The figures arrived along with a postcard from the hometown of my opponent. Very gentlemanly it was! But I did not realize at first that my opponent was one of my idols in figure painting, especially horses, none other than Marvin. Until Remco accidentally sent me Marvin's entry, photos and all, several weeks ahead of time. It was the only time I saw my opponent's work before the duel started in the two years.
Here is the link to the original duel:
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=20947
When I saw Marvin's horse and rider, I thought it was very good, but maybe not his best. Especially the photograph was a tad blurry. Perhaps I can win! I also noticed he left the fancy stitching on the sabretache, when plain black was more likely for this trooper. Also he had a humorous name, so I countered with one more serious. I worked hard on my entry, but now to find the perfect angle. Here were two that did not get picked:
Or perhaps a dramatic red background...
In the end it was all for naught. Marvin's horses are just too good. Also, he has built up so much good will in this forum community that there will always be an element of "lifetime achievement" present when evaluating his works, and very rightly so. I was extremely honored to duel against Marvin, and the voting was even pretty close. I was counting the votes while waiting in the hospital for my second son to arrive. Here he is with his mystery painter father and his older brother:
Notice the Robin suit:
So the final vote was 13--11 in favor of Marvin. A very worthy duel and it dropped my record to 4 wins, two losses, and three ties. It was on to the final three months of 2017...
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