painting brons color in oils

planetFigure

Help Support planetFigure:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

megroot

A Fixture
Joined
Jan 7, 2004
Messages
28,325
Location
Netherlands, Arnemuiden
Hello Guys,

I must paint on my celtic chieftan a brons coloured helmet and cuirasses.
Has somebody done this in oil paints?
Has somebody any ideas how to do this.

Thanks

Marc.
 
Hi Marc,
Here's a bronze helmet I painted with oils that were tinted with printers inks.
(I'm having trouble getting the picture to post from this computer so I've added a link to a post that shows it)
link
It's at the bottom of the thread.
The dark bronze was done using Rich Gold printers ink mixed into Burnt Umber.
The highlighting was done using Rich Gold printers ink mixed into Cad. Yellow. The shading was done using Burnt Umber oil paint.
With the printers inks you have to add a drying agent. I'm told that it won't dry properly without it.
I hope this helps you.
Craig
 
You can also try adding the gold printers ink to brown madder alazarin. Shade with raw umber and high with gold printers ink (just a touch :) )

As mentioned, don't forget the cobalt drier. Another option for adding gloss is to put some liquin in your base mix.

Keith
 
IMHO, bronze is just a dark gold. So, take whatever you use for gold and darken it with burnt umber, brown madder alazarian or some other brown or even black. Add a little gold to lighten it for your hightlights, and a little more of the brown for your shading. I also agree that the cobalt dryer will add a nice luster and speed up drying.

Happy Painting.
 
Bronze is not the same colour as gold or brass and doesn't weather the same as either. Bronze, when freshly polished, is quite pinkish as you might be able to see if you surf the web looking for bronze foundry/casting information. As it oxidizes it tends towards reddish-browns, unlike brass which tends towards a greenish hue, or gold that of course doesn't tarnish.

Depending on the metallics you have available to you Marc for fresh bronze try a mix of gold, silver and Burnt Sienna. For a Celtic chieftain the bronze would almost certainly have been highly polished - just as with their clothing being the best and most expensive of what was available, their armour would be a reflection (no pun intended) of their status. For a medium tone the same colours with less silver and a little added Burnt Umber (not Raw Umber, it's the wrong hue).

An oxidised finish is very very unlikely for any item used for personal protection regardless of rank but if you wish to do this the colour bronze tends to turn naturally is a deep chocolate, so Burnt Umber is a good basic starting point. Brushing this over the lighter colours will probably give you the best effect, so you can lightly remove some of it in areas subject to wear - under the arms, where belts or other items of equipment rub against it - to show the polished colour.

If you don't have a good gold and silver Marc there is a very good Bronze colour in acrylics made by Daler-Rowney in their Cryla range which is finely pigmented and an excellent colour match, you could use this as a base and work on top of it in oils if you wish.

Einion
 
Back
Top