Antonio Peña is one of the painters who took part in the awesome Celestial Painting Competition we are running alongside Diemension Games. Sam took some time to talk to him about his work and what he does...

Remember to hop on over to the Facebook Group to share your thoughts with the other artists and see some amazing WiP pieces too.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you and what work do you do?

Hi, my name is Antonio Peña. I am a miniature painter from Málaga, Spain. I work as a content creator on Patreon Inc. I consider myself a very passionate painter and mentor and although I like to paint pretty much any miniature I usually choose Fantasy to as a way to go beyond reality and explore new things.

How did you get started painting miniatures?

I started painting miniatures when I was a child all because of a friend. He collected Dark Elves and so I started painting High Elves as they were their mortal enemies. I painted such ugly models and played even worse! After two or three years we stopped collecting. 

I eventually returned to the brushes in 2012 and nothing has been able to separate me from my miniatures since. 

How have you found the painting competition so far?

I have found this competition very interesting from the beginning. When I was asked to participate I was thinking "who else is going to take part?". It was a very nice surprise to know so many of the names of the talented painters I'd be facing off against and it was nice to share this experience with my colleagues. 

It has been a painting competition which has garnered some interesting responses from the community which is nice. More initiatives like this are necessary for us to share our work, get the community involved, and learn from each other. So, I have been delighted with it!

Why did you choose to paint the Queen of the Void? What about this model did you particularly like?

My Queen is a woman and although she has many monstrous features some of the lines are very feminine and expressive. I also liked that she is not sexualised, which is very important to me. That's the main reason why I chose her. 

We create realities when we 'create' something and this image of a strong female figure with a powerful story and an elegant presence was one that I wanted to bring to life. She is my favourite miniature from the Celestial range without a doubt. 

How did you approach painting this model? What ideas did you have and what did you want to achieve?

I had many ideas that would transfer my fears into the scene. The sculpture tells a story and I think my scheme works alongside that well. I was imagining his handcrafted magic and I developed an idea around that. 

I was also thinking about what I like most, and what makes her special. The answer was lots of colour. My palette is recognisable and so this is an attempt to be true to myself even though I was very aware of the contest and the powerful media influence. 

This led to me focusing the composition around her face and trying to make it scary. I didn't care if the focus was meant to be on the model as a whole because I wanted to make it all about her face. I think I've managed to get my ideas across faithfully and I am happy with the final result. I hope everyone enjoys my Queen!

You chose some very striking colours for this model. Did you try any new techniques when painting it?

The Queen Of The Void is a large scale miniature and so for that reason, you have to work with different techniques compared to smaller scales. I used lots that I am familiar with including the application of base layers and glazes (by airbrush and standard brush). 

I really like to add saturated colours and develop gradients on the models that I work with. 

What is the story behind the water effects? What is happening here?

I don't know if you've seen the movie Mother from 2017? Well, I was watching that shortly before beginning the contest and so my idea was inspired by religion. I thought of the Queen Of the Void (a woman) as responsible for the Universal Flood. The water is there to renew life in place of fire. 

The original idea was to use several spheres of energy emerging from the water, rising to different heights. I found more subtle ways to use just one, next to the water. I forged the idea that the Queen Of Ther Void is using magic and she is at the beginning of her spell. You can see the noticeable flooding in the temple.

I took some more of my ideas from Avatar...haha, not the one with blue aliens! I think this fitted in well with the elemental bending arts and played into the mythical background of the Celestial range too.

I try and represent things that I like in my work and this was no different.

What challenges did this model present you with?

The size! This was one of the worst things for me as I could not paint and move around the model as fast as I would have liked. 

I also found there to be some difficulty in painting the Queen Of The Vid as human as possible. She is of course not a woman, but I tried to humanise her with my decisions.

What are your thoughts on the other painters’ work?

I have seen some very good ideas and wonderful execution. At all times I think there has been a healthy atmosphere around us all and we have supported each others work to the benefit of everyone. 

I have seen some risky bets, but they have been well resolved. I'm not entirely sure I could pick just one miniature that I liked the best. I think all of the work is very personal and my colleagues have shown themselves at the best during this contest.

Where can people go to see more of your work?

You can find me on Patreon HERE, over on Facebook at APMiniatures and via Instagram via APMiniatures too. 

I upload regular video tutorials and articles to Patreon where I also practise my private classes and stream as well. The project is almost a year and a half old now and every day new painters join to enjoy the experience. 

When you look at my social media you'll see I update galleries with the things I have worked on. I also sometimes do some free streams to help the community and get my work out there to keep an eye out!

Thanks so much for talking to us Antonio and we can't wait to see more of your work!