Crusader

[bailey03]

I realized I had yet to post any pictures of my latest project here.  A few months ago I started working on this 54mm scale knight from Romeo Models.  The figure is from the era of the 3rd Crusade, but I decided to paint him up as a generic knight rather than one of the crusading orders (like the Templars).  This gave me a lot more freedom in color choice and for the design work on his clothing/shield.  In my mind, he's an English knight traveling with Richard the Lionheart on crusade.  That steered my color choice a bit, as red and yellow were colors used by the English king.  But I opted to replace the lion with a griffin on this piece (just to do something a little different).

 

He's come a pretty long way.  I wanted to push for a higher contrast on this piece.  It's similar to how I've done fantasy figures, but I wanted to see how I could make it look on a historical figure (since we naturally expect to see a more realistic overall look).  I made a few very minor changes to the figure.  I shaved down the noseguard a bit so it hid less of his face.  And I inserted two arrow shafts into his shield.  Painting has all be done with acrylics, primarily Reaper though I did use Scale75 for the metallics.  I have a couple small details to do on the knight, along with the chainmail on his legs.  Then all that's left are the base and weathering the figure.  I don't expect a ton of time to paint over the holidays, so hopefully I can finish him up in January.

 

And here's a look at the base (keeping it pretty simple just to focus on the figure) and a sense of scale for the piece.

[rfusca]

Wow that looks amazing!  Great job on the red!

[malefactus]

Having wandered through your W.I.P. thread on C.M.o.N's forum, I have some idea just how impressive this will be once you are done with the good Knight. Have FUN with the painting & such!

[Bruunwald]

That fabric looks amazing!

[Glitterwolf]

Love this!

 

Could you share how you get that fabric to look so realistic?

Is it stippling/stripes? How do you do this?

[Paradoxical Mouse]

I'm gonna be honest, I thought that was your reference picture for a good moment there. That is amazing work.

[bailey03]

Thanks, everyone!

 

7 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

Love this!

 

Could you share how you get that fabric to look so realistic?

Is it stippling/stripes? How do you do this?

 

Glitterwolf, I'm not sure I have a simple answer.  For the blending, I'm mostly layering.  But I will certainly make sure of stippling from time to time, especially on transition that's giving me trouble (the stippling breaks the transition up and helps make it at least look smoother).  I took some images as I painted the left arm/shoulder, which you can see below.  I started with a base of Violet Red and then sketched in the shadows with Burgundy Wine (1st image).  Then, through layering, I gradually work from Burgundy Wine back up to Violet Red in order to blend in those shadows (2nd image).  From there I continue to get brighter, mixing Fire Red into my Violet Red (3rd image).  Finally I'll mix my top highlight color into the Fire Red.  This could be an off-white, light yellow, or skin tone (in this case it was a mix of Linen White and a bit of Buckskin Pale).  I went a bit more extreme with this than I might normally, but typically I try to keep this stage very limited and only apply it to very small areas (4th image).

 

But, overall, I'd say it's not just the blending but where you apply the shadows and highlights.  I think a lot of people understand zenithal lighting in theory, but aren't as exact when they apply it to a figure.  Especially with cloth, where the folds are unique to each piece.  You can't just go into auto-pilot mode.  There's definitely a tendency to want to highlight every raised portion, but you should be highlighting the tops of the folds and shading the undersides.  I think the front of the sleeve and definitely the back show this.

 

At this point, I have a good feel for it, so I can just sit down and start painting.  But, when I was just starting out, I'd make use of reference images (specific to the figure).  Sometimes the box art can be a useful guide, seeing where that artist placed their highlights and shadows.  But you can also create your own reference.  On a number of occasions I took a figure (after priming, but before painting) and placed it under a strong light source.  Then, with the other room lights dimmed or off, I took pictures of the figure from the front, back, and sides.  These then provided a great reference on where the light was really hitting.  You still use a bit of artistic judgement (for example, a helmet might put the face in shadow and you want it to stand out more so you still highlight there), but it gives you a good place to start.

 

You could create the same sort of reference using zenithal priming (prime black, then white from above and at slight angles).  Before you start painting it, just remember to take photos so you still have the information to reference after it's been covered up by the paint.

[Glitterwolf]

Thank you!

Very useful!

 

[SGHawkins09]

The red and gold look fantastic and great job on the freehand! Please say you are bringing him to the SCAHMS show.

[bailey03]

Thanks, SGHawkins!  That's the plan.  Though I believe they've switched the show to every other year, so it may be a little bit.  I've got my fingers crossed they'll find a different venue so they can go back to every year... though I don't know if it's been sorted out yet or will be in time for the 2018 show. :/

 

In the meantime, here's a quick update on the knight.  I finished off the chain mail on his legs and took care of a few other details.  Only thing left on the knight itself is to paint the dagger handle (not sure what it's supposed to be... best guess is metal), the arrows in the shield, and then do a bit of glaze work to add color variation in the face and a bit of subtle color on the armor.  And, of course, there still needs to be some weathering.  But that will wait until the base is done so I can do it all together.

 

[Glitterwolf]

wow!

[SGHawkins09]

The metal looks great, I have always liked your TMM.

 

4 hours ago, bailey03 said:

Thanks, SGHawkins!  That's the plan.  Though I believe they've switched the show to every other year, so it may be a little bit.  I've got my fingers crossed they'll find a different venue so they can go back to every year... though I don't know if it's been sorted out yet or will be in time for the 2018 show. :/

 

I had not heard that they had switched to every other year, hopefully they can figure something out.