Hello dear readers, have I got a treat for you all today. At the end of last year, I had started to see a number of different artists creating these miniature artworks and dioramas set within frames. I decided it was truly that cool, that I had to reach out to a few of the artists and get their perspectives on this amazing form of miniature art.
We were lucky enough to have Jonathan of @wavecolors.tabletopart and Florian of @olfawok provide their insight into their own work with creating frames, as well as the people who had inspired them to do so. If you've been following, you would have read their articles already! The other artists I reached out to seemed to also name drop this one person as their inspiration, and I swiftly realised I needed to get in touch with him.
So lo and behold, the inspirational artist at the forefront of the frame scene is none other than Roman Lappat of @romanlappat.miniatureart. You may have heard of this man, through his rather large social media presence, his dioramas or his teaching. If you haven't, then please click the link in his name to check out his page, as you need to see how talented this guy is so you can understand why you need to listen to him.
Roman is far too busy to devote his time in writing a piece for us here, but he provided me with a huge source of material to refer to, so unfortunately for you, you're stuck with me this time.
Roman Lappat
I won't do a massive introduction to who Roman is, as you can find all of that information out for yourself via his website over at romanlappat.com. In fact, you can find a huge amount of interesting material over there, from who Roman is, to his painting journey, and information about the different classes he teaches. But here's a picture of this beautifully grizzled man for you to enjoy.
He is perhaps one of the best miniature artists I have ever seen, from his amazing talent at painting, to the imagination and originality of some of his dioramas and pieces. He does far more than framed dioramas, and a quick gander over to his Instagram page will prove that for you. For example, this recent paint job of his is utterly amazing, and is large bust level of quality, painted onto a tiny sculpt. Truly, it oozes with atmosphere and feeling and that's the main criteria I look for in the best of the best painters out there.
But we are here to talk frames, and talk about frames we shall. Roman provided me with one of his PDF tutorials, titled Eye of The Storm, free of charge to explain the process of his frames. Now this tutorial really is a very in-depth and personal insight into the whole process, explaining how he found the inspiration for the frames during his regular walks through a local graveyard. I don't want to give too much away from this interesting read, so I implore you to go and buy it from Roman's Etsy page HERE.
This step by step tutorial on his framed diorama 'Eye of The Storm' really is everything you need to know about creating frames, and if you yourself are considering making one, you really can't go wrong by using Roman's tutorial as a helpful guide or source of inspiration.
I don't want this specific article to be mainly about getting you to go and buy a PDF tutorial, but unfortunately it explains things better than I can, and as we can't get Roman's direct perspective here, it's the best I can do. Maybe if you all go and pester Roman enough, he'll be forced to provide his perspective personally in the future! However in the mean time, you can check out this video Roman made that pretty much explains everything in a more direct and pleasing manner than I can. In fact, he's got plenty of video content to watch, so I recommend giving them your attention if you're interested in this topic in any way at all.
I feel a little bit of a copout here, as I'm not really providing you with any real information or new perspective, more just sharing links for you all to check out for yourself and muttering about not being as useful as Roman. But if doing so helps you find a new dose of inspiration, then I have done my job! And Roman has given me his seal of approval to do so, so why don't you just leave it at the door eh?
Roman did provide me with one quote though, so to hear directly from the horses mouth, here you are:
"A lot of people approach me and tell me that they really enjoy how influanced the miniature painting world with these ornamental frames and works I have done in the last couple of years.
Seeing more and more framed dioramas pop up I do feel like a true influencer. Of course I did not invent boxed dioramas, I just reminded people that this is a form of diorama that exists and put an extra "canvas creation style" of mine to it.
I like to paint canvas and tell stories. With the style of framed miniature dioramas I can do both at once. It is beautiful to see more and more hobbyists create such little wonders."
Now you can feel safe in the knowledge that I have actually spoken to Roman, and I'm not slowly losing my mind fuelled by delusion. It's wonderful to see someone relish the inspiration they provide for others, and shows the warmness Roman must have in his heart. It explains why he likes teaching so much, and I think we can all agree, that a teacher like that is one to cherish.
What I do want to do here now for you, is provide a little gallery of some of Roman's amazing framed dioramas, so they can be immortalised on this platform forever. You should rinse them of every little drop of visual stimulation, before going over to Roman's website to further your dosage.
As you can see from this little selection of a few of the frames Roman has made, this is a man with serious talent, creating truly beautiful pieces of art that would be more than worthy of adorning your walls with. If you've read through this article this far, then you absolutely must go and check out these frames in more detail over on Romans website. Only when you start inspecting them from every angle, does the true majesty and talent of the 3D nature of these frames come through.
Whilst I could keep rambling on for quite some time, it's probably better to leave it there. Hopefully reading this article has allowed a little insight into Roman, the work he does, and the inspiration he provides for us all. I appreciate I haven't been able to give you much in terms of a unique perspective, but I will provide all the links for you to be able to check out Roman and his framed dioramas for yourself. After all, I am just a middle man, and we all know there's nothing better than suckling from the source. So please, go and suckle.
Roman's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/romanlappat.miniatureart/
Roman's Website: https://www.romanlappat.com
Roman's Etsy page: https://www.etsy.com/de/shop/RomanLappat/
I was hoping to have a few other perspectives from a few other artists who have had experience with framed diorama, but sadly they haven't had the time or got back to me! So potentially we'll have a couple more articles on framed dioramas for you to check out in the future. However, if you've made one yourself, then please get in touch, as your perspective is wanted and needed right now! You can reach out via plasticpreacher@gmail.com or @plasticpreacher on Instagram.
Roman is an amazing artist, so cool to see him getting showcased here, great article!