IP 6: Rd SIX: THE FINAL!!

[supervike]

DING DING DING!



http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/supervike/ironpainterver2.jpg


ALL RIGHT Paint fans....here is our Final Countdown....


Two painters enter, one painter leave!!


In this corner, we have the scrappy yet determined Paintminion!!!!

She has carved up her opponents all season long all while staying cooly amused!

But entering the ring with a fanfare of trumpets:

It's the returning Champ....BEXLEY!

He has upped his game with every entry...Can he find the strength for one more fight?


PAINTMINION vs. BEXLEY

The theme, staying with our Meta-theme, and playing a call back to one of the best rounds we've ever had......another Alfred Hitchcock thriller:


VERTIGO!

Hope you are all not scared of heights, because this one will be dizzying!


The deadline: A very short two weeks:

Sunday MAY 24th at 6 pm.

It's the battle of the season, with the juggernauts from the Midwest!!

Will Paintminion grab the crown, not only for herself, but to return it to the fairer sex?

Will Bexley become the second 'multiple' winner?

It's only the crown that's up for grabs!!!!

The Final of IP Six begins:


NOW!!

[EricJ]

I'd like to take this moment to hint that there WILL be a trophy for the winner...so paint hard! :D

[Bexley]

I got my idea in about ten seconds. Which is good, as it's a LOT of scratchbuilding.

[Sculpta the squig]

I wonder if both the entries will involve forced perspective...:p:

Squig

[Bexley]

Nope.

[demonherald]

great theme.. would have me scratching my head nothing jumping in there currently. will be interesting to see what comes of it and I for one have got the popcorn on reay for a show... Good luck you two..

[Moavoamoatu]

Hard theme. Good luck.

[supervike]

Regarding the Guest Judge spot for this round...

EVERYONE who is interested in judging, can do so.

The GUEST JUDGE scores will be averaged from all the folks who'd like to vote. I'll give more details on how to do that as we progress....

[Bexley]

EVERYONE? 'Cause I already know how I'll vote. :)

[TheBugKing]

Yeah, But the 5,5,10 and 0,0,0 from both of you will average out and basically cancel out. May as well drop them Vikey.

Bexly can't play nice in the sand box. :P

[Bexley]

Well, this place has been dead.

Not happy. Paimtminion got her wish, as I threw my back out last weekend. I can't sit upright more than thirty minutes at a time. I had to considerably scale back my ambitious idea. I hope to get something done, but it's going to be close. Which is normal, but I usually get to work straight through the night, instead of stopping for frequent breaks.

[Ritual]

Sorry to hear about your back, Bex. Hopefully you'll be able to finish something, at least. I don't think we've had a DNF in the final yet.

[TheBugKing]

Sorry to hear that Bex. I too have major back trouble (Two herniated disks in my neck.)

I go regularly to a chiropractor and it really helps. Of course it's the weekend so you are probably SOL there.

Best of luck!

[Bexley]

I'm pretty sure it's the muscles, though. It does this about once a year. A few weeks of taking it easy will make it fine. I just need to remember to do exercises to strengthen the muscles once I've healed. The first time it happened, I started doing them as soon as I felt no pain.- and then promptly re-injured myself. So I have to wait until some time after the pain has disappeared to do the exercises. But, without the pain to remind me, I forget all about it until the next time my back goes out on me.

[Bexley]

Also (not that I need it any time soon) there is no round 6 gallery.

[PaintMinion]

Actually, I AM sorry to hear about your back Bex. I too am fighting illness, had to cancel paint night last night and slept through the evening, night and into this morning. And I'm only half painted. :-( But I'm doing my best to make a good and fun entry, as I'm sure you are...and we're both doing it a little bit at a time...like until I get the sneezies again or a coughing fit and I stop for tea about every hour. This will be my germiest entry ever.

Of course, being ill gave me a valid excuse for staying home and not going to the lakes this weekend with the family and working on this IP project at home without family around to interrupt ( Vikey, you or your successor needs to watch these holidays!). It means I'll miss the first big grill out of steak Saturday, and BBQ chicken Sunday, kabobs on Monday, but it's probably a good thing if I'm to stick to my better foods lifestyle these days. The family sets a hefty table. ;-)

So, even the cold meds are spinning me right round, Bexley right round, like a record player right round round round...

But we both have some Iron to prove, so let's buck up and get back to work. I can't wait to see your entry!

[PaintMinion]

And yeah...there's no gallery for us. Not that I'll be early either...

[Bexley]

Well, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear about the illness. Though, I do admit I'm glad to hear the playing field has been leveled. :)

[PaintMinion]

Yep, leveled. But how far is it down? feeling dizzy yet? World spinning around you yet?

So we may be off our game, but we're not down for the count yet...um, except I see about 3 hours left and counting.

I'll probably take it down to the wire and take photos by 5, unless I just can't stand the medicine head and painting anymore. But this is the final, and Skya and the rest of the IMMPS will spin me to pieces if I don't give it everything I can!

Tea gone, break over, time to make some more and get back to work.

Good luck to you, Bexley.

[TheBugKing]

Man. This is pathetic.

Don't get me wrong, I feel for you both and your various troubles but this is the FINAL!

This is supposed to be a clash of the TITANS!
Not a meeting of the poor folks getting ready to go on the cart! (I'm feeling better! I think I'll go for a walk)

Please excuse me PM but to the both of you:
MAN UP! Pull your selves up by the bootstraps and rock this Iron Contest! Show the rest of us what true IRON is! Sickness? Fire? Plague? HAH! We are Iron Painters and nothing will slow us down!

Pep talk over. Kick ass folks!

[demonherald]

it's the iron lung painter final...

just a few hours left then the rest can kick in. go for it..
Bex exercising between painting sessions has become a must for me now.. I start my painting sessions out pretty much like a gym session with a ful muscle warm up and take regular breaks to do windmillsand back stretches as well as have a small set of dumbells near my desk ...

Sue illnesses during IP suck but I guess getting to the final the time span covered does increase the chances of an illness. chin up or head down ..or both if you can manage it and lets see a show from the pair of ya ..

[Bexley]

Never said I wouldn't finish, just that it was rough going. Sheesh.

Well, the back issues aren't painting related. Otherwise, I might actually remember to do exercises. ;) (I actually have pretty good painting posture, a high table so I don't hunch over, and a chair with lower back support.) I do, however, do forearm exercises, which has helped prevent my wrists from getting sore or from shaking during long painting sessions.

[PaintMinion]

Geez, didn't I say I'd give it my all? Neither of us said we were giving in, just that our iron was really being twisted and turned by physical difficulties. Just means our finishing is even more IRON than ever! That said, I'm done. Gonna take pics and finish this.

[PaintMinion]

Done. Uploaded. Bed. No Iron left...I used it all...

[Peterdita]

Good luck you two!

[Bexley]

Made the deadline.

[Bexley]

Awwww, crap. I made it 600px instead of 800px. You can barely make out the paratrooper's terrified expression. Crap crap crap.

[Moavoamoatu]

There is a bug in the gallery : I can access paintminion photo but not Bexley's one.

[Ritual]

Worked for me earlier this morning...

... and still does.

[TheBugKing]

There is a bug in the gallery : I can access paintminion photo but not Bexley's one.

I didn't post anything to the gallery.

You must be mistaken Moa. <grin. just had to>

[Wren]

Well I think this is a pretty damn iron-filled round on the part of both the finalists! I thought both the entries were ambitious and full of theme when I looked at them prior to reading this thread, and all the moreso given what the painters have been suffering through. I've been in a final round of IP, and I don't know that I'd have managed to get anything done if I'd suffered from a back issue or a cold, so hats off to you both!

And hats off just for the entries. I really like that they each highlight a different aspect of vertigo, with PM's highlighting the dictionary definition and Bex's tying in more to the fear of heights from the movie. I think it's also very interesting/fun that the gender of the painters is fairly evident from their pieces. I don't envy the judges their work on this final round of judging. Though if I remember correctly all previous entrants can judge, so I'd better sit down after I get some food and wake up a bit and have a closer look myself...



Bex exercising between painting sessions has become a must for me now.. I start my painting sessions out pretty much like a gym session with a ful muscle warm up and take regular breaks to do windmillsand back stretches as well as have a small set of dumbells near my desk ...

DH, might I suggest a new tutorial for the next issue of Wyrd magazine or to post up somewhere? A workout for painters to keep backs hale and hearty. I mean this as a serious suggestion. Someone on CMON forums posted a few months back about having started to do a few strength exercises that really help him at the painting table, Bex mentioned some arm exercises, and you sound like you have a whole routine. I have exercises for my arthritis problems from a physiotherapist, though they don't help as much with the pain I get from painting as I'd like. I think the younger folks need to hear about the idea of taking breaks and stretching if they want to keep doing this hobby when they're less young. I know a few people who have problems that seriously cut into the time they can spend at a painting table.

[PaintMinion]

Wren, the stretching breaks for painters is definitely a good idea for an article! DH, go for it! I just know to stretch arms, back and wrists every once in awhile since I lost my "stamina" for the painting table, but if you could find us some specific good stretches or info to help us all, I think it's well worth while. Maybe a physical therapist out there can set us straight as well?

Oh, and all I have to say is - thanks to all the heavenly powers for Musinex DM and Tylenol.

[Bexley]

DH, might I suggest a new tutorial for the next issue of Wyrd magazine or to post up somewhere? A workout for painters to keep backs hale and hearty. I mean this as a serious suggestion. Someone on CMON forums posted a few months back about having started to do a few strength exercises that really help him at the painting table, Bex mentioned some arm exercises, and you sound like you have a whole routine. I have exercises for my arthritis problems from a physiotherapist, though they don't help as much with the pain I get from painting as I'd like. I think the younger folks need to hear about the idea of taking breaks and stretching if they want to keep doing this hobby when they're less young. I know a few people who have problems that seriously cut into the time they can spend at a painting table.

Here's something: Soft Tissues for Hobby Painters (http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=1720)

For my own contribution, I do several sets of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_wrist_curl) as well as the reverse variety (same exercise, but palms face up) three days a week. (Well, I did. I cut back once school started, as cranking the hand wheels on a Bridgeport several hours a day five days a week is more than enough forearm exercise.) Two things to note are: 1) if you don't do a lot of physical work, it won't be surprising if 5lbs (or less) is enough weight. Without the rest of your arm muscles joining in, forearm muscles can't lift a lot. 2) You will be able to do significantly more curls than reverse curls at first.

[PaintMinion]

Bex, that's a great article, how did I miss that one? Thanks for the link.

[supervike]

The final is here and gone!

Next up judging!

[Wren]

Great link Bex! I'll definitely have to try that broom stretch for the erector muscles. I've been doing the forearm exercises you linked to for a while, guess I need to step it up cause I'm only at 3 lbs. It's really helped with some wrist problems I'd had for years.

My biggest painting problem is near the center of my back, about where a bra strap closes. My PT recommended rows. I do standing, seated, bent over, all kinds of rows, but I haven't noticed much improvement. :-< I'm starting to think it's probably permanent joint damage more than muscle stuff I can fix. A better painting chair and trying to mix positions between leaning forward and leaning backwards has helped a bit.

[Wren]

The GUEST JUDGE scores will be averaged from all the folks who'd like to vote. I'll give more details on how to do that as we progress....

Did we get more details and I just missed it?

[Bexley]

Great link Bex! I'll definitely have to try that broom stretch for the erector muscles. I've been doing the forearm exercises you linked to for a while, guess I need to step it up cause I'm only at 3 lbs. It's really helped with some wrist problems I'd had for years.

Heh. Yeah, I swung a hammer for a living when I started doing them, and still could only just do five pounds on the curls, and had to go buy smaller weights to be able to do the palms-down variety. I believe it's because forearms mainly control the wrists, and are rarely lifting any real weight without the help of the rest of your arm. After a year, though, I could do twenty pounds each way. Until I got tennis elbow from making tables at FFG. That took about six months to heal to a point where I could even exercise my arm again. And then, I was back to barely doing five.

[supervike]

Did we get more details and I just missed it?


Nope, here are the details.


Interested in judging for the final round of the IRON PAINTER?


Your voice shall be heard. All you have to do is send me (supervike) a pm with your scoring on it.


Here is the criteria.

Theme (score 0-5)

Technique (score 0-5)

Overall Aesthetic (score 0-10)

Comments are more than welcomed, but not necessary.

What I will do for the 'final guest judge' spot is to combine all the guest ballots together, and the average score will be used for the final tally.

Random judges will be awarded small tokens of gratitude!

Please have the ballots in ASAP, but no later than FRIDAY the 29th by 12 noon (central time)