At the Eternity Gate

Not everything here is going to be miniatures (Though it will be mostly so). The first example of that is this illustration. It's Warhammer 40,000 related ad it was part of kinda comission for a never finished project about the Blood Angels Space Marines.

 

Flying battle

If you're into WH40K fluff, you will easily recognize Primarch Sanguinius defending the Imperial Palace against demon Ka'Banda. Assuming you're not and you haven't undestood a single word, I'll just tell you the obvious, i.e., this isn't anything but a classic representation of the eternal fight of Good vs. Evil through a battle of an Angel and a Demon as traditionally seen in Western culture.

Long story short, in the Warhammer universe Sanguinius is one of the sons of the Emperor of Mankind. In a civil war headed by one of his brothers, traitor Horus, Sanguinius will have to face his own darkest side and prevail in desperate battles against nightmarish beings.

That's it for the moment. Let's talk about the illustration. It's completely handmade, no digital tools were used as, let's put it plainly, I still lack the abilitiy to do so. I used acrylics on grey card. The same acrylics that I use to paint figures, in fact.

 

The good guy

I began with Sanguinius, as he was meant to be the central part of the piece and the main point of attention. The golden armour was a pain in the ass with all those reflections and shades, you can bet it. The wings also were a challenging issue.

 

Ooops! What's coming from underneath?

The wings are, of course, both anatomically and aerodinamically incorrect. If anything the size of a man was to have wings, the wingspan would be huge. But hey, look at the pose. Ain't it genuinely heroic? That's what matters, dude! ;)

 

The bad and the ugly, all in one

The demon was way too easier than Sanguinius. Just different layers of red and that's it. I must say I'm not happy with its appearance. Though I followed the Games Workshop orthodoxy about its representation, I think it lacks some kind of... presence. Don't know, it may be the pose, the face or just that I was tired and lazy to do it better.

 

Don't look at it, look at me, I'm the main character here!

I said look at me, damn! I'm too handsome to be ignored!

So, though not perfect, the illustration makes it for me, it was a fine way to learn about colour and light.

 

 

I think it gets the idea of a fight in the air between these powerful beings, with the floor and the rest of the battle below them at their feet. I still have a lot to learn, that's for sure, but on the whole it was really funny and I enjoyed painting it.

It's been a long time since I don't draw, I'd like to take it back. Let's see if 2013 allows me so...