Today I've painted a historical reconstruction piece, all during my break after lunch. It's something I would love to do as a job - to be given archaeological and historical material and draw a reconstruction of historical dress, arms and armour, every day objects...
I just find this "guessing game" fascinating. So I gave it a shot - a friend of mine is working on a mod set in the Peloponnesian War and he needed a concept for Persian cavalry.
As base I used my previous knowledge of the subject and a relief found on a certain sarcophagus in Turkey. The carved cavalryman looks quite strange and figuring out a way for this armour to work was a challenge. And fun. :D (I can just about hear you being bored out of your skulls by now)
It's not so much fun when people who know more than you do about this stuff point out the things you got wrong. (like the leg strapped sword in my case, there probably was a belt and a strap attaching the scabbard to said belt, but they were just painted in red on the relief and have faded away by now). But I can always paint another version sometime. When I'm not so busy with painting stuff for other people. :)
In the second half of this post I'd like to show you something I think is quite rare and that not many people have seen. (I've downloaded the images on the artist's website long ago and have forgotten who he is. If you know, tell me!)
EDIT: The elf-eyed Eric Lofgren (http://www.ericlofgren.net/) kindly informed me that the concepts were drawn by none other than Chris Achilleos, a worldwide known artist and overall an awesome man.
You can see them (along with a few I didn't have) and many others on his website:
http://www.chrisachilleos.co.uk
I have compiled all the concept drawings made for the King Arthur movie here (warning BIG IMAGES):
They are just beautiful. Nicely drawn and very creative! They're not historically accurate, but they're obviously based on some historical knowledge of the artist and then spiced up in a believable way. True, they use more 3rd and 2nd century roman elements than the 4th or 5th which would be more appropriate, but they're still a TON better than the garbage that eventually ended up in the film. Some of the props look somewhat similar, but they're just poorly made I guess.
If you're wondering what romano-briton soldiers would've really looked like during the time of "real" Arthur, I recommend taking a look at this website.
Comitatus - late roman reenactment group
Everytime I see their reconstruction of late roman cavalry, I can't help but drool.
That's all tonight!
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