Step by Step: Spartan Warrior

Aloa Voodoo People,

this week's tutorial voting results look like this - winner was kinda obvious:

THIS IS SPARDDA!!

Thanks for voting.
Roman will now take care of the article.

Important notice:
This week Roman is heading out to his painting class in Sweden with 17 confirmed students and also adds some days of vacation time with his MV bro Peter to this trip. From early August on Roman is doing blogging-holiday. Estimated time to be back is end of August or early September as soon as he returns home from the NOVA OPEN 2016.

If you want to follow track of Roman's trip to Sweden, check this:
https://www.facebook.com/romanlappatpaintedminiatureart/
https://www.instagram.com/roman_lappat/



If you want to keep track with an overview on what has happened so far in MV's year of the painter 2
please check this link!
_______________________________________________________________________________
You want to support Massive Voodoo? 
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
_______________________________________________________________________________


Mkay.
Sparta. 
This is a step by step concerning Roman's ideas and thoughts behind painting this bust.
The piece is a comission work and while writing these lines the project is not finished to 100% as Roman is still waiting on a small piece that is one the road due production lines.

You all might know that Roman is a big fan of the ancient world.
He likes to read ancient fantasy/historical novels and is always drawn back to this time period.

COMISSION?
Yes, Roman was approached with these kind words:

"I have had the great pleasure of researching artists in your arena for a particular "bust" project I would like to initiate. Your attention to detail and "eye" for the "warrior ethos" is best exemplified by your rendition of "Roman Legionarius 1st Century AD" in my opinion. That said I'm seeking your expertise to create a unique version of Pegaso's 1/9 Spartan Warrior Bust."

Well, just the right timing for it. 
Roman these days was playing a full campaign of the computer game Rome II - Total War. A special campaign concerning the time after the Persian Invasions, Athens is big, Sparta is small and all Greece is some kind of madhouse. Roman played this campaign with Sparta and it was these days when the question for this comission dropped in:


Some game inspiration ...

The comission was easily accepted.
These days Roman is pretty full with work and is not able to accept every comission. This one was calling out to him. Just the right time for it.

To make the bust by Pegaso unique the comissioner asked for this:

"The primary colors in the "box art" are acceptable, but I would like to incorporate a partial Aspis (Shield), with the appropriate battle wear. And to complicate the bust a partial spear or sword hilt of a "Kopis". If I have made this project over complicated please advise. Again I've selected you because of your incredible skill creating a bust that depicts the man in the arena and not on "parade". Please advise if you would be willing to undertake the project, and the rest is details that we can work out."

The bust got ordered and as soon as it arrived Roman's mind was racing. Scale. Check.

Plinth. Check. Preps. Check.

Basic colors were applied. Basic plan made.

The face was painted without the helmet first, but well after the helmet was applied it somehow got lost. Roman was quite happy that the most important facial areas of the character were still in good view.

Basic colors all around.

Such a powerful character.

Of course Roman was using inspirational resources.
Due several chats with his customer he knew where the direction should aim. Funny thing was that both had the same thing in mind already.

Both these examples Roman printed for his workbench are artwork from Total War. They both were very inspiring concerning metals and color choices.

Roman had a lot of fun playing color games with these metals. Here are the colors he used for his plays: Black, Necro Gold, Army Painter Wash (Soft Tone), Emerald Alchemy, Peridot Alchemy, Silver.

While the bust recieved more and more work on details Roman again had the funny and very inovative idea of holding a lid lighter to the model without burning it. A photo was taken.

Roman and his customer agreed not to do this,
but still were up for some minor changes. The helmets crest work did completly change to black and red while the checks in the crest were removed for another plan.

Roman played with the different varities of the metals by using a little more of this metal color here and a little less of this here. Playing. Let it dance.

In the meantime the shield in the right scale arrived. Roman comissioned Raffaele Picca for doing the shield and the kopsis part. Raffa's sculpting skills are awesome and Roman appreciated the help very much. The shield looked damn cool.

Scale. Check.

Shield. Check.

Roman decided to finish off the bust now. Still a good amount of work to do until his vision of this bust is in the paintjob.


Blood and Details.

Now the shield was held in place and wow! So, so impressive.

SHHIIEEELLLDDSSS UP!!

The bust was finished with more and more contrast work and details to a final stage. It is not the final stage yet. Why? Well, the shield arrived, but the Kopsis is taking longer than expected from the 3D printer's and Roman decided to both together.

 

More photos of the Spartan Warrior via Putty&Paint.

As soon as the kopsis and shield are done Roman will update you on this project. Plan is to have both pieces at hand and then paint them together to make them fit properly to the bust.

So well, why writing such a step by step? 
About a comission? About a project not completly finished yet?

In fact this article is about two main aspects:

- Try to paint projects that call out for you. If you hear an inner voice saying "paint me" than this is a good sign. Listen to it and follow it. You will enjoy the project. If not, you can make yourself a hard time by pushing through a project you have no vision of. Be inspired and choose your projects by your inspiration.

-  Do not worry about changing painting plans like with the crest. A complete color change happened, but it did not scare Roman. Just do it. No need to worry. All cool.

Keep on happy painting!

_______________________________________________________________________________
You want to support Massive Voodoo? 
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Important notice:
This week Roman is heading out to his painting class in Sweden with 17 confirmed students and also adds some days of vacation time with his MV bro Peter to this trip. From early August on Roman is doing blogging-holiday. Estimated time to be back is end of August or early September as soon as he returns home from the NOVA OPEN 2016.

If you want to follow track of Roman's trip to Sweden, check this:
https://www.facebook.com/romanlappatpaintedminiatureart/
https://www.instagram.com/roman_lappat/