Announcement: The 2023 Massive Voodoo ORCtober

by David

Hey all,


it's that time of the year, again! Summer is gone and Fall is starting to paint the leaves with its reddish-golden color scheme - and the Massive Voodoo jungle is diving heads-first into ORCtober!

And, boy, do we have a special treat for you this year!


To celebrate her adoption by the pack, our newest Massive Voodoo family member Momo has sculpted a special, exclusive ORCtober figure. We don't want to spoiler too much just yet, but here's a little teaser pic:


We want YOU for MV ORCtober


Of course, there can't be a Massive Voodoo ORCtober without a little community challenge. We will not say too much at this point, keeping the suspense up for juuuust a little bit longer... But on ORCtober 1st, 2023 we will let the cat out of the bag and unveil Momo's special, exclusive ORCtober figure - and tell you how YOU can join in the madness.

So, make sure to make time for some miniature painting over the next few weeks, and stay tuned for the next update on the 2023 Massive Voodoo ORCtober! And of course, feel free to spread the word and stoke the hype through your social media, using the hashtag #MVorctober.

The Massive Voodoo team

MV Team: Momo

by momogojira



Name:
Momo
 

Job: Digital Sculptor  

Painting: Painting since 2018ish

Sculpting: Sculpting since 2015

Painting Media: Acrylics

(Digital) Sculpting Media: Zbrush, 3dsMax, Blender

Brushes: Whatever I can get my hands on

Airbrush: Harder & Steenbeck Infinity (still learning)

Miniatures: Animals, Dinosaurs, Fantasy

Inspirational Miniature Painter: Karol Rudyk, Roman Lappat, Josua Lai, Arnau Lazaro

Inspirational Sculptors: Simon Lee (aka Spiderzero), Beth Cavener, Tomek Radziewicz, Sean Cooper (Paleocraft), Nick Bibby, David Zhou

Gallery: Artstation, Instagram


Hi everyone! My name is Momo and I’m over the moon to have been adopted by the amazing Massive Voodoo family! I’m currently living in a small town in Bavaria, together with my dog and my two geckos :)

My sculpting journey began when I started studying Games Art in Munich and I was introduced to ZBrush in 2013. I wanna say I was immediately hooked, but truth is it took a little detour to fall back in love with sculpting...After my studies I started working at a media agency and noticed that something was missing. This time I made a point of really focussing on sculpting digitally and many hours of practice went in after work and on my weekends, because I knew that it was my real passion. I made the jump to working as a freelancer, and although there have been some hard times I never looked back. Now I’m grateful to be able to work with companies like Schleich and many lovely private customers. I also have my own little Etsy shop that I’m gradually growing. My favorite subject to sculpt is also my biggest love in life - animals! Reptiles, amphibians, dinosaurs and horses are the ones I probably love to create the most. Here are some examples of my sculpts: 


 







 

So how did I get in touch with Massive Voodoo? A few years ago, I saw Josua's amazing art on Instagram and we got talking. A while later he introduced me to Roman and we met for a painting session. That’s how I discovered the wonderful world of miniature painting! Roman has taught me a huge amount of useful things about painting and - if you know Roman this will be no surprise - about life. Most of the time when I paint miniatures, I will paint my own figures that I sculpted and 3D printed at home. I usually try to paint them as realistically as possible, like this burgundy snail I made a while ago:


A hand holding a realistic sculpture of a burgundy snail




It has been an amazing journey so far, and I’m looking forward to improving my painting skills and learn many a new thing from my wonderful jungle family! And maybe one of these days I will actually finish one of the miniatures that I have parked at Roman's studio!


Thank you so much for having me!







The Judge, the Diva and the Taskmaster - the impact of inner conflict on creative work

by Hansrainer

Hello jungle people,

this is Hansrainer with a little article on the inner conflicts that block us from doing what we think we actually want or think we should actually want to do. I have been struggling with creating in quite a while - and I know that this struggle is not uncommon. Creation and creativity take time and energy - and in a busy life balancing family, job, pet and the increasing need to take care of ones health as the years pass - those seem to become more and more sparse ressources.

Last year I realized, that I had really let my health slide in dramatic ways and that I needed to focus on that, because frankly the issues that came with being overweight and the complete lack of exercise started to catch up and affect pretty much every aspect of my life: Family, work and not the least: painting, writing etc. in other words: creating.

Now, I could just spew a few platitudes like "healthy mind - healthy body" or vice versa and so on, but that is common knowledge and stating the obvious is rarely helpful. Instead I will try to share some of the more detailed and intricate insights I gained during the last years, that helped me get at least on the way to this better place. One of the major reasons why I stopped creating more or less completely, unless I was partaking in a painting class or other event like the MV family gathering in June, is that I felt/feel like I don't have the time or energy to do so.

In the last year, I changed Jobs, worked on my eating habits and lost a considerable amount of weight. I also started to get into the habit of meditation and going to the gym quite regularly. In order to do so and keep it up (to a certain degree - we all fail again and again...) I had to learn a lot about creating, forming and maintaining habits as well as breaking others. I also had to learn to become more aware or conscious about how I feel in a given moment, in the beginning to just understand when and why I want to eat, but also to understand what I can do to stick with things, which thoughts allow me to slack off and which thoughts and situations make it easier to stick with the new routine and so on.

This gets me to the core of thoughts for today:

One of the very first things I put my mind to, was to understand why I find/make the time for certain activities and not others, to identify the factors:

1. Priorities: I realized, that the usual "I don't have the time to..." argument is in and by itself rather pointless: Other people with jobs and children work out too, other people with busy lives find the time not only to paint but to actually thrive artistically and create wonderful pieces in amazing quality with impressive regularity. The reason why some people chose to spend their time one way and not another is conflicting priorities: It seems I'd much rather sit on my butt watching reels on FB instead of sitting at my laptop and write an article. I'd rather spend time with my son instead of painting my next bust.See what I did here? Putting a seemingly bad and an obvious good choice right next to each other? That lead me to

2. Choices: and accepting the result: From dealing with my aging mom and raising my young son I learned: You always have a choice what to do. Common logic dictates that making the choice is hard. But it is not. The hard part is learning to accept the consequences of the choices we make and that wishes are most often the desire to get to the outcome of a choice without having to endure the consequences. Fighting the inner fight and enduring the struggle between the wishes you have and the acceptance of the price and inner negotiations to get around that can take up a lot of time and energy. And very easily we are prone to skipping lanes completely and jump into avoidance behaviours so we can ignore and suppress the open:

3. Inner conflict: Once we understand and accept, that being unhappy is the result of an inner conflict, we can start working towards mediating and solving it. Because ultimately all these struggles are conflicts for ressources, two (or more) parts of yourself are struggling with each other for limited ressources: Time, Attention, Energy. If you can identify the parts of you that are conflicting and their goals, you can literally start to mediate and mollify them - but before that gets to abstract, let me try to give an example:

Situation: Its sunday morning and I know I should be writing a blog post for MV. But...

Breakdown:

There are several reasons, why I think I should be doing this (Consider: Thoughts are just thoughts and neither facts nor the truth) :

    • One part of me likes to expose myself to the public and let the world partake in my insights (and a vain part of me hopes for acclamation and positive feedback to confirm my self-image of being smart and thoughtful). This is the same part that also drives me to publish pictures of my models on social media, where they are tied to my Name instead of just showing the anonymously at shows etc. Lets call it the Diva.
    • Another part of me thinks that writing down my thoughts on this subject will help me to structure and clarify them for myself and my own development. Thats the part that knows that applying my own intellect to my problems can help me overcome them and feel better tomorrow. Lets call it the Analyst.
    • Yet nother part of me thinks: Hey, these thoughts might be valuable to others, haven't read anything similar in this context, so lets share it and may it can help others on their way. That's the Teacher in me.
    • Yet another part remembers, that I promised to write an article for MV until next week and is committed to get it done. This is the part the exerts the most pressure overall to sit down NOW and do it. "don't be unreliable!", "stick with your commitments to others!" - lets call it the Taskmaster.

And now come the reasons why chose to sit another hour at my cell and watch FB-Reels instead of working on the article:

    • There is a part in me that is afraid, that writing the article will take too much time and I will not be able to fullfil other at least equally important commitments and so its better if I don't even start. This guy is the Hesitant.
    • Another part of me is worried that no-one is in the least interested to read this and it is a big waste of time anyways. And also everyone else on the team has better articles and more reasons to publish than I do - given that I am a mediocre painter at best and have no credentials to make my other thoughts worth of attention. Lets call it the Judge.
    • And last but definitely not least is the part that doesn't want to be told what to do! After all its MY time and I don't want to clean up my room - err, do my homework, ahm I mean write that article. It's a rather petulant Boy - I guess he is around 9 years old.

Analysis:

Well, at the first glimpse this looks like I could have a multiple personality disorder, but of course, that's not the case. The idea of an inner multitude is actually part of many schools of psychotherapy and is a common model used to explain and resolve inner conflicts (yeah, I had to read up on that ;) ). All in all, what we do have is quite a conflict thats raging in me and as it often happens, an ongoing conflict paralyses pretty much everyone involved: In my case thats my creative parts (Diva, Teacher, Taskmaster) as well as my analytical parts (Hesitant, Analyst and Judge) and even the more laid back Boy (which lets me enjoy Ice cream usually or just cuddling with my dog etc). BUT - now that I thought it through, I (the Adult-Me) can actually step in and start mediating the conflict:

Solution:

I tell the Hesitant, that while this might be true, getting something done, even something less important but maybe more urgent frees up ressources later for the important stuff. Staying in the struggle only makes the overall situation worse.

The Judge can grudgingly accept, that after all I don't JUST do this for the Diva - and even if the Diva doesn't get, what the Diva wants, the Analyst and maybe the Teacher still get to profit. In other words: If I do it for me, its worth doing it.

I embrace the Boy and tell him that the Taskmaster doesn't just command him around for the sake of it. There will be benefits later - and hey, we might go and get some icecream when it's done.

Thusly I can restore balance between my inner critics and drivers. (By the way, the different actors take different roles in different contests and their individual strength seems to vary by the day). And that creates:

4. Resolution:

Today the resolution was, that this article has been written. On other days the resolution is that stuff is not being done. Sometimes the Judge wins and sometimes the Boy wants what he wants and the Taskmaster may be fine with it. The more important part is that the resolution restores my inner peace for the time being. I can be at ease and really accept the consequence of my choice. Because it has been deliberated and the conflict is transparent and resolved to me.

I think oftentimes the struggle to get going on a project or "just doing it" is a short, sometimes forced version of solving similar conflicts and when we try to "Discipline" or "Motivate" THROUGH it, it's like slogging through mud while the inner conflict rages in the background. For me solving it either way saves energy and makes it easier to do things - or to honestly enjoy the junk time if I take it. And of course, this is an ongoing development. Sometimes I succeed at visiualizing and resolving and sometimes I need my wife or my friends to point out that there is an inner conflict at all.

Soooo - what could you take home from this?

Information:

1. Blocks and Stagnation are often the results of unresolved inner conflicts of priority. If they were resolved there wouldn't be a block - we would just elect to not pursue the topic for now or just do it.

2. The causes and agency of inner conflicts are often not transparent on first sight. Sometimes we do not even realise the existence of the conflict.

3. Our personality can be (and is often) represented by a multitude of parts. Going into the details and specifica of this is unfortunately far beyond the scope of this article - I can provide some pointers into academic reading (or at least starting points) on the topic - but unfortunately solely in German - hit me at the mail adress given below. Suffice to say: Usually these aspects are a natural part of the psychological development of a human and usually serve to protect and guide us in unclear environments (much like biases, prejudices) or (more often) did so in the past. For example my Judge is a representation of how I perceived my mom when I was around the age 9-11. Its function was to avoid conflicts with her by preemptively anticipating conflict topics and preventing me from disappointment by lowering expectations. Naturally the attempt of a 9 year old trying to avoid negative feedback from his parents isn't necessarily a helpful way for a 45 year old professional to deal with the world... :D

Method:

Disclaimer: I am not a psychologist or mental health professional. The following is not recommended as method for self-therapy. If you know of or consider being affected by a mental health condition, please see a professional mental health specialist.

Next time you face a struggle of avoidance, try to take a quiet minute with yourself. Try to determine if you feel an inner conflict. Verbalize it (write it down, talk to yourself, whatever works for you). Sometimes this can already be enough to make it transparent and make a more conscious decision. Accept this choice and the consequences - it often helps to verbalize this as well:

e.g."I don't want to paint now, because I prefer the immediate positive feedback from playing a game. I am fine/happy with the fact that my project X is not moving forward/is delayed."

If this not sufficient to feel more at peace, you might try to feel the emotions tied to the struggle: Fear, Anger, Anxiety or whatever else. Imagine the parts of yourself that feel these emotions. Verbalize acknowledgement of the struggle and conflict and engage in a discussion solution. Sometimes you might just need to comfort your inner child...

Conclusion:

This is a tool I found and use. I hope it might be interesting to explore for some of you struggling with similar issues.

Initially I thought, this would be a one-off article on how I try to get back to create more (and I already changed other things) - but it seems this needs a bit more thinking and space to get through.

Here are some topics I'd like to adress in follow up articles:

  • Quality “me” time vs. junk time
  • Realistic expectations / time inventory
  • A little each day is lot better than a lot once a week

In the meantime, please feel invited to share your thoughts. I would be happy to hear any and all feedback and will gladly answer questions. Please drop them in the comments below – or contact me directly via Facebook or Email (Apokalypsetest - at - gmail - com).

MV Team: Petra

by Petrelka


Name: Petra aka. Petrelka (yes, I listen to both names)

Job: Software developer & engineer (as well as a part-time Quality Assurance person, aka. "automated bug-finder")

Painting: first phase between 1997 and 2001, mainly D&D characters and a having a little look into wargaming; after a longer pause I directly went into display painting around 2015 until now.

Media: mainly acrylics (Scale artist, Kimera, a bit of Mr. Paint, P3, Schmincke and AK), inks by W&N and Liquitex. I am also currently trying out other color mediums, like gouache and aquarelle and trying to figure out how to incorporate them into my painting.

Brushes: Still a Wamp brushes kickstarter and Broken Toad Mk. 2 fangirl, while currently looking for alternatives (Rosemary, DaVinci, Isabey & Miniwarpaint brushes are currently on my table). I use a huge variety of no-name brushes for going wild on bases and doing first sketches, where I don't need to worry a lot for wear & tear of those tools.

Miniatures: I like a lot of things, but it seems to concentrate mostly on fantasy and cyberpunk (looking at my pile of opportunities), no matter if full-body or busts. I am neither an army painter, nor a big fan of over-sexualized content (still waiting for the day when gravity again reigns over boob size gravitation ;)).

Scale models: I don't like to paint and build huge models. So I never really got into the Revell model building scene. But (!) I did build a couple of Star Trek ships (back in the Voyager time), and I fell in love with the complete SeaQuest DSV model line from Monogram (back in the days). And, oh well, I am still looking for the Deep Space Nine model with fiberglass lighting - but that most probably will stay a dream. :)

Sculpting: Ohhh, I have loads of ideas in my head - but ... well ... getting them out is still a bit hard; learning curve and such things are steep. I am dipping my toes into that field as well, but nothing to show yet.

Inspirational Miniature Painters: You? Yes, definitely must be you! (I still find that most of us carry a load of inspiration that just waits to be seen)

Other hobby shenanigans: I occasionally write short stories. I play in a marching band. I actually also paint on other things, like computers, laptops, fridges, brush boxes, entire walls … sometimes even on canvas.

Gallery: putty&paint – most times not up-to_date, but I'm trying :)


Wanna know my color management technique?
It always starts out so well, but then: utter chaos!

The tl;dr:
Hey, my name is Petra and I like to put paint on minis. :)

The long version:
So, who's here for the long introduction? Get something to drink, switch to your comfy pants and here we go! Welcome to the jungle that is also called »my mind«.

My name is Petra, I am located in NRW, Germany and started painting when I was around 15 - a time when I also first encountered D&D with my local writers group (yep, also doing some creative writing every now and then). Everyone of our newly formed D&D group wanted to paint their gaming mini, and this is how it all started.


Morgan le Fay by Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures was
one of the first miniatures I fell in love with.

Back then I just started with a couple of white metal minis, some Games Workshop stuff (but already found out that I never will be an army painter) and some wonderfully huge LotR dragons by Mithril Miniatures. I really liked the Skaven armies - and then Mordheim appeared; I was super excited because you did not need a whatever-many-points big army and the small skirmish sets also looked like one could paint them in an evening. So, I bought a couple of sets, painted them, but never really found a group to settle with - mainly because tabletop gaming groups were not much sought after in my school days (at least when it came to girls). We did play a lot of Magic, tho. :)


Back in the days when I didn’t know how to take proper pictures
(must have been around 2010 during my painting hiatus); and still my favorite GW miniature:
Aenur, Sword of Twilight (got my first one on the one and only White Dwarf I ever bought).

Then Rackham's Confrontation crossed my way and Warmachine, and whatever my little comic book store could get hold of. So I painted (and all without this thing called Internet) and wondered whether I am just a weird person for having weird hobbies that do not even comply with the "local (male) nerds": I went to creative writing courses for short stories, and we also published a book. During this time I also started making music in a marching band; and never was interested in going to the club or hanging out with other people on weekends. I painted miniatures, read books, and wrote stories. By now I would say: a very regular introvert person (didn't know about that concept back then, though). So, artistry is all over the place, and I choose to ... develop into software engineering. Sounds weird? It absolutely is not - because there also lies a lot of creativity in writing code.


My first one and a pulse check in 2017. There’s a 14-years pause in-between those two minis.

During college, I completely stopped painting, mainly b/c it was too expensive and there were other things to focus on. Fast forward to ~2015, when I rediscovered the hobby, dusted off my Citadel colors (at least some of them had not been completely dried out at that point), took out some still unpainted Mordheim minis and ... uhm ... quickshade (well, it gets the job done!). I found out that there are people on this so-called "Internet" who also like to paint individual miniatures (and not hordes of similar looking marines). I stumbled over Painting Buddha and found my first painting community with lots of chats, and some of these friendships still last until today. By that time, I occasionally stumbled over tutorials by Massive Voodoo, and sometimes saw that they announced painting workshops. But every time something was happening near my place, it was sold out in a flash. So I only watched (and admired) the MV team from afar.


Sometimes I also sculpt a bit.

Let's talk about workshops! I had my first painting workshop ever with Meg Maples in Berlin at the end of 2015, and she helped so wonderfully to reignite the fire for painting that this time I stayed in the hobby. Since then, I also joined a lot of other workshops by a lot of very different and very talented people - because this is how I learn best: seeing magic happen in real life. I aim for one workshop a year to leave my brain some time to digest the information and incorporate it into my painting. It’s a journey with a pace that suits me, and I believe everyone of you will find (or have found) their own best way of learning and speed.

And while we are at pace and speed: going to shows and conventions was also a very new thing for me. 2017 was my first Scale Model Challenge (and since then I regularly join SMC), 2018 I joined Paint-O-Palooza (an event by the former Painting Buddha crew) in Berlin. During the last Duke of Bavaria in 2019 I had the wonderful pleasure to meet a couple of lovingly weird human beings, who not only shared the same nerdy hobby as me, but also kept Massive Voodoo up and running - and by now I can call a lot of them friends. In 2022 I visited my first ever World Model Expo (oh boy, that was huge and awesome!) and traveled to the Monte San Savino Show. And I am so looking forward to finding all those little gems of shows over the next few years!


And yes, I couldn’t be more proud with my little astronaut's entry
on World Model Expo 2022. :)

Pace, speed, journeys ... what else is there? Imagination and creativity! Well, I must admit: I am a rather slow painter - or better said: a very fast idea finder, but super slow in setting those ideas into practice; because there are literally thousands of them that I have on a daily basis. By now I keep a journal to get them out of my head, otherwise I would never even start, as the next crazy idea is around the corner and just a glimpse away. Some of my friends also call me a "hobby butterfly", as I start things and then put them aside in favour of other projects. I guess that's just how I roll, and having a clear vision from start to finish line ... is just not one thing I normally follow. I don't just want to "paint it like the box art", but aiming for telling a story, to do a crossover between two mostly unrelated topics maybe, or want to try out a new concept that I thought about. Honestly, the thing never comes out the way I imagined it - but that's also the fun part: having a plan, throwing the plan away in the middle of making, and after finishing then analyzing what I have learned. It takes super-long in comparison to other ways of painting and planning a project, but then again I enjoy the process more than the finished result. This is also why I have a ton of half painted miniatures in various degrees of progress sitting on my shelf, but seldom finish them. But then again, maybe this is why I am also here? :)


A favourite color!? ALL OF THEM!

I also don't have a "favorite" color - it seems like I unconsciously try to use all of them in every piece I paint. So, one of my "new years" resolutions for each mini actually sounds a bit like "but this time I try to reduce my color palette for real!". Maybe one day I can make this come true, but today ... is not that day!

And with all of this said and written down, I hope you are still awake enough to be able to get some more colors onto your gray army, because:


You should be painting! (j/k)
But honestly: no pressure!
Foster that happy painting spirit. :-*

FIN: Moran

by David

Hey all,


David's back again with another look back to an older project I finished a long time ago and only ever hit the blog in my introduction post. However, I decided I needed to show it here for two reasons. First, my jungle brother Roman took a few nice new pics during the Massive Voodoo family's recent stay at the studio (read all about that wonderful weekend in this blogpost).

Second, this is one of my dearest and most important projects. I started it during Roman's Advanced Class in early 2016 (YES, it's been that long...). The workshop's goal was to learn how to paint atmosphere, and I wanted to challenge myself and aimed to portray the original dwarf maiden as a "Massai" warrioress called Moran (the Massai word for warrior). The conversion included making her a new weapon, cutting her mohawk, and - of course - creating the typical Massai necklace.

After the workshop, as is usual for me, I did not immediately finish her, but put her into my cabinet. However, I still very much liked her and decided I would take her out again, start all over and prepare her for the Herzog von Bayern competition 2017. And that's what I did.

As I said, Moran has a special place in my heart as not only did I learn so much from her, and not only was it pure pleasure to paint and convert her - it was also the first time that I participated in the "masters" category in a competition. And because it is so special to me, I gave it to my jungle brother Roman, as a little "thank you" for the many years and moments of inspiration, learning and painting joy! It makes me proud to know that Moran has a special place in your cabinet!

Thanks for your interest, talk to you soon. Best,

D.



p.s.: the project (with the old pics) is also on Putty & Paint if you feel like voting :-)

FIN: Night Shift

by David

Ladies and gentlemen,


it's David again with another look back to a little 1/72 vignette I finished a long time ago but haven't shown on the blog. The reason I'm showing it now is that my jungle brother Roman took a few nice new pics during the Massive Voodoo family's recent stay at the studio (read all about that wonderful weekend in this blogpost).

The vignette is based on a 1990s US mechanized infantry soldier from Zvezda. Since I wanted to build a night scene, I scratch-built the night-vision goggles from polystyrene sheet and rods.

The whole project was built and painted for a project exchange with my friend Peter Müller (Yoshi), who loves Zombie and Post-Apocalypse themes. So, I built this little tongue-in-cheek scene which is seen through a night-vision gadget, showing a soldier on his night shift guarding an internment camp where zombies are held in containment. I envision the guy just shouting orders to stay back to a bunch of pro-Zombie protesters approaching the fence shouting slogans like: "Tell 'ole Pharaoh: Let the Zombies go!", and "Zombies are people too!"

Thanks for your interest, talk to you soon. Best,

D.

p.s.: the project (with the old pics) is also on Putty & Paint if you feel like voting :-)

FIN: Ataraxia

by David

Hey all,


it's David once again with a glimpse into the past... and a look at a project I finished some time ago. Today, I want to show you a little vignette that I created for a good friend of mine who is a retired teacher of Latin, History and Classics. It depicts his favorite Greek philosopher, Epicurus of Samos, who proposed the beautiful idea of striving for a good and fulfilled yet simple life. Ataraxia is a core term of this philosophy, describing a state of mind of tranquility, peace and freedom from what today we would call stress.
The little vignette imagines Epicurus standing in his garden, enjoying the rays of the beautiful Mediterranean sun and being in a blissful state of Ataraxia.
I am super happy to say that my friend really liked the miniature and that it has found its place in a beautiful spot of honor in my friend's house. Thanks for your interest. Talk to you soon! Best,

D.


p.s.: The project is on Putty & Paint, if you feel like leaving a vote.