Okay so yesterday I got this itch to recreate Albert Lynch’s painting of Jeanne d’Arc. You know, that famous one where she’s all determined and serious? Found it tricky, honestly. Here’s how it went down, blow by blow.
First step, obviously, gotta find the reference. Did a deep dive online for decent images of Lynch’s original work. Wanted different angles, close-ups on the armor details and her expression. Saved like ten different versions, cause the lighting online is always crap. Propped my tablet right next to my easel so I could squint at it easily.
Gathered all my stuff:
- Canvas: A smallish one I had primed ages ago, already had some weird texture, hoped it would add character.
- Paint: Dug out my heavy body acrylics – mostly burnt umber, raw umber, cadmium red deep, titanium white, ultramarine blue, and that kinda muddy green I needed for her armor.
- Brushes: My trusty worn-out filbert for blocking shapes, a couple tiny riggers for the fiddly metal bits, and a big hog bristle flat for covering space fast. Oh, and a pointy one for eyes. Always need a pointy one.
Decided to jump straight in with a brush sketch using thinned-down burnt umber. Rough stuff, just trying to place where her head goes, the shoulders, that big ol’ standard behind her. Messed up the proportions twice. Like, her head was too big for the body the first try. Looked kinda ridiculous. Wiped it off with a rag and water – thank god for acrylics.
Blocked in the biggest shapes after that. Raw umber for the background trees and standard pole, kinda streaky. Mixed a weird pinkish hue for her skin base tone – white, touch of red, tiny bit of yellow – slapped that on thick for the face and hands.
Then came the headache part: That armor and chainmail. Lynch made it look so detailed but soft somehow. My mixes kept going muddy. Wanted that dark steel look with reflections? Impossible. Ended up with black paint mixed with a tiny bit of blue and white for highlight spots. Dabbed it on like crazy for the chainmail effect. It felt clumsy as heck. Her helmet plume? Pure frustration. My red looked dead compared to the vibrant feel in the original. Kept adding red, then orange, then glazing over it. Still wasn’t quite right.
Face struggles were real. Her expression is everything. Calm, focused. My first pass? She looked sleepy. Wiped half her face off again. Thinned down some burnt umber for the shadows around the nose and jawline. Worked tiny on the eyes – getting that straight-ahead, intense gaze took a bunch of tiny adjustments. Little dots of white paint for catchlights in the eyes felt like surgery. Held my breath!
The background flag felt like an afterthought near the end. Mixed a deep blue base for the fleur-de-lis pattern. Painting those curvy shapes cleanly? Yeah, right. Had to touch them up multiple times. The folds in the fabric were kinda guesswork.
Took a break, drank some cold coffee my Dachshund almost knocked over. Came back to stare at it. Realized the biggest issue: It felt flat. Needed darker shadows under the helmet, beside her nose, to give her form. Went back in with very thin, transparent layers of burnt umber mixed with a little ultramarine. Just built it up slowly in the shadows, trying not to make mud again. Added tiny white highlights on the very top edges of the armor plates to make them pop a bit.
Finally stepped back. Is it a masterpiece? Absolutely not. Does it look exactly like Lynch’s? Nope. Did I capture some of Jeanne’s vibe? Maybe, kinda. Mostly I learned that recreating those subtle, muted tones and that soft glow is WAY harder than it looks in the picture book.
The takeaway:
- Thin layers for building form > thick paint dumped everywhere.
- Steel isn’t just grey, gotta sneak in blues and browns.
- Tiny eyes make or break the whole face.
- Patience. Lots. And more patience. Also, coffee.
Learned more messing this up than I would have gotten it perfect. Still not satisfied, but hey, the brush is dry for today.