Completed Critique Philip II of Macedon Bust

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Bailey

A Fixture
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
802
Location
San Jose, CA
Finally got around to putting the finishing touches on this great bust from Alexandros miniatures (he's been about 98% done for the last few weeks). The bust is of Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. He united (aka conquered) Greece and was assassinated shortly before his planned invasion of Persia (which his son completed rather successfully). All of the equipment on the model is based on actual relics found in a tomb in Vergina. The tomb has been linked to the royal family of Macedon and the items either belonged to Philip or most likely one of his direct descendants.

The model was painted entirely with acrylics and the scale is 200mm. I had to create the leather straps attached to the sword, shield, quiver, and helmet. I also added a string to the bow.

Thank you for taking a look. I hope you enjoy the end result.

- David

Philip01.jpg Philip02.jpg Philip03.jpg

Philip04.jpg Philip05.jpg Philip06.jpg
 
David, I really liked, there is a nice gold atmosphere all around the figure that gives a nice tan to the skin, great job...(y)
 
The shield was painted freehand. I based the design on the gold and ivory shield found in the Vergina tomb. The two figures in the center of the original shield are difficult to distinguish. However, from what I read, scholars seem to think they could be Achilles and Penthesilea... so that is what I painted. Below are a few pictures of the shield as a work in progress.

shield01.jpg shield02.jpg

shield03.jpg shield04.jpg
 
Wonderful detail work and it sounds like you have researched this piece well......it shows in your painting. I am very drawn to the shield. Well done.
 
That looks really good. I have always liked this bust but never had the courage to do it justice. Perhaps I might now, having seen this one.........dominic
 
Thank you all, I appreciate the words of encouragement.

Marc, yes, the geometric design on the shield was done in pencil over black primer. I used a little help from a compass to get the circles. I was going to pencil in the inner figures too... but once I laid down the gold background color the pencil lines just didn't show up well enough. So I ended up drawing it out on a separate sheet of paper to get the size and position right, then I used a fine brush and watered down dark brown paint to rough out the form.
 
Great painting!!! and thanks for SBS of painting the shield, its really helpful for the beginner as me (y)
 
Excellent painting David. The geometric pattern on the shield is visually stunning but I was drawn to the little details on the quiver and helmet and how they all tie together so well with the overall piece. Simply brilliant.
 
Tony, thank you. I really appreciate the kind words.

Marc, I wish I had something better to say but I just used a good ol #2 (HB) pencil. I tried harder leads (4H and 2H), but the lines weren't showing up on the black base coat. I have had trouble in the past with the pencil showing through. I generally try to keep the line as light as possible and make just enough marks to be able to follow the pattern. But it often takes two or three coats depending on the color and consistency of the paint.
 

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