This one is all about the subject "rust", even though my brain refused to tell me how to create a visual concept for that term. The first most obvious idea was about an archaeologist, unearthing all sorts of rusty things, leaving the question of what they would find: a sword? A shield? An artifact belonging to some mysterious machine? The Scion from Tomb Raider? In the end, it became a rusty gladiator's helmet in a desert landscape—possibly an ancient battlefield and remnants of a long-forgotten war.

Suddenly, the pose of someone crouching on the ground, examining something ancient, came to mind, basically what you see. Funnily enough, while searching for reference images, I found one in the exact pose I had in mind, thanks to Usain Bolt. That saved me the trouble of composing the character's pose, but the shortened and bent limbs were a real challenge, though.

Now there was another problem: As I managed to make it look quite satisfactory, I couldn't bring myself to put trousers on that guy, which would obscure all the hard work on the sketch. So, he got a primitive scrap of fabric around his hips. However, it no longer made sense for the wildling to suddenly find a rusty gladiator helmet as proof of a civilization that was presumably more advanced than the character's present.

So, the sketch sat overnight, and when I woke up, I had the image in mind of the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand. Genius, I thought, because that would allow me to squeeze in another movie reference, an iconic one at that, and I could also give the image a completely different vibe. Instead of depicting a situation in the past, it could be a post-apocalyptic scene in the future instaed, linked to the symbol of freedom, which is increasingly erodig, while the world is currently moving in a disturbing direction.

I had everything together, except for the punchline of the scenery. One question left: What should the cheetah find instead of the rusty helmet, representing our present? I thought of a toaster, a pot, a sunken car, a floor lamp. In the end, it became a smartphone, which, for the guy in his light clothing, is a clue to a lost civilization.

And so we have an image that easily makes it into the top three, if it isn't even my most beautiful one so far.

Those who have been paying attention will have noticed when I put the image of the gazelle and her dancers in my personal top three. And I think that's no coincidence. Whether it was due to the unintented drawing break of several weeks or a sudden inspiration, I can't even say, but currently working with colors feels easier than ever before, be it the wet-on-wet technique, mixing the paints themselves, or even handling the brushes. It seems to me that in the last five or six paintings, I've finally found something like an understanding of the medium that wasn't there before. In short: I'm enjoying watercolors more than ever right now.

Encouraged by the success of the last few pieces, I wanted this one to be a little different: I wanted the outlines to be less harsh, I wanted the entire painting to be in a yellow-red-brown hue, without exception, wanted to reduce the white areas between the individual color fields, or rather, to "color in" the sketch more precisely, and I wanted the shading to be a bit more contrasting — pretty much all of that worked out. Except for a few lines, it's exactly what I had in mind within the limits of what I'm currently capable of. Even my wife was amazed by the vibrant colors.

So here it is: "Rust"

PS: Yeah, the rusty Statue of Liberty should have been more greenish, and I briefly considered it, but decided against anygreen in the picture.