House Martell warhorse [WIP - caparison sans heraldry]

After a long hiatus from my Game of Thrones knight paint job conversion project, I have finally found the momentum to overcome the inertia that comes with a project that has been shelved for some time. It helped that this latest piece afforded me the chance to play around with wet blending and layering of acrylic paints in the 'orange hue range', something I had been meaning to do on large surfaces for quite a while now. I certainly had fun mixing up and splashing on the orange paints.

House Martell warhorse, work-in-progress

Warhorse awaits the freehand heraldry of House Martel

Front and back views of the work-in-progress House Martell warhorse

As with the other knights in this personal Game of Thrones project, the warhorse's caparison awaits the freehand painting of it's noble house's heraldry. In this case, it's a spear through a sun for House Martell. As I am currently viewing freehand clothing pattern painting tutorials, every cloth that doesn't have repetitive freehand patterns look 'naked' to me now. However, I have no plans to paint such designs on the caparison. If I did it on this warhorse I would have to go back to all the others I have finished and paint repetitive freehand designs on them. Too much work to be even considered! 

Orange hues on the caparison were painted using Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints

Green grass near the warhorse's hooves provide vivid contrast to the orange hues

Paints used to achieve the orange hues on the warhorse comprised solely of Vallejo Model Color stuff, specifically Scarlet, Orange Red, Light Orange and Deep Yellow. A more vivid contrast was achieved by painting the grass near the warhorse's hooves a bright green while the yellow reins provided a more 'harmonious blend' to the orange colour scheme. Both the greens and yellows were painted using Citadel acrylic paints as were the leather straps ans silver bits on the warhorse.

Warhorse is still missing its yet-to-be painted knight in shining armour

Blending and layering of paints to try and achieve smooth shadow-to-highlight transitions

Ironically, my head was filled with orange and yellow hues courtesy of the latest book - Fahrenheit 491 by Ray Bradbury - I had finished, not unlike having one's thoughts being run through an orange/yellow filter. This classic dystopian novel depicts a world in which possession of books is illegal and the story primarily revolves around a 'fireman' which burns books. It's a relatively short read and one worth delving into. Finishing two short books in quick succession (the other being Lisa Genova's Still Alice) has kinda freshened up my mind and I now feel mentally invigorated enough to pick up where I left off in Book Four of the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. A touch fitting perhaps as my work on the House Martell knight and warhorse gathers pace.