Why join?

Marc showed us his approach of priming white and building up color in layers, using brushstroke direction to bring out texture in different materials. We looked at reference photos and other artists' work together to figure out how to approach different surfaces on the mountain climber girl bust. A good-sized group joined for this one.

Alfonso brought a full-size barbarian figure with its own backdrop for a weekend that mixed technique with storytelling. He covered color theory, volumetry, material rendering, and sketching, and had us come up with a bit of backstory for the character before painting the model and base together. The smaller group made things more intense and hands-on than usual, with Alfonso able to spend real one-on-one time with each student.

In Utrecht, we worked on the Goblin and Jackal busts — expertly sculpted by Victor Aguilar — from miniature art academy's new range. Borja walked through the fundamentals of basecoating and the differences between glazing, filtering, and washes, along with reflectivity, value, tone, and finish, and how to plan those out across a model. His method: basecoat the whole piece first according to that plan, then work around it refining bit by bit — always moving to the next section once one part pulls ahead, using the more-finished area as a reference so everything develops together.