 All right, we'll give a second or two here to make sure that we're we're going live. Okay, and everything on YouTube is working Hey, there we go. All right Hello, everybody and welcome to another interview with the artist and today I am sitting down with I mean Certainly one of the greatest miniature painters in the world that goes that isn't that is an objective statement but more importantly a person who is a constant source of inspiration to me and Just a truly amazing person Matt Di Pietro of contrast miniatures and miniature monthly and more or less any award You can name everything like that, but also just somebody who is doing Incredible work bringing our hobby into the art world into the fine art world and making pieces that are just so expressive So Matt it's a it's an absolute joy to sit down with you today, buddy I've been sent and hello everybody watching out there. It's great to sit down and answer some questions And talk about my art and absolutely beer. Absolutely. We are we are thrilled to have you along today This is just gonna be a fun conversation We're gonna sit back for the next hour or so talk about Matt's journey as an artist We're gonna look at some of his pieces Right now you'll notice in the bottom right. I have one of his pieces up This is be a lion a bust he worked on from a long time ago. You can find all of Matt's work on Contrast miniatures which is linked below so go check that out. I'll also have all his socials You can go follow him on Instagram and all that sort of thing which of course if you're not doing What are you doing with your life? That would be my question, but So I want to start Matt is just Where I start with a lot of people which is how did you get into painting? You've been a painter for a long long time now. So where did that journey begin? Well, I think that the journey originally began just building scale models with my dad and It was something that he was into going airplanes and tanks and that sort of thing something we could do together And we started doing that pretty young probably around six or seven Building models and things like that also had a ton of Legos growing up So I felt like and we would we would not just build the Plans for the Legos we would you know build that first, but then eventually just take it all apart throw in a bin and then we my brother And I would build these gigantic like elaborate cities in our base band, you know Just lots of things like that. So what you're saying is the Lego movie was actually based on you and your and your story That's right there. Yeah, I think it's based on a lot of us. But yeah, we had some I We're all building you know big towers. We had our own like houses. We're trying to get the best little bits for those and I don't know It was fun But then my mom is also an artist. She Does these very elaborate fine art quilts. So things like things that are made out of fiber art so kind of had the art from her and this interest in building models and building small worlds And it just kind of all gelled when I found miniatures and I just got really into it. Um I think We were playing heroes quest was the first game I started playing and then that got me into warhammer fantasy and then warhammer 40k when I was a teenager and you know like It was really something that I could do to Relax I was going through like a Pretty tough time in my life, you know really getting bullied at school and didn't really feel like I belonged to anything So when I could come home from a really stressful day um, you know having to deal with that sort of thing I could be by myself and and do my art and kind of It was an escape for me. I think that a lot of people um art acts as that From the very beginning, you know, oh, yeah, there's a there's a therapy to it, right? It's it is a place where Uh, I have found it's so centering Right like when you're there when you're at your desk when you're working like the rest of the world just kind of falls away Right, it's just you and the piece and that's it and that's there's something amazingly Uh, sort of zen I guess about it. It's it's it's very zen in the art of motorcycle maintenance, right? Only it's zen in the miniature painting. Yeah Totally and it's like this little space you can have where you have all the power you can do whatever you want with that time and um, you kind of realize that you know, you're not actually being threatened anymore and that um I don't know you can find your power there, which is what ended up happening for me like I always thought um, somebody must paint the models that go on the box heads right And the books and stuff like that But at the time it was like a completely impossible dream for me because or for anybody in the u.s Because the only major gaming company at that time was games workshop, right? I mean just nothing else. It was like in the mid 90s Um, and they're not going to hire somebody from america to go paint for them You know, they're just going to find somebody in the uk to paint for them, you know, obviously, right? So I always thought it was kind of like this insane dream But you know, I still kind of held on to that because I needed You know something and I was really into the painting and also the gaming aspect I've gained a ton back then It's really can really got really competitive. Um It is very hard for me knowing you as I have for the past couple years to imagine the competitive gamer Matt I I just I want to like take a time machine and go back and meet this version of you Yeah Yeah, it's like uh, it's a little weird for me too. Like I feel like maybe just Having a lot more competition in my own life just in general, you know, I've gone through Uh, you know competing in major painting competitions all this stuff. It's like I kind of have enough competition I don't really feel like I need to need to be you know competing with people in games, but I still really like uh gaming and I But more cooperative these experiences, you know, right role playing games Cooperative board games or you know video games too Um, that's kind of where my gaming side of things has moved um I still enjoy painting gaming models and I love all the like sci-fi worlds and all that stuff and Making out the models look great. Uh, but I don't game as much with the competitive scene It just really like Uh started to Feel like too much. It becomes a treadmill, right? You just you can't run forever. That's right. Yeah. Yeah So you're playing you know, I've talked about on this show before that I think there are four avenues into this world Okay, tell me if you think this checks out Here's here's the four avenues that I that I see one is scale modeling Two is warhammer three is war machine and four is fine arts Right. So like that's like people have an artistic background and then they discover There's a way to sort of combine a hobby of gaming with it. Some people who did scale models It sounds like you hit a couple of the buckets here Coming in because you were playing 40k. How did you transition over? Like when did the thing happen to? To war machine and to working with p3 and that kind of stuff Or with well private your press sorry For one thing I just got it really got lucky. I think uh those I mean I'm sure there are people all over the place who had the same dream that I did um and Even up to the day I got hired at private your press. I was playing 40k and and I wasn't didn't actually get into a war machine at that time um, but I knew that what I wanted to do was Uh to try to pursue this as an art career. Right. I just was passionate about it um, so when private your press opened up um, you know within my general area um I and a friend of mine who used to run the game store. I used to game at He was the first editor of no quarter magazine. No, so yeah, so he was like You know, he knew all about my, you know passion for the art and everything He's like, hey, you know, this is your chance. Are you going to take it? You know, so I You know picked up everything and moved down I was living in kind of north of um Of seattle in a town called bellingham where I went to college uh, and then I So I moved down. I got a job in their in their warehouse packaging the model So like I was the guy that hand hand packaged all the figures made sure all the parts were correct in there and like you know did all that and um Just to give my foot in the door like get hired on then once I was there I met um mike mcvay alley mcvay and ron cruzy who were like the studio team at the time And I let them know know that this is like what I'm passionate about and this is what I want to do and Just started talking to them about what it would take to do that Um So they showed me some things they taught me how to blend. I didn't know how to blend before then Uh, because there weren't any youtube videos or right circles on this sort of thing at all It was none of that at the time. Um, so Um after about six months, um, they Were able to get me up there part time and then Very quickly after that mike and alley moved back to the uk. It was very sudden Um, and I just took over for them For alley doing the miniature paint jobs and you know, that's just launched my career which lasted Almost a decade. It was like nine and a half years painting miniatures for a war machine. Wow. Yeah War machine hoards when I left Probably close to half of all the studio paint jobs were my paint jobs So it was like I felt like it was a really big achievement I would say that's like a that is an unbelievable Plurality slash almost or maybe majority there like that is an insane amount of work Yeah, I mean, of course now the the ratio is smaller because I've been away for Almost four years now But uh, yeah at the time it was like and it still is a big achievement. I think uh, you know, there's some of those paint jobs They still really like you can see the ones where I was rushing a lot You know, there's always going to be that When you're a studio painter, um You're kind of like at the end of the process, right so You know before before you get the model the The concept artist has already been late, you know by a couple weeks and then The the sculptor might have taken a really long time to get sculpted It comes down the packet. It's like, yeah, it's like, well You have three days to get this painted this giant monster painted And if you don't then the product will be delayed, you know, right like no pressure Yeah, you're paying the price for any other delays like yeah, you're the one that can't slip Yeah, because you're at the end of the chain. Yep. Yeah Well, if I do it's more like if I do slip then the company actually pays a price like a price So it's like, um I really took that seriously and my whole thing was I'm never going to miss. I'm never going to be late. You know, I'm always going to be On time and as close to on target as we can within the time they gave me so Um, yeah, and I didn't miss a deadline the entire time even some really really tough ones. Um That was really had proud of that too. Um There was there was some fun Fun kind of stressful situations where it's like, well, I'm going to this convention But this box that needs to be painted and it's like, you know, giant colossal or something like that So I take it to the convention. I had to get done by the end of the convention with everything going on You know Painted at the convention. So it was this fun thing where people could come and see it's like, is he actually going to finish? He's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's going to fail, you know, so Uh, and they can kind of experience that sort of touch and go like, uh under pressure art Um, the studio painting is all about There you go That's awesome So where in that time then did you also because I assume then somewhere in there Is when you started also competing more so so what what made you like? Obviously the whole time you're doing the studio painting. I assume you're continuing to grow You're getting more and more happy with like your art and what you're achieving So where when did that switch flip and you say, you know, I want to do some competing as well So it's interesting because like as a studio painter, you're kind of off the hook You don't really need to compete to get your name or your like art out there So for a number of years, I didn't compete and the only competitions out there at that time the earlier part of my You know miniature in like a career at privateer press Um, was still I think still game. I think there was still going to demon Right now games day at a time. Yeah, sure. Yeah, and then there were some other competitions that There was nothing local because I'm in washington state and up in the corner of the country There was no local competition. So And it really couldn't afford to fly to go to other conventions. Um at that time So I didn't end up competing for quite some time I kind of wish that I had maybe done a little bit more competing at that time But maybe it was good in the long run. Everything kind of happens for a reason, I guess But for me It was really crystal brush They got me competing again. Gotcha. Yeah I had competed before I got the job at privateer press and won a golden demon in 2002 um, but You know, like that was actually the first time I had ever traveled for anything Nice Here I had all like I had ever traveled by myself. So it was pretty cool. And I was like, I think it was like 18 years old But uh, yeah, there was a big big break and then crystal brush came back and they had been going on for maybe two or three years um And I really kind of pushed privateers like I really want to go to this I really, you know, you guys should have a presence at adepticon and be there And I'll do some privateer presses pieces for the um, panic competition nice so So this would have been like 2014. Is that right? That was the first year right that they Set up shop there because 2013. I think was the last time they did rogue demon or maybe it's 2012 and 2013 But somewhere around there trying to remember the year was the head judge. Gotcha. This year. I competed there. Um, I had a big colossal um Peace which I still have actually, um, and then The next year I came and um did the canyon diorama that maybe I think that was like 2015 Yeah, so, um Yeah, the next year after that the second year I came I brought the big diorama of that canyon. Gotcha A lot of people I've seen Um, if you if you haven't seen it check out the website. Yeah, that's like still one of my favorite pieces Just because I was doing something really crazy that pushing myself outside of my boundaries And that's where I really feel like you should be doing when you're competing. Um I am competing like It would have been really easy for me to just stay as a studio miniature painter and like be happy where I was at With my painting and being able to do it as career and do it professionally. Um And there was that but I'm always like, okay If I want to push this further I want to do something different Maybe something different than what I see out there and so instead of like looking at somebody at other people's work and And uh, you know trying to figure out what they're doing and and do that It's more like well, what what a how do I want to grow right and then I use the competition to uh To push me to actually go out and do it. Um kind of the focusing element of it, right? Like, yeah And I think that that's a much healthier way to approach the competition Even though it can be really kind of scary in a lot of ways because you know, you're getting You're getting judged on something that you're not it's not comfortable It's not a comfortable thing that's in your warehouse. They're really good at You're like pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and saying hey Can I make this look just as good as what I'm and comfortable with? um But I think that if you just stick to what you're comfortable with Then all you're doing is you're going there and you're trying to get a trophy. You're trying to win whatever um prizes You know out there whether it's fame or recognition or whatever But so you're not actually It's not it's not a growth. So you could get a trophy You're going and it's almost worse if you win because then it's reinforcing that behavior where uh, and it can it can cause a stunting and other growth so By using this competition to to push yourself into new areas that you've never done before like for example with the canyon I carved that whole canyon by hand From high density foam and did all this diorama work that I hadn't had never really done I had never seen seen a piece that looked like that before um, but I had an idea that I thought could work and You know, I had a had an idea for that diorama for a couple years and just decided that it was like make or break and see if I could do it And while I was working on that it's not like I had Studio time to do any of that. Of course. Yeah. Yeah So it was like you you go to work 40 hours a week painting You're doing all the modeling and everything 40 hours a week But then you also have to do this other project, you know So it was kind of like I worked I don't know 60 hour weeks for a month and a half To be able to get that done Um, so so it was pretty Uh nerve-wracking Yeah, absolutely. So obviously you've uh, you know, you've competed you've done well all over in a lot of different competitions And now you've been judging a lot recently You've been doing you've continued to push with a lot of pieces that are really like you can absolutely see the exploration We're gonna look at some of them later on But where would you say like what's your right now? How are you approaching your art? How are you thinking about it? How are you thinking about the the miniature painting world? Like what's motivating you every day right now? Yeah, well like right now. I mean this year. I've kind of given myself a little bit of Of time to adjust to a new life because I just moved I had to move twice this year Uh moved to a new area and then found a house and we bought a house and moved again So I haven't been like and then that's caused me to have a bit of a backlog in my own In my work, so I'm getting caught up right now. So at the moment, I haven't found the new like sort of uh Um equilibrium where I can make that really uh that next step with my art, but I know exactly where I want to go um Where I really I've been studying sculpting for about two years now And practicing that so that I can make You know my own art from scratch rather than using sculpture from other artists Um, but I still do plenty of those pieces. I mean I love the sculptors. They're out there. I love to You know make work that is my own take on their sculptures, which is what's cool about of our art you know every piece is a joint piece of art between the sculptor and the painter um So it's pretty cool to Have art like that, but some of these ideas they're not necessarily what a sculptor is going to sculpt to produce for a mass audience because they're kind of You know more niche or Or maybe yeah, there's just lots of reasons why I sculpt sure I mean we see that a lot in like garage kits right or something like that where it's made for a very small audience And somebody runs a couple copies of it. It's not something that's going to sell You know, it's going to blow the doors off at a gaming store's shelf or something right but they're but it's still speaking to this dedicated niche of people who Very much like the aesthetic or whatever it happens to be about that piece So it's it's a great world we live in that there's becoming a lot more avenues Not only to to do that but to learn that right you mentioned like the no YouTube thing like that like now the amount of just tutorials even about sculpting and stuff like that the way that you can Work with other artists in this in the world we live in now is is just amazing in that regard Yeah, and I think that people are able to grow as artists much more quickly than I was able to when I was Younger, you know, I wish that things have been that had so many resources And then also there's a lot more opportunity for people these days to to do this as they're as you know Supplemential income or even as their own full income, you know, right being an artist and it's pretty cool The internet has really opened that up People to have kind of have their own their own jobs. They're not working for anybody else Or not working for a company, you know, and there's a lot of freedom to that and there's a lot of sacrifices they make too, but Um, it's not for everybody just like, you know Um, everything out there is not for everybody, but uh, right Right thing for me, right? Yeah, so I really want to get more into sculpting Work that can be appreciated by a general audience So anybody who sees it not just that somebody who sees it and that knows nothing about my miniatures nothing about You know gaming or even sci-fi or fantasy or whatever Hopefully I can make pieces that can start to appeal to just anybody who sees them um, that's kind of like a big goal for me and doesn't and That doesn't mean that every piece I make has to be that way, but I would like to make more more art that's like that um, and then also pieces that are 100 original sculpted by myself and painted by myself um Some of them are kind of more surrealistic. Um, I sent Use some pics of my piece called yellowstone dreams, which we can talk about later But uh, that's kind of looking for realism piece. Um Inspired by my trip to yellowstone national park I really love the outdoors and the national parks So I have actually a few a few different ideas in my head for more pieces to kind of expand on that sort of body of work and then um I also have um some pieces coming up that are about kind of like speculative future thinking about our future as a world um, so I don't really want to talk too much about no, that's my plans for yet, but uh, Hopefully, you know, I can actually get those ideas out, uh, and you'll see them in the next year or two um And then want to expand I've done a couple pieces on The seven deadly sins like these demons and stuff like that It's a great way to kind of like take sculpture that I find out there and then kind of maybe Repurpose them get some my get some feelings out about um, sort of these Negative things that people can take on that will kind of tear apart their lives or revolve around them or what they can lose by sort of You know be acting in these ways. So I did one on greed That I released probably like three years ago or something like that and then another one on pride And I think the next one I'm gonna do is lust So now we're talking now. We're in my space. All right. All right. I support this So, uh, I'd like to get that piece out sometime this next year um But I need to get caught up because actually I have I've made up some new pieces this year that I haven't um really even That not everybody has seen because I haven't even got photos and stuff processed and all that so um, you know Yes, it's nothing you're still moving back to your new normal, right? Yeah, well exactly, but um, this move was really great and and if you'll let me I can talk a little bit about it because it's Since the mentor resting opportunities for people who might want to come visit the studio and uh take private coaching for me, um Just can be a really great like vacation that you go on because I live in a really beautiful place on the olympic peninsula of washington state I'm just like really close to amazing forests amazing mountains and the ocean. Um, I can see uh the The ocean from my house actually like I opened the window, uh, the curtains behind me Now that's my studio there behind me and then I can just open those when those curtains and you can see the ocean out there So that's pretty cool And just like a block from a nice beach that I can walk on when I get stressed out or I need to take a break and um Yeah, it's just a really nice place for people to visit. I've already had a couple students come visit me here and they We just really had a great time. So um, and that was a big part of moving um I'm just embracing some of those opportunities. Um, we just really left out to be in a good good spot and I want to make this a just a a great place to visit and a great environment for people to learn in a comfortable setting Well, that's awesome. Yeah, I've been following and I know you've been sharing some of the work that uh, that, you know, some of your Students who have come to you for the private coaching have done and it's amazing This has been so people out there who are watching like a very common question I get Is You know about doing one-on-ones with artists like where do I look? Where do I go? Who can I work with? This comes up A lot in in various comments and socials and stuff. Uh, you could do No better than to take Matt up on this opportunity than to reach out through the venues to go and visit him And to take that private coaching I mean, this is truly like the fact that your new studio space is allowing that is an absolutely amazing opportunity for all of us To be real, right to come and spend a few days of you to learn some some just not just The techniques. I mean, that's cool, right? It's cool to see how you paint and learn the techniques But it's it's a lot deeper opportunity than that because sitting with somebody like Matt And actually learning how the artist thinks how they're approaching stuff how they're working There's so much more you get from that kind of tactile experience So could not recommend it enough like if that's if that's in your means and a thing You're interested in doing and taking that step on your hobby journey. You should be doing it a hundred percent Yeah, I really think that one-on-one coaching is by far like the best and way for you to learn something That's really hard And it can be it's I just I have the best time Teaching that way and I find my students make the biggest jumps doing that, you know Am I my classes at conventions are also good and then we can workshops that I do Those are great experiences and they're they're great in their own way But the one-on-one coaching is really where you really learn the most because you have the most like one-on-one time and I can sit down And watch you paint and just make those little teeny corrections that I I know Um, like just about how you're moving the paint or those sorts of things I can make those little corrections They make a huge difference And now it's easier than ever because like before I lived in downtown Seattle, which seems like it's easier Because it's closer to the airport or whatever, but um people would come out They'd have to go tell room because I didn't have space for them Right I have now I have a guest bedroom with his own bathroom and everything And people can stay there for you know very little, you know Just enough to cover my cleaning costs that I also throw on breakfast. So You know and I and I help them get to Get to hear from the airport. They don't have to rent a car or anything like that So it can just it's it's more accessible than people think sometimes That's awesome Also, you just made me think why is there not like an artist retreat bed and breakfast, right? Like that's that's uh That that's basically what you're describing. Yeah, exactly There is one it's in my house There you go All right, I've had some people uh, you know stay stay for an extra day or two and go Explore the Olympic Peninsula because there's like lots of great hiking and uh beautiful things to see out here Um, so it can turn into a whole vacation like my last client brought his family out and they were out exploring While we were doing painting. So it's like this family vacation for them. It's kind of fun. Nice. Nice everybody I made to make sure my wife doesn't watch this or she'll definitely be like so when are you going out to visit matt and I'll be like, oh I know she loves that area of the country All right, man, let's take a look at some of your pieces. Shall we let's take a look at some of this work All right, so we're going to cover up matt's beautiful face here for a moment, but we're going to share some beautiful art So here we go. Uh, we're going to start Yeah, there we go. Uh, so the first piece that we're looking at matt is the uh, the ice uh, fisher of titan Uh, so this is a bust you had done a while back. Uh, this is like, I I'll just begin this by talking about the stuff I love but I really want to hear you talk about it This is such an amazing piece in every regard. Um, between like how alive Everything feels and yet how cold like how you've made this thing feel very alive in a dead environment, right? Um, this like and I I flipped over to the zoom in so everybody can see just the incredible where weathering age just everything on The the fishers the fisherman's face Uh, it's just so fantastic like the expression in the eyes the emotion you captured The detail in things like his armor his skin On the fish itself. This is just I mean, this is one of my top pieces you've ever done and period ever Just not just that you've done that ever So if you want to talk like what inspired you with this one, what do you like about this one, etc? Yeah, I can talk a lot about this one and um, it is Uh, one of my favorite pieces of my own as well A real personal favorite for me and a personal piece as well. Um, I was inspired by um Just the images I was seeing from the Cassini, uh, space probe um That was at visiting Saturn and like sending back all this information about the different moons of Saturn and And and you know the possibility of one day Moving out into the solar system as a human race But I wanted to show That this is a harsh environment so and I really love For me like the pieces that Or the subjects that really like um inspire me is like something that has two sides to it You know, it's not just like one very direct thing There's like two sides of this piece one is like, you know, the harshness and the coldness of the environment There's like burst blood vessels in his cheeks and things like that from the cold and from the low pressure environments that he works in and it's about how You know, when we do move away from earth, it's not going to be to this utopia. It's going to be Uh, human the human race learning to survive again in a harsh world um And there's some whimsy to it too with the the see the space bass fish that All that but there's also this like in his eyes this this two sides to that too where it's like this This pain of the harshness and having to survive but also this like hope and drive to to um live and To thrive which I think like that's like window into the human spirit in general Um, you know, it's very it's very human sort of feelings. I think so I just tried to capture those two sort of Different things within the within the face and within the emotion And a lot of my pieces I really feel Like they're doing the best when I can do that where I can have like two kind of Um different emotions balancing each other right um piece is a custom A custom piece made from two different pieces of art. Um two different sculptures By roman van begart Like I took the fish from his inuit Model and there was this old spaceman Mollie it sculpted many many many years ago That I always I always just loved that face so I decided to combine them together But the fish from the inuit sculpture. It was like half a fish Like it was cut off in the back. So it wasn't like a full fish or anything like that The whole back of the fish I sculpted from scratch like the whole back side of the face and everything Um, so there's a lot of custom sculpting work, but I was able to kind of like look really closely at the sculpture and figure out how he had done the scales on the fish It was just like a mechanical pump pencil that he had used Gotcha, so, you know, that's how I was able to capture the the scale work perfectly and and and I was able to kind of Uh, take it all like deconstruct what he had how he had sculpted it and do the same thing So it matches pretty well, uh, I think and Little the little ropes and things like that and there's a lot of a lot of work to get it all to fit together correctly But it was definitely worth it. Um Yeah, uh There's a lot of other little things on there because especially the fish is a very difficult way to paint it um, I think that In some ways, it's easier like, uh, it would be easier to paint it. Um like Just in non-metallic effects just kind of like a more painterly aspect by why it looked really real So the whole piece it's like that fish is metallic It's iridescent. So like it has color shifting in involved It has patterns on it as well. It's patterned Um And it's glossy So like all of these effects work together to make it because that like a fish is all those things So right aren't realistic. It has to have those those, um, those aspects showed and then it also has a lighting effect. So, um, the light is represented as well So to do all five of those things on one object The difficulty gets gets higher and higher with each effect you kind of stack on top of it. Um, so it felt like a really big, um I don't know like achievement for me. Um, and I kind of have Took that to the next level with uh, some pieces in the that I did afterwards And then I also was taking a trick that, um, I had learned from, um, roman la pot I had done this article series. I actually I think maybe it was uh, it was on massive voodoo It might have been rafa rafa alpica, but they had done these little lenses, okay, which is really cool like, uh, just taking a Piece of I don't know like a sticker backer or something that wouldn't something we want to stick to Yeah, and you like, um clear gloss gel medium or different gel mediums I played around with different gel mediums to make these little lenses And then, uh, so I used those for the eyes of the fish Oh, okay traditional and then stuck the lens on top and then also the lens of his, um It was headlamp because he has this headlamp and if it was turned on it would be like shining right into your face or whatever, right? so But then it's like well, it's turned if it's turned off. It looks like you're not trying or like, you know, right I drilled it out and I made a reflector and like, uh, and made an actual physical object out of it. So the the piece, um blends these physical effects with uh, painterly effects as well and trying to do it so that all looks Sort of yes, yeah, it's like one type of painting It's like a ton of different types of painting coming together And if you can get it all to merge together and work it can be really impressive, I think But it's harder for people to judge that maybe Like I think that um that sort of Thought process is maybe a little bit different than uh, a lot of things that are popular these days, but I really enjoy You don't have to be the same like as everybody else, you know, and I think It's difficult doing that maybe even more in some ways Um, but it's the way I like to do it. Um, it works better on larger scale, though I will say um, if you the smallest scale you get the more sort of These uh effects that are layered on top and trying to look realism, right? becomes harder, especially glossy things. You don't want to make anything glossy or even semi glossy smaller than you know One eighth or in tenth scale Right. Yeah. Yep. No, it's such a good piece and I think we're going to see some of these same things carry through into the next one that I've got queued up which is the next one is journey of creation and uh, this piece so this was a Uh garage kit, but it's still a combination originally, right because I thought I think it's a kind of two separate kits Maybe you know, I'm sure you'll tell us about it, but this is I viewers who are watching. I mean, I I only have a few of the pictures on this in here I really recommend you go out and look at the art of this and the in the links that are in the description This thing is so breathtaking in every regard like just The detail the the lighting the color usage this thing is a master class from top to bottom It's gonna have I I'll let you talk them through but it's gonna have some of those same effects You were just talking about combined into it and I just I love the emotion of this piece more than anything Like the story you tell In in what is ultimately quite a minimal space, right? I mean this thing is huge in all honesty But I mean like you didn't you didn't need Your ground is like this tiny amount of space and yet you've constructed like a whole world Right. Um, yeah all of the detail that's here It's I when I when I talk about dioramas of people I say you want to tell as much of a story you can In as small of a space as you've got to work with and you just I mean this thing explodes with detail So so take us through with this this one because this I love this thing Yeah, so this piece Is kind of taking some of the stuff that we were talking about before and bring it this Big Level like it is one big garage kit and then I made some modifications to the kit But for the most part it's close to stock Um, but I did do quite a bit of modification to it just to do some crazy Things like for example, I took a big power drill and drilled into the eyes To make them three-dimensional objects like we were talking about with the previous Piece only with this one it was big enough where I would actually do a resin pour inside each eye Um and had the resin kind of bulge up, you know, how it has that uh, it has more surface tension So actually either have a meniscus or it could bulge up if it was bigger And usually usually people have the meniscus because they're worried about overflowing But I kind of pushed it right to the level where it's like bulging up really big and making this lens Just like a fish eye would have And if when you move from right to left on the figure, I I think I include a video But maybe people can see on instagram the same video Where the eyes almost look like they follow you because they're actual three-dimensional objects um So that was so those are some of the modifications I did but the story behind this piece um That was trying to I had a like, you know A narrative in my mind when I was kind of coming up with the ideas When I had the kid and everything and I just thought it was this uh story about how um Every thousand years a child is born with the power of creation You know the power of god to create whatever comes into his mind um And the last time this happened the child was born into the into a world of war and pain and That's where the demons of that world came from from his nightmares from his from him being, you know, subjected to this terrible world So when the child is born this time a protector Comes and is taking him to a place of refuge where he can dream beautiful things about the world and and make it a better place um And I think that it's kind of So this is like the the picture of that journey, you know the dream of of him to across this desert to safety where his protector and his and his um his sister with him and uh But so that's the that's the story I was trying to show here and he and he's created this fish to ride on and like, uh you know, um He's he's creating these little butterflies um Like so the the kit has I think over 30 butterflies all over them. There's like butterflies in the hair of the warrior there's like um Butterflies all hanging out on the top of the canopy where it's warm, you know where the butterflies would want to hang out um There's this little lantern in the kit that comes with it was made in clear resin And I added some sculpture sculpted flowers to the bottom of it and changed it into hummingbird feeder So like it looks like it's full, you know liquid and I sculpted a little hummingbird that's a that's attached to the feeder feeding off of it um And I love to just see this hummingbirds that live near me. So I was inspired by that and you know, just kind of putting in these different um Different things that I see in my own life, you know And in a sense that like I am the creator But I'm creating this like story about another creator that's creating the world. So it's like Kind of interesting and I think that there's a message there too where um, the world that we're We're born into and that We have the power to create One way or the other a better world or a world that's worse for not only ourselves But for everybody around us for the world in general You know and and uh, that's kind of the Store behind that piece But maybe some of you can talk a little about the painting and the technical aspects too Because I was really kind of pushing myself into some new areas and yeah No, I I love the story of the piece as well. Like it's so gorgeous and it's communicated so well. You see these people's lives Uh, you know on this Thing, you know on this this flying fish. I don't know what to call him other than a big flying fish But you you see like their their lives with them on this journey and you get the sense that this is like a long Road that they're on right from from everything you see here Yeah, and that's why it's called the journey of creation, you know, it's like maybe a journey of the life lasts the whole lifetime, you know, but uh any case uh The thing I was really pushing myself on was like to build off of you know, some of this The effects I was doing with the fish from the ice fisherman and You know a lot of the things I was growing with with my freehand stuff but then to layer on top of that really complex lighting situations right that A complex lighting situation that is like real life Because in a real life, you know, unless you're in a controlled setting There's like she liked a lot of different things that the light is doing So for and this on this piece. There's actually four different light sources um That and they all have um different levels of diffusion versus like Hard light versus a fuse light And then also different types of colors to them. So I can kind of break it down for you Um, they're crossing this desert and so it's a sunny light situation So there's two there's a sort of a general light coming from above Sometimes people would call this like a zenzel light source, right? And but this light source isn't the sun Uh, it's the dome of the sky. So there's like a big the anytime you're outside on a clear day There's like a the dome of the blue sky Cast light kind of generally from above. So there's kind of like a really diffuse blue light coming from above um And then But this is quickly overpowered by the sunlight which is coming from just one direction and it's a hard light And I use it to spotlight in particular all the characters. So the main Is the you know the warrior in front who's getting lit by mostly that light And then uh, also the main characters are getting kind of spotlight. So I've chosen direction that's going to really do that well um And then there's a light Another diffuse light coming from below which is the light bouncing off the ground And the ground is like this orange sand So there's kind of like an orangey yellow diffuse light coming from below So you can really see kind of these lights, especially on the shadow side of the figure Where the sunlight isn't hitting you kind of have a blue light from above Orangey light from below and it kind of creates these interesting sort of interplay of the light Like you would see in real life. Um And then the final light source is the light that's like transmitted through the canopy So there's this red canopy that's like shading them But some light would travel through that canopy And um, it would create kind of a red light that um That made made it so like I wanted the focus to be on um, you know, the child who's creating this butterfly And the his sister there not on the warrior who's in the foreground So they work the foreground to actually paint in more muted colors Um, and none of the red light is hitting him Like our eyes are really tuned in on red. We'll we'll look at red objects first. So by using that red light it kind of um Makes you so the first thing you look at is the the child In the center of the piece who's getting the sunlight and the red light And it's kind of cool because if you look up at the canopy, I've made it look like the light is shining through it Just through my painting Yeah, I actually I have that shot up right now. It's one of my favorites where you can see the Patches that have repaired the canopy that are made of like a thicker material And are hence blocking the light versus the original canopy where you can see like how the the sunlight Having this yellow has sort of pushed the The the red up into this light as it's a as it's a translucent object that light is coming through and you really see that distinction I really I was really challenged to do that. I'd never seen it done on miniatures before So I just thought that would be really cool. And that's all done by freehand, you know And everything and then also like really challenged myself with these very complicated Like chinese patterns, they're all based off of real textile patterns So there's lots of different options for that Yeah, so I was just really pushing myself to to do that even more complicated And with all the lighting and and all that layered on top So and then and then the fish is like again metallic iridescent Uh kind of glossy and and looks fish like as well and then has the crazy Custom eyes and everything on it. So Yeah It's great. And in the shot that I have up right now, which is like the reverse view You can really see that the lighting situation That you were describing with like the difference between the fish under the normal light and the reflected Orange yellow desert light coming up like on that back shot here. It's it's really Really clear how those two are interacting in interesting ways and giving a lot of like Realism life placement in the environment to the fish Yeah, it's a piece it's a piece as you walk around it. You can kind of see how the light changes and and how you you're using that light to Make these focal points and things like that on the piece So you're using the light to tell the story and to guide the eye But there's always enough light in places for for you to still find all the little details and the little Uh Little things too. Yeah, absolutely. Such a great piece Yeah, yeah, I could talk forever about that that one. Uh, it was just a really great experience I want to show that more It's it's always really it was really hard to photograph and I'm still working through like kind of processing some of the photos and Getting that up on the website, but uh, yeah, and I think the video is out there on your instagram with the butterflies, right? Yeah, yeah, um, like it's worth a look just go you'll you'll see what I mean But there's a there's a butterfly video out there on the instagram and where he actually kind of walks you through and just The care and detail and and placement and it's amazing how much each one Adds to life they all feel like these little distinct creatures that have sprung from his The the child's imagination, you know just being like almost otherworldly bright Because they are They're literally just imagination given form, right? So they're all the colors he could think of Uh that just sort of brought them into being These little pure objects these that's uh a mind that is it's pure from The evils of the world right right great. Yeah. Yeah, it's great All right, so next up we have this is this is a really fun one Uh because I am also a big fan of Sherlock Holmes I think I've watched more or less every incarnation of Sherlock Holmes going all the way back to like, you know the Original black and white stuff from the 50s and 60s and I pretty much love every version of it Uh just such a great character and Read most of the novels when I was young loved them and this is Just a really cool interpretation of him and Watson investigating he and Watson. Sorry investigating a crime scene And I'll let you kind of you know walk us through it. However, but I just This is the kind of piece that that You know, you can just stare at forever and I want everybody to appreciate stuff like The wood paneling on the floor like such a simple Part of the piece that it's basically the background right and yet the detail And difference in color and texture like the fact that you've you've painted all that and so accurately captured Those like wooden tiles the texture in the rug in their clothing in the wallpaper like this This piece is a master class in texture. Just top to bottom every element of it So at any rate go ahead and yeah take take us through this one Yeah, I totally agree that that was like what I was really focusing in on is like the Textures and trying to make these like materials stand out as the particular materials involved I've kind of gone to some great lengths and maybe Some kind of ridiculous lengths and some of these pieces like There's a little like white china saucer That I just like I had found I just get inspired by little objects. I find sometimes like it was like a piece of plastic that had been punched out of some packaging Right, so it was like this concave sort of piece of clear plastic I'm like, oh well I so I painted the The china on the back of this plastic So you kind of get this and I did like reverse So you're doing all like the highlights First and then working backwards right But what the effect you get is like the effect that you would see through like that clear glaze on Where it's like there's this picture underneath the glaze So just these little things just like a little meticulous stuff like that um And it was a lot of fun. I was I was a fan of Sherlock Holmes and Watson As a painter I can listen to audiobooks as much as I want and um I think the full works of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, which is like over 100 hours is like one credit And I was on on on a audible So that's pretty good. That's that's that's your talk about value for your dollar. My goodness for your dollar exactly And they're really good. I really love Sherlock Holmes and Watson because they don't um They don't have any of these cheap sort of like tricks To keep you from being able to solve the crime And once you get into them like you a lot of times you can you can solve the mystery along with Sherlock Holmes and Watson When you're reading the the novels so it's pretty cool for that reason. I think too Um and they're complicated, but they they all like really have internal logic They're not going through any cheap sort of things and none have like supernatural stuff in them at all Um, it was really um, so I found the story is really impressive. I love mysteries. I love I love puzzles. I love puzzle games even and all sorts of things. So um, I was always kind of into the Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Um, so When I got the opportunity to do this diorama for a client like I really got into it where it was like I wasn't just going to have them Standing in their drawing room. I wanted them to be at crime scene and like, um you don't I wanted to have just the hints of like an overworld outside and maybe like some little clues that you could pick up maybe you can't tell the whole story because you um Originally, I wanted to have like you be able to solve mystery by just looking at the diorama but When I started working on it like you kind of quickly come Come to the conclusion that you can't actually tell a whole mystery story in this way because you're the You don't know who the person who was killed was so you can't determine like, you know Who a suspect would be or whatever, but there's just these hints, you know, maybe like the the The window that's cracked open or uh Like I have a key that's hidden behind the Clock they can see if you look in the mirror Stuff like this just these little things like that. Maybe You have these ideas. I don't know. I just kind of wanted to have Like the hints of the mystery and everything Yeah, one of my favorite little details speaking of the minor clues I flipped over to a shot here with the void in the bottom right Or what bottom right as the viewers are seeing it right now like where there's dust around something that was moved Right after that such a like little clever awesome detail Yeah, I just there's so much little nuance to this one that I really love It was and it's fun like because you can kind of maybe tell your own story with the piece I I enjoy having the stories that I tell be open to interpretation Because I feel like that allows maybe I have my own story that I'm telling but I always kind of like leave it a little open Ended because people might have might be able to come up with a totally legitimate and interesting story within their own minds And then they've created a connection with with the art, you know, right? I feel like Art is about making that connection between The audience and the artist or what the what the artist's subject matter is in the in the audience One of those things Absolutely Yeah, this is such a great piece and You know, I mean I've said that pretty much about everything because they all are went back to far one Just like even the fact that One of the things I really like that you captured here Is not just the difference in the textures, but that the textures all feel contextually appropriate to like the materials of The theoretical time period this is set in Right, um, like the wood paneling does feel like wood in this old house You know what I mean like like the type of wood I would imagine was there the sort of like tweed In their pants or whatever material that is feels like the the slacks and the vest and the coat The the heavier fiber Right that would have been made and available in this sort of like late 19th century Victorian area time period Even the nature of like the walls and the wallpaper and the aging of it, right Where uh, there wouldn't have been as much sealant against moisture and the ability to keep that stuff out So there would be these kinds of like light streaks and you know, minor mold effects that had come in even in a well cared for house Right touches I did a lot of uh, really meticulous background research about the time period and the materials And like what things would be like Kind of I figured that this person's kind of a middle class sort of uh Person so it's not super opulent But it also like, you know has so yeah Things weren't as sealed as well against the elements as part of part of that all the you know all of the Wallpaper design is based on of actual designs. It's hand painted um The yeah the carpets the just all these things I felt like were influences on the um the time period that victorian era right um industrial era um and You know, there's like a little bit of the chinese influence with the And there's a dutch pottery that like blue and white pottery these sorts of things would all be kind of um influences because trade was a big part of that uh era is like a The global trade is something that it's like fairly fairly new. Um at that time so there's these little elements that Communicate that so it's kind of great when you're doing these models. They're based off of history You can learn about the history while you're making the model And that that was a lot of fun and then also there especially their outfits Really did a lot of research into it because it's one thing to be like, oh, we need to we need to do these textures You know, right whether they're part in or you know These different things but it's like what is that? What are those coats made out of? Like this felted wool a lot of the time so like how does that react with the How can we depict that accurately? You know, if you go really high contrast with your highlights and shadows, it's not going to look like wool because wool is Um, probably the dullest Most diffusing of the materials so the light is really like softened by it So if you have really really dark shadows and really really bright highlights It's not going to look like wool. Um, and it's not going to look realistic Um, so you have to do that balance. Um, and actually start to realize how light responds to each of these types of materials Uh, and then how to combine that also with the freehand and still have a look Um, like one thing Uh, so that was all just a challenge, but I learned a lot from the piece. Um And I think that it really works absolutely absolutely. Yeah It's it's uh, it's wonderful All right, let's take a look then we'll shift gears completely. We're gonna look at a little fun piece Uh, so this is a little robot creating art. He's he is a you have painted a robot who is painting its inception Yes Yeah, the whole idea behind this is it's like kind of a post apocalyptic scene So the robot is an artist. Maybe maybe he was created by man to to be an artist or maybe Uh, he has like kind of the soul of a person Or the mind of a person inside of him Who knows it's up kind of up to you, but he's like painting A sunset with these skyscrapers falling into the ocean um So I just had a lot of fun with this like this kid is really like a very basic And all of the pieces are separate. So like Every joint is movable Which is cool because you can create a really really realistic pose without having to cut them all up Right, but also like it's hard to work with because You know, you know anytime you're trying to stick Multiple joists together at the same time. It's because of problem. So um, it was uh It was a difficult challenge to have that emotion Of you know contemplation and considering his piece his work of art You know the kind of pensive look on his face where he's like thinking about the next thing that he's gonna do And have a bit with a robot that's not human. So just trying to like convey that with the pose itself only Um, you don't have the expressions or anything like that to do it with so I feel like it achieves that and then there's a lot of custom work too because like that whole palette I um made from scratch a scratch built that a scratch built a little um Uh paint brush in his hand And so and it was fun because I was like, well, where is this like robot? It's post apocalypse Where is he getting his paint from and stuff like that? Is he gonna have like a bunch of paint tubes or cans like strapped onto him or whatever? But I decided that to have a robotic solution to it So he's got a backpack with the primary colors in there And they feed through these two these lines that you can follow To um what amounts to kind of a printhead? Uh, uh, yep So the idea is that the printhead would mix each of his colors Robotically and then deposit them on his palette for him to use and you can kind of see how that the little like mixing head Would it has a little track that would go back and forth on? Uh, and then you can see his brush strokes and like how he's been working the paint on his palette and all this stuff All these little details that we do as a painter I have like put in tiny miniature and then the painting itself is really small. It fits on top of a us penny Um, I don't I don't think I sent you that picture, but it's on the website So you can actually see it like how tiny it is Um, and it's all hand painted Um, there was no printing involved or anything like that and it was just this great challenge to To work in that super small scale. I'd like to do more pieces like that, you know, just I haven't gotten Got the chance to do more Little tiny paintings or whatever. Um, it's been uh, I it's still one of my favorite pieces It was really fun. It was done a number of years ago would be like four or five years ago So now so I feel like I could do the sunset lighting better now, but you know, it still doesn't matter to me I still I still love it. So It's still so cool and so expressive It um, did you did you ever watch uh, like recently on netflix? There was a little three either not three part It was a little like animation series called like love death and robots or something Yeah, totally There's one with like the three robots taking a tour of a human city in the post apocalypse, right This guy reminds me of like somebody who would be in that world, right? He's because they all had very human-ish personalities, right? And this is like an artist from that world Exactly like I loved that. That was my favorite sketch of that. Uh, oh that series. I really liked Absolutely mine too. Yeah I won't I won't give the spoiler away, but I'll just say it involves cats and uh, the robots are surprised That's what that's what I'll say. It's worth a watch Yeah Okay, so then uh Second to last because our last piece i'm real excited for we're gonna save it for for for last Uh, but the second the last piece is the uh, conan bust Uh, so this is uh, very very muscly fellow here Yeah, it's a tough guy Yeah, I always really for every reason Um, conan the barbarian that movie with harrow schwarz neger like it It made an impression on me when I was uh, younger I just really think it's still one of my favorite fantasy movies of all time It's got everything in it. Uh, so I just really love that piece So I like to conan from that and then I also have been really inspired by frank forzetta as an artist Um Just the color he's able to use he's making really all the fine art techniques Put into the fantasy world and and really very expressive with his color and expressions and all that stuff And yeah, it's like this uh pulp Fantasy sort of subject matter, but it doesn't matter like you look at that and you're like, this is art, you know So so this Bust I I called the bust of conan after forzetta's because I'm painting I'm trying to learn from master so I'm from learning from the skin tones and really trying to paint in the most art in a very fine art way on the miniature um and Especially making the skin tones as complicated as as possible with a really dramatic light source and all these things And trying to get it to come together on the piece and and work coherently um, so It's one of these ones where I really pushed the painting of the flesh tones to another level and testing to see Where I can go with different different flesh tones Because I had come up with this uh method of doing the flesh to make it really look luminous and everything Uh, I've really taken that first step and along that path with the ice fisherman, but like can I do darker skin? Excuse me, um like darker skin How far can I push to do this luminosity with like really strong light sourcing? um, how can I use those um both saturation and the color tones to Create errors of interest if you look at the skin It's really saturated in the face and commands less saturated as it moves away from the face um So that creates that reinforces the lighting that's on the figure that's reinforcing Um just the focal point um So if you look at the piece like the whole thing is just like browns and grays, you know, there's no colored objects on the on him But this color everywhere right as you're saying you because like you can see the entire Literally the entire rainbow in his skin Right, like I mean the yellows there the reds there the blue the greens the purples like it's it's amazing I think you really did a great job of like of capturing uh Those those colors from your inspiration because that's I I completely agree that like One of the great part about his work is that you could you that you would see Everything in there. It was amazing how these dark colors Would would still read completely natively and normally to your eye. I think you did a great job translating it here Well, thanks Vince Glad you like it a lot and uh, it was a lot of fun to do too um And I really like teaching this um method of doing Skin too, so maybe we catch a catch me for a weekend workshop or something like that. Um, I'm gonna hoping to maybe schedule some some flush pinning tutorial workshops coming up this next year around the country, but uh, yeah, it's uh, it was a fun Fun challenge to take what I was already doing and be inspired by forzetta And make it all work on this piece and and and not using I don't know like you Yeah, like kind of hiding all those colors in there and making brown interesting, you know, right, right Artists when you can make a brown piece interesting. Yes Yeah, and yet and it's great because you have like here's a little detail that I noticed that I wanted to draw everybody's attention to So we've got two different kinds of like with three different kinds really of like leather straps Kind of crossing over his chest, right? So he's got his main sort of uh bandolier thing or whatever that's holding up his His armor that's going over sort of the top of his sternocleidomastoid there And then you've got the the other two thinner straps and what I like about it Is how different the material each one of those feels but I still feel like they're all You know, they're all coherently that kind of substance, right? They're all still in a very neutral tone. None of them is distracting and yet each one is visually interesting Right, uh through textures through color. It's it's just a great. It's a great little exploration in microcosm of that Yeah, and the only way to really get that grasp is is studying the objects and uh, how they interact and work, you know Um, I learned a lot from one of my favorite painters, Kirill Kenev um, like uh, he kind of he Really made that impression of me on me when I was talking to him about You want to know how something should be painted? Go and look at that thing and see how it actually actually works Don't don't go looking at other people's paintings. Don't uh, you know, read a book about it Just just study from life, you know, and that's like that's the basic That's what you learn when you take art in school most of the time, you know Um, they'll teach you still life Not because they think that still lifes are popular and you're going to be able to sell Go out and paint still lifes or something like that. Most people don't want to paint still life, right? But what still life does is it means that every little object that you're painting there you have to study To a deep understanding in order to make it actually look like it should Yeah, yeah, you know in like common parlance. There's the old idiom of like don't just hear people listen You know, yeah, that's something you say a lot like you're you're hearing me, but you're not listening to me or whatever um, I wish there was the same Sort of distinction connotation difference with the word look Because I completely agree with you that you can look at something, but you can't but you need to look At something right like I need a different word like that right you need to really see it I think there's like the difference between looking and seeing. Oh, there you go. Okay. Good. Yes. Let's do that. That's good. Yes. Yes See see those things and then understand why it's happening And then you can start to break it down and interpret anything like when I'll do these textures classes Um, I mean I have some textures that I've painted many times But it's an open conversation with me and my students. It's like I had challenges It's like What do you want to see? You know and people will come up with these very complicated things or they could a gem That's like glowing or something like that or you know I don't know they they come up with lots of different challenges I want them to challenge me to do something that I haven't done before right and then we can see how I would break it down You know, usually I look up something Uh a reference and then we can talk about okay. What's happening here in this picture? It's better if you have an object in in in hand But uh, you know, and then we can break it down and how And I can go through the steps I would I would go through and then paint because that's why I have to do when I'm when I'm doing it in uh for my own work um So It's more valuable to do that than rather to be like here's the steps laid out just follow my directions You know, it's like, you know, here's how you learn how you work it out for yourself You know, that's much more powerful to teach that Rather than uh, you know just having a series of steps that everybody's supposed to follow And then and then they can learn to see for themselves and to paint for themselves um instead of Because like you could follow those steps and you could get it perfect right But then when you're presented with a new problem Your reaction isn't to be like, okay. I got this. I have I have the I have powerful tools to figure it out for myself It's like no you might start looking around and see how somebody else has done it and then try to copy that, right? Right so they're And yeah, you can learn stuff that way too, but uh, I think that maybe Uh, in my opinion one's more powerful than the than the other Yeah, because there's there's an element of understanding the fundamentals there, right? So you can reapply. Yeah Yep, absolutely All right, I assume by the way your real life example for this was just you like literally put on this outfit And then took some pictures of yourself in the mirror. I I assume this is No, in this case, I am kind of like being inspired by um, it's kind of like my interpretation of what Fresena did So I guess maybe I counterpicked myself in some ways to Uh, and that's that's that's fine. You know It's not like you shouldn't look at other art and be inspired. You absolutely should It's just you should also go look at the real world at the same time We can you can do all of that, right? There's no reason not to go out You know if you want to see how to make like a question I see people come up all the time is like, well, I don't know how to make this would look realistic or something And I'm like, what is the most common thing you could experience in the world? Like it's all around you just walk outside go look at a tree Like your yard is probably full of them, you know, and just really see it. I like this distinction I'm using this from now on because that's you know, like I I did a hobby cheating video Where literally the whole video is just 10 minutes on one image And I said what this we're gonna do is we're gonna sit together And please sit with me for this 10 minutes and we're just going to stare at this and really Stare and see it and understand it for the next 10 minutes And we're not going to look away. We're not going to look at our phones. We're not going to get distracted We're only going to look at this thing This object for 10 minutes Right and just start there like if you can do 10 minutes of focused attention You'll start to notice things you don't notice when you just look or glance. Yeah There's like a Just a ton of variety out there. If you only know one way to paint wood then you're You know You're at a disadvantage because there's this all sorts of different types of wood. Is it is a rough wood? What color is it? What kind of green does it have? You know Does it have a finish on it? Does it you know, so You really go down a rabbit hole there. Um I just want to say about a lot for zeta. He like He was obviously really inspired by uh fine artists and portraits portrait painters like from You know art history and I think that's another really good place to study as well um because And uh, I was really inspired by him being like kind of this bridge between fine art and and fantasy art So that's why I chose him to to do a piece about Nice All right, so now I'm going to flip over here to your instagram and we're going to take a look So this is your this is the yellowstone piece. So this is actually a video, but it should play just fine Yep, playing just fine on the screen. So we'll we'll go over to that and I'll let this kind of I'll let it rotate because the video actually rotates the whole 3d thing around And uh, I'm just going to let you talk about this one because it's such a such a wonderful exploratory amazing piece Yeah, so this is like um, it's a surreal surrealist piece. Um inspired I was inspired by my trip to yellowstone national park and just like the feeling of age in that place, but also like Young it like it's a place that's like old and young at the same time and has an incredible like geological history and these formations that all these different types of things that like, uh, they're really colorful and Just unique, you know, there's no other place in the world like yellowstone um you know thermal features like hot springs and geysers and these sorts of thermal features Yellowstone has half of the thermal features of the entire planet in just one place Wow, I did not know that was true. That's amazing It's incredible. So um, I went there Uh for my honeymoon my wife and I went there and we went in the middle of winter Uh, which I think is kind of like one of the best times to go actually because you don't have to deal with the crowds as much Sure And they you go in on the snow cat and you can stay at a hotel. Um by By old faithful and it's really cold there. Um, it's like crazy It gets down to negative 40 at night and then it's around freezing during the day So you wake up and everything is covered in this like all the all of the moisture in the air has crystallized On every surface is like covered in this layer of horror frost. It's like crystallized Uh frost that melts throughout the day and everything's Like that place that's already dramatic has like has become Incredibly dramatic, you know, um, and you're also much more by yourself Whereas like Yellowstone's a really popular destination. Yeah, I'm a sucker. I went during the summer. Yep I just am recommending that if you want to go on an amazing adventure going to Yellowstone in January. It's amazing um So beyond that, um this piece I sculpted myself from scratch um And everything is handmade on this piece. So this is kind of like an example of the type of work I want to make in the future for collectors um things that are Um can be appreciated by a general audience that are handmade from scratch by myself um, and it was kind of like a A really challenge myself to be brave Both in the sculpting because you know, I'm not A professional sculptor yet, but I felt like I had done enough that I could make something that would work um, and then also That sculpture that I've now sculpted from scratch and painted and finished and everything Is encased in resin, right? So you only get like one shot at this resin pour and if it gets messed up Then you lost the whole sculpture from before and everything um So it was really just to be like challenging me to be the most brave artist that could be And to make something that's like really different. Um, and it was really um, you know really personal And and really unique so, um The piece is kind of like about sort of the origins of um Of man and of life right coming from earth Uh, so she's in this fetal position and in the um in the water um kind of maybe giving the impression of sort of That of man being born from from the earth. Yeah, that's great. Yeah sort of the primordial this soup where the first You know cells coalesce together or whatever right in these like thermal hot springs or something like this and became More than just proteins, right exactly here represented that way. Yeah Those are the ideas that were totally like, you know floating around in my mind a soup of these ideas about like, you know creation in the in the beginning of man like seeing these like incredible uh Thermal features and just being like how this is this is where it could have all started this these sorts of things, you know, so I was just really inspired by that and wanted to make a little piece of part about it. So It's wonderful. This is what happens when I just kind of like make whatever comes into my mind. Uh, so um That's not everything I I do these days, but I want to do more of that Um, well, I I think you should because this one's absolutely gorgeous. It's such a wonderful piece. It's expressive. It's original. It's unique Yeah, it's it's fantastic top to bottom Thanks. Yeah, um, I had a great time with this one and I was just really lucky to have a collector Um Say I want to buy a piece from you and make whatever you want. Um make something that's totally different Um, so to have that freedom and just to be able to do whatever I wanted. Um So I just want to thank my collector. This one was for shoshi bower Um, you probably know her. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah When we we have a good friendship and I would talk a lot about art. Um And she just was like I want to see some of this stuff that you've been talking about You know, like sure I'm going to put some money down so you can do it and that was really meant a lot to me. So, um Yeah, I just wanted to thank shoshi for that. That's wonderful. I speaking of I gotta have her come on sometime. Absolutely. I haven't gotten to talk to her All right So let's go back over here Uh, there we go. We'll bring matt back up. We'll bring the Reliant back up There we go. All right. So by the way, uh, if you ever get a chance if you like yellowstone in that kind of environment Um, if you ever get a chance, uh, the atacama desert in like northern chile, okay There's a lot of other that's probably one of the other places because it has a lot of really interesting hot springs and thermal features It's the like it is the largest or second largest salt flats in the world behind either either behind or in front of utah It's a bunch of really fascinating biomes all kind of right next to each other Um, so I don't know if you've ever been there or whatever, but that's a great place to visit I'd love to visit. I haven't been down to chile or south america yet. Uh, I'd like to go and visit at some point. Um But uh, I love to go on these little adventures and the national parks are really inspiring to me I have a whole a bunch of ideas about different national park pieces I want to get to on these days too. So I have a whole series on them. So Uh, I'd love to go visit that atacama though. I've only seen it on tv basically on different programs Um, but uh, it's worth it. It's worth it. It's amazing. Uh, I don't know if the like hour and a half Like bus ride on shocks that broke down in 1987 are worth it That you got to take to get up to like into the mountains to really see a lot of this stuff It is but boy, oh boy That's that's a heck of a ride. Like that was that Oh That was tough, but but it was worth it. It was worth it in the end The hike up in there, I guess that is true. Yeah, I don't think I could have made the walk. No I'm going to have a little bit of pain for some glory. Glory is wonder, you know Yeah, well the best part was when they came back when we so when we came back down So like we had taken this long bus right up in the morning to get there and saw the stuff And it was gorgeous We spent several hours there and then I came back down and they were like well You can take the whole bus ride or we're going to stop after like an hour And there's like not hot springs that are like, uh, that are you know, like boiling or you'll melt like in in Yellowstone just like like spring fed Streams and stuff that you can swim in so it's just like it's an actual place you can go and just like Have a swim or whatever and I was like, yes, please let me off this bus. I'm just going to go chill in this water that sounds amazing Anyway Tell me the whole story about that sometime. It sounds like a great trip. Absolutely. Absolutely Uh, all right So so let's do some questions here and the first question actually if so if the audience has any questions Feel free to drop in the comments, but andrew wade Who is I think a man after your own heart if you don't know you don't know andrew He's he lives over in europe. He's an absolutely wonderful artist and he's been doing a lot of Very exploratory stuff as well. I'll I'll show you some of the stuff at some point But he's exploring the same kind of thing of like doing this fine art incorporating these other elements being really imaginative and expressive Andrew's a great artist and he said what would it take for you to do another project like the Yellowstone one? Just somebody asking commission piece basically somebody is saying they're willing to pay um, yeah, if somebody uh is it would take um Well, I mean I'd like to be able to just have have the time to do it myself But a lot of times it does take a collector who wants uh wants to collect a piece because you know, um, we all have Financial pressures at the same time. Yeah So if so to have a the easiest way to have it happen is to have a collector be like I really love that piece or I I love to your work I just want to see what you can come up with or you know, they can even have like I have I want to see you Interpret these feelings or this place or like, you know these and I I totally Get that I can I like to work with my collectors sometimes they can have input into the work or they can just leave me up to it. Um, but yeah That's the easiest way for me to be able to make the time is to have that um That sort of um That request come in. Yeah. Yeah requests come in and I can kind of uh, we can talk it through and come up with a budget For a piece like that Nice. Well, there you go. Andrew simple answer. Yeah, for sure. Um, but we'll uh, we'll talk about it All right, so some questions for me some of these are going to be challenging. Okay, so just Here we go. All right. Here's your first question And this is always the toughest one for all the guests Uh, because because you have to pick just one because because because because you have to pick just one Uh, all right. So who is your favorite miniature artist past or present? besides yourself And you could pick favorite for any reason and I make you pick one because we can all sit here for like the next 10 minutes and talk about all the amazing artists That's not hard and there's so many amazing people working today But to pick one who maybe inspires you more than anything else or who meant more at a certain point in your life anything like that um I think the person who I mean as inspired me the most and like I feel like I I'm friends with them too. Uh, it's probably chiral from uh, chiral kanev like I really felt like, uh His way of painting. I just I love how detailed it all is Um, so he was a big influence on me. I'm gonna pick two. I think roman love hot. All right, you can do you We'll we'll we'll break the rule this time at every time. It's okay so also uh, roman love hot At a certain time really was a big inspire inspiration for me when I really needed it. Um, and kind of to see Uh, how he put himself into his work so much um like that really Inspired me to do the same To put who I am into my work, you know, right as well in the same sort of way and tell stories and uh and have fun with it. Um and that's At a certain point an artist needs to do that. Otherwise they will wither, you know, right by doing the same thing too much um So I try to like take the technical aspect and the perfection that is chiral And with the spirit of that like putting yourself into your work and doing something that's like really crazy and out there and different That uh, that I it's inspired by roman. So nice nice awesome All right. I I think that's a perfectly good answer. It's every time we break the rule I start by saying that and then we always break the rule anyways, and that's no problem Yeah All right, uh, what's your favorite color? In paint or you know in your in your pieces. What what color do you like to work with the most? Uh, whatever one I would whatever color i'm working with I don't know. I love them all I I can't you can't choose a favorite color, but it's like you gotta kind of Have a sort of a loving relationship with all of them and uh, I think is probably the better answer All right, that's a totally fair answer that one. I'm not gonna put you under the gun there You can never have a romance with these colors Yes, let's say it's a dolly and there's it's your heart's too big to just choose one there. That's perfectly fine All right, um, do you have a favorite uh, do you have a favorite type of piece or miniature or something to paint In general and i'm construing type in whatever way you want Right, so like you can you can define what type means to you Well, I think I would have talked about it like You know The these types of pieces that have multiple meanings or you know Have an emotional connection with the audience and stuff. This is like kind of the the art that I love to make the most Um, I really enjoy busts and portraiture. I think um Is where I have the most fun because it's you know the face that has all that life and it's It's like a direct sort of connection with the audience because If you make if you imbue a face with these emotions The audience is going to have if they have empathy will have empathy for your piece and then you can kind of Create this conversation Excuse me. So like I really enjoy uh Doing busts, but then also like uh dioramas allow me to tell more complicated stories. Um So I also love to do the dioramas as well. Nice. All right Very good. Uh, all right. So another question from the viewers Uh, you will be a judge at uh at monta this year. Uh, monta in sevino. Yes Uh, which means you have a role in directing the vision of the miniature scene What will that vision be and what do you want to take away from coming over? Well, I really want to um I'm really looking forward to being a judge at monta sense of you know Uh, it was a really big honor to be asked to do that and to get that sort of international recognition Um, so for me personally like it was a big honor for me, but it also like I think that the viewers really, um Really has a good sense that it also is a responsibility like any time you're going to judge it's a big responsibility um, and uh, I just I want to Impress that this it's more than just this small technical aspects of a piece um, I want to push people to be making like See the global vision of that of that piece first like does it really grab the eye and and bring you in and um So like at I think sometimes, um Like when I when I judge I I judge on that first like kind of the overall big Compositional piece of things before you pick it up and like look for small details and technical aspects I when I I never have like a list of checkboxes like oh if non-metallic metals If you check that box that goes is judged higher than this or you know, right? I don't judge that way at all You know, I might have ideas about what makes good non-metallic metals versus Metals that aren't necessarily as good and usually has to do with Having them based off of a source of light and you know these sorts of things. I don't want to get to it into just that but um Yeah, like I don't have a list of checkboxes. I'm checking when it comes to the technical things. It's more like How how far you're pushing yourself? How difficult is what you're? Attempting and then how will you achieve that right comes the technical aspects? um, and then I always have like the final 10 percent of my judging has to do with like Does it surprise me? Does it like does it have like? um Is it communicating something? um because There's I want I want there to be like that's where I want to push people to like have that personal thing that they have They're trying to make a connection with with Their audience trying to talk to them and tell them who you are, you know, right? Or what kind of stories you want to put out there into the world? um and not starting from you know Uh, oh, what's popular? What are the judges going to like? What what is going to wow people in these with the technical aspects? You know like I want I think that uh Like that's that can might be a good way to win a painting competition But it might not be a good way to make art, you know, so So when I'm judging I leave that like Kind of tiebreaker sort of decision making down to that, you know, is it uh, does it have that kernel of heart to it? Does it have um Something that's trying to say some connection connection that's trying to make so all things other things being equal I would I would uh, you know, have that be the tiebreaker. So nice. It's a bit about how I would judge and how I'm trying to influence people to um You know push themselves out there and have managers be about more than um, you know pop culture and uh Nostalgia and stuff. I mean there's nothing wrong with that, but I want managers to grow and prosper and to become Um, more than that. It can be a bigger world, right? It's not that those things are bad It's just that that doesn't need to be the totality Exactly. Yeah And you see a lot of those types of pieces um so Yeah, like I just kind of want to challenge people to make something that's really about them like about their Uh connection with the heart. Nice. Nice All right, sir. Well, I think we've gotten to the end of this. This has been great. Thank you very much for Spending time with us today for sharing these amazing pieces Best of luck in your travel. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time at at monta and uh Uh, just want to say thank you very much for uh for coming on Yeah, thank you vince for giving me the opportunity. It's always great to talk to you and it's uh Great to be able to share our conversations with everybody Absolutely. I said that much different than we're talking about stuff normally So, uh, it's been really cool. So, um, yeah, thanks for having me on Absolutely for all of you out there who are watching. Thank you very much. Remember everything for matt Uh is down below in the description. So do check that out visit the site Follow him on instagram all the socials Uh, you are doing yourself a disservice if you're not looking at the wonderful art that this guy is making Uh every day every month. So thank you very much for watching as always. We appreciate it and we'll see you next time