Go, Greaves Lightnin'
You're burnin' up the quarter mile
Greaves Lightnin', go Greaves Lightnin'...
I had John Travolta and "Greased Lightning" stuck in my head as I painted Bailey's greaves yesterday. I've started saying "greaves" now since I had to Google "metal shin guards" and realized they have a name-- I needed to brush up on my knowledge of armor! Here's a wonderful reference I found that may help you too:
I haven't painted on Bailey since June 8 and I've been in a serious creative funk. Now that I finally have my desk back and the construction repairs should be completed today, I powered-through my apathy. I downloaded a new audio book, prepped my brand new palette and refused to leave my chair until her greaves were painted. Here's where I left off:
I researched a few metal greaves online and found a few not-too-shiny green-gold references I could use. I also tried to imagine where the light would fall within the concept of zenithal lighting. While this diffused, overhead lighting angle doesn't work for everything (especially realistic lighting techniques like other-source-lighting and hyper-realistic NMM), I'm practicing painting NMM one step at a time starting with the basics. Here are some of the references I found online that helped me imagine how light would reflect off different metals-- so far, Bailey's metal matches Antique Brass the best!
Putting all of this information together, and adding an extra touch of high-contrast in the corners as a stylistic choice, she turned out pretty well considering my current skill level. I painted up her boots and bodice leathers. Now I can finally attach her arm and start painting her gloves and weapons-- last but not least will be her cloak!
...Greaves Lightning! Go! Go! Go! Go-go-go-go-go...