Tuesday 20 January 2015

Anti-hero Lucifer.

Well the "Entrance Fee" for this years catalogue painting challenge is to paint base and send Curt an "Anti-hero". For doing this Curt will make a small dotation to a charity. So in a way we all come out of it as winners.

But I was struggling to come up with an idea for an anti-hero. I finally looked it up on google and they have a list of fictional anti-heroes. So I picked one I thought I would like to do. And inspired by one of my favourite artists (Gustav Dore) I selected Lucifer from Milton's Paradise Lost.

In the poem Paradise lost Lucifer is a charismatic, sophisticated erudite individual. Who believes that God has favoured mankind over Angel-kind. And as a result leads the angels into rebellion against God.

It was first published in 1667 and follows two story archs, one about Lucifer, the light bearer, and one concerning Adam and Eve.

 The figure is part of the "Lucifer's War" range of figures by West Wind Productions. To be honest it is supposed to be Gabriel but I thought it was a better figure than the supposed "Lucifer". I went for the typical black and red as I wanted the figure to be more menacing. If I had settled on white DOVE wings and not CROW wings the figure would look more Angelic in our contemporary view. Likewise If I had selected a blue palette for the clothes that would also look "wrong". So the colour choices were pretty much given to me by our current understanding of who and what devils and angels are.

As a 28mm figure this was a great deal of fun to paint. As mentioned above the colour choices were pretty much preselected so I started with a white undercoat. This was to allow the Red to stand out and not look dull. It did mean that I would have to paint a lot of BLACK though. The wings were painted 3 times with black ink over the white primer in an attempt to get into all the details of the feathers and yet leave the top edges slightly clear of colour. I did not quite work, but It did come close enough.

Other then the cloak the hair and the wings nearly everything else was metallic. So I used both gold and silver to offer some variation. I usually have problems painting gold but have found "ARMY PAINTER" to do an acceptable version of the colour I wanted. I did a top highlight after all other painting was finished with WH SMITHS poster paint gold as it is brighter and sharper. The problem with poster is if it gets wet again it is likely to run into any recesses. But as I was to top coat it all with thin coats of spray varnish I was happy (ok nervous) to risk it. For the silver I started with "Boltgun Metal" and added layers of Mithril Silver mixed in larger and larger amounts with the afore mentioned Boltgun metal and Highlighted with the silver again at the last.. Which is my normal way of doing steel.

The model came on it's own octagonal slotta base. But the pose it was very leaning forward and standing on a pebble. So I got rid of the pebble with some snippers and went into the garden and selected a flint of about the right size and dimensions. The flint was a food fit so I added cork chips around the base and painted the whole lot a random muddy brown. Added white to the mix and dry brushed to make the rocks look weathered. The figure fit the flit with no work at all, sometime I just get lucky so I superglued and green stuffed it in place and to hold it strong. And the jobs a goodun!

And below is Gustav Dore's Illustration of Lucifer from Paradise Lost. he looks far more thoughtful than the miniature which goes to show his many and complex sides.

That's all folks. Thanks for looking and take care. I hope to see you visit again soon. All the best Clint.




23 comments:

  1. That's a very unusual choice for an anti-hero, Clint, but I do like your thinking. Your brush work, colour choices and re-basing are first rate. Quite outstanding!

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    1. As mentioned the colour choices are pretty much predetermined. But Thank you Bryan. It was a fun figure to paint. As for a choice as an anti-hero I agree a little odd when we would normally think of him as a villain.

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  2. good choice all round. i have often looked at that range of figures but can't think of anything I would use them for!! Nice to see one painted! great job!

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    1. I have to agree I have no use for them either so I bought one to paint for the challenge. Sometimes any feeble excuse will do to try a figure range out. Thanks Cwheeler.

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  3. Definitely a baddie - he's got black wings! Also he has what looks like a spiked knuckleduster, which would be a seriously unheroic weapon if I'm right. Good work.

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    1. Thanks C6. I have painted him to be a baddie. But the figure is supposedly Gabriel who is a goodie. I think the spiked fist is the worst part of the sculpt. Not because it is a bad piece of sculpting but it just does not fit with my view of Gabriel Who the figure is supposed to be! (Before I started painting!)

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  4. Damn that spam! I would second your idea of Lucifer as an anti-hero for all the reasons you've mention. The basing is fantastic more skill I suspect then luck. The wings IMO could use something maybe a highlight? Not really sure.

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    1. Thanks Rob.
      I can't paint it at all it is in the post to Canada as we type. I agree though there is something missing on the wings. It I was to paint another I woul loot at adding a band of white feathers I suspect.

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  5. Stunning work, Clint!
    You couldn't have picked better colours for him and he looks suitably evil, with the hint of angelic. I really like the crow wings.

    The first anti-hero I always think of is ÄŚrtomir, a character in an epic. He is at first portrayed as a pagan leader of the rebellion against Christianity and ends up surviving the final battle (that his army lost), running away in the dark and meeting up with the love of his life that has accepted Christianity in the mean time, so he ends up being baptised and turns into a monk (as Christianity would let the two be together in an after life). It's where I first heard of the concept of an anti-hero in school and it really stayed with me.

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    1. That's a good tale Mathyoo, I had not heard it before.
      Cheers mate.

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  6. Lovely job Clint! Great choice for an anti-hero dude! The basing is top notch.

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    1. Thanks Bob. I feel I got lucky with the basing.

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  7. Absolutely stunning model Clint. Great work.

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    1. Cheers Carl. It did not turn out too bad in the end.

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  8. Now that is a smart model and so well painted.

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    1. Thank you Sir. It is funny when we look at our own work we just see all the mistakes.

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  9. Wow! You've done an amazing job on this Clint, the ing feathers look amazing.

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  10. Quite a stunning piece Clint, the basing is excellent as is the paint-scheme and your brushword.

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  11. gran trabajo, te felicito
    el color rojo es excelente para esta pieza
    saludos, Clint

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    1. Gracias Marga . Creo que eres mi primer seguidor español . Así que bienvenidos .

      Soy yuo alegres como el rojo que he utilizado en esta figura, pero cuando se piensa en Lucifer que realmente están restringidos en los colores que puede utilizar.
      Saludos compañero .

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