Mike Blank will be teaching a full Weekend Workshop (17 hours of tuition) the last weekend of November at Black Sun Studios. Not only is a workshop by Mike a thing of rarity it will be the first ever Weekend Workshop, he has taught here in the UK. Mike is one of those painters I have a real soft spot for and I thought, why not do a little write up all about Mike and his place within the community and at the same time show you some of his incredible work. So here we go!
Mike was born in Stockholm in 1965 into a family where most of his relatives were into some form of art, illustrator, musician, radio/tv. His father was a freelance photographer and his mother worked at the Royal Opera house in Stockholm. To do anything other than Artistic wasn´t a choice. For Mike it was (and still is) a way of life. After working as a teacher for a few years, Mike decided to start his own company and in 1996 Mike Blank Productions was formed. These days Mike still travels to a lot of shows, competing, judging and sometime putting on a seminar.
After his school years, he went to Art School. In 1989 he rediscovered the miniature figures from his youth and started painting figures again. His very first experience came when his father, who was besides an excellent photographer had a big interest in history and modelling, came home with a figure he had bought at the Tradition shop in Stockholm in the early 70s. A place which quickly became his second home, marvelling over all those painted figures in their cabinets, all the Lasse, Greenwood and Ball, Willie Suren, Tradition and Historex conversions!
Since those early days of hobbying life, he always wanted to change a commercial figure, reanimate it and make personal and interesting. Something unique. With the metal figures such as Lasset, Tradition, etc he found it difficult to convert the metal parts to any satisfying level but when he discovered Historex and Airfix plastic kits, Mike found them perfect for this very purpose! The early conversions were quite basic, such as changing heads, or weapons etc. but it was a start on what was to become a passion to scratch-build some years later…
The body language and the facial expression, together with proper anatomy, are by far the most important aspects of sculpting figures. It doesn’t matter what subject you are doing, the body language and expression is what makes a figure interesting, what makes it full of life and character. Therein all of Mike’s sculpting starts with the pose of the figure, finding that character and personality that matches the subject.
When creating vignettes and dioramas, he always starts with an idea; to create a story full of emotion in the most dramatic way. Every vignette and diorama he has done, starts in his mind. Spending several weeks mentally planning and thinking out the scene and how it can be composed in the best possible way. Composition is indeed the key. The scene needs to focus on the main character, the focal point, from there he adds the supporting figures.
Mike also has a love for painting in white and black, dating back to his childhood and inspired by his late father and his black and white photographs. Mike believe that less is more, looking to create a feeling of unity and harmony with the colours. The sheer emotional impact of this monochrome painting is overwhelming…
