Many years ago, when I launched my series of “Thinking Out Loud” articles, I had that urge to shout my anger at my approach to the hobby. It was a call for freedom of thoughts in a hobby where I felt I had to check boxes. It was more against my own delusion than the hobby itself, which can be practiced in various ways. Almost 10 years later, as my modelling skills mature, I have the great satisfaction to have finally found my groove, or should I say, my own personal style. Sure it has been informed by many modellers, but I’m far beyond copying others and expecting “realistic” results. Like a painter, I look at a scene and reinterpret is using my own palette.
And to be bluntly honest, it has been quite a surprise. It’s not exactly the way I expected my work to turn out. I has a rougher edge than previously imagined in my mind, but it is counterbalanced by texture and colors, two things that I learned to appreciate.
There is
this myth that recipes exist in model railroading, which is true. However, these
are tools we master to acquire a vocabulary. They shouldn’t be restrictive but
enable us to tell the story we want to craft for ourselves and others.
I’ve learned to frame scenes, I’ve learned to balance space around tracks, to create natural landforms that compliment trains… I’ve also learned I don’t care about what is exceptional in railroading, preferring to put my effort on mundane things, the ordinary life and way we appreciate real trains. Lowly boxcars, unassuming houses and F-units are, as they should always have been, part of my vocabulary. Techniques are no longer how-to but extensions of myself, like a pen and a brush.
I used to
draw a lot when I was a kid, mainly landscape with farms, old houses and
trains… this passion of mine somewhat died out when I reached college years.
Yet, progressively, this old passion of mine is blending seamlessly with model
railroading, which makes me wonder if I’m no longer building layouts but
drawing 3D train landscapes. Deep inside me, I’ve always wanted to build
layouts like you paint on a canvas and it seems I’ve stumbled on that road in a
clumsy but rather fascinating way.
It's worth mentioning that I've been having a similar conversation with a group of like-minded modelers. As conversations do, ours meandered and often intersected with the sentiments you expressed here, and I cited the middle photo on this blog post (which you had shared on Facebook) to support my point. To add some thoughts to yours, it seems to me that artists in all media tend to stumble to find their voice. I doubt that anyone can develop a unique voice without first having the confidence to see stumbling as exploring, and exploring as path finding.
ReplyDeleteThis subject is one I too have been exploring, and it’s great to read your thoughts and reflect with my own. I can see an artist’s hand with these recent photos, and it’s exciting to then embrace yourself and let this grow and develop. I think, for what it’s worth, that I what you’re producing here is wonderful.
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