Queen Boudicca of the Iceni

[Guest]

Hi all

Heres a couple of pics of the painted belt

And as I was on a roll with the driver dude, I thought id carry on and do the cloak, So I opened the tin of tartan paint and the damn colours had mixed together , don't ya just hate it when that happens, which now means ill have to do it with separate colours .

So started, as usual with the base coat, a mixture of dark green yellow and white

Just leave this to dry for 24 hours and then crack on with the tartan

Paul

[Guest]

Hi all

Ok a quick guide to tartan painting, please dont think that this is in any way the be all and end all of how to paint tartan, this is just my interpretation of it. as you will all know there is a plethora of different tartans out there, and im sure someone will think this is the Stuart tartan ,or the Gordon tartan or whatever, but these are just colours i picked cos i like them

So step one. once the base colour is dry it needs to be highlighted and shadowed as with any painting, now ive started on the inside for 2 reasons, 1 itll be quite dark as its behind the guy, and 2 because its so dark if i cock it up you cant see it .

Step 2, the first check pattern is painted on, im using a 4x0 brush cut with a flat edge, and starting at the outside edge so that i can use it as a guide i paint the vertical stripes first

As you can see not all of them are perfect but that will be rectified using a bit of the base coat

Then the horizontal stripes are layed on

For these i started at the bottom so that i had a decent edge to follow.

Step 3. the blue now needs highlighting and shading, and this is done exactly the same, using various shades of blue and carefully going over the lines adding highlights and shading where i need it

Step 4, The next colour to be added is yellow, this is painted in a very thin line going over the green and blue in a check pattern

Step 5, I then mixed a darker shade of blue and this is added to the squares where the blue vertical and horizontal lines meet to paint a darker square

Final step. A very thin red line is added in the middle of the blue check

As you can see it just takes a good brush and good eyes. well one out of two aint bad . as i said at the start this being the inside is quite dark, ill post afew more pics when i get onto the outside

Paul

[Guest]

Nice tutorial Paul thanks.

I wouldn't be worried about getting the tartan right, every single "give us some money and we'll send you your tartan and crest/coat of arms" company is different anyway, they just make it up ...unless they can produce a colour photo going back to the original dates then it's all just hearsay and guess work.

[Guest]

Paul I bet your left handed. Left handers seem to be very good at drawing parallel lines.

And are very good at painting and drawing.

Ive checked your check and it checks out ok,check.

The old Iceni would have had an abundance of blue from the wode.

[Guest]

As Paul takes the photos with his right hand and holds the items with his left I'd guess he's right handed ...... My Sherlock skills may be off though

[Guest]

Cheers Colin, i know what you mean, we had a very nice weekend near Loch Ness some years ago, i think i saw about 10 different coats of arms for my surname . Still really enjoyed the break

Sorry to dissapoint you Harry but im right handed, I am left footed though so if i did it with my feet i might be better . I had some pics from the British museum with several tartan check colours that could have been used at the time, strangely enough there was quite a bit of red colouring, which was normally a very expensive colour to make

Paul

[Guest]

Red certainly was expensive and much harder to create, it was lichens and some roots if memory serves .... I know Rose madder and henna produce red but would these have been available in this country at this period in time?

I keep meaning to travel up to loch ness for a nice day out but things always seem to get in the way.

[stona]

I've just blundered through most of this thread!

First a big thanks for posting it. I'm not any kind of figure painter, let alone sculptor, then there's the chariot! It has been most informative and jolly good fun, if a bit awe inspiring.

Secondly, that tartan. Bloody hell, I struggle to paint a yellow band around a bomb and you can do that.....freehand. Really good stuff. I'm certainly looking forward to more.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Colin I know there were other things to make red paint from but not sure about dye, still I don't think im going to add too much red to Boudicca.I loved loch ness especially the trip we had to Urquart Castle, they have a good copy of a trebuchet there. That would make a good model.

Steve Many thanks mate, Im glad you like it, I have to admit that it doesn't always turn out the way I want it. The chariot was my first venture into scratch building but after this I have plans for more.

As for the painting, I know this sounds daft but try holding your brush still and turning the object your painting, normally you will find that you will get a better line on something like a band round the bomb or any cylindrical object. Like anything its practice practice practice

Paul

[eddiesolo]

That is amazing Paul, never in a million years could I achieve that, my eyes and disability for one lol. But, truthfully, I just don't have the talent.

Si

[Guest]

Paul I bet your right handed .Id give my right hand to be ambidextrous.

During Boadicea's time the Romans were present giving probability that all colours would be available.

Especially red as we are led to believe that all Roman soldiers uniforms were predominately red.

And through trade I'm sure some would fall into the hands of the Iceni.

I'm no expert but I thought red came from cochineal or crushed beetles.

I'm just impressed with the neatness you have attained with the blue crosses and the yellow crosses on the cape.

[Andy2035]

Hi Paul,

As ever great work Sir, I'm still trying to figure out how on earth you managed to paint straight lines on something that wavy...o_O

Andy...

[Guest]

Cocheneal Beetles were indigenous to the Americas at this period in time, I remember reading it was used by the Aztecs and Mayans, but predominantly to colour foodstuffs (as we use it today), other species of the beetle family could have been common in Europe or the Africas but I can't remember any info on them being used for colouring.

Roman soldiers wore the reddy purple of the emperor and the colour was derived from a sea snail, Tacitus noted this in his annals

[Guest]

Many thanks Si, never say never, you should give a figure a go

Cheers Harry, what have the romans ever done for us eh

Andy just started at the edge and followed one line on, as long as the first line is right the others follow

Colin that can be very painful, being noted in your annals :P :P

[Guest]

Bigus Dickus shows us that the Roman plumes were definitely red.

Do not watch unless you want a sunday morning giggle.