Review: Skintone & Faces Masterclass, Augsburg

by Roman aka jar





My fourth workshop with Roman as a teacher was another complete success.
Although there were no tears (as anticipated by Roman) the Skintone workshop was as intensive and instructive as the beginner workshop for me. Roman described his way to realistic skin tones in astounding detail and gave every student the opportunity to unfold her or his potential. I especially loved the fact that Roman was always available for questions and short bursts of personal teaching. I am definitely looking forward to the next workshop! #Batman anyone?


- Stephan



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Vorab, vielen Dank für den tollen Kurs und die daraus neu entstandende Motivation. Der Kurs hat mir sehr gut gefallen, auch die vielen Tipps haben mich in meiner persönlichen Entwicklung weitergebracht.
Eine kurze Übersicht:

- Das Malen mit "Untermalungen" hat mir eine völlig neue Perspektive geöffnet. Ich kannte diese Technik nur in Zusammenhang mit Kleidung (Leder, Uniform etc.).
- Die Abwechslung zwischen Praxis und Theory war sehr ausgeglichen, trotz der 10 Stunden am Samstag war ich kein bisschen müde (und das von einem Ex-Informatikstudent).
- Übungen waren gut organisiert, lediglich der Kopf der GW Miniature war mir ein wenig zu klein (liegt wohl aber auch daran das ich die Untermalung zum ersten Mal an einem so kleinen Kopf gemacht habe)
- Vorträge allesamt super, sehr gut rübergebracht
- Mitgebrachtes Material (Bücher, ich liebe Velázquez:-) , früher fast jeden Tag im Prado gewesen)

- Sven

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Hey Jungle,
it is about time to write a review about this.
One of my new seminars - one of my students said "This is definately Tier III", compared to your other seminars for beginners and advanced painters. Tier III means it is really advanced content that I am teaching. Something that helps you, but also can make your brain explode in the beginning.

Well, it has been a great weekend and a beautiful start for this seminar with a great group of students.
Thank you all for your long years of trust in my teachings and your will and joy to learn from me.

We started Saturday with a lot of theory and analysis of the topic. In depth.
I was happy to see that my explanations and way of exploring the subject with my students worked well, so after a certain time we were able to start painting the newly won knowledge to a Games Workshop Miniature and some faces...



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You can find more information
about upcoming group workshops via this banner








"Workshops with Roman are always a great experience.
This was no exception from this.
Roman always manages to build a happy little painting family out of the student group, partly by his great teaching style, partly by pushing everybody out of their comfort zones. This helps a lot with understanding more advanced topics like skintone and faces. Furthermore, on the advanced workshops you tend to see familiar faces which also helps to form a bond with your fellow inmates:)

As this workshop was held by Roman for the first time, he also was a bit nervous on saturday (which was obvious as he was dressed up quite a bit) but everything went very smooth and the teaching concept proved very apprcochable. There were some mindblowing moments, as always but Roman managed to pull it all together for us. Also, Roman always managed to pull people out of motivational disasters, as always.

In this respect, I learned one very important thing: Trust the journey!

Lots of love goes out to Roman and all other fellows who have been there!

See you next time!"
- Flo





"Zunächst mal war die Idee superschön,
 mal einen kompletten Kurs auf das Malen von Haut auszurichten! Ich denke, damit triffst Du bei vielen ins Schwarze - entweder, weil sie Haut (oder bestimmte Hauttypen/töne) schwierig finden, oder - wie ich - einfach gern (nackte ;-) Haut malen und den Horizont erweitern würden. Vom Aufbau her war es auch sehr gelungen - eine gute Mischung von Theorie und viel Praxis. Die Inhalte waren extrem sinnvoll gewählt und ich denke jeder konnte was für sich mitnehmen, egal was die persönliche Zielstellung oder Mal-Entwicklungsniveau waren. Hier meine drei wichtigsten Ideen, die ich mitnehme und in Zukunft verstärkt machen will (neben vielen anderen Einsichten und Augenöffnungsmomenten):
  1. die Kontraststrecke vorher aufmalen (das kann ja nicht nur für Haut, sondern für alle Materialien sinnvoll genutzt werden)
  2. die zwei Untermalungsformen - das werde ich auf jeden Fall in Zukunft viel machen!
  3. Das Zusammenspiel Atmosphäre, Hautton und Kontraststrecke will ich in Zukunft noch mehr beachten - insb. Sansa und Davide vs. Goliath haben mich mal wieder extrem geflasht
Die Kursleitung war, wie immer, überragend. Immer freundlich, immer hilfsbereit, ab und an auch mal bestimmt - wie es sein soll! Du hast Dich dabei, auch wie immer, auf das unterschiedliche aber doch durchgängig hohe Niveau jedes Teilnehmers eingelassen und Dich auf die jeweiligen Ziele eingestimmt. Auch auf die unterschiedlichen Charaktere gehst Du extrem gut ein - Du weißt/siehst, wer mehr Zuspruch/Anleitung braucht, wer eher vor sich hin arbeiten will und zu Dir kommt, wenn er was von Dir will; auch in der Ansprache bist Du supergut auf die Leute eingegangen - Du weißt, wer einen "Spruch" abkann, wer ein bisschen unsicher ist und eher gelobt werden muss - die meisten kennst Du ja gut oder gar besser ;-), aber dennoch ist das eine tolle Fähigkeit als Lehrer!

Zu kritisieren hab ich nichts wirklich Profundes. Zwei Gedanken (die mir aber erst gekommen sind, als ich mich für diese Review nochmal hingesetzt und wirklich nachgedacht habe):
  1. Ich würde würde es beim nächsten mal vielleicht bei zwei, drei Trockenübungen (Farben mischen und auf Papier übertragen) belassen, nicht zuletzt, weil ja mehrfach betont wurde, dass sich Papier und Miniaturenoberfläche von der Wirkung der Farben unterscheiden. Die gewonnene Zeit würde ich dann in die (gemeinsame) theoretische Analyse von verschiedenen Hauttönen investieren - wie lese ich Haut, verschiedene Hauttöne, Licht/Schatten auf Haut, Hautdefekte/Unebenheiten, wie stelle ich feuchte Haut dar, etc.
  2. Für die Praxis-Übungen an der GW Figur kannst Du mal überlegen, ob Du die Figur in zwei oder drei Teile aufteilst (also ein Bein, Oberkörper, Arm) und an jedem einen anderen Hautton malen lässt. Evtl. auch zwei Köpfe mit unterschiedlichen Hauttönen, Alter, Mann/Frau, etc.? 
Die von Christian kritisch angemerkte Aufregung fand ich überhaupt nicht schlimm! Im Gegenteil. Man hat gemerkt, dass Du (ein bisschen) aufgeregt warst, aber das war überhaupt nicht unangenehm und Du hast weder gestresst oder gar unprofessionell gewirkt. Ich finde diese leichte (!) Nervosität am Anfang nicht nur nachvollziehbar; vielmehr signalisiert sie, dass Du Neues und Unprobiertes wagst, damit offen umgehst und uns als Teilnehmer ernst nimmst (sonst wärst Du ja nicht aufgeregt gewesen). Ich fand's auch cool, dass Du Dich schick gemacht hast - auch Zeichen der Ernsthaftigkeit - nicht nötig aber ein schönes Symbol!

Insgesamt also ein für mich absolut gelungenes Wochenende mit ausschließlich schönen Momenten. Ich hatte, wie direkt schon am Wochenende gesagt, zwischendurch beim Malen wirkliche Glücksüberwältigungsmomente. Zwei davon sind mir noch sehr deutlich in Erinnerung: diese schöne Stimmung in der Gruppe, als alle fokussiert beim Malen waren; und zu sehen, wie sich die Büste in die Richtung entwickelt, die ich mir vorgenommen habe. War wirklich toll!"
- David



























While painting for a long time,
sitting, focusing and concentrating it is important for a teacher not only to bring variety in the teaching concept, but also movement. So we had this thing going on to get our bodies active again and this time I challenged my students to try themselves in "Throwing stickers as far as you can!" ... quite the challenge as they fly as they want :D























Well,
Sunday arrived with new challenges concerning painting.
Applying everything so far learned to a bust of my students choice. Everybody was no able to see his color journey ahead of him and individually planned their skincolor, with my help if needed.






It was truely great
as a teacher to see the passed on knowledge take hold and work for each student on their individual skill level journey. They did not follow my painting or copied it, furthermore they used their own knowledge to plan and execute. Very special results for me as a teacher, while teaching this class for the first time, ever....





I can only say: Thank you!
It has been such a cool vibe and atmosphere with friends and students that you teach since almost a decade. It was great to see your results develop, but furthermore I was proud of you as you asked so good and deep questions about painting!

Keep on happy painting!
Yours,
Roman



You can find more information
about upcoming group workshops via this banner


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Review: Private Coaching with Kilian

by Roman aka jar


Hello Jungle,
some weeks ago Kilian visited me for a two day private coaching in the MV-Studio. It was just like this ...


... and I leave most of the words in this review to Kilian himself as he did a write up my words can not match.


"Hi, my Name is Kilian,
I’m 32 years old and I’m a mechanical engineer. You might think, what the hell, what am I reading here? I wanted to introduce myself, to make sure that you understand, that I come from a very technical background and I’m writing about something which brings up creativity and emotions from the bottom of my heart. You also have to know, that the following review is partly written for you, the readers of the MV blog and for Roman himself; because feedback is the most valuable input you get, as a human and as a teacher.


You must unlearn, what you have learned
– Yoda, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back



In spring this year I was trying to figure out, what I wanted to do for a holiday this year. I’m not the lying-on-the-beach-doing-nothing kind of guy. So I decided to spend some time in Augsburg, with Roman to learn a few new tricks. We settled on a topic a couple of months beforehand. Or at least he settled on a topic. I told Roman, that I wanted to truly paint figures and not just put some paint on them. He immediately understood what I wanted to learn – good because at that time, I did not.

I decided to go full Roman,
right in the face mode and visited my second Beginners Class before the private coaching. I’ve already written a review of my first Beginner Class, so I knew what was coming towards me, and I had a figure with me that cost me a lot of headaches. It was absolutely joyful to watch all the other amazing students and how they did the workshop. All the revelations, and all the “no-no-no that is not how you do this”, which I had a year ago. It was also really cool to see how different all the Demonettes were compared to my workshop. During the class, Roman took very good care of me, answering all my questions, taking a lot of personal time and pushing me slowly to edge of my comfort zone bubble – and beyond it. The class got me in the right mood and my painter juices flowing. I couldn’t wait for the private coaching.


After a day off for both of us,
and a sleepless night on my side, we met at the MV studio to kick off my private coaching. Roman promised me that he would “destroy” me on the first day. It wasn’t as bad, I can tell you that, but it was very challenging. You know, I’m not a good painter on a canvas. I always hated it. I can’t to proportions or stuff like that. So I was looking forward to something like a material master class or the like, but Roman had other plans. We sat down, had some coffee, and he handed me the hand-out. “Jar’s Advanced Class” was written in large letters on the first page. I’ve read a lot of reviews in the past. And this class was the one I was afraid of THE MOST. I knew I had to paint that wolf at some point in the day. It scared me like shit! First things first, I had to mix some colours using the basic colours and my knowledge of the colour wheel – a task that was easier than I thought for me. Then came the wolf. Roman was comforting me a lot and helped me through the process of painting it. In the end, the result wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.




Before lunch the main topic of the coaching began – understanding and painting in atmosphere. Roman told me what this meant, and how to capture atmosphere, surrounding and lighting in colour and on the miniature - the essentials to tell your story on the miniature. I had to choose a setting for the wolf from a Fallout illustration book. I chose the Rad Storm, which meant my whole colour palette shrunk to basically browns and greens. It also meant that every colour the wolf had, had to be mixed to fit into that setting. The result and the progress were stunning. I understood what this atmosphere did to the colours and to the picture. The wolf in atmosphere looked almost better, then
without. It tells a story now – it had come to life.






Then we started with the workshop miniature, a guy from a Warhammer Underworlds warband. I chose my atmosphere and lighting colour and started painting the skin of the dude. Again Roman helped me with every question I had and was by my side when I needed him. But the more I painted the more I began to understand. Everything just came together. It is very hard for me to describe this feeling, but it all just made so much more sense now. I’m pretty sure fellow painters can relate.



This night my brain had a lot to process, so it meant another sleepless night for me.



The next day we finished the miniature by painting the leather, fur and hair. By that time I was really in the groove and found my painting mojo. It was like every question I had, I could answer by myself. I just needed the courage to do so and Roman taught me that. The last part was the metal on the miniature. Up onto this point I always did metal like, slap a bunch of paint on, wash it, edge highlight it, done. Roman taught me his true metallic metal painting technique but this was really hard for me. Metal is a strange material. For me it only makes sense when it’s painted fully and correctly. Before that it is just wrong. After that, you can see every little mistake you made and I had to correct those, so that the whole miniature made sense. Even today I’m practicing hard to get it right, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.

My workshop result:






Those two days of private coaching passed way too fast and I learned so much. Roman, I want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You’re such a good teacher and such an amazing person with a beautiful soul. Let no one take that away from you! You’ve helped me so much on my way as a painter and a person. I am humbled and honoured to call you my friend. You can be sure, you haven’t seen the last of me.


Yours truly,
- Kilian



If you want to learn from me
in your very own private coaching session, do not hesitate to contact me for further details via
jarhead---at---massivevoodoo---dot---com

2019 is closed in terms of private coaching and fully booked, plans for sessions in the first half of 2020 are in the making. I will be there for you and your personal growth as a painter!




You can find more information
about upcoming group workshops via this banner



_______________________________________________________________________________
You want to support Massive Voodoo? 
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
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FM: Do you like cheese?

by Roman aka jar

Good Morning Jungle,

Do you like cheese? Well, this little fella does.
I found this cute little mouse in a local art store for 1€ in a box with 50 others of its kind. I decided to create a unique one and paint it. It was a lot of fun.

 
For sale,
just in case you are in need of a cute Christmas gift:
https://www.romanlappat.com/uploads/RomanLappat_MiniatureArt_2017.pdf










Hope you like her!
Keep on happy painting!

For sale!
If interested, check back with my PDF cataloge:
http://www.romanlappat.com/uploads/RomanLappat_MiniatureArt_2017.pdf


Best Wishes
Roman

_______________________________________________________________________________
You want to support Massive Voodoo? 
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Workshop Roadmap 2020 Update - Augsburg Seminars online!

by Roman aka jar

Roadmap 2020 overview   
- here are the dates and topics for 2020. Red are upcoming seminars,
green
are the ones in the past. Check for the reviews on the green ones.

You can find so far enrolled student numbers behind the seminars.
All seminars in Augsburg will take place as soon as we got up to six students!



Actual planning on seminars in Augsburg, Madrid and New York for the first half of 2020.
As soon as information is available it will be linked in here.

First half of 2020___________________________________


Bern, Switzerland - Info Mail soon!
// 31st January - 2nd February 2020  3 day Beginner Workshop
german language - 28/17 - Information PDF 
IMPORTANT: The price per student is not the one mentioned in the PDF,
due this is an international class with travel cost, room rent, etc.
Check back with the official announcement here!

Madrid, Spain - Signing up possible until 20th December
// 29th February 2020 1 day Speedpainting Masterclass

english language - 12/1 - Information PDF
more information!

Madrid, Spain - Signing up possible until 20th December // 1st March 2020 1 day OSL Masterclass
english language - 12/2 - Information PDF

more information!

Augsburg, Germany
// 13rd March - 15th March 2020  3 day Beginner Workshop
german language - 0/25 - Information PDF

Augsburg, Germany
// 18th April 2020  1 day Speedpainting Masterclass
german language - 0/20 - Information PDF

Augsburg, Germany
// 19th April 2020  1 day Object Source Light Masterclass
german language - 0/20 - Information PDF

St. Albans, UK
// 15th - 17th May 2020 3 day Advanced Workshop
english language - 18/0 - Information PDF (fee will vary due international seminar)
to sign up, write an email to: journeymanminiatures---at---gmail---dot---com


You can find this roadmap and more information linked up
to the right navigation bar of Massive Voodoo :)

FM: Sister of Battle

by Roman aka jar

Hey Jungle,
another miniature I enjoyed painting. This time from Games Workshop again. A classical concept in a fresh new look. She was great to be painted up.

Sister of Battle
Games Workshop, 28 mm










A quick video on how I painted the base is here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4Or0Aeo4u6/

In private collection!

Keep on happy painting!
Yours,
Roman

FM: Fall in Franconia

by David

Hola!

David writing. This is the most recent mini I finished.
Again in my favorite scale (1/72nd), and again a little figure swap project, this time for my good friend and creative powerhouse Andreas  - who gave me a beautiful and tiny samurai figure in exchange.


For these exchange projects I like to create figures and scenes that are somehow connected to the person I build them for. For this one, I was heavily inspired by the golden autumn light that I saw all around me these last two or three weeks. And since Andy is a proud son of the Bavarian region of Franconia, I wanted to portray a proud Frankish warrior walking through the autumny woods of his home, some time in the early 4th century A.D. (which was when the Franks were supposedly mentioned in Roman texts for the first time).


The mini is a slightly converted (to give it Andy's hairstyle ;-) Germanic Warrior by Germania Miniatures; the tree is scratchbuilt from a twig, lots of Milliput, cotton wool and railway flock.



I am happy to say that Andy liked the figure and that we will do a figure swap again in the future!

A big thank you hug goes out to Roman for taking these wonderful pictures! I am sure you can see the difference between them and my usual stuff. But I will learn and improve!

Thanks and best,

D.

Musica: Batmetal Forever

by Roman aka jar