The History of the Kingdom of The West
Scrolls

Underpainting the Achievement

Photo and Contribution
by Tatiana Nikolaevna Tumanova

Underpainting the Achievement
As was stated, everything that was going to have paint on it (except black!) had to be under painted first. Here the charges on the shield have been painted and also the helm.

If the field on the Arms had been any color other than black, it would have been painted white next. Note that if objects are painted in different sittings (i.e., the paint is allowed to dry before starting the next section), there will be a line where the older painting meets the younger painting. Knowing this can help preserve the outline of an object if needed. Had the field been red, even if it was under painted first with white, by waiting until the paint on the charges dried, their outlines would have stood out and made them easier to find after the background was painted in. It is generally better to paint around the outside of a thing, rather than paint the background and have to free hand draw or trace the foreground object back in -- sometimes this can mar the background paint. I use this technique to preserve the main lines in a human face when doing a likeness, by going all around the lines, letting the paint dry, then painting over the lines.

Before proceeding with painting the black field on the shield, I remembered that I was going to use silver leaf (actually aluminum, because silver tarnishes) on the coronet, so that part was done next. The helm was rendered using Permanent White with some Mars Black and touches of Payne's Gray added to keep the grays from getting too dreary; next the coronet was given some shading to give it a bit of character, using much of the same paint.

The charges were given a final coat of Permanent White, the field was painted in with Mars Black, and the charges were outlined. Because the lion and the griffin had to have interior details, I thought of giving the compass-star some interior lines, but it was so small I was afraid it would get murky in appearance -- also, the gold knight's chain was going to be hanging over it and covering up a lot of it. -- Tatiana Nikolaevna Tumanova

The West Kingdom History Website was created by and is maintained by Hirsch von Henford (mka Ken Mayer).