Medieval Armor - Painting Process

#66

Painting western european medieval armor, check out the step by step process below.

I start with the darkest areas or contours to establish the base and then just fill in the shading. This way it's easier to quickly get the proportions and basic shading in. Painting is more about abstracting what you see and I found this to be the best method for me to see shapes and forms and indicate them easily. 

This is somewhat of a detailed piece and it's also a close-up, which makes it a more complex painting from a rendering perspective. There's a lot more blending and light color shifts which need to be taken of. Fixing all that requires a bit more accuracy and patience to get the thing to look right. Leave highlights at the end, armor has quite a few of them so don't get carried away with indicating every single bright spot.
Here's the final, what do you guys think?

 *Suggestions for my future posts are very welcome ... and thank you for your votes and resteems guys :)*

Daily Art & Design