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Those Dire Avengers are very cool.

Next part of the PoM army project. Hope you like it

I got new commission and I'm so excited. I have to do two standards for Raven Guard. They will be darkly romantic, symbolic and a bit like a horror movie. Great challenge - I can hardly wait.

These are fantastic pieces of work. I hope to be as good as you some day. Just wish those menoth models would be updated their rather chunky things that blur the line on detail far to often.

Here are the commision standards for Raven Guards.
If you see them familiar with Burton - then you have a good association
Inspiration comes from Poe's poetry. They have women at different state of decay,
roses referring to the tradition of placing flowers on the grave of the poet,
dark atmosphere of horror and a little touch of romance. I hope that all of this can be seen.
How do you like it?

Wow very impressive freehand! I've tried free hand once recently and I'm too embarrassed to post it after yours!

I use a 3/0 but I can't achieve even 10% of what you are doing, I believe.

There aren't enough superlatives in the English language to accurately praise your talents! You are amazing!

Incredible work! Free hand is is jaw dropping.

Phenomenal freehand! I love medusa iconography, so those jetbikes really tickle the pickle.

Very beautiful freehand work, excellent! Love it all.

Omg that is so beautiful!

Fantastic work. You are going to be busy, I think, people will after your work very soon.

So who's John Blanche again? I've completely forgotten. Words cannot do justice to the charm, grace and fluidity of your work. A multitude of artists going back into history would have stood amazed by your painting, and so do I.

The flags/vehicle paint jobs are insane. Good work.

It's not a false modesty but I trully didn't expect such amazing opinions. I'm completety intimidated but also sooooo encouraged
Thank you very, very much!

I'm still alive and painting in my free time!
Wanna show you more of my Menoth project. unfortunately not all Zealots made it to the picture (got full unit + Monolith Bearer).

Great as always!

This is my very special project for Warmachine/Hordes World Team Championship.
The "Hetman" lady is additional prize at Solo Master and the rest of the girls will be used by my husband (future world champ ) as flags/objectives. After the event I would like to sell them as cool souvenirs from Poland. After all, Winged Hussars are pride of my nation and one of the most recognizable polish symbols. Enjoy!

The Hetman (for Solo Master).


Commander.


Girl and her Lance.


Protector of Faith.


Gunslinger Girl.




P.S. Bases from Micro Art Studio. They are amazing!

Long time no see, but worth the wait, outstanding work, those banners are amazing.

Standards are for sale now. If you are interested, more information can be found on my FB (Lucrezzia Belladonna).

While your raven guard banners are indeed visibly inspired by Burton (these women could show up in corpse bride any moment :p) I really think you have a great touch of your own throughout your work.
You explained how you start painting freehand on page one, but I didn't really understand. Do you start with a background, and then paint your characters on it, or everything at once? Or maybe first you paint your characters or symbols, and then fill in the background?

Please, I, along with many others I should think, are begging for some kind of tips or tricks for that free hand. Those Raven Guard banners are perfect, and I'd love to do something similar on my skeletons!

I will try to post photos and description of my work on the banners soon. I have some pictures on the computer of the painting process (standards for Raven Guards).

That is some truly amazing freehand!

Very nice work

Looks like you like to freehand all types of banners. Your work is amazing! I wonder how would one for Vostroyans look like.

I found information about the regiment:
"The Vostroyan Firstborn's distinctive look is based on the archaic uniforms worn by the Cossacks of Russia during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as well as the uniforms of other European soldiers between the time of the French Revolution in 1789 and the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. "

If based on the traditions of the Cossacks (attachment to tradition, faith and freedom), the standards should express the religion of the Empire. Some nice icons in the history of the Empire glorifying the ruler of mankind, saints (living saints / archangels), symbols of freedom in relation to the French Revolution (eg. Battle and triumph over chaos), etc. Colours such as Orthodox icons that is rich in gold, red
It sounds very interesting .

As you put it, sounds not only interesting, but also kind of magic.

Here is the promised “how it’s made?” photo story. (by the way, “How it’s made” is a very interesting show on Discovery Science channel. Surprising how engrossing may be watching the preparation of frozen pancakes or tetra pack containers). It does not contain all the details because it started to get dark and I had no more time to play with the camera. Nevertheless, it represents the most important points of the painting process.

1. The first step - Inspiration.
Most important thing is information from the customer. In this case, it had to refer to the poetry of E. A. Poe. The first thing was to find information about the poet, his works and illustrations for literary works, the symbolism and history of his life. For example, I found out about the tradition of placing three roses on his grave and I decided that I wanted it to be found on the banner. When I have all the inspiring information, I can start to draw sketches.



2. Sketches and project.

I think that making sketches is a fundamental thing. Regardless of whether you are doing something more or less complicated, it’s always useful to first draw it on a piece of paper. Even if you only have to copy the design, drawing it on the sheet will prepare your hand to create the appropriate line on the other surface with brush. Most things you want to draw, you can fit in very simple geometric forms. This is particularly useful when painting any emblems, tattoos and patterns on coats. For example, Eldar runes can be drawn using straight lines and triangles. It’s the same for patterns on the robes reminiscent of Celtic embroidery.
In my case it was important to outline the female body. Even with such a complicated design I start by drawing the circle for head and straight lines defining the body position. Posted sketches are not completed illustrations of course, but they contain the most essential information for further work. From among the few sketches I choose the ones that were considered the cutest (usually this is my husband’s decision). The next thing is to redraw it on the standard.

3. Drawing on banners.
I always use white primer paint when painting models or Freehands. It is somehow easier for me to notice all the details and (what’s more important) you can simply draw on a white paint with a pencil. At this stage the most important tools are a pencil, eraser and sharpener. Pencil should have soft graphite (easy to wipe). Primer is not removed easily so you can correct drawing without worries. My magic tools:



You can instantly get on with drawing on new space, or you can re-do a sketch on paper, but this time on a smaller scale matched to the surface of the model or standard. I redraw the sketches on standards without placing any details. I'll think about them later when other elements such as background or clothing will be ready. Now is a good time to play some music. This will help you survive the annoying moments when you need to correct a failed sketch. Banners with the sketch looked like this:



4. Painting.
I always start from the human figure and nearest surroundings (skin, clothes, and dominant elements of the composition) by painting them with basic colors. Then I paint over the background, which helps in designation of the contours of each element. It also helps me decide where to deploy chiaroscuro and how to choose the color tones and contrasts.



In this case background served me just to bring in the right atmosphere on the banners, so I used it mainly to correct and emphasize shapes.



When everything is filled with basic colors, it is time for real painting. Now comes the fun part with layers, first details and new ideas.



I decided to put unnatural and mysterious light for my ladies. This adds depth to the backgrounds and emphasizes what is most important on the banner. I also worked a little with the background (shades and highlights of the material).





Then I could focus on playing more with details and how to represent my audacious idea of material that is transformed into ravens. Maybe it's not incredibly original thought, but I remember that when I was a kid I saw Madonna’s video for the song Frozen. It made a huge impression on me, especially the moment in which she fell on the cracked ground and turned into a flock of crows.

Getting back to the subject, painting details is the most enjoyable part of the job. As you can see, in the earlier phase of the project I was thinking of placing the moon in the background. However, while painting I often change my concept. After all this is a creative thing.
I left painting hair for the end of the process quite deliberately. The first reason was that it is much easier to paint strands of hair on the finished background and the second; surprisingly hair can play a big role in the image. They can give dynamism to the static pose or balance the composition of the picture when we feel that something is missing.



When I painted the hair already, it occurred to me that the wreath of fresh flowers will be nice contrast with the body in a state of decay. In addition, I found that I miss the contrasting colors.



Using tinting painting technique (mixing color with white) made the picture look spooky, but also a little boring. I think that adding a wreath with vibrant flower colors was very right decision.

5. Finishing.
Painting Raven Guard symbol was a nightmare and I’m not even sure why. Probably I used wrong size of brush but unfortunately my 00 was broken. After many annoying attempts, I finally grabbed the pencil. I was afraid that the sharp tip of a pencil can scratch layer of paint, but luckily no such thing happened. I drew a sketch of a raven gently and properly holding the banner, so that the graphite slightly reflected light, I could cover it with paint.



I think I decided on this because this part of the standard was not particularly important. On the finished coat or robe this would be pretty risky, unless the model is already covered with varnish (several times). I have to check it out.
The final effect is already known. I hope that you will find my photo story useful or at least interesting

Those me some serious free-hand skills you've got there.

Keep up the fantastic work.

D

I'm pretty sure these are the best paint jobs I've ever seen. Like, I'm legitimately torn between never picking up a brush again or spending every waking hour learning how to paint like this. Seriously, kudos, this is outstanding stuff (especially those jetbikes, like legitimately jawdropping)