Miscellaneous Napoleonic Cavalry

[k.b.]

Sorry about the repetition gents but as you can see I've finally managed to dominate this new Photobucket way of sending photos.

[Rich W]

Lots of great things going on in those photos!!!

[k.b.]

Thanks to Photobucket's support team i'm finally able to post new piccies on Bennos.
Here are a few Mamelukes, who indeed saw the battlefield at Borodino, coming to grips with Russian Hussars. Boy were they time consuming to get finished. If i thought the Russian Hussars were hard work the Mamelukes brought a whole new meaning to painting Napoleonics.




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[k.b.]

A few Russian infantry on their way to the battlefield.




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[k.b.]

Must admit that i've been painting cavalry for so long that i had forgotten what a doddle it is to paint infantry. As you can see am getting stuck into my Russian infantry and methinks I should have 50 or more to join the cavalry on my next photoshoot, (and hopefully i'll have a new base and background to give the battle a context).

[Bessiere]

Looking good there KB, those French and Russian Zvezda figures sure are a joy to paint. I am a big fan of their realistic proportions and poses. Happy new year my friend!
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Santi Pérez]

A fantastic mix of nationalities in that nicely painted set of Napoleonic soldiers, k.b.

Santi.

[Ochoin]

Exquisite.

donald

[k.b.]

.........here's how my Russian infantry are coming along........

With infantry I find it helps fight off the tedium demon if i paint between 10 and 15 figures from start to finish. Otherwise, I'm fully capable of accumulating between 50 and 60 half finished figures that i have lost all interest in completing. My wife tells me I'm a typical Saggitarian. All i can say is God help the world if all Saggitarians are like me......

[Bessiere]

Your grenadiers look splendid K.B. I think you will get satisfaction in creating units of infantry. Keep them reasonable size say 24 or smaller to start and you can always add more if desired. Always good to see you adding new work.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Thanks Santi, Donald and Bessieres for your kind comments.

It's always interesting to hear your remarks whether they be favourable or not. Obviously we all paint primarily to please ourselves first and foremost but i personally love even more when i get constructive criticism from those of you who understand the historical facts and details more than myself.

In the meantime, here's a photo taken from a reverse angle.......

[C M Dodson]

Beautiful painting and your flags are always very special.

You have a rare talent indeed.

Best wishes,

Chris

[k.b.]

Thanks Chris for your exaggerated kindness (and must say I am still trying to find any other flags that i've painted - that you liked) but up to now, no joy!
Here are a few more Russian Infantrymen i'm painting right now, for variety I am playing around with different coloured rolled overcoats.

[C M Dodson]

Hi,

It’s not exaggerated in my opinion.

The Grenadier flag in January was wonderful too.

Best wishes ,

Chris

[k.b.]

Back to my horses.......just to take a quick break from painting Russian infantry.
As i've got yellow ochre, ivory black, titanium white as well as chrome green squeezed out on the palette thought I'd finish this horse from the Pavlograd Hussars. This way you can see that i rarely paint fine lines.......instead i paint both sides of the area i want a thin line to appear and VOILA, what appears to be a thin white or here a yellow ochre fine line emerges or better will emerge eventually when i paint the wolf's teeth red.

This horse will also have some dapples added later but first you can see the ochre wolves teeth on the shabraque.
In the second photo i have painted a dark chrome green area up to the sculpted wolf's teeth.

One or two smaller pics give a better impression of scale......

[k.b.]

Like this............


...................not forgetting that one is only as good as ones materials which is why i stick with Winsor and Newton Series 7 and Rembrandt brushes.

[k.b.]

Here's a few shots showing further dapples and shading on the grey.......







..........more work needed on the shabraque ie the wolf's teeth as well as an added layer of green, highlights and shading. Thought I'd use the carbine firing trooper from the box on this more static steed but silly me has misplaced him somewhere on my worktop so here's a fellow wielding a sabre just to give an idea of colour combinations.

[Michael Robert]

Wonderful painting, as always
Never can watch enough
Michael

[Bessiere]

More fine Hussars KB, I especially like the dappling, something I have yet to achieve. Got any secrets you could share with how it's done?
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Thank you Michael and Bessiere for your support.

I would definitely say the best advice for painting dappled horses is to have some big photos around you as references for reproducing the dappled effect. If you copy how the dapples look from the photos you won’t go wrong, regardless of the paints you use.

As I use oils I predominantly use Titanium White all over, remove the excess paint, begin to paint the muscles with light grey, burnt umber, before defining further the muscles with darker greys/darker/raw umber. I tend to let the oils partially dry when their musculature has been fully defined, and only then do I go to the dapples. Obviously painting white dapples on a white horse are not going to show up as dapples so the key is to paint the rump, sides and neck or wherever you want the dapples to be painted grey to which you add the white dapples afterwards and they will show up nicely on the grey. Basically that’s how I do it but it is a slow and laborious task. However, am sure by practising and adapting to the paints you use you can achieve similar results. Key word for me is observation!