Coming back to the hobby after a couple of decades, what has most surprised me is the sheer quality of modern figures. I know some of it has a digital helping hand but I still think some of the newer sculpting is absolutely staggering - even if it is resin.
I can’t imagine I’ll want to paint stock figures because conceiving something original is part of the process for me but as a benchmark and an inspiration for my own sculpting I’ll keep a very beady eye on what’s being produced.
The fantasy and sci-fi stuff isn’t really my thing but anything that encourages people to develop their creativity and imagination and make real things out of real stuff, with their hands, in the real world instead virtual stuff on screens and gadgets has got to be a great thing. The problem is that developing any skill to a good standard is really difficult compared to the immediate, push button perfection digital devices offer - given that, it’s very encouraging to see so much lovely work - by some very talented (and persevering) people still going on.