Werner on the "Spiel 2000".
I had the luck to meet Werner Klocke at several conventions. We agreed to do an interview a while ago and finally on the "Spiel 2000" in Essen I had the opportunity to present Werner with these questions.
Werner on the "Spiel 2000".
Q: How did you get into painting and sculpting miniatures ?
A:In 1984 my two pals Gernot and Michael brought the brand new "Warhammer Fantasy Battle 2nd Edition" (red box) and a wagonload of Citadel Miniatures with them from a trip to England. From then on I was hooked. I couldn't imagine that so fine details/miniatures were possible. About 1988, I began with conversions and had a lot of ideas for my own miniatures. I tried to realize these in FIMO. That was very difficult, since I had to teach myself everything. There are still a lot of miniatures left that I started then- someday I have to finish some of those, if I find the time for it.
Q:Which was your first scratch built miniature ?
A:A Chaos warrior that squashes a Goblin, made of FIMO. It is still available from Excalibur-Miniaturen.
Q:Do you have miniatures that you would call milestones in your sculpting career ?
A:My first miniature of course (I still like it pretty much); my first female miniature - a slightly clothed enchantress for the Metal Magic fantasy line (sadly OOP); Leila from Inferno/Global Games - a winged 40mm tall female demon; Blazon - a 90mm figure after a drawing by Brom (available from RAFM; Golgotha and the Metropolitan Prophet from the Warzone line; the Thorwaler from the "Das Schwarze Auge"/Armalion line Fan Pro.
Q:How long have you been sculpting now ?
A:I have been sculpting for ten years now, and doing commissioned work for about eight years.
Q:For which companies have you worked so far ?
A:
Q:When and how did you decide to make your living from sculpting ?
A:In 1992 I was very upset in my job as a photo assistant and decided to quit. It still took two years until I actually left.
Q:Would you do so again ?
A:Yes.
Werner at work.
Q:Do you prefer to work from conceptional artwork or rough descriptions ?
A:Both have their charms. Since I do my own sketches most of the time, I would say, that working from concept art is easier in my case.
Q:Which other artists did influence you most ?
A:Sculptors: Tom Meier, Jes Goodwin, the twins. Other artists: Paul Bonner, Brom, actually almost all, since I own a huge pile of art books, and unconsciously many different impulses/concepts do influence my work.
Q:Do you have a preferred topic when sculpting ?
A:Female figures. This is very appealing and a big challenge, since you can't cheat as much as with male figures.
Q:Do you prefer sculpting fantasy or science fiction miniatures ?
A:Both is equally diversified.
Q:What is the greatest challenge for you when sculpting ?
A:To really implement my imaginations and the ideas in my head or the artwork I have.
Q:On which projects are you working right now ?
A:I am working on a 8,5 cm tall tree man for Reaper, two
Myranor/DSA character boxes for Fan Pro, robots for Excalibur and on some Orks for myself
(they are still unfinished after several years ).
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Some work in progress greens from Werner.
Q:Did you learn from other sculptors or did you teach yourself sculpting ?
A:I taught myself most of the stuff. An article in the "Zauberzeit" by Josef Ochmann and a two week visit in the GW Design Studio was a lot of help too.
Q:Do you have any formal artistic education ?
A:No.
Q:What hint would you give someone who would like to learn sculpting ?
A:Never lose the delight and patience. When something doesn't work - simply redo it (I think I redid the head of my first female miniature five times before I was satisfied with the result). Have fun sculpting and remember the results have to satisfy only yourself.
Q:Which tools do you mainly use ?
A:As my main tools : Fingers, two tools from Trianti/UK (SG + SC), dental tools, two scalpels from the pharmacy (Nr. 11 + 15) and two sewing needles (thick and thin).
For special work I use almost anything I can get into my hands, for example technical pencils (without mine) and brass tubing with different diameters to punch in rivets and circles, special stamps for air vents and so on.
And of course a modeling knife, drill, sand paper, a saw and so on to work with cured models.
Q:Which putties do you use ?
A:Mainly greenstuff.(editor's note: Kneadatite) For bigger models and for harder parts : Milliput Standard. Hint : Both are mixing well.
Q:How do you build the armatures for your miniatures ?
A:Two drilled silver wires. For 15 mm a diameter of 0.6 mm and for 30 mm a diameter of 0.8 mm. For larger figures thicker wire of course.
Q:Which are the general steps when you sculpt a miniature ?
A:Bend wire into the desired pose; plug into cork; apply a thin layer of greenstuff; cure; sculpt one leg; cure; do the other leg; cure; torso; cure; depending on the pose/type of figure first the arms or the head; cure; finally add the hair and last details. Finished :).
Q:Which is the last trick or technique you learned ?
A:Oh. I changed the sequence of the face sculpting. After I pre-sculpt the head and add the nose, I now do the mouth first and then the eyes.
Q:In your opinion, which is the most important trick or technique ?
A:Technique: Sculpt very clean and smooth. For example sculpt the leg in the complete form and smooth everything. Then work the surface texture into it, such like pressing folds into the trousers, work the ankles out of the wet greenstuff by pushing/thrusting; groove in chain mail and so on. Do this in small careful steps and always pay attention that if you push in one side that nowhere else something gets distorted. Fix this if needed.
Trick: Keep the wrapper from the greenstuff. Push wet greenstuff flat on the foil. Then, for example, cut out long ribbon with a sharp modeling knife/scalpel and carefully push it around the stomach of the miniature (the side that was lying on the wrapper is now visible ) = finished belt. You get very crisp edges this way. This is also very practical for armour plates.
Q:What kind of reference material do you use ?
A:Art books, anatomy books, comics, miniatures from other sculptors.
Q:Which reference material would you recommend for beginners ?
A:Good anatomy books are available cheaply in most book stores. Study miniatures from different sculptors. How could he/she have done that; measure the dimensions; hold next to your own designs, compare.
Q:What are the special issues when sculpting 15mm miniatures ?
A:Nothing really special. Apply a little less detail since it would get lost anyway.
Q:How long do you need for a typical miniature ?
A:For a 28/30 mm unmounted human miniature I need about 10 to 16 hours depending on the details and complexity.
Q:Do you accept commissioned work ?
A:Yes, from companies.Not much from private people. I have a lot to do. You can try to reach me here.
Q:Besides your sculpting skill you are also a very talented painter and you have won several Golden Demons (Germany and UK). What do you think sets your miniatures apart from the others ?
A:I try to give the figures character. Most of the time I think up a story or scene that I then sculpt. Especially with GW miniatures it is very easy to get ideas for the painting and design of the miniatures by reading the background stories.. The Jain Zar for example was converted and painted to match a drawing by Mark Gibbons from the old Eldar Codex. I have been collecting GW/Citadel stuff for a long time.
Q:How would you describe your painting style ?
A:??? Aquarelle/Wash Style ?
Q:Which blending technique do you use ?
A:I thin the colors so far that they become thin like in Aquarelle painting. Then I apply them in several lighter/darker layers.
Q:Do you prefer painting your self sculpted miniatures or others ?
A:That depends very much on my mood. But mostly miniatures from other sculptors. I have been working on my own miniatures from head to toe already.
Q:What do you enjoy most in your profession/hobby ?
A:Still everything : sculpting, painting, modeling.
Q:Right now, do you have a certain goal in your career/hobby ?
A:I would like to sculpt some larger scale miniatures, to paint my own army (I only finish 2 or 3 miniatures per year). Maybe I can do some historical/dark ages miniatures someday. If I find the time for it ;-).
Thank you for your patience and answering all these questions.
