I have always loved the stories of Arthurian Legend and paintings of knights so I have been anxious to do an image like this for some time. At last, I felt I was able to tackle amour and all of its reflective qualities. It was a challenge to get it to look right and in the 20 some hours this image took me to paint, at least 15 were spent rendering the amour.
I used the median filter when I wanted to give my lines a painterly look, and the smart sharp filter when my rendering was too soft, I also used the chalk brush for the fabric. My primary tools were the hard round brush and airbrush hard round, and lots of erasing.
I found most of my inspiration came from illustrations by John Howe and the Pre-Raphaelite painters, the title from the song by Enya “Long, long journey”.
Inspiration images are:
Sir Galahad by George Frederic Watts
http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/picture.aspx?id=5880&name=sir-galahad
The Witch King by John Howe
http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/details.php?image_id=4071&template=big
The Legend of Sir Perceval By Frank Cadogan Cowper
http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/picture.aspx?id=8217&name=the-legend-of-sir-perceval
La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Frank Cadogan Cowper
http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/picture.aspx?id=5905&name=la-belle-dame-sans-merci
