Exhibition of Miniatures and Tabletop Scenery Agram 2022
Our annual Exhibition of Miniatures and Tabletop Scenery Agram 2022 took place this year from 24.02.-13.03.2022. The setup was done on Wednesday 23.02.2022. in the afternoon. Many club members as well as some friends of the club and members of the local FB group Miniature Painters Croatia came by to help, provided their miniatures and helped with the setting up of the whole event.
We held the grand opening on Thursday, 24.2.2022 starting at 18:00. The Exhibition was organised for our 19th birthday.
As always, the exhibition showed a cross-section of the work of the Association, its members, participants in its courses and workshops and members of the FB group Miniature Painters Croatia. In a large number of showcases, there were numerous miniatures for tabletop wargames, board games, and an entire showcase was dedicated to award-winning exhibits from previous miniaturist competitions. Several showcases were dedicated to the projects that the Association has been implementing for 19 years, such as the Library of UMS "Agram", the Terrain Workshop and the Miniature Painting Workshop.
This year we've had two guest exhibitors. The first one was Winton Afrić with his project Artefact. He displayed some of his wonderful dragons and other monsters.
The other guests were Booknooks Bookwitch. A Zagreb-based duo that makes wonderful booknooks inspired by fiction, displayed three of their creations – a Shire, a Narnia and a Big Bang Theory based booknooks garnished our display of the UMS Agram library.
During the weekend of 26.-27.02. as a part of the Exhibition, we held our 16th annual Black Queen Hobby and Miniature Painting Competition!
In 2022 due to the Covid-19 epidemic, we had some changes in the format of the Black Queen Hobby and Miniature Painting Competition. The contestants had to pre-register for the event via e-mail. They then received the exact time when to register at the event (from 8:30 until 11:00). This was to limit the number of people at the venue at the same time.
Here is a quick run down through categories at this year's event:
1. Single Miniature (any 28-35mm single miniature)
2. Mounted and Large Miniature (mounted or large miniatures in 28-35mm scale)
3. Unit / Squad (unit of 5+ minis (28-35mm), or exceptionally 3+ minis (trolls, ogres etc))
4. Masterclass (our most prestigious category, anything goes as long as it's a single entry. Previous Masterclass winners can not compete in the first three categories.)
5. Diorama / Duel (self explanatory, two or more minis locked in combat or in any other interaction on a single base (no limit to the size of the base, if you can bring it, we'll display it!))
6. Open (anything that isn't covered in the categories above – primarily reserved for dragons, monsters, warmachines, but also scenery etc)
7. Bust (busts of any size can go in here)
8. Junior (under 18. The Junior entries will be assigned in the categories above as applicable and will compete with the rest of the entries. However, best three Junior entries in the whole competition will be awarded in Junior category.)
9. BEST OF SHOW (this is a new category which will be sponsored by UMS „Agram“. All of the entries will be judged and the best entry will be awarded a special prize!
As our competitors registered at the venue, our diligent staff photographed all the entries before dividing them into categories and placing them in their respective glass cabinets .
At noon, all the cabinets were filled and the competition could officially begin!
Vendor Area
This year we've increased the vendor area to include Carta Magica, Hobby Chest and our Slovenian friends Miniatures.si and Back to Basics.
Painting Workshops
The layout of the venue at the Vladimir Horvat Gallery makes it possible to hold several workshops throughout the weekend. Therefore, there were three one-hour workshops on Saturday after the official opening of the competition and three on Sunday before the awards ceremony. This year, the workshops were held in the cinema hall in the basement of the venue. The tutor's work was filmed with a camera and projected on the projection screen in the hall. That way the social distancing could have been maintained. Also, this setup means the workshops were capped at 10 people so registrations for the workshops also took place.
TRASHBASH 101 WORKSHOP
Date and time: Saturday 26. February 2022, 13:00-14:00
TUTOR:Ana Polanšćak
CONTENT:
The workshop covered the build of a SF hovering drone model from scratch - using an assortment of cheap materials you're not likely to find on the shelves of your tabletop hobby shop.
BACK TO BASICS: FIREMAN BUST
Date and time: Saturday 26. February 2021, 14:30-15:30
TUTOR: Luka Jančič
CONTENT:
The workshop was a presentation of the Back to Basics product of a Fireman bust which comes with a simple and easy to follow video guide intended to help any modeler with their first steps in plastic modeling. The Back to Basics (BTB) video explains how much time is required to build the model and is divided into logical steps. This sequence of steps schematically illustrates the entire process of a model build without the use of sound. The method has been thoroughly tested and fine-tuned over the course of numerous workshops.
ANATOMY OF THE EYE
Date and time: Saturday 26. February 2022, 16:00-17:00
AUTHOR OF THE PRESENTATION: Jakob Skovgaard Villien
HOST: Marko Paunović
CONTENT:
The workshop in form of a presentation covered the basic anatomy of the eye as well as the use of colours, patterns and glare to evoke emotion both on the iris and the pupil.
3D SCULPTING 101 WORKSHOP
Date and time: Sunday 27. February 2022, 10:00-11:00
TUTOR: Winton Afrić
CONTENT:
The workshop covered the process of 3D digital sculpting, from the idea to realisation and preparation for casting.
ELECTRONICS 101 WORKSHOP
Date and time: Sunday 27. February 2022, 11:30-12:30
TUTOR: Marko Paunović
CONTENT:
The workshop will cover the basics of electronics both in theory and in practice. Several examples will be shown how to connect an LED to a power source but also how to dimension the resistor and how to connect several LEDs to a single power source.
ATMOSPHERIC NMM
Date and time:Sunday 27. February 2022, 14:30-15:30
TUTOR: Matija Koružnjak
CONTENT:
The workshop explained the process of painting Non-Metallic Metal effect with an atmospheric mood on a Sigmarine miniature.
Speed Painting Contests
There was a speed painting contest organised on Sunday. Participants had an hour to paint a single miniature. Thanks to our sponsor Hobby Chest who secured a huge donation of painting materials by AK Interactive, we were able to hold a Speed Painting Contest with the following rules: - contestants had an hour to paint a miniature - all contestants painted the same (type of) miniature - we provided the paints by AK Interactive - we provided the brushes by AK Interactive
After all the workshops and speed painting competition, it was time to thank our special guests, Bine Logar and Luka Jančič from Slovenia and our own Winton Afrić. Also, a big shoutout to our Ana Polanšćak who agreed to do an impromptu book signing of her newest book The Art of Ana Polanšćak.
That brought this wonderful weekend to a close and all that was left to do was to award the winning painters. Unfrtunately all the winners couldn't take parti n the ceremonies due to the epidemiologic measures still in place.
On Wednesday 02.03.2022. we held our annual General Assembly.
During the second weekend of the Exhibition, on 05.-06.03., we organised a MINIATURE PAINTING WORKSHOP – Painting Eyes.
During the weekend workshop the attendees painted the „EYES“ figurine by Nordlys Miniatures. The main focus of the workshop was painting of the eys, gaze and the parts of the face surrounding theyes. For this, the tutors chose some appropriate miniature for the attendees to paint with acrylic paints. The lectures were addapted so the tutors could spend equal ammount of time on each participant and therefore could addapt to all categories of miniature painters (beginer or advanced). This time, the user could explore his own limits through painting various effects at his own desire. Whether to use OSL, tattoos, make-up or anything else, it was up to each of the attendees to decide.
First the tutor sitting behind his desk explained and demonstrated each step of the painting on his example. His work was transmitted over a camera and a digital projector onto a screen in the cinema hall. The pupils watched and listened to the tutor but could also stop him/her and ask questions. Then, the pupils paint their own miniatures copying what they have learned while the tutors walk among them and check their progress. The following themes were covered:
1. Anatomy of the Eye – theoretical presentation by Jakob Skovgaard Villien, the author of the miniature
2. Painting the face
3. Painting the eyes
4. Special effects (OSL, tattoos, make-up)
The club provided all with the necessary equipment, paints, tools, brushes, lighting, glue as well as a set of paints.
Due to the pandemic, the following epidemiologic measures were enforced:
Correct wearing of masks was obligatory. The Disinfectant was at hand for all to use freely. Camera nad projection screen was used to ensure the social distancing while lecturing and separate tables for all the participants moved 2m apart to ensure the social distancing while the pupils paint.
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