This was an epic piece to paint. It is massive and including the base is over 30cm in height. I wanted a base that would make the bust more imposing so the drama of what the elephant is rearing away from and what the rider is fighting would be enhanced. I had the base custom made by Pete Watson over in England. I gave him my vision and he turned a piece of distressed wood into exactly what I wanted. His work on this piece of wood is pure magic

The story that goes along with this piece is on the plaque. Sadly I haven't received the custom made metal plaque yet so a stand-in was used for the photo shoot. The story behind why the elephant looks sh1t scared and the rider is fighting for his life is loosely based on when Hannibal returned to Carthage, his war elephants faced Consul Publius Cornelius Scipio and his legionaries in Zama. However, the Romans had learned how to defeat the war elephants by corralling them where they could pick them off easily by using shield wall tunnels and fire. The elephant in my scene is rearing away from the fire.

  • Alfonso Ciattini

    Cool!!

  • girlpainter57

    A gateway to a specific moment in time ,brought to life nd a piece of true art

  • Clive Jackson

    Phenomenal job, Richard! Love it! Gold of course!... and a great little bit of historical info brought stunningly to life!

  • Steve Jourdain

    Magnifique,bravo

  • Andrey Miroshnichenko

    Wonderful painting!

  • Eduardo Garcia Lope

    Extraordinary work, superb and fine treatment of light and detail, nicely presented.

  • Bran

    Everything is great here, sculpture, painting, talent ....

  • Ricardo Pisa

    For me it's the best version so far!

  • Jakob VPLUS

    Incredible work!

  • Marc MussatPLUS

    stunning work Richards followed your work on FB , and the final pictures look great ! you have reached an amazing standard of painting over the past year as can be seen over your last projects. :)

  • Herman aka Glitterwolf

    That's awesome!

  • Martin Vermeulen (Nighthawk)

    Beautiful piece of work! I like it a lot!

  • Fabio Naskino Fiorenza

    Gold very impressive work

  • Tatjana "Dawn" Jäger

    I‘ve seen this on the „Duke of Bavaria“ today and it is absolutely great. It even looks better in reality than on the photos.

  • Kyle Maitland

    This paintup is so astounding I can't look at mine and not see it. Meaning.it is your fault I'm not painting mine, as I see no value in recreating your work.

  • ArtNiak

    That's one of the most crazy painting work I have ever seen. This is just awesome, and a little (big) piece of art. Woaho. Gold² x gold²