Painting Masterclass with Marco Frisoni

[shingen 13941xp 1]

Just a quick question.

I know that there are some fans of Marco Firsoni’s painting around here ( @avernos probably most vocal among them). I was wondering if anyone plans to participate in his masterclass workshop this May?

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/painting-masterclass-with-marco-frisoni-tickets-323947384347

[sundancer 42595xp 1]

I might be tempted yet it’s a bit far away… and 200€ is… a big chunk of change XD

[shingen 13941xp 1]

Yeah, my first thought was exactly the same, but on the other hand it is 16h, so just EURO 12,50 per hour… plus they provide you with the mini (you like it or not) and materials (from what I understand).

[wolfie65Participant 1229xp 2]

I enjoy his videos, especially the ‘grimdark’ ones, but I do not use an airbrush, do not undercoat black and do not use acrylics or oils, so participating in this workshop would be kinda pointless for me.

[sundancer 42595xp 1]

@shingen I’m not saying he shouldn’t charge as much. After all it is his work time and talent. Or that it’s a bad value…

 

It’s just a big chunk of change :S

[shingen 13941xp 0]

@sundancer – sure think, I’m just rationalizing the expense for myself.

@wolfie65 you’ve got me interested. No acrylics or oils? Care to share your process?

[wolfie65Participant 1229xp 2]

After removing flash and mold lines with knife and/ or files, I wash the figures – or parts – in hot water with a drop of dish soap and a splash of vinegar, let them dry, stick them on bottle tops using poster putty and undercoat them by hand with white gesso. That dries within a few hours, I usually let it sit overnight, then check for any mold lines I might have missed – the white really helps to show those – and paint with watercolors. They are kind of tricky, because they remain active throughout the process until you actually seal the figure, but I like the way they look and highlighting kind of takes care of itself most of the time. Sort of like ‘contrast’ paints. I do have to paint from light to dark in most cases, because it’s almost impossible to paint a lighter aquarell color over a darker one. The results are very bright and vibrant, a look I prefer on most models and which is very hard to achieve over dark undercoats.

Another advantage of watercolors is that they do not dry out – or if they do, they are easily reactivated. With water… My main set is from Scriptum, meant for school children and a good 25+ years old, still just as good as new. I have a few sets from Yarka (very vibrant reds, but the black turns green after a few years), various other manufacturers, a palette from the $1.25 store I bought for the very nice light blue and a box full of tubes from art supply stores. The latter are a little more expensive, but they last FOREVER and they are still WAY cheaper than any hobby acrylics.

[shingen 13941xp 1]

Wow, that’s an interesting technique. In my nearly 30 years of gaming/painting I’ve only once seen someone using water paints.  They achieved light, kind of “whimsical” effect on their minis. Would you mind sharing some photos?

On more technical side of things, I imagine watercolours aren’t the most resilient to friction and moist, how do you lock them up? Some artistic vernix, or simple varnish (if so; water based or lacquer?).

[wolfie65Participant 1229xp 2]

Having taken a hammer to my tracking device (code name ‘smart phone’) over a year ago, I am currently left with a 15-year old digital camera good enough for pictures of landscapes, bikes and pets, but nowhere near sharp enough for minis and a REAL camera but no stores left that develop normal photos. I should have an SD card for the hopefully better digital camera I just bought by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the Beastmen chieftain I use for my avatar would be an example, here’s some more ( the fuzzy ones are scans, sorry): 

[shingen 13941xp 1]

Looking good despite the photos quality! Thanks for sharing.

[seldon9 12954xp 4]

Alright, my apologies I’ve just spotted this forum topic. I attended Marco’s workshop. I’ll give a breakdown.

I booked as soon as I was notified. I think the course sold out in 2 hours. You just don’t get many chances at these.

2 day course at which we were all provided with a miniature. We brought our own materials. There had been a problem shipping minis between UK and Ireland which ultimately meant we assembled them.

Marco’s topics are so wide there’s not much chance of going through everything. The course began with a talk about colour theory and contrast. After that we spent the rest of the first day planning our scheme for the mini and painting it with a grey scale to mimic the light value. The second day was tinting with colour. All done with a brush over a black primed model.

Marco was free to discuss any topics as well as course content.

I’m very glad I went. I learned a lot about glazing and the benefit of planning and taking my time over a grey scale. This also reinforced the benefit of not just doing a quick black and white zenithal but going back with the brush to improve the contrast and detail.

I’ll attach pics.

[shingen 13941xp 1]

Thank you @seldon9, I booked my ticket already, but it looks there still are places available. I’ll probably write AAR as well in a couple of weeks.

 

Oh, and your mini looks dope! The plinth is from other world 😉

[shingen 13941xp 0]

Just to conclude this topic. The workshop was great, I prepared a little AAR in my project blog, in case anyone’s interested.

[sundancer 42595xp 1]

Thanks for the “closure” on this. Hope you had fun.

[shingen 13941xp 0]

Yeah, great fun.

I heard that German edition is planned as well, so if you’re interested keep checking the news.

[Author]

Posts