Development of an Illustration, or Why Cant I Get it Right First Time

I am back on the illustration trail again doing some work on a new book on the English Civil War in Ireland and Scotland, I think, and I have started strangely will the cover of the book first. So this post is about the design process, who am I kidding about design process, and the decisions that i make when creating an illustration, gosh I hope that I dont bore you all too mush and I promise that I will get back to painting miniatures shortly.

When I received an commission for work I usually get a petty loose brief, like in this case "I need an Irish Musketeer at the three quarter view in traditional Irish soldiers clothings. Now I am lucky as I know a bit about what the Irish soldier wore during the Confederation Wars and the English Civil War, so I could draw on my experience and knowledge there but I was also given some photos on new research and finds and these were to be included in the illustration. Now bare in mind that this is the sketch for the cover and it is going to be coloured over the weekend.

So I  first get the pose that I am happy with and basically draw the clothing on it, this chap has an Elizabethan style short jacket that has been recovered from a bog in Ireland recently, Irish trews or narrow trousers and a hat strange looking sack hat that is based upon Montero, a common hat worn by soldiers of the time. A Montero was a round peaked cap made of segments of woollen cloth with a skirt running around the edge that could either fold down for protection in bad weather or up for a stylish peak. So this was my first illustration of the soldier.

Now the pose and hat were correct but I needed to make a couple of small changes to it, manly that the trews were too baggy, loose the turnbacks and made the gun more like a matchlock. So I make the changes and here are the results.

Now you can see, I hope the different between the first and second drawings but that the knapsack needed to be moved to the back and I corrected this and heres the result on that.

So I moved the knapsack so that it is just showing over the right shoulder and moved the sword too and made the matchlock look like well a matchlock. Now I have to admit I think the last drawing is a better competition than the first one and the little changes that i have made, like rolling the top of the sleeve reducing the number of bandoliers, etc, have made it a better illustration in my opinion and the opinion of the person that I am doing this for.

I actually cannot wait to get some colour on his and bring him to life. I hope I havent bored you too much with this but I think it was rather an interesting project for me and I thought I would share it.

An Irish Officer of Foote

He is the officer for the ramble that is known as the Shrewbury Foote or the Irish Regiments in the Army of Oxford. These troops were usually brigaded together and started live as six separate regiments but by the time of Naseby they were down to three after being bloodied at Marston Moor and were final cut down at the battle of Stow. Brave men with a hell of a fighting rep, Cromwell's man took ever opportunity to reign on them and if they captured one they would hang the poor sod. This officer is wearing the latest of European fashions, no English fashion in Ireland for some reason, lol, and has the look of a hard fought, seasoned campaigner but its what you think that counts.

A Confederate Musketeer

Here is the last of the Irish Confederate's that I am doing and this one is a musketeer again wearing the traditional trews/legging trousers, the long jacket/coat that was very common with the Irish people of the  time and using his blanket as a windcheater/cloak. I have really enjoyed doing this and though no where near as good of Sean O Brogain's work on the same subject I am very happy with the results. here he is for you to make up your minds. Next actually is going to be a Standard Bearer for VBCW, more on that later.

The Irish Confederate War Irish Ensign

Here is the next chap and this is an Ensign in one of the Confederate Regiments but before that here is a little about the Irish Confederate Wars. The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years War (derived from the Irish language name Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms – a series of civil wars in the kingdoms of Ireland, England and Scotland (all ruled by Charles I). The conflict in Ireland essentially pitted the native Irish Catholics against English and Scottish Protestant colonists and their supporters. It was both a religious and ethnic conflict – fought over who would govern Ireland, whether it would be governed from England, which ethnic and religious group would own most of the land and which religion would predominate in the country.

Irish Confederate Ensign

The war in Ireland began with the rebellion of the Irish of Ulster in October 1641, during which thousands of Scots and English Protestant settlers were killed. The rebellion spread throughout the country and at Kilkenny in 1642 the association of The Confederate Catholics of Ireland was formed to organise the Irish Catholic war effort. The Confederation was essentially an independent state and was a coalition of all shades of Irish Catholic society, both Gaelic andOld English. The Irish Confederates professed to side with the English Royalists during the ensuing civil wars, but mostly fought their own war in defence of the Irish Catholic landed class's interests.

The Confederates ruled much of Ireland as a de facto sovereign state until 1649, and proclaimed their loyalty to Charles I. From 1641 to 1649, the Confederates fought against Scottish Covenanter and English Parliamentarian armies in Ireland. The Confederates, in the context of civil war in England, were loosely allied with the English Royalists, but were divided over whether to send military help to them in the English Civil War. Ultimately, they never sent troops to England, but did send an expedition to help the Scottish Royalists, sparking the Scottish Civil War.

The wars produced an extremely fractured array of forces in Ireland. The Protestant forces were split into three main factions (English Royalist, English Parliamentarian and Scottish Covenanter) as a result of the civil wars in England and Scotland. The Catholic Confederates themselves split on more than one occasion over the issue of whether their first loyalty was to the Catholic religion or to King Charles I.

The wars ended in the defeat of the Confederates. They and their English Royalist allies were defeated during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland by the New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell in 1649–53. The wars following the 1641 revolt caused massive loss of life in Ireland, comparable in the country's history only with the Great Famine of the 1840s. The ultimate winner, the English parliament, arranged for the mass confiscation of land owned by Irish Catholics as punishment for the rebellion and to pay for the war. Although some of this land was returned after 1660 on the Restoration of the monarchy in England, the period marked the effective end of the old Catholic landed class.

An Irish Confederate Flag

The actual flag I used is like this one but with Jesus carrying the cross instead.

Irish Confederate Pikemen

Yes this is the Irish Confederation of 1640s and not the American Civil War, sorry there my American friends, mind you that's a good idea for the future. I am not starting on a plate for the Irish Confederate War and this is one of the brave men that stood up to there Landlords and the Government. I have dressed him in the traditional dress of the time, a long coat or shirt and legging trousers. I think I have got that campaign and poor look, but proud to be fighting  for his rights.

Albanich 2012 Part 3

Besides the our VBCW game that was going on at the show there was a few other games. There was a wonderful game for the Irish Civil War with the battle of Sackville Street from Border Reivers. They made a wonderful looking board of the street and some lovely building fronts. The figures were from Reiver Castings Irish Wars range and they looked the part. Tons of Crossleys and other vehicles where about the street with some Rolls Royce Armoured Cars. I loved the display and game and it is so good it is in this month's Miniature Wargames magazine. You should be able to see this at Salute and other shows around the country. Here are some of the pictures that I took.

There was other games going on, the Dumfries boys pull on a game of Hail Caesar with Romans being attacked by Dacians. I lovely looking game to be sure.

There were other games going on, a lovely AWI game with fort, a couple of Napoleonic games and a WW2 game, but I forgotten to take photos of them which is my bad. All in all it was a game day, enjoyable, good company but I didn't win the painting competition :(.