Heavy Roman Infantry - Update #4

Now I turn to the leather work and padded armor. Mars Brown was used on the leather edging of the armor as well as the thin belt running over the figures left shoulder. This was allowed to dry overnight before shading. One of the beauties of Mars Brown is it's opacity and quick drying properties. Shading of the armor begins with washes made using Mars Black and Van Dyke Brown. Basically I use to small dabs of these colors and mix my washes on the palette adding one or the other color as I go. More Brown is used on the leather wash and more black on the armor. Depending on how strong the shadow should be I will vary the thinning as well going from a pure wash to a thin glaze (resembling a gel). Additionally I worked deeper shadows (pure black) into the mail to keep the tonal values consistent over the entire figure.

The same techniques mentioned above were used on the second figure. However the leather pteruges were painted using Brown Madder. This also dries overnight but is fairly transparent. This was a plus as it allowed the white undercoat to show through giving a rich, warm reddish brown tone to the leather that will differentiate it from the leather trim of the armor. A second and third wash of brown was applied to the boots as I build a soft tonal valued base coat for what will later be a golden tan leather.