Sunday 11 January 2015

(Monday) Clint B: Lucifer as Antihero (22 Points)

In 1667 John Milton wrote an epic poem titled "Paradise Lost" in open verse. It follows 2 story arcs, in the first It has Satan referred to as "Lucifer" in the poem, while in the second arc the story of Adam and Eve is dealt with. For many Lucifer would be considered a despicable villain yet in Milton's Poem he has all the traits of an anti-hero. He is suave, erudite, charismatic and charming. He is the most beautiful of all the angels and is Gods light bearer. But he is cast into hell by God because he leads a band of angels to rebel against God who he believes has favoured men above the angels.



Not going to go into it all but he is clearly listed as an anti hero here (LINK). Feel free to argue amongst your selves if you disagree with him being an anti-hero but he will be in the post to Curt as you read this. Muhahahaha! (evil Satanic laugh).

I must admit I was stumped by the anti-hero category but as one of my favourite artists (Gustav Dore) helped illustrate Paradise Lost it was a short step to paying homage to him by completing a figure.



This figure is by West Wind Productions from their "Lucifer's War" range. It is supposedly Gabriel but as I liked it better than any of the devils they produced I can change all the colours to represent a fallen angel. As such I have given it a red cloak as well as red hair and black crow like wings to give it more of an evil feeling.




If I had settled on blond hair and white dove wings it would have looked more angelic than I wanted. But I did not want the figure to look too much like a devil or demon. Instead I wanted to stay a little closer to the epic poem and have an angel which had been cast from Gods Heaven. As such I went for bird wings as opposed to bat wings.



The base is just a flint from my garden and some cork chips painted to look like all the same type of rock. I must admit it really was great fun to base this figure as the normal slota base has the figure leaning forward at an angle I considered ODD! The figure is just a bit bigger than 28mm but my basing makes it feel huge, which it is not.

So there you Go Curt expect this wrapped boxed and sent to you soon.

From Curt:


Wow, this is a wonderful figure Clint, thank you so much. I really like what you've done with the overall composition of the vignette, especially in regards to its basing and colour choice - great job.

I think it's particularly apropos to have a challenging interpretation of the antihero theme especially after the events in Paris this week. This figure reminds me of Arturo Perez-Revertes' 'The Club Dumas' where Lucifer plays a very complex (and strangely sympathetic) role in the story, contesting our views of sin, forgiveness and regret.  

Again, thanks very much Clint!



31 comments:

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    1. Too kind young lady far too kind. Thanks Tams

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  2. Wonderful brushwork Clint. One of my favourite entries so far!

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    1. Thank you Millsey. It was great fun to paint. But I don't see myself doing more this challenge.

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  3. That is a real cracker Clint..

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    1. Thanks Dave. Can you see all the camels in the background? They may be invisible but I assure you they are there.

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  4. Haha, excellent choice Clint...

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    1. Thanks Phil. I did think it was a "marmite"* choice in that people will either love it or hate it.

      ( * That's Vegimite to you antipodeans)

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  5. Ah, you bring back memories of my English A-Level when I chose "Paradise Lost" as the subject of my long essay.... very well realised figure, excellent work!

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    1. Thank you Tea Urn. I will admit this figure choice was mostly due to my love of Gustav Dore's art works as opposed to the actual poem. (Yes I am a heretic! I Know.)

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  6. @ Curt. Thank you for your kind words sir.

    Je suis Charlie!

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  7. Great choice of anti-hero. Really well done and the basing is excellent. Cheers

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    1. Thanks Kiwi. More historicals next time.

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  8. Very nice work Clint! I really like the red you used.

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    1. Thank you Moiterei
      The red was 3 GW colours. Scab red base, The Ruby red and blood red to highlight and blend.

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  9. Beautiful figure, a great painting work!

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  10. It all worked very well. I think he may be the prototypical anti hero.

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    1. Thank you Sean I suspect you may be right.

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  11. Great figure work and your base is excellent

    Ian

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  12. Great idea, and nicely painted and presented.

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  13. This is so well done Clint. The model is beautifully detailed and you did it justice.I think this is the best brushwork you've done to date.

    I absolutely agree with your interpretation of Lucifer as an antihero. I really wanted to do him as my antihero, but was afraid of what Curt would say. My rationale was slightly different, but I thought I could justify it. I chickened out in the end.

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    1. Thanks Anne. Best brush work in this challenge I will grant you, but not "to date" I have decided that chasing points is one thing and that is what I have been doing. But I know that is only one option in the challenge. I think from now on I will forget about points and just do what I want!

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  14. I like it a lot and think i a great Anti-Hero. It puts me in mind of something I read once about the "fay" that they were the angles that refused to take sides in the war between God and Lucifer. Not quite angle not quite demon but something in between and dangerous.

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  15. Very nicely done indeed Clint - I really like the contrast of the vibrant red with the more sombre and menacing black of the wings. I think the idea of a flawed angel makes for a perfect anti-hero - one who fell before he was cast out perhaps?

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    1. I must admit I have not read the poem and that I was attracted by one of my favourite artists to the idea. But it makes a nice change to the normal 20th century anti-heroes we tend to think of.
      Thank you Peter.

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  16. Very nice work, Clint! Good color choices for hair, wings, and robe; it all works very well together. I'm particularly fond of the raven wings.

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    1. Thanks David. I'll settle for Raven wings, I was just painting black wings as I knew white wings would look too angelic in result. Likewise if I had done blonde hair and a blue robe. In a way the colour choices were made for me already.

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