Watch 'em Burn! US 101st Airborne, 506 PIR, Ardennes, Noville, 1944

Here is another lighting study of fire using this highly popular bust of this US 101st Airborne paratrooper from Young Miniatures. The inspiration for this piece is based on the defense of the Belgian town of Noville by the 1st Battalion of 506 PIR against the tanks of the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich". I decided on a narrative of a bazooka gunner, who had moments before dispensed a rocket onto an oncoming enemy tank and is now watching its demise.

The use of colors will therefore play an important role in conveying the emotion of that exact moment. To accomplish this, I utilized a complementary color scheme of red and green to establish color contrast and mediated these two opposing colors with tertiary tones of brown, ocher, orange, violet and magenta. I also incorporated two opposing light sources; the fire and cool white light. This allows me to play with the color temperature for added contrast and tonal variety. For example, I used Vallejo Black green for the warmer zones near the fire and Jo Sonja Phthalo Green for the cooler zones under the white light.

The challenge is to force the viewer to accept the orange/reddish tones as fire; maintaining the illusion that the light is emanating from an external source. It is still work in progress at this point -with several areas needing refinements. So until the next time, keep safe.

Calvin