My write up was a bit brief compared to other folks' entries, so I thought might add a bit here.
In general I was pleased with how this figure came out, more so with the horse than the woman, but I was very pleased with the facial expression and especially the eyes. Changing the angle of the sword really helped with the animation of the figure so I was also pleased with how that came out.
The shield is meant to mimic enammeled cloissone, by the use of a gold undertone over which I paint translucent ink. This is a great technique for representing gems and the like. This particular case was not as successful as I would have liked, the coverage of the ink being somewhat spotty. Truth be told, I would have much preferred a blank shield, but I was just too lazy to try and file off the design.
The rocks in the base are made from a wonderful plaster impregnated papermache product called sculptamold, and are just the easiest thing in the world to make. Just add water, plunk onto the base with a bit of glue and shape with an exacto knife. The irregular clumps of papermache help give the rocks a natural look. I usually add colored water so I don't even have to paint the base color of the rock. Just highlight and viola.
I was quite pleased with the way the horse came out. My wife used to laugh at my horses and especially their "human eyes". I have borrowed (stolen would probably be more accurate as they are with my hobby books now) many of her old horse books from when she was a child and have realized that really you very rarely see much if any of the white in a horses eyes, so I usually just paint them a deep brown.
David
