Help support TMP


"Painting Classical Statues to Look Like Statues" Topic


12 Posts

All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.

Please do not use bad language on the forums.

For more information, see the TMP FAQ.


Back to the Fantasy Painting Guides Message Board

Back to the Ancients Painting Guides Message Board

Back to the Painting Message Board


Areas of Interest

General
Fantasy
Ancients

Featured Hobby News Article


Featured Link


Featured Showcase Article

Once More, Another 15mm Dwarf Army!

Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian takes an inventory of his painted 15mm Dwarves.


Featured Workbench Article

4) A (Black) Horse

Minidragon Fezian walks us through painting a black horse.


Current Poll


Featured Movie Review


3,576 hits since 3 Jun 2011
©1994-2025 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?

jbenton03 Jun 2011 1:48 p.m. PST

I've recently taken the plunge back into the world of miniatures gaming, and a news post here on TMP, combined with some orders this morning sees me doing so with skirmish gaming in mythic Greece.

I'd like to paint up a few figures to use as statues and scenery, and am looking for suggestions on how to paint them in the vibrant schemes that were used, but still have them be distinguishable from figures meant for play.

Should I simply base them differently? Minimize the use of (or more likely attempted use, as it's been a while since I've painted a mini), of shading/highlighting etc. so that they look more flat?

PygmaelionAgain03 Jun 2011 2:13 p.m. PST

Stick to a very limited color selection.

If you go from black to black/tan to tan to tan/white using drybrushing all the way, you've got yourself a sandstone statue. Slap that baby on a plinth, and you're in business. Go ahead and make them a little chalky, and keep it matte… no ink or dipping.

Same for granite substituting a little blue for tan.

If there's ever any doubt what is a statue and what is a character, glue a pigeon to the head of the statue. That'll sort it out!

Edit after re-reading:
If you want the colors that archaeologists are guessing at… mix the color you want with white to keep that chalky look. As long as all your terrain has a different enough style and finish from your painted figs, they'll stand out as "not in play"

Pictors Studio03 Jun 2011 2:16 p.m. PST

"If you go from black to black/tan to tan to tan/white using drybrushing all the way, you've got yourself a sandstone statue. Slap that baby on a plinth, and you're in business.

Same for granite substituting a little blue for tan."

That doesn't really work very well when the statues were painted.

What I would do is use a more orange colour for the skin than you would normally use, maybe make everything a little bit brighter with a little less highlighting. We don't really know exactly what they would have looked like but they certainly didn't have all the pigments we do now. That isn't to say that they weren't good at doing it but if you want them to look different from the regular miniatures that is what I would do.

That or use bigger figures and not correct for scale. So use 40mm figs with 28mm gaming figs and use 15mm painting style for the 40s to look like painted statues.

jbenton03 Jun 2011 4:52 p.m. PST

I appreciate the suggestions, and will likely be giving them a try.

Battle Works Studios03 Jun 2011 5:47 p.m. PST

I wonder (and am too lazy to research it myself) if there are there any credible theories as to why the custom of painting statues ended? It was kind of a precursor of miniatures painting in a way (1:1 scale or greater? did they suffer from scale creep too?) but why was it abandoned?

Insert joke about tournament organizers relaxing painting requirements. :)

jbenton03 Jun 2011 5:55 p.m. PST

One of the reasons is that when people started returning to the ancient statues during the Renaissance and the Neo-Classical revivals, most of those classic statues had long since lost most or all of their paint. The general consensus, at least that I'm aware of, is that these later artists presumed that the artists of antiquity did not paint their statues, and thus the ideal statue should be pristine marble.

Admittedly the bulk of my art historical studies were focused on dada and early modern art, so it's entirely possible that there's a great deal of literature on the subject of which I am unaware.

Dr Mathias Fezian04 Jun 2011 7:25 a.m. PST

I'd go with a pedestal of some sort that is differentiated from regular basing, along with the simplified color scheme. For some reason most of the reconstructions I've seen tend to be dominated by primary colors.

I'm not sure if the ancients used pedestals, but for hundreds of years it was expected- so much so that when Rodin brought sculptures down to ground level in the late 1800's it caused some ruckus.

jbenton04 Jun 2011 9:46 a.m. PST

If Pliny's comments on the Knidian Aphrodite being within reach of her… "suitors" aren't entirely apocryphal, I'm inclined to think that most ancient sculpture was not isolated on pedestals.

A quick trip through my massive copy of Jansen's 8th edition suggests that while like oversized minis many sculptures had integral bases, the closest they got to pedestals were things like Caryatids. Admittedly these pieces aren't in situ, but the scattered reconstruction drawings don't start to suggest pedestals until we get to Rome; though I'd need to check more specialized sources before I was willing to say, "Nope, Greeks never put statues on pedestals."

Since I'm doing my interpretation of mythical Greece it isn't as if I'm averse to basing them in an ahistorical fashion if it makes the job easier. Though maybe I can just keep them on regular-size bases, and either use differently shaped bases, or bases painted with a solid color (maybe with a bit of smooth goop on them to make them look more like stone), to indicate these are not people. That would let me still use them on a pedestal as I could just set them atop something else for a layered effect, or make pedestals with spots cut out for the base to rest in.

brevior est vita06 Jun 2011 11:26 a.m. PST

Many Greek and Roman votive statues stood on inscribed plinths or pedestals. Here are a few examples:
picture
picture
link
link
link

This is a very nice article on votive statues (and statue bases) on the Athenian acropolis:
PDF link

Here is an article on the coloration of ancient statues:
link

Many Hindu statues are painted in similarly bright colors to this day:
link

Cheers,
Scott

jbenton06 Jun 2011 3:41 p.m. PST

Scott,

Thanks for the links. I wasn't familiar with the Greek votive statues. I'll have to keep them in mind.

Ban Chao17 Jul 2011 2:45 p.m. PST

actually most statues and busts were painted to look 'real'

bilsonius19 Jul 2011 6:39 p.m. PST

Scroll down to page 7 here for Angus McB's comment on painted statues:

link

(The other illustrations are great too, if you don't already know them…)

Sorry - only verified members can post on the forums.