Sunday 8 March 2015

Princess Merida [WIP - Dress sans freehand patterns]

For Princess Merida's dress, I finally decided to go with a light turquoise/sky blue dress. It was either that or a dark teal dress which is actually the more accurate hue for the dress design as well as being a colour traditionally associated with the character as per in the movie posters. My decision was made with an eye towards making the miniature retain a more vivid colour scheme overall. Moreover, of all Princess Merida's costumes in the movie Brave, the light turquoise/sky blue one is my favourite.  

Princess Merida, latest progress on her dress and weapons
Decision was made to go with a light turquoise/sky blue dress with a yet-to-be designed freehand pattern
Red hair goes well with the light turquoise/sky blue dress

Each miniature has his or her own favourite paint line that complements their painting style. For me, I love how the Vallejo Model Color series enable me to paint smooth colour transitions and that paint line is fast becoming my favourite. That being said, the Reaper Master Series and Citadel paints come a very close second and third respectively. It's only after some time in the hobby I've come to realise there is no such thing as a 'best and only' paint to use but that it's more a case of using a paint line (or combination of a few) that best suits your own unique style of painting miniatures. So don't be influenced when someone says use only this brand. Instead, try it out first to see if it suits you.

Side view reveals a surprisingly dynamic angle of Merida's dress
Folds on Merida's dress made painting shadows a breeze
Back view of my latest progress on the Princess Merida repaint project

Currently, the dress looks empty and is shouting out for some freehand patterns/designs to spruce it up. Although I will be using the dress patterns seen in the movie as reference, the final design will not be a pure replication of the original patterns. They will have to be modified and to a certain extent simplified in order to enable it to be painted freehand on a miniature. However, the texture and colours of the dress patterns will remain the same i.e. something approximating gold embroidery.

After painting Merida's dress, I've come to appreciate the level of dynamism inherent in the sculpture
Shadows lean towards turquoise while highlights approach light sky blue

In addition to Princess Merida's dress, I also painted up her weapons. Depending on how this repaint job progresses, I might feel confident enough to add some freehand designs to the bow. But for now, I will have to see how the dress freehand patterns/design turns out first. And before I can get started on that front, I will need to come up with some easy to paint patterns as well as watch tutorial videos of expert painters doing freehand painting. Thankfully, doing both should be fun activities for me.

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21 comments:

  1. That is coming along! Good luck with the freehand, practice a few times first on something else ;)

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    1. Good idea. I was thinking of painting it straight on the dress but you are right. It doesn't pay to be overconfident.

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  2. Princess Merida, beautiful Princess, I prostrate at your feet!

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    1. Princess Merida is such a strong character, one that is worthy of the International Women's Day celebration that incidentally is on the same day as when this post went online.

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  3. Great paint job ! Good luck on the freehand ! I'm looking forward to the result !
    Greetings

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    1. Thanks, I will need the good luck wishes. Although I have done quite a number of freehand paintings on miniatures but none so far in the form of repetitive dress patterns, at least none that I can remember.

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  4. Beautiful! You made the right colour choice, it contrasts beautifully with her hair.

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    1. All I did was follow on a path well trodden; the choice of colour was a no-brainer as I loved it when I first saw it on Merida during the archery tournament scene. :)

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  5. you are turning a toy into something wonderful!
    waiting for more.
    bye

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    1. Thank you luca for your kind words. Let's just hope I don't destroy it with a botched up freehand painting.

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  6. Great job on the dress. The color works very well with the red hair while the shading and highlights are first rate.

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    1. Much appreciated Finch. Shadows and highlights on the dress turned out better than I could have imagined. ^_^

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  7. Dress looks great. I did chuckle a little bit, because I was reading the tagline of the blog "A journey into the dark millennium....except for pretty blue dresses"

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    1. LoL ... you are so right. I have wanted to change the title of my blog as well as the top banner image for a long time now. While I have an idea of the image I want for the banner I still have no clue as to what to rename my blog. It all started as a homage to my W40K army but has since taken a life of its own and has become a site for my humble journey into the arts.

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    2. Ah a journey it has been! Thanks for sharing it with us!

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  8. Absolutely beautiful! I never get tired of saying how you master colours and tones. I really love your work!

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    1. Thank you for saying such kind things Suber. You have certainly made my day. ^_^

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  9. Awesome work so far, I like the dress colors a lot. And freehands are scary ;)

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    1. Thanks Adam and yes, the freehand patterns I will be attempting are very scary indeed. My instinct tells me to run and don't do any freehand but without them the dress looks too 'empty'. It's a damned if you do damned if your don't scenario for me.

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  10. Simply amazing! Those colour transitions on her dress are stunning.

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