There is a new putty in town. It's called BeeSPutty, it is developed und prduced by Stefan Niehus (masqmini.com), long time experienced sculptor. So you could call it THE putty made by a miniature sculptor for miniature sculptors.
To celebrate the release of this new putty we will have a little contest.
If you want participate you have to sculpt with BeeSPutty. And you can win, guess what, some more BeeSPutty.
Masqmini is so convinced of the putty, they are currently sending out free samples of BeesPutty to ambitious sculptors.
- Write an email with your post address to sales [at] masqmini dot com with the subject “BeeSPutty free sample”
- Sculpt a miniature (no limitation, do what ever you like) with BeeSPutty.
- If you are not a member of Putty&Paint, send a picture of your sculpture to contest [at] puttyandpaint dot com until July 31th.
- The best entries will get an invitation to Putty&Paint.
- Post your sculpt on Putty&Paint until August 15th and tag the project with “beesputty”.
- The best sculpts will get a free 80g pack of BeeSPutty.
So you see, just a simple and fun contest. Plus you get to test the new awesome BeeSPutty.
To get some impressions of BeeSPutty take a look at these videos.
Today's interviewee is Radek Pituch. Thank you for sharing in.
Spotlight are short interviews to introduce some of the artists here at Putty&Paint.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about you.
My name is Radek Pituch, age 28, I was born and do a living in Warsaw, Poland. I studied law and now work as a public servant at the Mazovian Voyvodinship. I always liked arts, in the past done a lot of drawing and painting using water colors and oils. My adventure with the hobby started at the age of 7, when my father bought me a Matchbox 1/72 scale Hurricane, what a kit it was back then! The years passed and I changed my interests to armor and diorama builing. In 2008 I started a modelling blog, in 2009 I started publishing in different foreign magazines. In 2012 I got into cooperation with Canfora Publishing and Rinaldi Studio Press and participated in their recent modelling books. From 2009 onwards I started attending local polish but also international shows finally, gaining more reputation over the years, to be invited for judging in different categories and run some seminars at the dutch SMC modelling event and Belgian Scale Modellers Convention lin late 2013.
What are your favorite tools, and why do you use them?
For painting my miniatures nowadays I use mostly acrylics, Tamiya, Vallejo and Lifecolor brand. Although from time to time I also use the good old Modelmaster or Humbrol enamels (for certain purpouses) as well as Talens and Winsor & Newton artistic oils. I prefer acrylics for their ease of use and odourlessnes (well except Tamiya ones). For painting I use Daler Rowney and Kozlowski paintbrushes. As for sculpting I prefer Magic Sculp and Greenstuff (Duro). In the past I tried Miliput but MS suits me better for my basic sculpting material. For bigger sculptures, from 1/24 onwards I also use Chavant clays (Autostyle and NSP). For sculpting I use simple tools, actually most of them homemade out of toothpics or old paintrbush sticks but also some dental tools if needed.
How would you describe your own style?
Seeing Calvin Tan’s style of painting or Bill Horan’s style of sculpting back in the years I was always under a kind of influence of these two but I actually developed a style of my own, some claim it’s a bit of comic style of painting but for me yet realistic, this also considers my sculpting style.
Show us your workspace. Do not clean it.
I have limited space for my workbench, I organised a small table where I build miniatures. Lately I modified it to be able to take instant photos of my current WIP since I publish a lot in different modelling magazines and books.
Who influences your work and what inspires you?
As I mentioned earlier, my biggest inspiration for miniature sculpting and painting are Calvin Tan and Bill Horan, which I value the most for their ability to work with colors and sculpting materials to achieve realism and lifelikness of their pieces of modelling art. As for AFV miniatures most of my influence comes from the well known artists who influenced the whole modern modelling world and that is Adam Wilder, Mig Jimenez, Mike Rinaldi, Mario Eens. As it comes to diorama stuff I always liked works of Per Olav Lund and also the master of the detail - Volker Bembennek. Most of these guys are my friends now.
What’s you current favourite music/movie/series you enjoy while working?
It depens on the mood but I like jazz music as well as good old Black Sabbath to listen while working on my models.
Show and tell us what you are currently working on or what you recently finished?
My current WIP is a small vignette depicting a scene from the failed Dieppe raid from summer 1942 for a new modelling book which should be available this summer from the Swedish published Canfora Grafisk Form&Forlag. On the picture you can see the figures that I work on at the moment.
My blog and my facebook page to subscribe.
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Visit Radek Pituch at Putty&Paint
Today's interviewee is Sander van der Does. Thank you for sharing in.
Spotlight are short interviews to introduce some of the artists here at Putty&Paint.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about you.
My name is Sander van der Does and I am 24 years old. I am living in the Netherlands in the beautiful city of The Hague. Presently I am finishing my study to become a Fiscal lawyer at Leiden University.
In respect to the hobby, I started with it inspired by my father, when I was a kid of 8 years old by making models of airplanes. Later on tanks came into the picture and other military miniatures. The last 3 years I have specialized in painting miniature figures (mostly historical subjects) that I like much more then the other modelbuilding subjects. Since it gives me more options to work with colours then just olive drab and panzer grey.
What are your favorite tools, and why do you use them?
My favourite brushes are the ones of Winsor & Newton no. 7 series and Da Vinci Maestro Series 10. They are not cheap but the quality makes it worth for me. If you treat them well, they last very long. I can still use my brushes from 2 years ago.
As far as paints are concerned I mostly work with Vallejo Model Color and Andrea although I am beginning to appreciate the Citadel paints more and more.
Some time ago a was introduced to Citadel’s Liquid Green Stuff putty, great stuff to fill and smooth small gaps and irregulations.
But I think the most important tool are my friends, which give me the feedback I need to improve my miniatures. They keep the hobby like fun during events, workshops and the painting sessions we have together. Inspiring and learning from each other is the key element for me.
How would you describe your own style?
Difficult question to answer by myself. According to my friends my work style can be described as extreme but balanced. For example I like my faces to be very expressive with a lot of contrast and at the same time to be balanced by blending them a lot so the high contrast won’t bother the viewer.
Show us your workspace. Do not clean it.
At the beginning of a new miniature I always clean it, but when the painting is going on it seems to get a mess everytime. Will be a common problem I think. :)
Who influences your work and what inspires you?
Nowadays the internet and shows are the most important source of inspiration for modellers I think. Also art can be a good help to get inspired to paint miniatures.
For me personally, the lessons and courses I have had from great figure painters such as Marcel Boerrigter (NL), Fernando Ruiz (ES), Danilo Cartacci (IT) and recently Jesus Martin Gallego (ES) were a big impulse for my painting skills and my passion for figures.
I am a fan of the workstyle of those guys, which is beginning to show of in my figures I think. Seeing those guys painting and learning from them makes me enthusiastic to try to become better and better.
The last challenge I had was two weeks ago at a two day course given by Jesus Martin Gallego in Madrid, where I painted my first female figure (Luz) of Nocturna Models (owned by Jesus). I am very grateful I have the opportunity to participate in such courses. Attending such courses I can highly recommend.
What’s you current favourite music/movie/series you enjoy while working?
I don’t really have a favourite music style to be honest, I like almost everything. I put on Spotify and wait what’s coming along. :)
In respect to series I’m currently a big fan of stuff like Game of Thrones and Spartacus.
Show and tell us what you are currently working on or what you recently finished?
I am currently working on the latest bust from Heroes and Villains Miniatures, a Germanic Warrior. The nice sculpt and the crisp casting, makes it great fun to paint those bust figures on scale 1:12. Not to big, but big enough to go to town with little details. You can see my workstyle in this figure, extreme in giving expression and contrast to the figure but blended as well. Off course the blending isn’t finished yet, but it gives an impression already.
Also you can see the first progress of Luz from the course in Madrid from Jesus Martin.
My latest Historical miniature I finished can be found on PnP.
It’s also a bust form H&V Miniatures that I did for a painting demonstration on the Scale Model Challenge last October in Holland.
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Visit Sander van der Does at Putty&Paint
A few days ago I received the latest edition of the Scale Model Handbook published by Mr Black Publication. Figure Modelling 6.
The Scale Model Handbook - Figure Modelling 6 has seven step by step articles by renowned artists from different genres, sizes and techniques. Including Antonio Fdez, Javier González, Igor Kordyukov, Radek Pituch, Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth, Kazufumi Tomori and Alex Varela (Yay, they are all on Putty&Paint).
The book is printed on high quality A4 size matte paper, has a soft cover and a total of 50 pages. In my opinion the font is bit too heavy and line height too small, but it’s not a big problem while reading.
It was a joy to read this collection of step by step tutorials. The texts are not too long and the photos have a good quality. All the used tools are specified so you can directly put them on you next shopping list.
From sculpting to painting, converting, acrylics, oils, small and large it seems to be all covered and every taste should be satisfied. But see for you self. This is what you get:
Vlad Dracul The Impaler - How to Paint a Mounted Figure by Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth
War Photographer 1971, Vietnam - How to Paint a Realistic Face on 1/10 Scale Bust by Kazufumi Tomori
General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery - Sculpting a 120mm Figure for Commercial Casting by Igor Kordyukov
The Royal Hungarian Army Zrinyi SPG Crewman - Figure Conversion Using Commercial Parts b Radek Pituch
Waffen SS Panzer Crewman (Head) - How to Paint a Large Scale Face Using Artists’ Oil Colours by Mr Black
Fujita’s Dinner (sculpt) - How to Create a Realistic 54mm Vignette with Scratch-Built Figures sculpted by Antonio Fdez and painted by Javier González
From Hell: “Jack the Ripper” - Painting a Figure Using an Oriented Source of Light by Alex Varela
A wide range of contents, so you can be sure there are some techniques or tricks you haven’t known before or maybe forgotten over the time. And if you think you’re a black belt master of your art it’s still a high quality artbook.
So why should you buy this book when there are tons of tutorials on the web? Because they are very detailed, which is not always the case on the web. And you have bunch of top artists in one handy book. In times of the internet it is always a nice change to have some quality products in your hands. Even with such awesome sites like Putty&Paint :)
And last but not least you are supporting some cool artists!
The Scale Model Handbook is a recommendation for every figure painter and I cannot wait to see edition 7. You can get the book for a very reasonable price from you favourite speciality dealer or directly from Mr Black Publications.
Today's interviewee is Patrick "The Small" Masson. Thank you for sharing in.
Spotlight are short interviews to introduce some of the artists here at Putty&Paint.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about you.
Hi, my name is Patrick Masson. I am 37 years old, married and have 3 boys. I am a freelance sculptor since may 2011.
This often makes smile when someone says that I was already a sculptor when I was little, because there is indeed a link between my size and my nickname “The Small” … And yes it is true that the sculpture or modeling is an old passion for me … Although I initially tried to draw (especially during school hours …), when I began to touch the Fimo in 1995 this was a revelation.
At the begining I was doing a character from time to time as a gift for family or friends. They were most often adaptation of french comic’s characters like the Fourreux or Fol de Dol from Régis Loisel. In 2002, I did some dragons for Fenryll, these were my first produced pieces.
Then I had a very less productive period (if you put standout my three beautiful children !), my work as an engineer and the family do not allow me to give a lot of time to this passion. But in 2006 I met Arnaud Saran (drawer) and together with Arnaud Gerard (story writer) and Frederic Chollet (webmaster), we have created a website http://ltdk.free.fr and a blog http://latribudek.canalblog.com where we were presenting our work.
This was enough to be back with delight into the sculpting of characters and fantasy creatures …
In collaboration with Arnaud Saran and Thierry Masson, I created the figurines of Mr Bone, Ezop the Werewolf, Barney the Steamthing and I started to show them in different contests in 2009 and as a result it encourages me to pursue.
The hobby-passion quickly took a very important place in my life, to the point that I have decided in 2011 to leave my work and start as a free-lance sculptor… ARTIK TOYS was born!
Since then, I am sculpting for different companies and game as CoolMiniOrNot, DarkAge, SmartMax, Eden, and others and I am still planning to do some personal creations for my own miniature company Artik Toys.
What are your favorite tools, and why do you use them?
Most of the time I’m using a dental tool and a home made wood tool. Then for the very fine details I’m using a needle. These are the main tools I’m using for 90% of the sculpt even if I have tens of different tools. I’m always searching for a new one that might be better but at the end I usually come back to the first ones.
My prefered medium for miniature sculpting (30 to 70mm scale) is Fimo. I am doing a mix of fimo soft grey dolphin with fimo classic champagne plus a small amount of fimo classic black to get a darker grey. Because grey is my prefered color to sculpt. I like the way this color catch the light and the way you can see the volumes. And more other, I really like the fact that the masters look like resin finished parts at the end. It makes very nice masters.
For bigger scale (70 to 200mm) I usually use a mix of Scuper sculpey and Sculpey firm.
How would you describe your own style?
That’s a very difficult question for me. I don’t know if I really have a style, I have some trouble analysing my own work to define that. But to try an answer, in my work I am trying to be realistic most of the time, even if I’m doing comic style there is always a search of realism in the anatomy, in the clothes or in some details. I always search for some realism to try to make the piece “alive” even for cartoon character or monsters, I honestly don’t think I manage to do it every time but I try at least. I like to think the sculpture can move and speak. Maybe this is this point which describes the best my style if I can say so.
Show us your workspace. Do not clean it.
Here is my workspace, still not finalized though … As you may see, right now the desk is not the final one. I am still looking for the final dimension and material for it. It is also not very well arranged and organised for the tools but I am waiting for the final desk to find the best organisation.
At the end I will have 4 locations to work, one for the computer, one for miniature sculpting,
one for sanding and dirty work and the last one for bigger sculpting. In my mind that’s great, maybe one day I’ll be able to finish it ;)
For the cleaning, I’m trying to do it after a certain period (usually about once per month) or when it becomes too crowded to work, you know … when there is only 10 square centimeters free to work … ;)
Who influences your work and what inspires you?
A lot of different people are influencing my work.
As I am a full autodidact in art and sculpture, I have not a huge knowledge in history of art but some masters like Rodin, Bernini or Michelangelo are really inspirations for me. And I can spend hours looking at one piece of them.
In the world of miniature, I would say, Remy Tremblay, Allan Carrasco, Jacques Alexandre Gillois, Pedro Fernandez, Joaquin Palacios, I am always amazed by their pieces. There are also other sculptors in bigger size like Mark Newman, Cyril Roquelaine, Simon Lee, Jose Ismael Fernandez and so many others.
Influences are coming from drawers like Thierry Masson, Arnaud Saran, Brom, Frazetta, Regis Loisel.
And at then end, I will say that every day on internet there are plenty of amazing artists (sculptors, drawers, painters, photographers) who bring me a lot of motivation and inspiration.
What’s you current favourite music/movie/series you enjoy while working?
My favorite music is for sure Pink Floyd. There is no better way of scupting for me than doing it listening to Echoes, High hopes, Wish you were here, Shine on you crazy diamond, Marooned and all the others songs from them. Most often, I sculpt while listening the full discography of them.
Show and tell us what you are currently working on or what you recently finished?
I can not show what I am currently working on as it has to stay secret until the release.
But I can show a personal piece I have started and that I will finish when I can. It is a bit bigger than usual and made out of Monster clay. This is called “The Comforter’s Collector”. I’m quite happy with the idea but I have plenty of stuff to do to make it as I want.
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Visit Patrick “The Small” Masson at Putty&Paint or on his website ARTIK TOYS
