How to Paint Medieval Quilted Armor

 I have always struggled with achieving depth and cleanliness when painting Byzantine quilted armor. I found a quick and easy approach that I thought I'd share. 

Basecoat the quilted portion with flat black. Or even use a heavy wash. 

Drybrush the quilted armor portions with flat white. Aim for about 95% coverage. 

Make a wash. Most illustrations of Byzantine armor is in different shades of teal. I make a spectrum of this by blending green/white at one end, blue/white at the other, and washing the two together on my palette.

Apply the wash to the drybrushed areas. I like to use the color variation mentioned above to add some interest to different figures or different parts of the armor. 

I never imagined I would use a technique involving a black basecoat and drybrushing, but do what it takes, I guess! 

Thanks for looking.