THE FACE OF HERESY
It’s finally here! This fantastic sculpture of Horus Ascended by Forge World is on my desk and painting has begun. From its first reveal, I knew right away that I needed to paint this. Not only being in one of my favourite Sci-Fi Settings of all time but also the man is the face of the entire conflict which it’s named after. It also marks an extraordinary project because this one is for a good friend of mine. Big Jon from Victoria BC, one of the Boys of the Golden Throne, a Horus Heresy Fan and a passionate Sons of Horus collector have chosen me to bring this model to life. Doing commissions for friends and even just painting a miniature for a friend is another experience on its own and honestly the most humbling. I don’t think there is too much that tops in honour to paint in this way, as the piece becomes much more personal and the feeling of knowing where it’s going is something I can almost be lost for words. It’s the same feeling I had creating the Alpha Legion Praetor for @omegonedge coming back from London last year, to the creation of Captain Emelda Braskov for @Kas_paints. Both are amazing friends, and students, and they have been wonderful in my development as an artist through their feedback and support. I totally recommend painting a project for a friend as you can let those feelings fuel your work and help you push ur skills even further than you realize.
Ok with some shameless plugs out to friends, it’s back to Horus!
With this project, the real theme of Horus is going to be in the tone of “the Galaxy Burning”. He has a quote in the Horus Heresy trailer that speaks of that and I wanted to echo that sentiment in the works. Not visible just yet, but the supporting key OSL will be generated from his feet or more specifically where he steps. Illustrating his very footsteps as the way he’s lighting the galaxy aflame. Cracking the very ground he walks across the galaxy with the assistance from the sculpted base, a blanket of armoured husks, skeletons and burned remains. Also, the push to create this dark fury atmosphere with lots of contrast and developing these large light volumes really show off all the tight details in his armour.
Below I have reference shots of Horus. The first is of Horus Face and is a good reference for the first tutorial. The second set of 3 is of the stages currently complete as well as a 9-stage sequence of the lower leg in progression. Don’t worry, next week’s tutorial is coming and it will be on his black and gold armour! So this is just a nice primer for you to get ready for it, and having the staged images in a larger format than on Instagram is nice too!
