Pinselwut, miniature painting by Solmar

Hey there ladies and gentlemen, dear painters!

Today i want to bring you an interview with 2 guys you all may know, Roman "Jarhead" Lappat and Raffaele "Picster" Picca. I don´t think i have to introduce them as they are the kind of VIPs of the Miniature World.

So let´s hop right into the interview with a mixture of serious and... well funny questions.

First introduce yourself. You only have ten words each for this task. Apart from that, no rules here.

Roman:
Roman, thirty years old, happy painter, wild, calm, epic, boring.

Raffa:
Raffa, painter, impulsive, loose, concentrated, distracted, planning, perfectionist, dreaming, music.

Tell us what is driving you in this hobby. Maybe explain your "happy painting" spirit.

Roman:
I started with gaming like most of us did. It took me three years to switch from painting mainly gaming figures to display pieces. My hobby is my job now. I recognized many things while painting that made me feel bad, for example thinking too much about prizes, ratings and oppinions of others.
I learned in my life to throw away those things that harm my healthy soul. I just don't care  anymore and just enjoy painting. That is what happy painting is about to me.

Raffa:
My drive is to develop myself. Exploring new things is what keeps me going on and standing on the same spot and using the same skill-set can bore me very fast. I strife to be a swiss army knife of creative skills... and miniature painting offers a lot of them.

Raffas "Visions of Hatred"

We often heard about "Kong Fu". What is ist and where can we buy it? ;)

Roman:
Kong Fu are the thoughts of my soul. You can not buy it, just speak your own.

Raffa:
I guess everyone has his own "Kong Fu". In fact I only know one person calling it like that, it's what keeps us going, what makes us mad, fills us with joy and pain. Success in a very personal way. For one "Kong Fu" is having fun, for another it is having a good time with friends and for some it is to have success on competitions. Just my very personal opinion of it.

Romans "Mephisto"

After an fantastic Artbok, ever thought about making a DVD?

Roman:
Yes.

Raffa:
I don't want to tell to much... long story short: yes. But definately not a typical one


Try to convince a non painter to start the hobby in ONE sentence!

Roman:
If you need some rest from daily life madness, take a brush and run away into the lands of fairy tales and monster hunts.

Raffa:
Phew... that's a hard one as I think everyone should decide for him/her self if painting figures is the right hobby. I know miniature painting can be very frustrating sometimes, especially if you are not very patient. I give it a shot "If you are looking for a hobby to express your most personal thoughts and dreams in a three dimensional, touchable and interesting medium, go for miniature painting!"


We all know, Roman is the Batman of the miniature world. But what hero/villain would Raffa impoersonate?

Roman:
Batman's twin.

Raffa:
Ha, good one In fact we often joke about it. Roman says I'm Robin, but come on, who wants to be a sidekick? In my opinion? Iron Man! They are very similar, both have no super powers but are still awesome. But while Batman hides in his Batcave hanging out with Alfred wearing a gimp mask, Tony Stark is having a great time partying all the time and getting all the hot girls.


Is there a "thing" you absolutely HATE to paint on a miniature (im my case it is fur)?

Roman:
Always depends on the sculpting work, if fur is sculpted well you can find a lot of joy in painting it. No there is none, always depends on my mood and the figure I am painting.

Raffa:
It depends, sometimes it's all the little, unnecessary details that some miniatures are covered with. But one thing I "hate" to paint are shoes.


Roman, name your 3 favourite works made by Raffa. If there is time, tell us why.

Untold Honour, because of the lovely detail everywhere.
Medusa bust, because of this crazy colour concept.
Touch of death, because ... just because.

Untold Honor

Medusa

Touch of Death

Raffa, name your 3 favourite works made by Roman. If there is... aahh dude, just tell us why!

I have more than 3 favourites... but I just pick 3 random ones:
For sure the Rhino King. I just love the ambience of the piece, the tattoo designs and the funny little fella handing him the fruit. Another one would be Cmd. Shepard. The light situation and style of painting is really good, the colors are well chosen and the battle damage is perfect. And the last one I am allowed to pick is the Hombre Toro... too. much. power. Really great color variations in the skin and great expression.

Rhino King

Commander Shepard

Hombre Toro

And last but not least: What is it with the Apes?

Roman:
Apes? What Apes? Just kidding, the apes in the jungle are real life friends and most of the time act like a bunch of wild apes.

Raffa:
UH UH AHHHHH!!!!! Hard to explain... it just happened!



Thank you very much for answering these questions. To you me dear painters: I hope you liked the interview and guess what? These two guys are for hire, so if you want to have your mini painted to a masterpeace, don´t hesitate to contact them. And watch out their ebay auctions too! :)

You find all this and more on Massive Voodoo!