyway), I moved division to the project based section with a job description defining a 50/50 split between office and site work, better than the other job offer I had an infinitely better than what I was doing. Was given a much more realistic pay too and moved division.

6 Months later I was STILL chasing this new division for a job description (I was shown a "rough" version in January, which was just as quickly hoiked away from me to be "re-worked"). I was actually doing an 80/20 time split with regards to officework/site work.
I had numerous managers give me their work, which they would frequently ignore for 2-3 weeks before it suddenly became my responsibility on the day it was due.
I was doing my job, their jobs and worse, compliance, health and safety, auditing and CAD design (they all have CAD, I do not, so their response was I had to edit CAD documents in Microsoft paint....)

I pushed back...months after months, I went to HR who ultimately escalated the issue and lack of job description until it finally reached a manager high enough up the chain who was horrified and tried to do something about it. My immediate manager tried numerous bargaining tactics prior too, insisting that I speak with him so we could "work things out" and not go to HR. However every time this was tried I would get told "we're working on it" "Everyone is stressed right now", "We'll look at it when things have quietened down", "I need you, we're trying to sort these things out".

Bargaining, it almost looks like red flag phrases used in an abusive relationship.

In order to try and smooth things over I was finally sent to site to do more of the physical work, only to find that nothing had been done, no official architectural drawings, no design (the things that tend to get done 6+ months before you build anything) and I was expected to magically pull these out of thin air. I had numerous individuals frustrated beyond belief, shout at me...all day long.

I'm thick skinned, so I can deal with that, it doesn't get to me.
Lazy individuals, especially in positions of authority however....those people irritate me and being expected to pull up their slack due to being promoted beyond their abilities....that I highly object to.

I handed in my notice, gave them three weeks when I only needed one (last week this week!) and have kept my tongue in check.
I have done so little sculpting, writing or just generally living, since working for that company, I thought I was entirely to blame, laziness, too many late nights, etc, but this was not the case.
After I got back from Japan, I realized this, the very first day back at work and a horrible mess that was quite literally "not my job" and well above my pay grade and authority had been ignored for three weeks, before my boss unceremoniously dumped it on me and went on his own holiday.

At that point I felt all the good vibes and rest from Japan erode and it was as if I had had no holiday at all, likewise I knew the source of all my woes outside of work, all the lethargy and tiredness and I knew things had to not only stop, but change.

Two weeks on and I do not regret the decision one bit.

The people there are nice despite the impressions you may have created from what I've typed, but the overwhelming attitude seems to be to find someone who is good at a specific task and make them and only them responsible for all of it, which works right up until the point they either have too much to do, or they leave.

 

Good luck, mate! Form what you've wrote, definitely a good decision.

 

Thanks everyone.

New job, still getting grief and panicked phone calls from my old job (there were/are some awesome people there, who were never told about my leaving) and the management for my section has undergone a complete change (not surprised but a little too late to be honest).

Cautiously optimistic, with a side of fear (potential cancer scare within my family).
Photos tonight of kit bash for second place, no ifs, buts, or coconuts.

 

As promised,

I will look at some changes if needs be.
Not the clearest of photos and have been struggling to get things like a bandolier, or even dead frogs attached to it.

Huge problem if you're tired or just unhappy with life, it creates some sort of mental block and you just can't get anything sculpting wise to work.

EDIT: And those photos are as clear as mud! Wonderful! Urgh....I'll get my other camera charged up.

 

Looking promising

 

Interesting little skink

 

Ok so some MORE news.

Big news too.
1st place sculpt, sorted! Yup, done, dusted, mustard.
No photos, at the risk of being a tease, I want this to be a surprise, I will not be able to mail it out until after the 14th of September, which I really must apologize for.

2nd place (the skink conversion)
More photos soon, not today unfortunately, work carried on too long, not enjoying it to be honest.

3rd place, in the works, trouble I've had has been dithering over whether it's too little.

 

Ok, final, final update.

I've edited the main title so that people can see and are made aware of the circumstances.

I'm sorry to have to say this, but it's infinitely preferable than dragging people along more and more.
There will be no models sent out, prizes have been switched to cash payouts.

- I need people to send me their paypal addresses and I'll mail out payments to people.
- I think it only right to give people details as to why, though be warned, it will be angsty.


The thing is, I don't enjoy sculpting any more, even when I have time to do it, I struggle just to force myself to do it.
It's become something I dislike because of all the negativity that has become attached to it over the years:

• All the people who have asked me commissions but offered peanuts in return.
• Numerous individuals in various companies (large and small) who have been nothing short of insulting in their dealings, people who "didn't budget for it", "will be able to pay when money comes through on kickstarter", people who tell you AFTER they receive models that they've had to reduce the amount they pay you because business isn't as good as it was when warhammer fantasy was still alive and well (the latter here was from someone I have called a friend and placed vast amounts of trust in over the years).
• People who cannot organize and or are as vague as possible with details and then get irritable when you press them to give you something decent to work with.

It might sound daft, but try doing something that makes you unhappy, it's only made all the more tragic because it once excited you. The quality of the work you produce, let alone the motivation is pitiful.

The last work (as it were) that comes from me will be from Avatars Of War, I am not allowed to say what it is, or when it will be available.

I understand fully if people are annoyed and I'd be very surprised if anyone on the forum wasn't disappointed or feels let down.
All I can say to those is, I'm sorry, I wish things were different, the only thing I would like to request is you don't chastise me for it because that will not change matters either, beyond fueling my disdain for sculpting.

I am sorry, really I am, I'm not going to make any promises about possibly returning, because I don't know what will happen and I don't want to get peoples' hopes up either.