This sculpt was a birthday present from Romain van den Bogaert a few weeks ago. It was such a surprise that I had to paint it as soon as I could. Painting this was an exercise in freedom of expression and contrast (warm/cool, gloss/matte, saturated/desaturated, tint/shade, opposing complimentaries, smooth/textured etc) and really trying to push me as far as I could go. There are approx 5, maybe one could argue 6 light influences. This made for an interesting internal monologue on values and which one would be strongest and where. The background is influenced by Alfonso Giraldes and his push for more expression in brush strokes. The background represents a nuclear explosion and winter (contrast again: hot/cold). Anyway, the reality is I may never know whether I got it right and hopefully I will never find out.

The painting was also influenced by Megadeth's debut album and the song, 'Set the World Afire', which I understand Dave Mustaine wrote after being kicked out of Metallica.