Stalenhag a snow globe! As mentioned in the previous post, I had more ideas for this little diversion from the ongoing major build. So I decided to pay homage (albeit only miniscule) to another of this 21st Century's great new artists!
I first saw Simon Stalenhag's work somewhere on the internet about seven years ago. This painting of an anti-grav ship docked over a frozen lake got me hooked at once!
The hyper realism and attention to detail made this appear as more of a photograph than a painting. His bio and achievements are impressive. I could go on for paragraphs about his work but I implore to visit his site: (http://www.simonstalenhag.se/), read a book or two of his art, listen to his music, and watch the "Tales from the Loop" series. I just heard there is now a movie in the works...
So for this snow globe project, I took inspiration from this painting:
Now the problem was scale. I had to try to cram a lot of interest into a 4" diameter globe and still try to tell a story. So I rummaged through the greeblies box for a while, and a few nights later cobbled this together.
Some sharp eyes out there may recognize the base sphere; it was a failed TIE Interceptor kit from way back in the '80s. Never chuck anything out! I added on tank parts and other bits and pieces, and then secured it to a molded foam base to simulate snow drifts. Again as with the first globe, all paints and glues could not be water soluble.
I painted and weathered the globe as per the above illustration (and some other similar paintings), painted the base white, and added evergreen trees around the sphere. But as you can see, all the paintings have people for scale, so a couple of rogue N scale figures were drafted.
Now secured to the plug, I added the missing dinosaur. You heard that right! Another one of Simon's talents is his "Paleoart", as well as including them in the landscapes with other mechs or harassing delivery trucks! His colour palette is unique as well. Inspiration from a swallowtail caterpillar provided the semi camo pattern for the Velociraptor.
And as said before, all in a little 2" diameter base...
So the lesson here is simple. Before you and your mates go salvaging abandoned tech, be sure to check out the local wildlife first. Or at least make sure you let the other guy go first...
Distilled water with some glycerin as a thickener filled the globe, and about two tablespoons of fine glitter to simulate snow. It took a few attempts to find the right grade of glitter that would work (never thought I would be saying that...); too fine it stayed suspended and too coarse it just clumped. It was the sand issue all over again. The "lid" was sealed with some teflon tape and another lid added for the base which was painted red oxide.
Again surprised at how much the model inside is magnified by the globe and water. Now for a little shake...
I think the snow globe demon has been purged; I do not plan on making on more. I'm sure those other acrylic spheres purchased in a buying frenzy can be put to some other use...
That about wraps it up for our pair of hapless scroungers, and the (very interesting to say the least) year of 2020. And as the snow flies around the miniscule Stalenhag sphere (within a sphere!), we can almost hear our hero say, "Maybe I can loose that lizard in this blizzard..."
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
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