Hello fellow painters, today I want to share with you my new piece. It is another bust from the mighty Lukáš Žaba the dwarf Dorrin.

I looked at multiple versions of this "simpler" bust and most visually striking were by Trent Denison,@a.man.painting.miniatures and Lukas's third version. So thank you guys for sharing your versions so I can try and copy elements from them!

I wanted to paint the beard white but without using much white itself. That is why I went with shades of grey, purple, magenta and turqoise. Unfortunately, it looks better in person and the photo does not do it justice.

Another thing I wanted to copy was the magical rim and stone features. I think that they contrast nicely with the overall cold tones of the beard, rough tunic and the helmet.

My biggest challenge was the face. Again, I was lucky to receive great advice from Jan Soukup regarding eyes and after repainting them the face looks much better. Overall his advice is great as always, thanks Mr Judge!

My approach was starting with acrylics and blocking in the colours. Face was stippled on but it did not work well. And then oil baron Lukáš persuaded me to use oils and it elevated the piece and gave it exactly what I wanted.

Combining acrylics and oil colours seems to be a really good approach for me as I can use both techniques and try playing to their strengths.

I really enjoyed painting Dorrin and most importantly I feel I got a little bit better and had fun doing it.

Cheers!