Princess Merida [WIP - Freehand embroidery pattern]

While I have had some freehand practice painting up the various noble houses' heraldry in my Game of Thrones project, I haven't actually done any freehand painting of dress patterns or embroidery designs until Princess Merida came along. After spending so much time getting a smooth colour transition on her light sky blue dress, I was reluctant to mess it all up with potentially bad freehand work. But in the end it was a risk that needed taking. The alternative was a horribly bland dress.   

Princess Merida latest work-in-progress: Freehand embroidery pattern on the fringes of her dress

Freehand design was created for it's ease of painting

Doodling a design simple enough for use in the freehand attempt

That this freehand dress pattern was even possible in the first place was due to a Raphael 3/0 Kolinsky Sable paint brush I had acquired a while ago. Put simply, it made all my previous freehand attempts using nylon brushes a complete waste of time. Its ability to consistently maintain a sharp point and yet still be flexible without losing its overall shape (or surface tension) makes the brush ideal for painting delicate freehand designs. Though imperfect, the results I got wouldn't be even remotely possible with a nylon brush; at least not achieved as easily as with the Kolinsky Sable one. 

Closeup of my take on a embroidery pattern on Princess Merida's dress

Pattern comprised light on dark lines to give the illusion of depth

Citadel acrylic colours - Snakebite Leather, Bubonic Brown, Skull White mixed in varying ratios - were used to paint the embroidery design. My intention was to create a 'raised effect' that you would usually see on embroidery. That's was the only way I could think of to replicate such a texture. 

Closeup view of the embroidery pattern from the back

Final design differs from the actual one in the movie Brave 

Princess Merida is now about 95% complete; all that's left are her eyes and shoes. After the mentally exhausting work with her dress' freehand embroidery, I didn't have anything left in the tank to attempt her eyes. Mess that up and all the hard work spent on Merida would have been a waste of time. One thing is for sure, I will definitely be using Kolinsky Sable brushes to paint the princess's eyes.