Painting a Shield

[Dolf]

Hi!

I've almost finished my Viriato bust, from RP Models, and I kept the painting of the shield for last, because 1) it's the 1st shield I'll be painting, and 2) it's probably (for me at least) the most difficult part/piece to correctly paint on this great bust.

What I have in mind (and this is an easy choice compared to other shields paintings for the same bust I've seen here... But the ones previously shown here are all painted by Masters, I'm just an amateur...) is to depict on my shield the same exact patters shown on Viriato's statue on Viseu, a city on the NE of Portugal, on a region where apparently he was born.

Here are a couple of pics of the statue, where we can see the shield I want to depict:

So far, I was able to draw the shape of those 12 kind of "rays" on a piece of paper, then on a piece of transparent paper, which I intended to use to kind of copy them to the shield itself.
Well, that didn't work.

So now I've kind of drawn a sketch of those rays on the shield, using a regular pencil. Not an easy task as the shield has wood lines cast on the resin.
The idea is to give me some kind of guiding lines to then draw the definitive shape, and later... what? Paint those lines? Use some kind of ink pen to draw them?

I really don't know, and this is my main question now!

Here is a pic of the shield as it looks now, after a base coat with Humbrol Natural Wood:

I don't think I'll be able to paint those lines using a hand brush, not even with a 000 W&N mini series 7 brush!
Hence the idea of a 0.05 ink pen, or perhaps another one a bit larger.

But from previous experiences with these pens, I really doubt that the ink will properly adhere to the enamel paint.

What else, what other tool, can I use to paint those lines?

On the statue, those lines are created using high relief, but for instance on the following painting, done based on the statue, those "rays" instead are full painted, creating the illusion of relief.
I think this would probably be a better alternative for me, as the area would be larger, hence easier to paint.

What do you guys think?

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thank you!

Cheers!

 

[eddie_C96]

Hello, the figure is 75mm if I understand correctly, so the shield is 15-20mm in diameter. Personnaly, I would try to make them from foil using paper snowflake method - the problem is to find the appropriate foil which is resistant enough and yet thin.

 

[Dolf]

Hi Eddie!

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply

What I have is not the full figure, but the 1/10 bust instead. The shield is about 5cm in diameter.

I've been asking elsewhere (another Forum) and people have been suggesting a few approaches.

I've been thinking of making 8 rays, instead of 12. That would facilitate the work pretty much, and after all, as there are no Historic documentation about this period, most of what is know today is based in a few Roman writings, and probably legends and lore.

As for 8 rays, instead of 12. After all, 8 is as much artistic freedom as both the sculptor of the statue, as well as the author of the painting (based on the statue) .
The idea is to make 8 rays on that plastic sheet for modeling, and then glue them on the shield (4 on a cross pattern, then 4 more crossing the middle of the first 4). That will give some high relief to the rays, compared to the shield base.

I'm in no way no expert on Ancient times shields. But from the little bit I've been seeing, it seems to me that wolves patters are mainly a Roman pattern. And Viriato was definitely an anti- Roman...

The main problem with this, is that as the shield has some kind of wood striae (which as a matter fact, in real life we never see on wood; we see the "wood veins", but we don't feel them when touching, at least not as much as on this shield, with high and low relief. I assume it was done this way to help us, the painters, with the shadows and highlights, but that is pure speculation), which won't help the rays done in plastic sheet to glue to the shield. And it may not look that much realistic.
I may have to sand the shield, and make it with a much smoother surface. Then the rays will glue perfectly to the smooth surface.

On the statue it seems to me that the shield depicted is a metal shield anyway, not a wooden one.

I'm still at the same point I was when I posted this, and I've been debating ideas and suggestions, so I'll see what's the best possible way


Many thanks once again!

And welcome to PF


Cheers!

 

[eddie_C96]

Hi Adolfo,
I am no expert on Lusitanian warfare either, but I was replying on how to represent this particular pattern.
If you are trying to represent a caetra using the kit part without much modification, I would go for bronze umbo and nails, sand down a bit the wood grain to have leather-over-wood look and go for a red/green geometrical pattern similar to the ones from Andre Pena Granha reconstructions.
Rgds, Andrei

 

[Nap]

Hi Dolf

Can you not build the depth up with painting ?

The shield is IMO big enough to detail using very thin magisculpt

Good luck sure it will look fine

Happy benchtime

Nap

PS moved to general figure talk ..you might get more ideas

 

[Dolf]

Hi!


Thank you both for the follow-up

Andrei, tried to find out info about Andre Pena Granha reconstructions, but with no luck. I can find the name (sometimes in Portuguese, others in Spanish), and that he is on FB (where I'm not), but not much apart from that.

Sorry, my English is not as good as my Portuguese or French, so I don't understand what you mean by "a caetra", nor "umbo". Looked for a meaning/definition online bur couldn't find it.


Nap, what do you mean by "build the depth up with painting"?
Do you mean painting the rays in "trompe l'oeil" in order to make them look as if they had some high relief, like that painter kind of did on his painting of the statue?
If so, I really don't think so... As opposed to many painters here I didn't attend no "Beaux-Arts" Academy
As a matter fact I often read terms here that I have no idea what they mean... Example "the 5 o'clock painting" (or "shadow"), that now after doing research I kind of more or less grasp, but there are plenty more, that obviously come from "Fine Arts" Academy students/graduates, or painters that have always loved painting and have mastered these concepts over time...
I admit I was never into paints (on canvas), nor painters (classic or modern), nor painting periods before... This is all completely new stuff for me. As for visual arts I must confess I was always much more attracted to cinema


"PS moved to general figure talk ..you might get more ideas"

Thank you! Hope so...


Cheers!

 

[eddie_C96]

Hi Dolf,

Caetra was a circular shield used by Ibezrian peninsula warriors. 30 to 90 cm in diameter.
Umbo (shield boss) is the round metal reinforcement in the center of the shield
I was referring to these reconstructions:

 

[Dolf]

Hi Eddie!


Thank you so very much for the info and the beautiful art work provided. Some very useful inspiration for painting my Viriato shield!

I see that on both shields from the drawings you post, they both have a pattern similar to what I am considering doing. In both these cases the shields have 4 main "rays", looking like a cross.
So my idea of depicting a 8 "rays" was not so far-fetched after all. But now I guess I'll just try to reproduce one of these 4 "rays" pattern as in these drawings. Wonderful, and many thanks!

What a shame that being myself a Portuguese (and my late father was from the same region from where Viriato and the Lusitanians originated!) I know so little about my ancestors History

I definitely will have to do more research and study that people some more!

And man, you definitely know a lot about this subject!


"Caetra was a circular shield used by Iberian peninsula warriors. 30 to 90 cm in diameter."

May I ask, what was it made of? Wood? Metal? Other?...

"Umbo (shield boss) is the round metal reinforcement in the center of the shield"

As you mention this "umbo" (in metal), I suppose that the rest of the shield would be made from a different material, right?


Again many thanks, really appreciate your interest and all the help already provided!


Cheers!

 

[eddie_C96]

Hi Eddie!
"Caetra was a circular shield used by Iberian peninsula warriors. 30 to 90 cm in diameter."
May I ask, what was it made of? Wood? Metal? Other?...
"Umbo (shield boss) is the round metal reinforcement in the center of the shield"
As you mention this "umbo" (in metal), I suppose that the rest of the shield would be made from a different material, right?

Cetra is the Portugese word.
From what I could figure out it was made of wood and covered with leather

 

[Dolf]

Eddie,

Thank you very much once again!


Cheers!

 

[Mirofsoft]

https://www.academia.edu/37054265/L...e_IVe_siècle_et_le_Ier_siècle_avant_notre_ère

 

[Dolf]

Merci Mirosoft! Excellent!


Cheers!

 

[eddie_C96]

The second image may be to early for Viriato - it is dated Vth-VIth century B.C.
Spanish: Escudo celtibérico de bronce tipo caetra. Necrópolis de El Cuarto - La Muela de San Juan. Siglo V - principios del IV a. C. Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España

 

[Dolf]

Hi Eddie,

Yes, Vth-VIth centuries b.C. would be too early for Viriato, who according to some historians, lived from 181 b.C. to 139 b.C., hence IInd century b.C.

Have been doing some research lately, on the man, and the Lusitanians, the warriors shields... Some interesting stuff


Thanks again!


Cheers!

 

[alecs00]

Some awesome advice here

 

[Dolf]

Some awesome advice here

Yes indeed! Andrei (Eddie) has been very helpful! And he knows a lot about this stuff





Cheers!

 

[Dolf]

Some progress done on the shield/cetra.

Started by sanding it for removing the wood striae:





The remaining paint and wood striae visible on the previous pic was also carefully removed, and then glued the 8 "rays" I decided to depict, made from plastic sheet used for modeling:





After that I primed the whole surface with my usual Mr Primer Surfacer 1000, and that's how it looks now:





Still not sure how I'll paint it, have a few images for inspiration so will see.



Cheers!

 

[Dolf]

Well, just a quick update, as not just the shield, but the entire bust is now finished (maybe I should post these pics on the Completed Figures instead, if so, please Nap feel free to move this post in there) :


Pic taken indoors, with artificial light:



Pics taken outdoors, on natural day light (and retouched with a Pictures Editor software, GIMP, to which I'm totally new, so not yet the best results; will have to improve in the future) :










Thank you very much once again Andrei/Eddie, for your tips, help and support, really appreciate it


Cheers!