Batara Kala – The Javanese Ogre
📦 Project Info
Game/Universe/System: Veiled Lamp Miniatures
Type of Miniature: Bust / Display Piece
Miniature(s) Included: Batara Kala, Javanese God of Death
Paint Style/Techniques: Atmospheric lighting, NMM, micro-texture, grisaille underpainting, photographic lighting reference
Estimated Time: 6 months of intermittent work and study, around 120+ hours total
Theme/Story Inspiration: Inspired by traditional depictions of Batara Kala in Javanese mythology, painted as a wrathful guardian of the underworld. Yellow skin, crimson face, and flaming light from behind to reflect his origin in the infernal realm. The severed Banteng head he lifts is symbolic of sacrifice.
Current Status: Personal collection (available on enquiry)
🧙 Lore Snippet
Born from a cosmic mishap between Batara Guru and Dewi Uma, Batara Kala emerged—monstrous, insatiable, and cloaked in divine fire. He is the devourer of time, the punisher of disobedience, and the guardian of cosmic order. In Javanese myth, he haunts the edges of eclipses and the shadows of forbidden hours, feared by children and invoked by priests. Here, he rises from the underworld clutching a sacrificial Banteng, eyes wild with divine hunger, tongue tasting fate itself. He does not walk among mortals, but his presence is always felt—terrible, inevitable, eternal.
🎨 Artist Notes
This was a long and rewarding journey. I painted this bust as a love letter to Javanese myth, balancing historical aesthetics with storytelling and atmosphere. My goal was to simulate cinematic light—hot, fiery tones behind and cool shadows from the front—capturing that hellish emergence. Working with Tim Marsh as a mentor on this piece was transformative; we covered everything from reference lighting, NMM finesse, and colour control, to sculptural reads and saturation dynamics.
Every lesson in this project became a brushstroke. It received gold in the 2024 Brisbane Anvil competition and still stands as one of the most defining pieces of my development.
