Step by step: Freehand banner backside (Gold NMM)

Hi everyone,

Today I would like to share a step by step on creating an easy freehand pattern. I painted this pattern on the backside of a banner. As there is plenty of space, I used more transition colours in the gold than I would on smaller areas.

The colours I used for the gold NMM were, from dark to light:

- VMC German Camo Black Brown (150)
- VMC Leather Brown (147)
- GW Bestial Brown*
- GW Snakebite Leather*
- GW Bubonic Brown*
- GW Flash Gitz Yellow
- VMC White (001)

For touch-ups I used GW chaos black and GW Regal blue (main colour of backside)

* These Games Workshop paints are from the old range.

Before starting the freehand pattern, the blue background of the banner is already painted and completely blended to satisfaction. I find it easier to work like that when I am making freehand lines. 

There are some ugly spots on the banner, I am aware of that, I have cleaned this afterwards :). Please excuse the not-so-great pictures, I only had my cellphone at hand.

Step 1
I started by drawing the freehand pattern I wanted to use on a piece of paper, and I made sure the scale is correct so I could easily transfer the pattern to the banner. In this case, I was lucky, as the banner is so big, I could easily draw on true scale :)

After completing the drawing, I used the left side to mark some recognizable spots (with a little dot), so the transfer would be easier. I only did this on the left side, because the pattern was supposed to be symmetrical in the end.

 Step 2
I started by measuring the position of the dots in the paper drawing, and copy the dots on the banner. I use a regular pencil for this. After copying the dots, I used the alltime favorite "connect-the-dots" game and created the pattern on the banner with the pencil. I decided to not draw the spikes in the bottom, as that area on the banner is ugly and will need to be solved another time.

Here you also see a size reference :P

Step 3

Finally time for some paint. I filled in the pattern with VMC German Camo Black Brow, making sure to cover all the pencil stripes. I used a brush from Rosemary& Co for this: a 2/0 size Kolinsky Sable Spotter brush from the 323 Series. These brushes have a very think belly, with short hairs and a very sharp point. I find them really great to use for painting freehands.I also use a little bit of flow improver (Winsor & Newton), because it will sure that the paint transfers easier from brush to the painted surface. It also extends the drying time a bit, and as there is so little paint on the brush that helps a lot.

Step 4

After that I covered most of the black brown with VMC leather brown. These first steps created the general outline, and they also form a solid basecolour for the next steps.

Step 5

As everything looked dull still, it was time to add some brighter colours. I started by covering a slightly smaller area with Bestial Brown. You can see the most difference in the lowest part of the banner.

Step 6

In this step I painted Snakebite Leather on smaller areas. These areas will define the beginning of the highlights.

Step 7

I used a mix of Snakebite Leather and Bubonic brown in 1:1 ratio to smaller areas of the highlights created in the previous step. The brush I was using was too big to use comfortably, so I changed to using my 10/0 Kolinsky brush from series 33 of Rosemary & Co.

 

 Step 8

I continued the previous steps, painting smaller and smaller areas of highlights. First using a 1:1 ratio mix of Bubonic Brown and Flash Gitz yellow, then using pure Flash Gitz yellow, next using Flash Gitz yellow and white in a 1:1 mix, and finally using pure white.

 Step 9

Now that the design was finished, I used my tiniest brush: a 10/0 red sable brush from the series 92 of Rosemary & Co to paint a thin line of black around the freehand. I did this to tidy things up a bit, and to make the pattern stand out more. After that I went back in with the blue background colour to smooth out the black line.

Then it was time to finish the banner.

I hope you enjoyed this step by step. The front side of the banner is quite different, and I also made some step by step pictures, if I manage I will post that as well :)

For now, have a nice weekend everyone!!!