A little preamble: when I talked about washing in the mini-tutorial, I tried to explain that now an integral part of my way of painting is to use many average grey tones, which are then "coloured" to emphasize the various possible hues. In that case I was talking about the skin, but in fact I use this technique a lot also on freehands, taking it to its limits. All the drawings of this piece have been made with the same basic colour: a mixture of Adeptus Battlegrey and Black highlighted up to Kommando Khaki, which I then coloured as if it was a black-and-white to wash with very thinned-down watercolours. I usually go step by step and in a slight way, but I’ll give you a scheme of the used colours at the end. I said it a million times, and I repeat it now: I am neither a great designer nor a good "pantograph". I am green with envy when I see people like Ungugu draw thin long and straight lines with ease. In comparison, mine seem lines traced randomly in the sand after a game of marbles… Because of these two features I try to improve on the one hand, but on the other I must adapt my style to my obvious limitations, trying to exploit what I manage to do a little better, the "finishing". I’ll start by posting together three examples of drawing for comparison: the first is last year’s Beelakor banner, the second is the front of the Khorne daemon’s axe, the third is the front of the Terminator’s standard.
In all three examples there are three elements of the drawing that I paint slightly differently:
The geometric part:
For me, the most difficult part is always the geometric frame (and I would say that it is also quite obvious in the outcome), that's why I always do that first. In all three examples, the frame is golden, albeit with slightly different compounds, in this case I will explain the compound used for the Terminator.
I usually start with a dark basis for the drawings because the dark colours are much easier to correct (considering my chronic inaccuracy this is the only way I can work), but not with pure black.
This is why: with a dark colour that is not black I can draw drafts with a medium dark colour, and then correct the imprecision with pure black. This way, at the third passage I have already the drawing, the blacklining and the background, even if still very close to each other in terms of contrast. The colours used at this stage are Black + Scab Red for the background (about 50% - 50%, but better if slightly more Black), Marron cuero Vallejo + a bit of Snakebite Leather as the compound for gold, and black for the blacklining.
After having traced the whole frame, including the first inside friezes (the "lilies" and the two figures at the centre with the gem), I pass over it several times until the line is as accurate as possible. The same applies to the first highights of gold obtained with Rotting Flesh added to the mix. Spending a long time doing this “adjustment” work is critical to me, because when I’ll be highlighting to recreate the golden effect, the paint will have created a tiny wake that will help the tip of the brush to go straight (a little trick for those who aren’t able to paint straight ); of course I am talking about something imperceptible to the eye! ! I take it for granted that the colours are always well diluted.
The compound used for gold is highlighted with more and more Rotting Flesh added to it up to pure Rotting Flesh, putting the lights increasingly localized to suggest the metal. At this point, the obtained colour is a very “washed” and extremely desaturated gold. That way I can have fun colouring it as I want with much diluted washes.
In the three examples: the Beelakor has been washed with Catachan Green, Snakebite Leather and Scorced Brown, to obtain a very dark and antiqued gold; on the axe I used Catachan and Camo Green for a very greenish gold; on the Terminator I used especially Catachan Green and Snakebite Leather, because I preferred a bit more yellowish gold for this subject.
After finishing the frame and having coloured it, only the last highlights remain to be given. Being this a nmm, they can be almost pure white (note that after washing it, everything will look darker and more saturated). I usually leave this for the final finishing step and do the design in the middle instead. Generally I always prefer to have everything almost finished before doing the last highlights, because it is important that tones and contrasts are well balanced.
The figurative image
To paint the central drawing I basically use the same technique as for the frame, only that I’m a little less anxious about the lines, since this is not a "technical" drawing. Technically, it was a challenge for me to work on almost entire figures, even if simplified, which is something I’ve never done - so far I’ve simply painted big enough faces or more or less complex symbols. Creating an image that would suggest a tapestry decorated with a dynamic story that is not symbolic but highly figurative was the most difficult thing.
Two tricks helped me to achieve this: I used a medium colour for all the drawings, and worked in very diluted layers to correct any imperfection on the way. The basic colours of all the drawings are, as said before, Adeptus Battlegrey + Black then highlighted to pure Kommando Khaki. I started from a sketched image and was careful to have a trace that would "frame" the space in the right way, no matter how horrible it looked.
This means: how do I divide the image… where do I put the angel, the devil, and why?
The angel is on the right (for the observer) on the entire miniature, and I tried to maintain a precise and repeated symbolic significance (this is needed in order to give the drawing its own internal logic so that it wouldn’t be a mere ornament without meaning), in fact the struggle between the angel and the demon (both portrayed in a very similar way and differentiated only by a few characteristic traits) is the general theme of the whole miniature. This has its counterpart in the ambiguous image of half and half, which, as well as being fun for me, offers also suggestions that I particularly like. In addition, drawing the angel’s wing in the prolonged corner of the banner serves to give prominence to the figure, as well as making it predominant and putting it in the foreground in regard to the devil. Let’s say that we’re making clear who is going to win…
Having finished this draft, I return on it with black, creating basically all the parts and the fundamental forms, and I correct every imperfection I find (some will eventually remain) until I’m satisfied with the basic image.
Once the picture is clear, it becomes much easier to highlight it and give it volume. When I come to pure khaki, I have obtained a flat but expressive enough grey design to work with colours.
In the case of the angel, I continue up to white on the wings and then wash its robes with the greens (Ork Shade Foundation and Catachan Green). I also applied diluted layers of Hull Red and Scorched Brown on the shadows of the robes, because the red enhances the green and vice versa, since the two are complementary colours.
For the devil I only worked on the chromatic variation of the greys, looking for a very evil-looking brown by adding various washes of browns and purples (Scorched and Hormagaunt Purple).
The washes are interspersed with highlights, realized with the addition of Kommando Khaki and White to the different compounds, up to the brightest highlights. If they were too white, no problem: I wash them again with some medium colours and restart from the previous steps, just as if I were working on a normal part of a miniature.
The background and the last decorations
The whole miniature’s background is a sort of reddish sky in a storm that I have deliberately kept as indefinite as possible in order to simplify the design and not detract the attention from the figures. The base has been made by highlighting Scab Red and Black with Kommando Khaki and washing it with Scab Red and Warlock Purple and Black until an extremely dark look is obtained. It is essential that the background doesn’t chromatically and dynamically overshadow the drawing, which would otherwise look lost in a sea of background brushstrokes.
After completing the background, a slow work of finishing begins: I slowly and steadily fill in the empty spaces with objects and details that characterize and fill the space – the crowns and the details of the robes, the necklaces, the hair etc… In the end I paint the last lights on the whole drawing, trying to harmonize the result (this stage is the one that gives the final touch to the piece and defines the atmosphere of the design), and then add the effects of cuts, aging, and wear. Although few, these add to the realism of the piece. The gems are the last things before adding the weathering effects of dirt, and have been done in the most traditional way: dark above, bright under, a spot of white light at the top.
From a technical point of view, all the drawings have been painted in a similar way in every part of the miniature, balancing well the colours. Note that using the same backgrounds and highlighting with the same colours we always get a certain degree of equalization to the colours, which helps to create a well defined atmosphere. In this case, it is the dark gothic that I like so much…