Sunday 12 April 2015

Big Brothers IV

With the final squadron of the 2e Cuirassiers I decided to try out some different tones on the horses.


The officer is mounted on a black. Many blacks are a very dark brown. So I've used that as the highlight with an even lighter brown around the mouth and sheath.


As always, the trumpeter is on a grey. However, rather than the near white of the others, this one is on a dappled grey. All grey horses are born chestnut, bay, or black and fade over time to grey. They can retain their dappling for many years, sometimes not completely greying out until their teens.


As we have not yet accomplished my dream of living next to the stables, overlooking the horses as they graze. I use photos of t'internet as a handy reference. In the case of the trumpeter's mount, I used the one below, but allowed the light grey/white dapples to accentuate the highlights somewhat more than one the real horse. If enough people are interested and like my results, I'd do a specific post on how I paint horses sometime.



You'll note that I've also gone for darker tones than my norm on two of the troopers, based on this example of a faded black:


Once I've completed the brigade command stand, I'll post up a picture of the full regiment.

14 comments:

  1. Fantastic work and the dappled grey is just superb!

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  2. Great idea using photos as a guide. Anything to give inspiration when it comes to painting horses.

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    1. They certainly help with the more complex markings :-)

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  3. Those are gorgeous! The work on the dappled horse is sublime - awesome work, man!

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  4. Beautiful unit, and exquisite work on the trumpeters grey horse. Very fitting base sizes, are those 50/50mm?

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  5. look great! the dapple coat has come out very well, i look forward to seeing the whole regiment together

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    1. Thanks, Steve. The command stand is all but finished. So even though I'll be out of town Monday through to Friday, I hope to have the group shot up next weekend.

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  6. lovely work, and special congratulations for the grey horse!

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  7. Exellent paintwork Stephen !!!

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    1. Cheers, Michael. Sorry I can't join you guys at Salute

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