Workshop Review - SMARTMAX Steampunk #1, Lüdenscheid!

 

Chooooo Choooo Chooooooooo! The Steam Clouds have settles some time ago, marking the End of Three genuinely Epic Days of Foggy Themes, Mechanized Schemes and Steamy Dreams (for Ben and Me at least...:D...)... We proudly present: The Review of Ben Komets and Matt Cexwish´s very First SMARTMAX Steampunk Workshop on December 09. - 11. 2011, what an incredible Event! Yaaaaaay!

 

According to the Feedback we got so far (mostly in German...:)...) we made the right choice to come out of our beloved Home Town Berlin once again to travel aaaall the way West to Lüdenscheid...Why Lüdenscheid...?... Because of it´s rich Steampunk Heritage, after all, Parts of the First Zeppelin were produced here! Impossible to miss such an opportunity...^_^...

 
We were super duper happy to introduce out brand new Workshop Concept, too: Different to simply handing out Sprues of Miniatures and Base Material that each Participant has to Assemble according to his / her Knowledge we had the Goal to Work on a Common" Something", a Bigger Idea and Product that should only be possible with the Help of every Participant... Like a Giant Steampunk Puzzle, according to our Painting Philosophy this seemed very true to the very nature of the Painting Class we wanted to have... We don´t see us as Mavericks trying to paint for ourselves but as a Creative Swarm, a Team of Painters led by the dim, flickering Light of their two Monkey Teachers (that´s us, Ben and me, hahaha...:D...)... There is no Weakest link, because everyone is Working equally hard on creating the Final Product: An Authentic and Fully Detailed Victorian Steampunk Street...!...

 

For this we have specially created a Set of 5 Bases that create a Greater Piece that can be freely arranged and sports a number of Materials (Wood, Bricks, Walls, Metal Parts...)... It is important for our Concept that every Student can recreate the Techniques we show as close to the shown Examples as possible and work on different Materials with different Material Properties (like Diffuse Colours, Glossiness, Texture, Effects, etc. ...) in order to understand how to recreate something they have observed in Nature rather then academically executing Painting Instructions... We want to hand out the Tools, not the Manuals, so if the Questions arise at the Workshop and then later at home one can answer them by switching on their Brains... This way, the Painter can react dynamically to Problems like a Missing Colour, Solving Harmony related Problems or finally to start Exploring new Techniques and building up their own Tools and sharing their Knowledge with others... But since every Start is Slow we are very happy to take you by the Hand and lead you straight into the Big, Crazy Painting Jungle, Step by Step...

 

 

 

 Look at the focused Faces of the Participants! They have truly achieved something bigger then simply sitting down for three days and painting another Miniature! They have been Part of this very fragile Moment that is only possible to a particular place at a particular time... This setting will quite likely never to be repeated, like a meeting of Friends, a Fellowship, that is deemed to disband afterwards... making this Event something very exclusive and something they can keep in their Memories for a loooong time!

We were really surprised and happy about the Focused Mood everybody fell in on the Night from Saturday to Sunday and have never experienced anything like it before... This was our Third Workshop so far and I am sure Roman will agree if we say that every Workshop Group (besides -obviously- the Participants...) is different...

Sometimes people are simply up for having a Great time, Happily Painting whole Nights, causing a lot of mischief, getting drunk, undressing, taking pictures and getting up late, etc., but sometimes they are very focused, even shy, eagerly listening to what we tell them, writing everything down and so on...

Saturday is also the Day when you get to the Breaking Point: People getting frustrated about not being able to recreate the Techniques we showed them with the ease and speed (surprise, surprise...^-^...), throwing their Brush away, Sighing, Cursing and so on... Hope this doesn´t sound too bad, because it really isn´t, often enough the frustrated people are the ones who keep on working hard til they reach the next Breaking Point when they figure out how to paint things up better, sending them into their very own, peaceful Painting Nirvana... It´s special and unique and different, for everyone is an Individual that firstly needs to be asked, that then needs to respond back and can finally formulate his or her own Questions in Order to start the very exciting Journey into Painting Toy Soldiers to a more Sophisticated Level... :D...

The Future is always uncertain to those, who live from brush to mouth to the next Day, but the sheer beauty of being able to Teach You how to find as many Mistakes as possible and jump headlong right into them in order to make up your own Mind, Style and Path will always keep us busking around the Globe with more Workshops like that... Make sure to visit us and allow yourself to learn once we come knocking at a Door in your Area! We are always open for Suggestions...

Follow this Link to discover all Pictures of the Singled Out Miniatures that have been Build and Painted during those Three Days!


This Link shows you the Pictures I took at that Particular Days... Some Serious Unseriousness inside...:D...

Some more Links uploaded by the Students... Enjoy! All of them!

Once Again we would like to thank Ulrich and Götz for helping us with the Organisation, Chris for coming over all the way from the UK to learn how to Lick the Brush right, CrazyWanky for the Help with the Wooden Bases and our Wonderful Students for making this Happen and a Great, Great Memory! Special Thanks to Cedric aka Mr. SMARTMAX for the Sponsoring and Overall Support! Your Minis Rock Hard, Mate! Thank you very much indeed! And Everyone: Stay Tuned for more Workshops to come in 2012 (not too many, but maybe even abroad...:)...)...

Nighty Night!

Musicaaaa!