About Tangible Day

Welcome!

Tangibleday.com is a blog dedicated to the avid tabletop gamer and miniature hobbyist. On this site, you’ll find every treasure I’ve discovered and learned, including pro painting tips, tutorials, photography hacks, product reviews, and editorials. I also happen to be a neuroscientist. If you love tabletop gaming and painting miniatures–with a bit of academia thrown in–this site is for you! Gaming, painting miniatures and studying neuroscience? What a combination! You can also check out my other work on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram (links below).

Who Am I?

I’m a 24/7 Dad and a neuroscientist. Although I’ve been into painting miniatures and playing tabletop games for years, I draw from the perspective of a devoted parent and an academic.

Sure, I love to think about tough subjects, but I also love to play. And, let’s face it, I have too many other fun hobbies to ignore. If I had to prioritize, I would say that painting miniatures, tabletop games, photography, and writing about these topics are my favorite past times. My hope with this site is to bring all my interests into a central place and share what I’ve learned.

As a kid, I always enjoyed engaging with the imaginary worlds other people created. It didn’t matter how. Movies, video games, theme parks, and even local game stores provided a means for me to engage with unreal places, things, and people. Who knows where this drive came from.

I think deep down, this inclination toward the imaginary, the unique and unreal, shaped how I grew up, and guided my career in the sciences. This blog is an intersection of my experience in science and art.

An Insight into Miniatures and Hobbies

I’m an introspective. I dig deep into things, including myself, to find out whatever. To boldly go….Whether the concept is important or ridiculous, the thrill of the discovery is the point. I’m a treasure hunter who has no idea what he is searching for. As long as it makes sense to me, I’ll share it!

But, here’s why miniatures and hobby games are amazing. They are a proxy for making ideas more real, tangible. Miniatures, painting, tabletop games, they connect people. For me, hobbies are a bridge to new, complex, and even frightening ideas.

Scale models and miniatures are a medium that can give us a truly unique perspective about the world and life. “Good things come in small packages” and likely not diamond rings.

Games. Where to start? Games are community builders. I think games are meant to bring people into a single point in time and space. Whatever enjoyment emerges from a game is up to divinity, don’t you think? Who knows? Who cares! Eh, I kind of do.

All I know is that the simple joy of playing a game is an escapist’s reward. This is probably a game’s most obvious purpose. Whatever it may be, Warhammer 40k or Warmachine, I enjoy throwing dice and shuffling cards with a group of friends.

How My Background Informs What I Write

What is an expert? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an expert is a person “having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.” In regards to my expertise, I’m amazing with some things, a total disaster with others. Part of the journey of writing this blog is discovering what I’m good at and accepting (and hopefully overcoming) my limitations. I fish to learn how to fish.

There are two things I really enjoy about hobbies. First, I think anyone can become an expert with enough experience. Tutorials, lessons, and instructions only speed up the process of becoming an expert. Hobbies, like miniature painting, give you the opportunity to grow. Second, when you are proficient at a particular skill, you discover that the responsible–and most enjoyable–step forward is to share what you’ve learned. At some point, the student becomes the master.

As to experience, I have taken a bunch of art classes and passed them 😅. I know my way around a professional art studio, e.g., traditional painting, mixed-media, metal and clay sculpture. Let’s not forget working as a commissioned miniature painter for more than 10 years. I also have a huge swath of professional experience in written communication with by-lines in respectable places, including glossy magazines and academic journals. I could certainly make a list. But, none of these venues show off my love of miniatures, scale modeling, and related hobbies.

Why Stick Around?

And, here we are. Article topics will be everywhere, about anything related to hobbies that I find interesting enough to share. I will do my best to tie-it together. Maybe there’ll be a gem, something you love. I expect duds. You won’t like it. You may hate my opinion. I’m quite fond of hacking ideas into tiny pieces and putting them back together. Humpty-dumpty sat on a wall…. broken eggshells and cyanoacrylate, all that.

This is a journal, a sketchbook, a life lived outside the normal margins of adult responsibility. I write stuff. I pitch ideas. Teach. Sometimes the wet noodles I throw on the wall form a picture. What do you see? Maybe, I’ll draw it for you.

I will try my best to improve where I can. You can see this when it comes to my miniature painting and photography. I’m always trying to find a way to get better with a brush or lens. Writing is the same. It’s all thoughts on a page strung together in a line–beads on a string. I’m always on the lookout for a better phrase. Read a lot; write a lot. Tell me I’m no good at doing this or that. Join me–let’s learn together.

Write for Tangible Day

This site is dedicated to you, the miniature painter, the gamer, the creative hobbyist. I’m just a single voice, and I know that we all benefit from diversity. E pluribus unum. As such, I’m actively looking to host a roster of contributing writers and authors. This naturally makes you the perfect candidate!

Do you want to publish with us? You don’t need to be a professional writer. All you need is a good head on your shoulders, a strong dose of enthusiasm for the hobby, and you are eligible! Acceptable article lengths are between 1000-1500 words. Photos are welcome, but not required.

If you have any hobby, art, or related topics that you’d like to write about, there are some simple, easy-to-follow instructions. I will get back to you within 24 hours with additional details.

Thank You for Visiting!

This site is only possible because you spent your time to visit. Thank you! If a hobby has taught me anything, it’s that anything worth doing is best done with other people.

If you find a particular topic, product, or tutorial interesting and want more, I’d love to hear from you! Have a question? Feel free to contact me @ [email protected].

You can also follow and message me on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Andrew 🖖