Spiel 2026 Went Off the Scale: The Winners, Reviewed

Bruce, Magnus and David sit down to dig into this year’s Spiel painting competition: the winners, the trends, and why the depth of talent on those tables had all three of us running out of superlatives. Magnus summed it up best: “I have never seen the depth or width of a competition like this. It was absolutely mental.” In this episode: The level went off. Last year there were rumblings that the standard was exploding. This year it just kept going. Small is the new big. There were fewer huge, over-the-top showpieces, and a whole lot of seriously good work in the smaller categories. David is delighted. More is not more. Why the judging rewarded pieces that were pleasing and well resolved, rather than just bigger and busier. New names on the podium. First-time winners, and what that says about a community that helps everyone grow and flourish. ¡Viva España! A massive shout-out to the Spanish community, whose academies are doing an insane amount of work and it shows. The winners. We go category by category through the pieces that took home the medals. Did you paint, enter, judge, or just stand in front of those cabinets with your jaw on the floor? Tell us in the comments: what was your stand-out piece of Spiel 2026? With thanks as always to The Golden Demon Compendium: https://thegoldendemoncompendium.com/   / thegoldendemoncompendium   _____________________ 🏆 Support GitGud on Patreon:   / ggpainting   👍 Visit our website: https://gitgudpainting.com/ GitGud on Instagram: 📸 Magnus:   / magnusmaegtig   📸 Dave:   / davecolwell725   📸 Bruce:   / bruce_is_painting