The first of the painting workshops that Alfonso Giraldes is organizing in La Catorce Quince took place the weekend of March 17-19: our colleague Marc Masclans‘ Masterclass. A 3 day initiative that statrted with a miniature exhibition on Friday, followed by a more traditional painting workshop on Saturday and Sunday. We had the opportunity to participate as students and we are going to tell you today in detail how we enjoyed this experience.
It all began on Friday, with an exhibition of a good sample of artowork from the teacher, Marc Masclans. This is something quite new in the world of miniature modeling. What is relevant to this initiative is that for the first time a considerable number of works by the Catalan painter could be gathered, something that never happens since these are works owned by miniature companies or collectors. Probably we will not be able to see them all together again in the same place. The exhibition was attended by other painters and colleagues that you may probably know, such as Alfonso Giraldes (who organizes the courses of La Catorce Quince), Diego Esteban, Jesús Martín from Nocturna Models (who also participated in the course later in the weekend), Luis Gómez Pradal or David de Blas. Some of them even participated in the exhibition showing some of their works.
The course itself began on Saturday. The structure of the workshop followed the traditional line of courses condensed in two intensive days. In the morning there was a first part to cover theory and techniques, in which Marc tells all the secrets of the techniques that he usually uses to paint figures. The explanatory part is dense and full of details, and assumes an already acquired advanced knowledge of colour, light and miniaturism in general. In the afternoon we began to work on our figures, under the supervision of the teacher. The session focused mainly on face painting.
On Sunday we continued the work on the face, and we advanced later to the painting of the hair, beard, as well as the crest or ponytail for those who opted for this option when assembling the bust. Finally, we continued with effects for leather and textures and painting of metals with non-metallic colors.
It is very obvious by watching him paint that Marc is a true professional of the figure world, with great experience, and probably one of the more recognized painters currently. Watching him paint is a pleasure. It shows that there are thousands of hours of painting under his brushes. In addition, during the course we also enjoyed the presence of Alfonso Giraldes or Diego Esteban, who also contributed their point of view in specific moments.
The venue that hosted the course is a room that is part of the co-working space called La Catorce Quince, in Madrid. The space is accessible with good communication by public transportation and with free and easy parking space around. The miniature chosen for the course, the dwarf bust from Hera Models sculpted by Raúl García Latorre was a risky decision due to the difficulty of some features of the figure. However, many enjoyed its painting by considering it a challenge.
We are very happy to have been able to attend the initiative. Marc is a great painter and a very good teacher. We are sure that the forthcoming La Catorce Quince initiatives will be just as remarkable. Do not miss their workshop calendar for the next few months!
