It’s impossible to do ancient, medieval or otherwise historical artwork without staring at a lot of photos of armor. Armor, especially when it’s well polished, can be immensely complicated to draw. Just like drawing stone, armor can be quite a mixture of geometric and organic forms. Additionally, my love of realism doesn’t really allow me to be satisfied unless I make the final image as realistic as possible.
Many years ago, one of my oldest friends asked me to render his long time RPG character. At the time I’d done a few drawings that incorporated metal armor, but I’d never focused heavily on detailing it. The above drawing, titled Gildaedren, was, up to that point, the largest drawing I’d tried as well as the first time I’d focused on creating realistic reflections on metal surfaces. Like most large drawings, it took a great deal of time and mental energy, not to mention several pencils worth of very dark graphite.
As if the reflections on polished metal weren’t complex enough I also decided to tackle the eye-straining intricacy of maille armor, something I’d learn to love/hate doing in the following years. The above drawing, titled Walls of Daegruna, incorporated much of what I most enjoy drawing; armor, stone and women warriors.
Speaking of warrior women, this drawing began with the intention of something simple but turned into one of the darkest drawings I’ve done, hence the title Darkness. The real challenge was trying to render the light of a flickering fire. Not sure I captured it but I’m mostly satisfied.
I did the above drawing mostly from memory with a bit of imagination. Years ago I’d seen a few photos of some rather unusual Russian armor which had left a big impression on me. Sadly I couldn’t find the photos again to use as reference so I decided to see what my memory could dredge up.
My most recent attempt at armor, this time a full suit of gothic plate. With the complete background, it took about as long as it appears. It is titled Prayer Among the Stones.
For a quick look behind the scenes, here’s the drawing unfinished.