Chivalry

This is the second part of a commission I took.The task was to represent a knight as an allegory of masculinity.
I chose to approach this as a reflexion on what true strength is.
I wanted to avoid the paladin in shining armour, because true strength isn't an ideal of perfection. And I wanted to avoid the mindless epic fight scene, because true strength isn't glorified violence. True strength is about looking straight into the misery inside of you and around you... and deciding to fight it anyway. It's about being solidly anchored to earth and not dreaming of glory. It's about picking yourself up every time you fall. It's a slow painful grind and not a glorious charge. 
The first part of the commission was to represent a flamenca as an allegory of femininity and can be found here:   Close-up and WIP are here:  Chivalry - close-up, WIP shotsI wanted to show you a close-up of my latest work...

and I also made this with a couple of steps: