Ender's Crafts: Painting The Triumph of Saint Katherine (sisters)

Definitely the most complex and time consuming part of the commission. These sisters are loaded with minuscule details.

Painting

Prime Chaos Black, except the head pinned separately, which got to be Wraithbone.

I started with an overall Black basecoat, to cover up any nooks where the spray primer could not reach.

I initially wanted to do the black highlights, but I realized that there are red parts all across the folds of the cloth, which would be impossible to basecoat without splodging.

While basecoating the red, I realized that there are faces deep inside the cowl which would be impossible to paint without going over the red.

Sigh.

I painted the faces with light skintone. Obviously eyes and lips. The sister up front is blonde, while the one in the back has white hair (as requested by the client).

Red cloth

I considered my red cloth tip, but decided against it for two reasons: the cloth pieces are smaller and the transition from blackish red to bright red would be too harsh; and I was afraid the smaller folds would make the feathering look bad.

Undercoat Heavy Red, then basecoat Gore Red.

Shade the folds Flesh Tearers Red, and feather it out a bit using Contrast Medium.

Clean up using Gore Red; I ended up feathering it back towards the folds, to cover up any tide marks.

Glaze and feather Bloody Red on the tops, and in the button holes.

Highlight Hot Orange.

Painting metalics

I started off by basecoating all the little details to block them in, but I got tired fast of the amount of them. So instead, I decided to focus on a single type of detail, and do it on 2-3 bodies at once instead of working on all of them at the same time. I also wanted to experiment with the metalics, so I basecoated everything with Gunmetal.

The silver details are very small and fiddly, so I opted for the simpler way of painting them. I splodged the gloss wash all over, so good thing the black cleanup step is still ahead. Halfway through I decided to experiment with the gold/brass/bronze. Painting Contrast paints over silver results in good looking colored metalics... yellow is a color... seems worth a try. And it's all pre-shaded.

Iyanden Yellow is very pale. Nazdreg Yellow is a pale yellow akin to brass. Snakebite Leather is darker but still yellowy, and is a very good approximation of bronze.

I was not 100% satisfied, so I went over with Silver for some minimal superhighlights.

I did the backpack panels with Waystone Green and Soulstone Blue.

There are also some details which I painted differently, just for variety.

The hoses below the neckline are Gunmetal/Nuln Oil/Chainmail Silver, resulting in a duller metalic coat.

The grenades and pistol grips are Gunmetal/Black Templar/Chainmail Silver, resulting in a black metalic with minimal highlights.

Warm white details

I painted these at the same time, basecoating them with Wraithbone due to its covering power.

Cloth and scrolls like this, but I made the cloth lighter. Then I painted script using Black Templar. Notice how both the book and the scroll have the letters "B L" picked out - these are the initials of my client.

There is also a marble thing carried by one of the sisters. I skipped the drybrushing, as it is quite a small detail.

Cold white details

I painted these at the same time, basecoating them Grey Seer.

I wanted some differentiation from the white hair. So the basecoat was Grey Seer. For the beads/ornaments I went with Apothecary White which has a slight bluish hue, while the candles got a very diluted Basilicanum Grey for softer shadows as opposed to the hair.

Highlight Ghost Grey and Dead White.

Other details

Medium leather holsters and belts.

I initially wanted to go with this fire, but I had Wraithbone and Grey Seer out for a while, and I just did the basecoat with those. A coat of Iyanden Yellow is actually a pretty good approximation of Cassandora Yellow over Sun Yellow.

Orange and red as usual.

Basecoat the smoke Grey Seer, then feather in multiple layers of Basilicanum Grey, and finally Black Templar.

Highlight Cold Grey, then Stonewall Grey.

I did the coals Blood Angels Red, then Black Templar. It was then I realized that they should be hotter on the inside as opposed to the edges. So I went in with Bloody Red and Orange Fire at the base of the pieces.

Heavy Charcoal over the edges, to "cool them down".

The green vines were already a slightly darker cream, so two layers of Ork Flesh resulted in a nice dark green. Escorpena Green highlights on the thorns.