Oct 20, 2012

A banner for their fame


Alkonost by Ivan I. Bilibine,
an illustration for the tale
Vassilissa the Beauty.
Today's entry is dedicated to Alkonost, a famous deity of the slavic mythology. Half-woman half-bird, Alkonost flies from the sky to deliver the messages of gods, specificaly the good news. Her twin sister Sirin, who brings the bad news, is slightly less worshiped...


Alkonost peddles the fame of the heroes around the world of men. She is thus a reccuring character of the russian tales. At least in the versions illustrated by Ivan I. Bilibine (1876-1942), a sheer genius who issued some of the best pieces of art ever inspired by popular tales and folklore, where her presence personifies the narrative.

As the colour pattern of the dwarves is primarily inspired by the russian folklore, and despite the fact that I call them Anglo-Dvergish now, which is completly misleading, I thought I had to stick with this idea and try to craft an heraldry inspired by russian tales, for the warlord. Alkonost quickly springs to my mind, for she seemed convenient enough for my drawing skills.

Now the result might look a little cartoonish, although I do think it also holds some early medieval touch. I must say, I had a really relaxing time at painting this small piece. I somehow felt like a monk of the so called Dark Ages and it worthed doing this only for the time travel.

Not as good as Bilibine, but I am happy with the result.
Although I have made a mistake. Does someone see it?

I really needed someone of trust to take care of such a precious handmade banner. Hence the reason I have adorned the bearer with a grey beard. He is probably the uncle of the warlord, the most trusted brother of his mother, the kind of tough nut who survived many feud in the past...


Two things have gone a little wrong. First of all, an hair of my brush got lost in the middle of the flag, and I could not remove it. I think one can really see it on this picture.


Second of all, for some reason my matt varnish has turned into a gloss varnish, so the mantle looks a little shiny... I probably did not shake the varnish enough... I'll have to come back to it later.

Out on a party with some friends.


15 comments:

  1. This is a very very nice banner! I do not dare to use so many colours as you do with your miniatures but somehow your final result is superb! About the quiz now: is it the mistake that you have painted the moon and the sun vice versa?

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    1. Hi,

      You are right, I was a little confused with the symmetry. In the end, it doesn't matter, that makes it look even more medieval. Actually I didn't use so much colours for this project: 4 for the pants and sleeves (blue, green, red, brown), and 4-5 brighter for the caftan or tunic (blue, green, red, yellow and white) and I sticked to the same colours for the shields.

      Thank you.

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  2. That banner came out very well, and I agree that it does look medieval rather then cartoonish. You have a real artistic skill. What did you use for the banner material?

    John

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    1. Thank you John,

      I was afraid you wouldn't want to fight them, if you found their flag too ridiculous...
      I only used regular sheet of paper made to feed a printer, a pencil and some paints. I like to keep things simple.

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  3. Love it, it looks fantastic, and very "in-period". While the sun / moon thing might be the mistake you identify, my first thought is that nothing with breasts that large could go about unsupported.

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    1. You got me really laughing...
      I realize now, I have under estimate the effect that such a banner could have on the enemy...
      You have opened my eyes.

      Thank you.

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  4. A lovely banner to accompany your great looking dwarfs!

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    1. Thank you Jonas. One more batch and I think I am done with them for the moment.

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  5. Stunning banner, very impressive !!!

    Best regards michael

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  6. Lovely work, Nicolas! (Its all about the bewbs you know...)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Curt. May I say I really have no idea what bewbs actually means.

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