this week it´s time for Peter to fill the blog with his recently finished miniatures. Today he will tell you something about his version of Abalam, Prince of Hell by Hera Models.
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Some weeks ago I was struggling with the Roman Centurion while visiting Roman and Raffa in Augsburg. As the mini is quite big, it´s a challenge to paint all these huge areas and keep a harmonic and lively appearance. During the process, I faced a problem some of you might have, too: I looked at the bust and had the feeling that something "was missing", but could not point my finger on it. All areas were painted and the blendings were developing fine. But still, something felt wrong...
While talking to Roman about this, he explained what was missing: atmosphere. In this stage I had invested a lot of energy in more or less proper blendings, but had lost all the power in the colors. Every area appeared the same: the face was pale, the coat was too desaturated, the metallics quite boring. All "vitae" was missing.
In order to tackle the problem, he started painting on the Centurion. He wanted to explain by example how he would start a skintone and how he would develop the painted area over time, but always having control over the final appearance. To be honest, my brain felt like molten iron in this situation.
I´m painting with Roman for a long time now and there have been some attempts by him to push me over my limits. Not all of them were successful, as we both have a different understanding of painting. But in this situation it was too much. I was caught between my standard, comfortable way of painting and the new, but somehow painful input Roman wanted to give. It felt like he was speaking in an alien language.
As my level of frustration was rising even more, we spontaneously decided to start a Private Coaching. Last year, as a present for my birthday, Roman had promised me coaching, but wanted to wait for the right moment. This moment had obviously come and the Centurion was banished into the cabinet.
The topics were fixed very quickly:
- creating a striking atmosphere
- learning to identify problems and solve them by yourself
I wanted Abalam to stand on a hilltop, the morning light moving over his face while he evaluates the area beneath the hill, the upcoming battlefield. A simple but nevertheless interesting scenario. As I´m not living in Augsburg anymore, we agreed that the coaching would take place over several weeks. Just meeting on Saturdays, spending some time together and pushing the project further.
Sadly, I was too much into the project and didn´t take many pictures during the process. Below you find a picture from the first evening and from a later state (already with the bigger horns, Raffa made for me, thanks mate!)
Final results:
You can find more picture here: Putty&Paint
Final thoughts:
I´m very happy with the results. At the beginning I was not sure, if I could understand Roman´s concept in teaching. I felt that I might be too stubborn and could easily fall back into my old behaviours. But as the project continued, I felt more and more confident. Roman kept silent more often and forced me to leave my comfort zone: I had to question myself and listen for my own answers. It was a very important lesson and I thank Roman for his patience. I can only recommend doing a Private Coaching with him and push yourself over your limits. There is nothing to fear and there is nothing like "but..."
Cheers,
Peter
The painting is great but those eyes are fabtastic!
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