Painting Workshop in Göppingen/Germany - Review

Hi,

mkay here we go... got a couple of coffees beside me and i am ready to review this weekend in Göppingen/Germany on the last weekend in this beautiful august, with a lot of daemonettes, a lot of fun to paint, a lot of great people ... i guess it sounds stupid to say thank you all the time, but i can't help myself - so first of all thank you everyone for a real great weekend.

First i have to thank everyone who has taken part in the workshop, specially to Troll for organisation and Raffaele for being such a help all the time. Also i want to give my thanks to all the people who took their time to shoot some photos of this class - i didn't achieve to took one, haha.


Friday

The workshop took part in the "Bürgerhaus" in Göppingen Central. Here is a little overview over the place we had under siege over the weekend:

The main goal of the workshop has been:

Basic goal of the workshop is showing different perspectives and techniques to paint fast and well looking gaming miniatures while surfing through the history time line art has gone in the wing of art history. To get to know and understand a lot of things like light work, colour concepts and theory out of the artworks from artists like Rubens, Giotto, Rembrandt, also actual artists and a lot more to create an harmonic final look of a miniature...

Main Concept on the workshop has been a travel through art history. As i am an teacher in Germany of art class i really tried to bring miniature painting together with ... Ãhm, i mean everything. I tried to show the people who have been part of the workshop that a miniature is also a canvas like everything else you find in art.

We met on Friday at 06:00 PM and started a bit with organisation talking and so on. Then planned the basework for the model. Had a lot of basing equipment with me and also Troll has organised and find inspiration in pictures of nature which i had collected and shown for this part of the workshop. One example of what i am talking about:

During Friday. besides preparing the daemonette for painting and the groundwork we also took our time to understand light. I mean unreal light - not daylight - and how it turns out in artworks, how it is used to set focus points, how to see light sources which are not a part of the artwork itself and brought all together on our canvas for the weekend - the miniatures themselfes...

Also we've started talking about basic colour theory - how colours influance our souls, our emotional thinking and feeling. All things have been collected by the workshop participants themselves while browsing through art history with me as a moderator. I tested the people taking part a lot, always asking about if they can explain light sources to train their eyes and seight. In my oppinion, if you can see the light, you can paint it!


Saturday

Saturday has been the longest day planned and it took even more time, because the fun was so big and i am such an hard teacher... i mean talker or whatever.

A lot of theory again in the morning about colour theory, choosing colours and a slow incoming change to get to the painting with first priming and a part of techniqual "How to's" let the midday meal become very quick and unintresting. Painting Time!

Theory in Action. bringing the theory together with our colours and miniatures:

Also i want to say BIG THANKS again at this point to Raffaele Picca (Picster), who assisted me during the workshop, while i was taking care of one part of the group and Raffa did the same with the other group of people - i am glad to meet this young talented Padawan, the force is strong in him (check out his blog in my list of blogs!!):

In this moments together in sometimes bigger and less big groups we experienced painting techniques, painting technique problems, materials, spontaneous ideas and extraordinary views on how to do something in real... also we all togehter took our time for questions and solutionary thoughts about mostly everything. We all shared our individual experience together, but i did talk most of the time i guess, haha.

I can't remember everything only that my mind felt like exploding during this time and Raffa and I also tried to be on everythings workdesk at the same time to help out, just have a look and a chat... I guess i have never been this tired and empty inside my brain after this great funny day of Painting... i slept like a stone.


Sunday

But Sunday came up with his full force and me with way too less sleep as needed and I even skipped the breakfast to have more time.

We did a lot of demonstration painting this day about detail work, like leather, eyes, metallics, clothing, blood and some more. During this we really used every inch of time painting like greek war gods... i had made about 300 kilometers this day while doing my round through the participants and their individual Dameonettes... helping out, bringing some more input or just saying "wow" or "Bäm!" of the improvements made by them... a real joy!

Some impressions from Sunday...

To the afternoon some had to left the place because they had a longer way home but i want to say thank you all again for that great time. I hope everyone was happy with the workshop i have done there and i am greatfully thankful of every constructive criticism you gave me for my next workshop... it really was like bees and flowers, everywhere great ideas, thoughts and moments around those Daemonettes...

In the end of the workshop we took our time to take some photos of the results the participants of this beginner Workshop did achieve - i am really speechless... i am sorry for those who left earlier, i would be glad to see your models somewhere on photo. Here we go - the Workshop Daemonettes, started on Friday out of the sprue, not everyone is finished, but hey that ain't easy on a weekend when i am talking all the time - here they are:

Here are all the painting demons together... the story about the thumb ain't how it looks, behind every high thumb there is some bravery to colour, haha!

Aftermath

Wow, really a great weekend and it was my pleasure and honour to moderate and "teach" you all through this weekend. I am thankful that you came from near and far and i as i am totally fascinated by your results i hope you also are happy with the workshop you have paid for.

I want to say some thanks again to all the helping hands, for the great friendly and harmonic athmosphere we had on the workshop and for your brave to ask what you think (there is no stupid question, always remember!).

BIG thanks go out to the Gamers Club "Waaaghhh!-Clan" from Göppingen - first mentioned the big boss - Troll for all their help and effort. I am really thankful. Göppingen really is a nice town, sure i did not have not much time to visit, BUT if the town is bit like the people there - this really is a sunshine place!

Thanks to all the new faces i have been able to meet. It has been my pleasure. Also it has been great to see some known faces again.

Also i want to thank a good friend for making the best pizza i have eaten for years... you have to check out "La Bolognese" in Göppingen - it's like sitting at the harbour of Gallipolli and eating Italy with all his grace:


So far from my side... Thank you!
Keep on happy painting!

Regards
Roman

PS: I did some workshops and will do some in the future. I guess i will bring up some of the old ones here too - really funny weekends and always a joy to meet new and old faces to paint some miniatures up!