Love painting horses – No Tears method

In my last post, all mounts for the Frankish knights were given a basic coat. Poses for the riders were similar on each plinth but each is astride a horse with a different colour. With a mix of Codex Grey and Black I applied a thin wash over the mane, tail, muzzle and lower legs. The majority of the horses here are basically brown with a small portion black and dun.

When the wash dried, I use a round brush and dry-brushed with Bleached Bone the lower legs front to back and swept gently upwards to the tail. After the tail, I dry-brushed the mane, from head to shoulder and lastly the muzzle to highlight the upper lip and nostril.

With the same brush, I continued the lower body and kept my brush strokes short to pick out muscle and all the harness. The latter are better defined to paint with a small brush.

The overall effect looks like a horse that has done some work. I don’t use white for the socks, but will dry-brush more Bleached Bone above the hoof as all white socks or legs will quickly become dirty in short time. I should know, I owned a Bay for six years.

Further photos show the progression of the figures becoming knights as the chainmail (same grey/black mix) is painted, cloaks, pennons, harnesses are painted in turn.



The white card illustrates six shield patterns which I shall use. Each plinth will have the same shield pattern, but then a different ground colour.

Hopefully by the weekend, the figures will be based and ready for ground work and flocking.
Cheers,


Note:
One point I forgot to touch on, are blazes or white markings. These I do sparingly and keep as small spots between the eyes or a thin line running the length of the nose, between the straps. I would thin the white so as not to create a sharp contrast between coat and marking.