Concepts in Painting Miniatures, by Alex Castro

[Alan]

Johan ,

Yes, it is finished , however it won't be a commercial figure as we did that as a commission for a guy in Italy. I made the figure in Magic Sculpt and Marion did the painting ( Acrylics ).
The figure itself is in 54mm and all the lace was added using a flattened strip of magicsculpt, which was very roughly added on in the general shape , which when set, was trimmed and scrapped to get the final effect........on the reverse of the figure that was quite a challenge !

 

[Johan]

Just had another look - that KGL officer "defiance" is great.

 

[quang]

As Quang will tell you, I'm just simply trying to get by , and almost getting there ..........operative word almost .........well thats what he tells me anyway

Alan,

Well, unless... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Q.

 

[Guy]

Once again, glad to have you with us Alan. Feel free to plug away about you, Marion, or your website. We are a forom that doesn't mind or feel we are in competition with any other forom. You'll see my name in quite a few too. You might consider setting up a signiture (like Robin's) that would give anyone a direct link to your website. We all gather here for the one purpose of sharing knowledge about figurines of all kinds. Just click on your own name and it will take you to your personal page where you can establish an avatar and signiture.

guy

 

[frank h]

Hi Alan
Welcome to the site,
always admired your work and Marions painting.

Frank

 

[Joe Hudson]

Hello Alan,

Welcome to PF and I look forward to seeing more of your work. Also, say hello to Marion for me.

Joe

 

[gordy]

Welcome to planetFigure Alan, plugz are always welcome!

 

[garyjd]

Alan & Marion, Welcome, this is a great site with lots of participation I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves.~Gary

 

[JCOX]

Welcome Alan. I have admired your work for some time now. Glad to see you here and I look forward to your input on this site.

-jim cox

 

[Alan]

Well thanks again , it's always nice to be made welcome ..............feel free to ask whatever you like

 

[Pete_H]

So Alan .... do you ever hang around a Turkish prison? Do you like movies about gladiators?

Sorry, the devil made me do it

 

[Alan]

I'll leave all that to you pete......................you can tell me about your experiences next weekend in Atlanta...............you're still going I take it ?

 

[Pete_H]

Yes, I am

 

[Alan]

Oh Good

Experience is everything !

 

[Lou Masses]

Before someone else wearing a mask snipes something I said and perverts it, I'd like to clarify why I asked the question I did.

I only asked the question because I have never heard of Alex, seen his work, or seen or heard of him mentioned anywhere. Statements like "Groundbreaking" and "changing the way we paint figures" are pretty far out, and while I truly can't wait to see this book, I'm usually accustomed to books claiming to offer the best instruction coming from well-known, well established people - ala Bill Horan, Shep Paine, Bill Ottinger, Bob Knee, etc. While I commend anyone who is willing to do it, I like to know who they are first.

That was all. So Mr Broken Arrow, if you want to quote me, please at least have the B#$%s to use your real name and don't drag me into any battles. I do fine on my own.

And Pete, Who is OnionBOy?

Soory-spelt Bob's name wrong.

 

[gordy]

Originally posted by Lou Masses@Feb 14 2004, 05:37 PM
I'm usually accustomed to books claiming to offer the best instruction coming from well-known, well established people - ala Bill Horan, Shep Paine, Bill Ottinger, Bob Knee, etc.
Soory-spelt Bob's name wrong.

as a side bar:

planetFigure's membership is not wholly comprised of the MFCA, MMSI, SCAHMS et al.. there are a good number of wargamers and garage kit miniaturists.. henceforth the name "planetFigure" -sure the bulk of content here is 54mm-120mm military, but planetFigure incorporates all genres (does it's best to )

In all likely hood Alex (large scale sci-fi) is from a genre not known to the 54mm-120mm gang of said groups... surprisingly other genre's are in actuality much more numerous than the 54mm-120mm historical miniatures (like wargaming miniatures)

Jim Sweet comes out of left field and can sculpt amazing, is another example, I personally never have heard of him, but his work speaks for itself! Other peoples genres may not be my thing, but learning "how they got from A to B" is always applicable to my genre.

 

[quang]

Judging from the title of its chapters, I suspect that Alex's upcoming book will be different from what we're used to.

The instructional modelling books, as we know it, deal mostly with the 'how': how to put shadows and highlights, how to blend, how to drybrush,... I guess the topic has been pretty well-covered by now and is on the verge of repeating itself.

The next logical step after the 'how' is the 'why': why did I do it that way, why did I choose this colour instead of another,... We're not dealing with techniques anymore, we're dealing with rationales, the reasons behind our choices and the way we see things, in short, we're talking about 'concepts' (title of Alex's book). This is a topic that's never been covered in any publication and if Alex does it with his book, he'd be the first to do so.

When Alex sent me a pict of his musketeer bust, my first reaction was: "Here's a guy who knows his colours". It's not the neatness of the execution which struck me, it's the vibrancy resulting from the choice and the positioning of the colours.

If Alex's writing and pedagogic skills are only half as good as his painting, his book will be a milestone indeed.

Let's wait and see.

Quang

 

[Roc]

Mr. Castro,
Your technique is quite refreshing and very interesting,and I as well as the rest of the membership appreciate and are grateful for taking the time to share with us your work.
Please continue to enlighten us and ignore the negativity.
When your book comes out, where may I purchase it?
Please continue posting and keep up the great work.
Roc.

 

[Elia Cid]

Daimyo

Daimyo, Mounted Japanese War Lord, Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600),
90mm, from Pegaso Models, Painted by Alex Castro, George Papandrea's Private Collection

To my friends at Planet Figure,

I just want you to know, that with me it's about the work, the bottom line is the work, and will always be the work!

Thank you to all of you.

Alex

P.S. Thanks Quang, you nailed it!

 

[Robin]

I Must admit I am really looking forward to seeing and reading this book. A different slant on how we do things s always welcome.

Judging from the work then it must work.

Robin