Two Hussarettes this Christmas

Trying to make up a little for the dearth of blog posts by me this year, and in particular the last couple of months, here are not one, but two, young Christmas ladies in uniform for my readers!

This year Sir Joshua Gregg RA has recalled his memories of his grand tour in Silesia in late 1757. A sojourn just before Christmas among the ladies of the Prussian 7th (Seydlitz) Hussars brought some surprises in the degree of high spirits expressed by some young trooperettes.  Fresh from Prussian victories at Rossbach and Leuthen, Winter quarters were proving rather boring for these light troops known for their exploits of man-izing, hard drinking and gambling. Someone dragged in a crate of schnapps looted during the Austrian retreat from the snowy blood soaked churchyard at Leuthen, and before long a shooting contest was taking place! A good fire and the powerful liquor encouraged Sasha and Sandi to loosen their dolmans to reveal their fetching filigree decorated blouses, so that Sir Josh too began to feel hot under the collar!   But nothing stopped him getting out his sketchbook to record an interesting scene and later interpreting it as a studio painting.

Sasha, "the left handed gun", gets off a shot......

........taking Sandi by surprise while she readies
her sabre

Many of my wargaming buddies and art clients will have received Sasha and Sandi (Hussarettes Nrs 27 and 28 in the series) as my Christmas card 2019 and so now here it is to all my blog readers. Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year and grateful thanks for all the great comments and support I have had in the year gone by. Apologies for the lack of blog entries but I have been busy with painting commissions, major computer problems, and a very absorbing project involving classic 1970s Napoleonic figures - more of that anon. I will be carrying on with my reports on the Raid on Vestisle SYW mini-campaign and also hope to bring you a report of another historical Seven Years War wargame.

Back to Sasha and Sandi - this is a small acrylic painting 8 inches x 6 inches on deep edge box canvas (without the words), ready for hanging and is for sale for £45 plus postage. Please email me if you are interested and/or need more photos to help you decide.

COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON TO ALL WHO STOP BY THIS PAGE

Hussarettes: the most complex painting yet

Regular followers might be wondering why it has been nearly two months since my last post. Apologies but I've been distracted by my two-dimensional art rather significantly. Fans of the Hussarette genre, however, should be pleased as the latest commission has allowed me to rejoice once again in the theme of lovely ladies and gorgeous uniforms. You might have seen it in process in the background of my  post on the Battle of Lobositz .  Here is an overall view of the completed painting "Hussarette Aides de Camp in Spain c1810" and the story of how it came about.

Oil on canvas 80 cm x 60 cm. "Hussarette ADC's in Spain, c1810" - Nicole, Therese and Margueritte 

As an artist I'm always on the lookout for inspiration and I wander, camera in hand, ready for an opportunity. The Duchess and I went on holiday to Andalucia, southern Spain, just over a year ago. We spent a couple of great days in Seville and much of one of them was spent in the Alcazar Palace and exploring the exotic gardens. This was originally a Moorish Palace but taken over in the Reconquista and adapted and rebuilt over the centuries to meet the needs of Spanish nobles. There are grand buildings in the grounds with elaborate architectural details and clad in classic Spanish tiling. With the wonderful trees and plants and fountains it is an assault on the senses. 

While walking through a "summer house" which was like a mini-palace, I was struck by the posing of three lovely young tourists who were wrapped in conversation and completely oblivious to their surroundings. But I was able to snap a few photos and begin to wonder how I could put the moment in time and place to good use.

One of several photos taken as the ladies made minor shifts in stance

Later in the holiday another amazing photo opportunity presented itself. On the road between Cordoba and Grenada we stopped at a roadside cafe and as I sauntered round the back through a  fairly unkempt yard looking for the loo, I saw an old bullock cart that looked as if it could have been used to carry supplies to one of Sharpe's Peninsular War garrisons! Here is just one pic from my 360 degree photo shoot of that piece

In the Alhambra Palace in Granada the Spanish tour guide, quite bitterly, told us how the Spanish palaces had been ransacked by Napoleon's soldiers and a lot of works of art stolen.......ideas began to take shape

Classic view of the Alhambra Palace on a rather dull day in March 2018

When I got home I tried these photos on one of my muses - Ian Allen. Ian is one of my most ardent patrons and always willing to allow me to bounce ideas off him.  It took a few emails and false starts but between us we came up with the following little scene for the latest in my theme of empowered women in an imaginary "blackpowder period" universe.

It is around 1810 and the French are rampaging through southern Spain. The Army has just taken a city by storm and three Divisions have temporarily come together to share the spoils. To decide the next moves their three Generals are having a meeting in one of the palace buildings. The door is guarded by dismounted dragoons (or dragons as my French-born former miniatures-painter window cleaner called them..... dragons?? it's imaginary but not fantasy!). As it happened each general has a lady Hussar as personal Aide de Camp (well, who wouldn't, given the chance?). These French ladies all know each other from earlier campaigns but rarely meet. So what better opportunity for a catch up when their bosses are engrossed in military plans for an hour or more and they have free time to call for wine, bread and cheese, and oranges, and munch away while discussing the news from home.  

Margueritte surrounded by food and drink sustenance
(based loosely on Penelope Cruz)

It's hot, they've discarded their dolmans and pelisses, sabres and sword belts, sabretaches and cartridge boxes and headgear. Ian likes his ladies sexy but respectable so he came up with the idea of "peasant-style" blouses and I took them as far as my model would allow. I looked at references of Sir William Russell Flint's Spanish ladies to give her inspiration. 

The high-level meeting has disturbed the looters and the girls sit amidst looted cases, sacks of fabrics, carpets, copper and brass vessels and candlesticks, weapons, beer barrels, and a painting in fancy gilt frame. Ian's sense of humour suggested I make it one of my own paintings, so the large print of Natalie came down from my studio wall and posed sideways in the cart!

All these objects, with one exception, are artifacts I own either as antiques or reproduction art props and I set them up as large "still life" groupings in the studio. The exception is the very fine brass mounted double pistol holsters in the foreground which were taken from an internet photo.

The detail of uniforms for the Hussarettes was left to me except in colouring. Ian loves light blue and yellow, and together with the red, he specified the colours. I looked at some older paintings of individual officers or ADCs (such as below) and made sure I gave all three ladies distinctive gold or silver lace, with designs on sabretaches etc inspired by actual examples on the internet.

My actual art prop is black leather
 and home made,
 based on a Young Guard
 infantry officer's design

   

Imaginary shako decorations.

All this planning took place nearly a year ago and I was busy acquiring and making some of the props I would need. Loads of work took place using Photoshop to adapt my Spanish location photos and come up with a planned composition, subject to arranging all the artifacts.  I was keen to line up Marianne to model for me as she is my go-to French first choice, but one thing after another got in our way and so the photo shoot did not take place till January this year. Although I would not use her face (see later) I still wanted a "latin" lady to set the mood and atmosphere.  I painted in the background buildings, the cart and the basics of the mini-palace arches and doorway  so we had a good idea on the spot of what was required   For the shoot I had to put the wargames table to one side, dress the room to give me a fair representation of the stone/tiled bench and upright wall and get all the stuff Marianne needed to handle and wear and we were set to go.

Many hour's work later I came up with a Photoshopped layout to get Ian's approval

This looks pretty stark because it is just cutouts with no shading or artistic effects other than resizing objects to fit. However, this gives those who have asked me a fair idea of where I'm coming from to get the final compositions. Marianne wore three distinctly different sets of blouses, leggings, scarves etc and different hairstyles and we tried each character in many positions so I had about 100 photos to choose the three that suited me best.

Here is one I did not use just to give you a flavour. I decided I wanted poses where all three girls interacted with one another, it makes a much more coherent "story".

We had to decide what sort of features Ian would like for these fictitious Aides de Camp as it gives me something to aim at, though we are not after celebrity portraits. He chose Latina type actresses, Michelle Rodriguez and Penelope Cruz, and I stuck with his theme and went for a Panamanian fashion model blogger-influencer, Pam Hetlinger, for the third. I did not achieve great likenesses but he seemed to like what I came up with fairly quickly.

Therese enjoys the chat
(based on Michelle Rodriguez)

Nicole holds forth
(based on Pam Hetlinger)

It's a tradition of my Hussarette series that the lady's name appears
somewhere in the painting. Sabre scabbards are a favourite way I can
make it look engraved in the metal or leather.
The cast shadow on this side of the painting helps throw the main attention on the girls

We felt some background figures would add realism and finish it off nicely.
Dragoons look after the ADC's horses, and up on the balcony a general is receiving a
 despatch while an aide spies out the city through his telescope

I hope you've enjoyed this rather different blog post. Something for the military equipment  enthusiasts, the Hussarette fans and the painters among my readers. Any thoughts or questions welcome in the Comment box, thank you for visiting.  (Oh! -  the obvious one - 72 hours on the canvas over three months, but countless hours in preparation, and the cost is north of £750).  And if you want to discuss a military - themed commission without obligation please email me  Chris Gregg

PLEASE NOTE: it's flattering to see my art work shared on the internet just by people who like my work and want others to see it, but the artist still retains the copyright. I own the copyright of all these images except the 8th one - paintings of three hussars, and I'm sorry I don't know who to credit for those. So if you post or copy elsewhere please credit me by name and preferably make a link back to this blog post, thank you.  I'm currently posting all my new work on Instagram as @chrisgregg173  or here's a link www.instagram.com/chrisgregg173/

A Lancerette for Weinachten - 1761

Giselle loved the feel of the oriental silk against her skin….. Count Gregorius of Grunburg had spared no expense in getting his Viennese tailors to design this lancer uniform,which he had told her was based on the Prussian Bosniak lancers he had seen when the Grunburg contingent fought at the Battle of Zorndorf.  To model it for his pleasure was the least she could do in return for the extravagant diamond necklace he had bought her for Weinachten……..

For those who need a reminder about Giselle's past role as a Hussarette please see The Count's Christmas Treat 1760

An Imagi-Nation's year later, amazingly, Giselle is still in favour at Schloss Grunburg, and evidently Sir Joshua Gregg RA has made another sojourn in her company to paint an intimate portrait. He has called this one 
"Giselle and the Bosniak shirt - Weinachten 1761". But she is now a "Lancerette" complete with oriental style sabre and a custom-sized lance. Add the flamboyant plumed turban and the dazzling oversized diamond necklace and these will make her stand out at the Elektor of Reikland's New Year masquerade no doubt......And of course heighten Count Gregorius' status in the eyes of his rivals for the Elektorship.

For this year's Christmas card, which I hope many of my readers, clients and wargaming associates will have by now received in the post, I wanted to keep the red and white theme and of course something Seven Years War appropriate.

Available on line (Pinterest if I recall) are contemporary prints of Bosniak Lancers in the service of Prussia, and since Count Gregorius of Grunburg can sell his services to any of the German speaking monarchs, this fitted my purpose. With his apparently bottomless purse, fed by wine exports from the Grunburg vineyards, our hero likes to spend freely on new uniform designs, jewellery and women. And then hire a notable English artist to paint them!

Looking through my archives of reference photos I found this one of Ella looking, at the same time self-satisfied but also a bit quizzical, and it was a quick transition to imagine her in the basics of the Bosniak uniform. You can see my first outline sketch on the canvas. Main change is the baggy trousers instead of boots but they are pretty cool I think.

 Applying thin layers of acrylic paint it began to come together. Calling on my ill-spent youth in the antique trade it was not difficult to conjure up a design for a full length adjustable mirror stand. No doubt Count Gregorius would have been keen to acquire some of Mr Thomas Chippendale's carved furniture for Schloss Grunburg, and that is a faint hint at a young Robert Adam console in the background.

Now putting more depth of red and a few shadows

The navel in this pose is particularly cute and often the military costume seems to cover it in my paintings, so that was a small bonus.

Lots more detail now. In particular having to make a credible attempt at Bosnian style lace - this is only 7 inches by 5 inches so not as challenging as painting a 28mm figure! Also I try to put the young lady's name in the picture somewhere and that wash bowl seemed a good idea.

 The final effect in close up. This segment is 2 inches x 2.75 inches so please forgive the imperfections seen at this range.

As usual I have painted the sides of the canvas  and for this one gloss varnished the whole, and strung the back so it is ready for hanging.  I'm pleased to say 2017 has been a very good year for the Hussarette genre, I've added 6 to the list and am up to Nr 19 now, and I got a commission for another yesterday. So if anyone fancies working with me to acquire a customised 2-dimensional military lady please get in touch Chris Gregg.  This small painting of Giselle is available at a mere £40 plus postage so email me if you are interested,

Meanwhile Happy Christmas and a Great New Year to all my readers, and particularly to those who comment, have signed up to Follow or for email notification, it is appreciated.

Chris

A Bevvy of Hussarettes

Count Gruzinsky peered out of the window of his Prague lodgings into the warm June night. Wherever had his daughter got to?....and then by the flickering lamplight that gave a friendly glow to the yard of the inn, he saw her.

Walking proud and erect in her uniform of Honorary Colonel of the Gruskinsky Hussars, drawn sabre in hand, she came elegantly towards the inn. But what are those two points casting shadows with every stride?  Oh no, she has been in one of her sabre contests again and she always casts aside her dolman when she fights..........

Countess Natasha Gruzinskaya was accompanying her father on a Russian diplomatic mission to the court of Empress Maria Theresa. It was June 1756 and the Count was to discuss mutual cooperation with Austria in the face of growing belligerence from the upstart Frederick II of Prussia. This stop at Prague was a convenient rest on the way to Vienna, however, diplomacy is boring and a girl must find her amusement somewhere......
Those Austrian officers of the Dessewffy Hussar Regiment at the tavern opposite had provided her with a slight diversion, but she had floored all three of them without suffering a scratch herself.........And next..... some more fun with her ADC, Anton, who was waiting at the inn's backdoor.

But first she had to pass a group of drunken Dessewffy troopers who were billeted in the courtyard.....
"Wie gehts Fraulein?" said  a voice from the dark. "Ich mochte rollen im Heu mit dich, mag dich auch?"

Countess Natasha Gruzinskaya and the Dessewffy Hussar, 1756
Acrylic on board 12" x 8"

What impertinence she thought and turned her head to give an icy stare. The sabre flashed quickly...and the man would not roll in the hay with anyone ever again.......

Now for a bath and something stiff with Anton.

With grateful thanks to Robbie Rodiss who came up with his interpretation of the Dessewffy Hussars for me when I asked about his favourite Austrian uniform, and then he also said how he liked the Russian Gruzinsky Hussar uniform. Of course I had already done that in Hussarette form, see
Natasha and Count Gregorius, and so I felt compelled to put the two together for this little prequel, showing another example of Natasha's liking for undressed combat. Also thanks again to Russian model Yara for the inspiration through her steely portrayal of a very tough lady hussar.

But the story of my latest batch of Hussarette paintings didn't really start there at all........

I had offered to put on a display of my military paintings and drawings at AMG 17 (see the bottom of my previous post for pictures) and so was in the mood for trying to find suitable subjects. Then all of a sudden there seemed to be a purge of members of the A Military Gentleman Forum and a certain amount of disquiet expressed at various locations on-line. This took an amusing turn when the talented flagmaker, Captain William (Bill ) Walker of Florida USA, designed a beautiful Rococo style cartouche bearing the name "Gentlemen in Exile" in black and gold. Immediately the idea flashed to me that a Hussarette in black and gold uniform would look splendid with Bill's design as a sabretache monogram. Permission was obtained to use it and I was about to start when Colin Ashton cheekily hijacked my plan with the suggestion that the historic Prussian Hussar Regiment Nr 5, Von Reusch, wore black and would also look great as a Hussarette. Colin is already a client of my female military genre so was to be taken seriously, and to cut a long story short, he helped develop the ideas for this lovely painting of a lady whom we have called Rosamunde von Reusch.

Rosamunde von Reusch, HR5, 1757. Acrylic on canvas 16' x 16"

The winking death's head skull was Colin's idea!

Ummmmm.....and the unbuttoned breeches was mine ;-).
Well that Prussian leather reinforcement piece would  have looked
too much like a miss-matched area of flesh otherwise!

This one was also based on Yara at a photo session where she was just wearing hat, waistcoat and boots.....and carbine. So I have developed the waistcoat into a dolman, the fur colpack became a mirliton, complete with cords, plume and trailing wing and we've imagined her just relaxing with unbuttoned breeches. I've not gone for a likeness but for this pose Yara had discarded the warlike facade and I got a flash of the eyes and cheeky smile which I have tried to retain. Colin seemed pleased to take delivery of Rosamunde at AMG 17 and display her on his blog here

And now back to Captain Bill's inspiration.  I needed a pose and face that said "I can be lethal, don't mess with me" because this was to be another of my empowered females. After all she was representing the Exiles from the aforementioned Forum and at that time many seemed like they were metaphorically sharpening their sabres.

Searching my archives I found the lovely young Ukrainian, Ella, wearing her "pelisse" opened, tight leggings, and booted foot up on a sofa and with the slung sabre just being drawn threateningly - perfect. Except she was far too sweet for this role - take a look here if you don't remember her. So I managed to find the required super-cool but slightly pouting expression on line, and this is how Lola ended up.

I hope you will agree that she looks hot, but too hot to handle 

Lady Lola of the Legion des Refuses (Gentlemen in Exile), Acrylic on canvas, 12" x 9.5" 

The LR inside the Captain Bill-designed cartouche stands for Legion des Refuses

Out of respect for the sweet Ella I should say that I got the
 bare breast from elsewhere

I explained to Bill that Lola is not a Gentleman (despite the nod to Ray Davies' eponymous hit song of the 1960s) and so preferred the term "Legion des Refuses" as the parallel for this artist was uncannily like Edouard Manet's founding of the Salon des Refuses for the Impressionist rejects of the 1874 exhibition of the Academie Francaise. Bill was happy with that and so was I because I am  a great fan of Legions in my Imagi-Nations wargaming (a report of a game with lots of them will follow shortly). But I'm not sure which came first, my Legion idea or Bill's creation of Lady Lola's Legion in miniature. The man works so fast he had three units take the field before my painting was finished, and each had a unique flag!  Do take a look at some of them on Bill's Duchy of Beerstein blog, such as this one

So Captain Bill bought the painting of Lola and also took a liking to the "cherry bottomed Hussarette" as he termed Natasha. Both ladies are now safely in his man cave in Florida.

I hope this little story will show that the Hussarette project is alive and well, that I love being steered towards an artistic creation, especially one involving females in uniform, and that would-be clients can participate in the enjoyable enterprise.  Just email me with your ideas or requirements, prices are very affordable.

A NOTE ABOUT COPYRIGHT

I hope you enjoy the pictures. If you do feel the urge to post any of them elsewhere please respect my copyright and give me credit by name and a link to this blog. Thank you, Chris G.

For those unfamiliar with my other work there are plenty more Hussarettes and examples of military and historic paintings, elegant or exotic ladies, and landscapes, on my web pages.

Military:

http://cheltenham-art.com/chrisgregg2.htm

Others:

http://www.cheltenham-art.com/chrisgregg.htm

Hussarette: More trouble at the border?

The Chevalier de Neuvalee breathed the fresh morning air of his homeland in the Province of Savoy. He had put on one of his best blue uniform coats and riding boots as befitted a general who was the trusted military adviser of the Duc de Deuxchevaux. He walked his steed across the meadow where he could see his niece, Monique, waiting for him eagerly; he needed to save his stamina for the energetic ride he knew he was in for!

He could not help but admire his 20 year old ward with her slim physique and long flowing blonde hair tied up with a ribbon for her ride. She was wearing a new outfit, state of the fashionable art -bright red tight fitting breeches and a matching very snug waistcoat over a tiny white blouse that barely covered her midriff.  Both breeches and waistcoat were embroidered with white lace in an intricate pattern reminiscent of a climbing plant. "That's a neat touch of a blossoming flower on her buttock" he thought to himself..... The front was of hussar style white lace and she nonchalantly wore the top half unbuttoned with the button loops hanging freely....well it was a hot, early Summer day. Delicate, pendulous earings and white gloves completed the pleasing appearance.

Her grey pony fidgeted as it caught the smell of another horse and very soon the the noise of hoof beats brought a rider, breathless, into their presence. He dismounted and bowed deferentially, handing a large sealed document to Neuvalee. It took the experienced general but a few moments to digest the contents, rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the Aide-de-Camp.

"I'm afraid, my dear, our ride is cancelled! More trouble at the border and the Duke orders me to lead another expedition to teach those Reiklanders a lesson!".........

"The Cancelled Ride". Hussarette Nr 13, Monique

Well this little episode was the precursor to our series of "Honours of War" Seven Years War era Imagi-Nations wargames and you can read how Neuvalee fared in the first two here St-Ulrich and kutzdorf

We have just played the third one - Surprise at Spittelwitz and I intend to write that up very soon.

Meanwhile, for those interested in the process of creating this addition to my Hussarette oeuvre, some more information follows.

After a few years into this project I thought it high time that I painted one of the young ladies on a horse, since Hussars are horsemen and I had collected a lot of source material back in 2012 on my photoshoot with Emily and Bob.  Emily was game to extend the historical role play with some creative Hussarette poses and one was suitable for the eager young Monique above, but out of respect I have used another face adapted from the lovely Ukrainian student Ella.

This is the initial pencil outlining on the gessoed board once I had decided on the composition in Photoshop. 

Final painting is enlarged from the A4 print by traditional squaring up technique

How did you pose the General you may ask? Good question as I'm currently lacking in a gold lace trimmed 18th century general's coat, white wig and 16 hands of horseflesh. So I fell back on the great American painter James Gurney's technique of using miniature models to "paint what doesn't exist". I posed one of my 28mm miniatures, which I use as the Chevalier on the tabletop, and Photoshopped him gazing at Monique; a bit of juggling got the ADC into a suitable position too.

The pencil outline was then fixed by using a fairly fine brush and very dilute Payne's Grey acrylic paint. That was extended to render basic light and shade freely blocked in to produce a grisaille effect.

After that it's just a standard process of building up the acrylic in steady layers of colour. I use it straight from the tube or bottle onto a "stay-wet" palette, and only mixed with water, not any medium. The lighter colours and highlights do need quite a few coats to get them glowing - such as the horse's flanks, white shirt and the gold lace on the saddle cloth.

The work area with stay-wet palette

Here are some details:

Chevalier de Neuvalee's coat, boots and saddle cloth

The original model used for the ADC was a dismounted cuirassier "character"
by Foundry Miniatures, but I've given him a fictitious uniform here

Monique's very small waistcoat gives the illusion that her head is a fraction too big.
I suppose I should have tried to compensate but those of you who collect
 military miniatures will understand "scale creep" to get in the detail!

I hope you have found this interesting, please feel free to comment below.

The original of "The cancelled ride for Monique, May 1760" is 16 inches x 12 inches on 9mm MDF board and is for sale at just £75, unframed,  plus postage. Please email me if you are interested, or wish to discuss any specially commissioned work.

The Count's Christmas Treat

Giselle toyed with her golden ringlets as she contemplated the arrival of her Christmas gift from Count Gregorius von Grunburg.  

She had been the Count's "companion" since the victory of the Imperial troops, of which the Grunburg Contingent formed a large part, over those of Savoy at the battle of the Chambreuse Valley on 30th May 1760.  Bored of her mundane existence in Chambreuse, and hearing in advance of the Count's reputation for looking after his lady friends, she had put on her most alluring outfit and appeared at his headquarters on the night of the battle. Not surprisingly the Count was delighted to share his looted wine with such charming company.  Shortly afterwards she accompanied him to Grunburg and so captivated the Count that she acquired an apartment in Grunburg Castle.

It was not long before the Count realised that this narcisistic poseuse would provide entertainment for him by modelling the prototypes of uniforms for the growing Grunburg army. In was now December and she was currently enjoying the soft white fur of the pelisse and the snug fit of the breeches that the Count had in mind for his first Hussar Regiment. She liked the way the silver lace caught the light and the red woollen material reflected in her lips. The hat was a bit odd but Greggy had told her it was based on fur hats of the original Hungarian Hussars of some 50 years earlier.... hers not to reason why........hers but to model and try.

Now that sounds like her footman coming up the passage.......What will her gift be this time? The layered necklace and the silver heart sword belt buckle were nice but maybe, for Christmas, a lavish ball gown to go to the New Year Ball?

After a considerable time without painting any Hussarettes I was keen to find an excuse and this Christmas seemed like a good time to take up the cause again.  Looking at my archives for inspiration I came across the lovely Ukrainian, Ella, looking suitably enigmatic during our photo shoot at the end of 2012.

You can learn more about Ella from my blog posting at that time  new-model.

I found a piece of 2mm board approximately 8 x 9.5 inches which I had prepared some time ago with a soft grey ground which would take acrylics in a gouache type of treatment. For those interested in the way I go about creating a painting in this sort of technique here are some of the highlight stages in the process.

I squared up a copy of the original photo so I could transfer in the correct proportions to my painting surface.

Pencil sketch showing adaptation of shirt, pelisse, head.
No attempt is made to render the face properly

The pencil sketch is outlined in thin burnt umber acrylic
and then a tonal version made to fix the main areas
of light and dark

The tonal painting forms a good basis to build
up to full colour in translucent layers using
the acrylic thinned only with water and no medium.
Not much shading in yet.

Gradually more detail is introduced, and shading as well as a
warm flesh colour

By now Giselle is pretty much finished
and will be "touched up" later :-).

Now I could consider how to put the young lady into a suitable context for what was to become one of my 2015 Christmas cards, as if the red and white fur trimmed uniform hadn't given the game away by now!  The internet came in useful and it didn't take too long to find a suitable interior for Giselle's apartment in Grunburg Castle with the archway I required for the context. I was also delighted to find a choice of re-enactor footmen with livery of complimentary hues and a useful pose.

Using Photoshop I was able to try out Giselle and the footman
within the context of the photo of the panelled room. The size
and perspective was not perfect but for a fun painting to please
myself I was satisfied.

This was then rendered into my painting, suitably adapted and simplified.

Here is the first stage which resulted in the finished version shown at the
 top of this blog post. I lowered the escutcheon over the door to give me
room to post my "Merry Christmas 1760" message as if pinned up.
This had the effect of making the door more like a panelled cupboard!
The GR cypher is Gregorius's little joke to disguise his true ambitions.
For more on that please see my post on the Grunburg-dragoons

To finish off here is a close up of the casual flicking of hair off the brow.......

....and assurance that no footmen, females or white furry felines were harmed or exploited in the making of this painting.

Some of my readers might have received Giselle as a Christmas card, if so I hope you have enjoyed my slightly tongue in cheek seasonal gesture. If you didn't then here it is for your pleasure.  Either way the original of "The Count's Christmas Treat; Giselle of the 1st Grunburg Hussars 1760" is for sale, unframed,  at just £50 plus postage.

Please email me  Chris Gregg if you are interested, or if you wish to discuss any other type of military painting commission as I will be well back into the 2 dimensional art world in 2016 after the distractions of moving house and the Waterloos.

For those awaiting part 4 of the La Haye Sainte game, thanks for your patience it won't be long now.