Ok, I did it! The biggest challenge for this bust was the heraldry.
As I said in a previous post, I decided to replicate the box art which shows a geometric pattern and a sort of shining sun, and this is for both the front and the back of the cloth.
I started with the “simplest”, that is the geometric pattern. I discovered that to paint freehand drawings, especially in surfaces which are not flat, the key is to create some reference points first, then draw a stylised version of the shape and finally adding the details.
Below you can see and example. For the geometric pattern, I first painted some dots (sorry, I tool the pictures with my cell phone…) at equal distances and then is connected them with lines. I used the red colour, but it general the best practice is to use a colour which is only slightly different from the background color, so that fixing possible errors is easier.
Dots painted 
Lines connecting dots 
The same in the front
As the stylised pattern is , it is just a matter of painting the red parts considering lights and shadows. I didn’t pushed too much the contrast as the cloth does not reflects too much the light.
After the geometric pattern, I painted the “sun”, first on the back (it’s larger) and after in the front. I didn’t take any picture of the process, but in this case, before actually painting the shape on the bust, I did some practice by drawing the shape on a piece of paper using a pencil. I discovered that for complex pattern, this step is very useful as you learn upfront the drawing challenges you will be facing, although painting over a non-flat surface is tougher…
So, after a few hours of painting patterns, lights and shadows, this is the outcome…
The next and final part will be about the halberd. I do not expect any major challenge as it’s about painting a wooden shaft and some metal. The wooden shaft has nicely sculpted wood grains, so it’s not going to be complicated…
Luciano
