Dirt, damage and decay - weathering a Kastelan Robot.

I am pleased to announce I will be back at Element Games in Stockport with another masterclass on the 23rd and 24th May 2020!!

The chosen model for this two-day master class is an Adeptus Mechanicus Kastelan Robot from Games Workshop. There will be an emphasis on the techniques I use to paint textured damage and corrosion over a variety of surfaces and materials.

Topics & techniques to be covered will include:

• Assembly and preparation including the addition of real surface textures to a model;
• Priming a model and choosing a base colour;
• An overview of contrast and colour theory, and their application to creating a successful paint scheme;
• Painting volumes and forms;
• Painting true metallic metals;
• Creating and enhancing painted texture - stippling, dry brushing and freehand textures;
• Weathering effects including battle damage, corrosion and staining;
• Adding finishing touches and special effects to a painted miniature.

For more information and to book a place please follow the link to Element Games. 

Comming soon ‘Sproket does Troggoths’ Workshop at Element Games June 1 & 2

Golden Demon may be all done and dusted but there’s no time to ease the pace as I’ve gone straight into workshop preparation mode! My ‘Sproket does Troggoths’ workshop will be running on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd June at Element Games in Stockport. There will, of course, be the chance to explore the painting of textures and ‘life-like’ flesh tones but these models also offer the chance to get to grips with painting volumes and forms in a way that many smaller minis don’t.

In addition I’ll be presenting my ‘10 Top Tips Tricks & Techniques’ on the Saturday evening. This is a three hour seminar where I reveal, among other things, the secret of the microbead and the art of making professional looking labels for your display plinths.
Tickets are available on the Element Games website.

https://elementgames.co.uk/ev…/sprokets-painting-masterclass

Exploring contrast in miniature painting

I’ve just got back from a thoroughly enjoyable time teaching my second workshop at Element Games in Stockport. It was great fun but after 18 hours on the go, plus the five hour drive each way, I’m taking a couple of days to chill!

Understanding the importance of contrast in miniature painting and taking control of it is vital. Over the course of the weekend we examined different types of contrast, degrees of contrast and comparative contrast with regards to painting miniatures. Contrast is the foundation of every paintjob and it helps to create a focal point, impact, visibility, character and atmosphere.

While my workshop contained plenty of theory and demonstrations, I like to get everyone painting their own miniature as soon as possible! The aim was not to be going home with a finished miniature but to gain some useful theory, techniques and, most importantly in my view, experience. Painters can then build upon this experience and apply it to their own projects.

The focus for Saturday was on the use of tone and colour to create contrast.

We looked at:

• ways of establishing global lighting/contrast on a painted miniature

• colour theory and different types of colour contrast

• how tone and colour can be used to create an effective colour scheme.

On the Saturday evening I delivered a seminar titled ’10 top tips, tricks and techniques’. This was an illustrated presentation where I discussed some of my favorite ‘tricks of the trade’ and demonstrated how I had applied them to my own projects. In a new development from last year, Element Games live streamed the seminar via their Facebook page.

During Sunday we continued to develop the colour schemes we had created and explored other types of contrast using various techniques and materials. This included:

• painting texture and detail

• True metallic versus Non metallic metals

• Surface finishes - matt/gloss/satin

• a highly worked versus loosely worked finish and using this contrast to create a focal point

• adding textures and special effects to a painted miniature.

We rounded the weekend off by looking at ways of bringing together the different types of contrast on the same model to achieve a balanced effect and create overall impact.

I was impressed to see how thoroughly everyone committed to the weekend and applied themselves to the exercises I set. One of the most rewarding aspects for me was to see the total variety of colour schemes and types of contrast that the painters had created! No two Poxwalkers were alike but all of them utilized the aspects of contrast we’d discussed.

Exploring contrast in miniature painting

Since Salute I’ve been painting a Poxwalker in preparation for my next workshop so I’m very happy to be able to announce that tickets are now on sale for the 2018 Sproket's Painting Masterlcass at Element Games

Exploring contrast in miniature painting 

 

The importance of contrast in miniature painting cannot be overstated. I will be teaching my approach to this subject and demonstrate how I have applied it to my miniatures. The workshop will consist of a combination of theory, demonstrations and practical experience.

Timetable:

Friday 1st June 12noon – 11pm
The Element Games Shop, Bar and Gaming Centre will be open for casual painting and gaming. Masterclass participants will be able to collect their Pox Walkers and can assemble and prep the model ready for the morning. If you can’t make the Friday don’t worry as time will be available Saturday morning for assembly.

Saturday 3rd June 10.00am – 5.30pm
The focus for day one will be on the use of colour & tone to create contrast.

• Introduction with a (very) brief background and history.
• Establishing global lighting/contrast
• Discussing colour theory & the colour wheel
• Creating a colour scheme

Saturday Evening 7pm – 10pm
Painting Seminar. 'My 10 favorite painting materials and techniques'
A presentation showing how and where I have used my favorite materials and techniques on my award winning models. Followed by a Q&A session.

Anyone can join the Seminar but if they’re not part of the Masterclass there will be a fee to pay on entry (TBA)

Sunday 4th June 10.00am – 5.30pm
During day two we will continue to develop our colour schemes and explore other types of contrast using different techniques and materials.

• Painting texture & freehand detail
• True metallic/Non metallic metals
• Surface finish - matt/gloss/satin
• Finish – highly worked/loosely worked and creating a focal point
• Adding texture & special effects to a painted miniature

We will round the weekend off by looking at ways to bring together different types of contrast on the same model and achieve a balanced effect that creates overall impact.

Spaces are limited, you can reserve your spot through the Element Games Webstore

https://elementgames.co.uk/Sproket-PM2018

Exploring Contrasts in Copenhagen

I’d like to thank Sonny Bundgaard for inviting me to Copenhagen to run a master class workshop exploring contrast in miniature painting over the Easter weekend. It was a great venue and a great bunch of participants!

The Easter Bunny in Copenhagen.

Not the Easter Bunny in Copenhagen.

Always adjust your marketing to reflect changed circumstances!

I’d been looking forward to this workshop for quite some time now! The scope of the class was far wider than I'd covered before, and I am inspired by using contrast in miniature painting. In my view it’s importance simply cannot be overstated. For this two-day workshop I set out to demonstrate my approach to this subject and how I apply it to my miniatures. The workshop consisted of a combination of theory, demonstrations and practical experience.

The focus for day one was on using colour and tone to create contrast, establishing global lighting and contrast, introducing colour theory and using it to create a colour scheme.

During day two we went on to explore other types of contrast using different techniques and materials like painting texture and detail, the use of true metallic versus non-metallic metals, applying matt, gloss and satin surface finishes, creating a focal point and, finally, adding textures and special effects to a painted miniature.

It was important to state right at the start that participants would probably not be going home with a beautiful finished mini. Instead they would acquire some useful theory, techniques and, most importantly, experience to apply to their own projects. Having said that I was impressed with just how much painting everyone managed to achieve!

The workshop ran from 10am to 6pm each day but with painters gathering from 9am, and several of them working on into the evening on Saturday; there was a lot of hard work and dedication put into the weekend.

I like to get everyone working on their miniatures as soon as possible so we began the workshop by looking at ways of adding texture contrasts to a mini during prep. I then discussed the importance of establishing global lighting and contrast and demonstrated some ways of achieving this. Then, to take us through the rest of the morning, I set everyone the task of painting a mini using just black and white. The aim of this quick ‘warm up’ exercise was to focus everyone on establishing tonal contrasts without the added complications of colour.

Colour theory and how to use it in creating contrast was the focus for the rest of day one. Instead of diving right in to painting minis, I set the task of creating two or three different colour schemes on paper. I’d prepared a line drawing of a plague bearer for this exercise and for the next forty minutes or so we enjoyed a little colouring in! The point of this exercise was to encourage everyone to experiment with applying some colour theory to their paint choices and to see how those colours would interact. Trying things out on paper first enabled the painters to take a few risks and try colour combinations they might not normally consider.

I then asked the painters to pick one of the colour schemes they had created and apply it to a miniature. Through the rest of day one and into day two we continued to explore and experiment with our paint schemes, developing contrasts all the time.

During day two I demonstrated techniques and materials that could be used to introduce and enhance other types of contrast. All the time we were maintaining and developing the tonal and colour contrasts that form the backbone of a paint job. As the workshop drew to a close, we examined several of my projects to identify the types of contrast I had created and how they worked within the context of the overall paint scheme.

The colour schemes devised by the group included adventurous combinationd like red/green, red/pink, yellow/purple and grey/purple. In addition to the use of contrasting and/or complementary colour schemes, the painters experimented with saturation and tone to create a strikingly diverse group of minis.

Beyond the colour contrasts the schemes exhibited a range of texture contrasts and surface finishes; and there was, of course, a fair splattering of slime baking soda and microbeads!

The painters in the group were such a great bunch of guys and, of course, had greatly differing levels of experience covering commission painting, hobby painting, army painting and competition painting. What everyone had in common, however, was a willingness to step out of their comfort zones and get stuck into the workshop. It was a pleasure to work with the group and see their paint schemes develop. I was genuinely impressed with the progress all the painters achieved on their plaguebearers!