Many thanks for the comments on the previous post, I'll reply to them all individually of course. Meantime here are a few more photos as we are now up to 30 painted. Lot's of useful comments were made and some useful links provided. I should stress that Mark's brief was to try to keep the colours 'earthy' so I toned down a few touches of the initial 12 and I'm far happier now, I think the vivid colour illustrations in the Ospreys, especially of the bright bead and embroidered decoration influenced me somewhat to add a touch of 'pop' but I'm far happier now!
Mark has decided upon stain varnish and I'm really pleased that he has because I know how much it brings out the horse colours in particular. I'm aware that they look very flat in these photos but with satin there is no need to over highlight muscle tone etc. One detail that I raised with Mark was that of the horses reins and the fact that many had only reins cast along one side on the neck which puzzled me given the quality of the sculpts. Research shows this is spot on! The Plains Indians often riding with just a single long rein and no metal bit, simply looped over the lower jaw, often braided and up to 12 feet long so if the rider was unhorsed he could cling to it and remount.
After this batch of 68 I'm back with Old John for a couple of weeks. I'm not painting Epics now and currently seeking a painter to continue the commission for Tony. Fact is that I have had to reduce my painting time and simply could not commit to 3 weeks per month for the Waterloo project any longer for personal reasons. if anyone knows or can recommend a painter please do get in touch.
