Finally (for me) I am able to show you my painting of Thorin Oakenshield. I’ve been working on it on and off for about five months. There were times I thought I’d nearly go insane and give up because I realized it was too big for me – literally and metaphorically spoken. I struggled because I wanted it to be my best work so far since Thorin is my favourite character since I first heard about “The Hobbit” in my father’s tales. And I found Richard Armitage’s portrayal of the struggling dwarf-king in BOFA incredible, especially the descent into madness and how the Dragonsickness played out and how the other dwarves dealt with it. It was heartbreaking. I just wish we’ll see more of all of the dwarves in the Extended Edition of BOFA, as well as some closure to the open ties.
I chose Thorin from AUJ for the painting. The reason therefore is that there were no pictures of BOFA – Thorin available at the time I started with the painting, so I decided to use this one, because it focuses on his face, but shows enough of the rest to show his monumental size despite of his height. But soon I regretted the choice, since the furry coat proved itself to be an invention of Morgoth!
The problem with the painting – from the start – was that I never made such a big portrait before, yet alone with acrylic colours on canvas. The only time I made a portrait in acrylic colours was back then when I drew Legolas and Aragorn standing and talking outside Edoras in “The Return of the King”. I liked the nightly sky and the calm atmosphere of that scene. But it was merely 20x30cm big, it was easily doable. So choosing 100x100cm for my favourite character and without practice was quite the challenge. But I didn’t want to give up. These actors went through a lot to bring these characters alive for us – what’s a lousy painting, made in a comfy and warm home compared to that? Right! And tonight, on the day of the solar eclipse and the birthday of my dear friend Valentine I finally, finally, FINALLY managed to bring it to an end. I am quite okay with the outcome. And I know now that I have to practice more on painting on canvas. It was quite funny once I lost the fear of the material.
In one picture you can see Thorin solo, an “awake-two-days-in-a-row-but-he’s-worth-it”- Me is in the other photo to show the true size of the painting. The photos are probably not the best since I didn’t find a way to get a proper photograph of the painting because of its size.
Thank you for reading this – I hope you like my painting. All the people who were involved int these wonderful books and movies and you, my fellow fans and artists, are what keeps on inspiring me! I wish you all the very best and have a great weekend!