I have always been largely uninterested by the Ultramarines. Probably because of the way they get pushed by Games Workshop as the only space marines in 40k. I think this make a lot of people, myself included, view them as the vanilla standard boring guys without any flavour.

But, after playing the game Boltgun I really got a strong urge to paint up a seasoned Ultramarines veteran with some ancient Greek/Roman flair, and I must admit that Ultramarines can be really cool too.

So I had a lot of fun with this one. I was very inspired by the spacemarines painted by Maxime Pernaud and tried to incorporate some of the things I thought made his figures great into my own. More than usual I tried to push my contrast and clear definition of details, using texture to blend and highlight. I think it worked out okay, but the deadline of a competition meant some parts didn't get rendered to the level of the rest wich brings the overall impression down a bit.

On his right shoulder pad I freehanded a skull, using a Vanitas/Memento Mori painting by Barthel Bruyn from the 16th century as reference. It was a difficult task to get the shapes and proportions right in that scale but I am happy with the outcome and that I took an opportunity to develop a skill I am not very good at.