Ballpen drawings & Sketches of Old Polish horsemen and horses

 Salvete Omnes

the very end of the year, it has been not a bad year AD2024 ... but for the wars and mayhem all over the world. 

I have not been posting my own drawings & sketches lately. 

So in the spirit of the New Year's Eve,  San Silvestre, Sylwester or la Noche Vieja coming tomorrow night, I am pleased to share  some of my Old Poland horsemen theme drawings & sketches in ballpen on paper, with some gouache and/or watercolor or gesso (some little resizing etc in GIMP and Krita)

..

.

Enjoy

Salvete

Adrian Goldsworthy - on Ytube et al.

 Salvete Omnes,

Spring in fuller bloom I suppose, and I have a little post for you here.

a month ago I finished reading the last volume of the Vindolanda-Victory saga by Adrian Goldsworthy (author of The Roman Army at War, and many others on the ancient military history and leaders) - Ferox and Vindex had been my friends for all these years - so to speak. I actually re-read the first three books using the audiobook platform of  Overdrive.
Then I discovered that dr Goldsworthy has his Ytube platform, where he shares his research, knowledge and passion for the ancient Rome and ancient history in general.
There is already a huge number of programs to watch and/or listen to.
Per the Youtube presentations I particularly enjoyed author's program titled  Pontius Pilate's real bodyguards - the Roman army in Judea before the Great Uprising (4BC- 66AD).

So enjoy perusing the Yt library or borrow, rent or otherwise explore the many works of dr Adrian Goldsworthy.

ps

I have not read his Napoleonic series novels. and I am going to start the audiobook on the Rome and Persia wars & rivalry. 

Valete

Happy 2023 - Dosiego Roku

 Salvete Omnes,

Dosiego Roku

Happy New Year

Prospero Ano Nuevo

Valete

Sketches etc for the Adrianopol book

 Salvete Omnes,

in relation to  the previous posting ad the newly published Inforeditons book I am sharing with you some of my sketches as well as a version of the cover  I provided for the publisher, along with another unfinished version.

 

Valete

My new cover for Inforteditions

 Salvete Omnes,

Inforteditions, via their books store, announced a book - Battle of Andrianpolo Ad 1205, where I painted steppe warriors used for its cover.

The illustration showing the Cuman/ Polovetz warriors was created after book author's guidance and research provided to me.

Valete

Trutina 1110AD - my new book cover

 Salvete Omnes,

May 2021 is ending fast, and the InfortEditions publisher from Poland has published another Polish medieval history work - titled Trutina * X 1110, it is a study  of our bellicose and pious Piast ruler Boleslaw Krzywousty (Wrymouth)  and his army's  expedition to Bohemia in 1110AD. The books represents the research done a young historian, horse archer and reenactor Jakub Juszynski. 

According to the author the Polish army was composed of lightly armed horse archers and those horse archers were instrumental in defeating the Czech warriors at Trutina. 

Here is the cover I painted on my computer with Krita, GIMP and MyPaint, as allowed by the publisher on their bookstore site - wanax.pl

 

Valete

Budziszyn 1029 - sketches

 Salvete Omnes,
I would like to share with you some of my artwork regarding the creative process and development of the cover for the Budziszyn 1029 book from Inforteditions,
Below, I am attaching  three  sketches (as one ) that show some progress, from inception to solid development,  in my concept and learning about the period ,i.e., warriors, equipment and horses and their tack.

I consulted the last sketch(from left to right) with Igor Gorewicz from 'Druzyna grodu Tryglawa' in Szczecin, who is a well-known and avid reenactor of the early medieval Slavic warriors, researcher and author of numerous books, including two books on the Slavic warrior and Slavic arms and armor.-  from his publishing house Triglav. Obviously I consulted these fine books and well as several sites and web galleries devoted to the medieval Slavic reenactment.
While famous photographer from Szczecin Marek Kalisinski allowe me a closer look of many of his reenators' portraits and photos of reconstructed equipment  etc.

All the mistakes henceforth are still mine and mine only.

Enjoy

ps

this is a wholly digital work - I  drew directly on Wacom Cintiq using Krita, Gimp and Mypaint via Ubuntu Linux operating system.

Valete!

Pontic Steppe rider

 Salvete Omnes,

I was checking my old files and found unfinished sketch of a medieval steppe rider.
This is a raw sketch and much yet to be done.

eventually it will be a XII-XIII century AD rider of the Western Eurasian steppe, as I am researching Cumans of the Hungarian Plane during the Arpad Dynasty.

Valete

Infort Editions - Budziszyn 1029

 Salvete Omnes,

[Polish] 

 z drukarni właśnie schodzi najnowsza produkcja Wydawnictwa InfortEditions - Budziszyn 1029 (seria Pola Bitew), autorstwa dr Mariusza Sampa, opisująca działania wojenne z okresu panowania syna wielkiego piastowskiego witezia i króla polskiego Bolesława Chrobrego -   Jego Królewską Mość Mieszka II zwanego Lambertem. Do tejże pracy miałem przyjemność  wykonać scenkę na okładkę, pokazująca walczących jeźdźców z epoki.
Przy rekonstrukcji w dużej mierze oparłem się na pracach Igora D. Górewicza - tutaj zwlaszcza 'O Broni Slowian' (wydana przez Triglav i Wydawnictwo Poznanskie w 2020) i śledzeniu rekonstrukcji piastowskich i zachodniosłowiańskich rożnych drużyn działających obecnie w Polsce.

 [English]

I am pleased to share with you my newest creation for the Polish publisher  InfortEditions - the cover of Budziszyn 1029AD.  The volume belongs to the series 'Fields of battle' and covers the campaign by His Royal Majesty Mieszko II against the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II the Salic. The campaign took place in Lusitia, then a part of the Piast  Kingdom of Poland.

I consulted various Igor D. Gorewicz's works, especially O Broni Slowian (2020) and Wojownicy Slowian (2019), and actual reconstructions done by the various Polish  reenactment groups, those recreating Piast and Western Slavic warriors and their world. 

also, on Academia there are archaeological works by various Polish and German archaeologists on these early Piast and Western Slavic subjects - eg by Leszek Gardela or Kamil Kajkowski.

Valete

ps

w przyszłości zdaje sie zmierzę się z tematem wyprawy wojsk władcy Polski Piastowskiej Bolesława Krzywoustego  na Czechy w 1110 roku.

OD BŁONIA DO TERESPOLA - new cover

Salvete Omnes,
a quick post- new book cover


I digitally - using Krita, MyPaint and GIMP-  painted this illustration for the cover of a new book published by Infort Edition from Poland.
Titled 'OD BŁONIA DO TERESPOLA. Działania dywizji generała Karola Sierakowskiego w insurekcji kościuszkowskiej 1794' (,From Błonie to Terespol. Actions of the general Karol Sierakowski's division during the Kosciuszko Insurrection 1794'). Authored by Miron Kosowski, this work constitutes a part of the author's scheme to cover various important but less-known or studied battles of the Kosciuszko Insurrection. For example his previous work , on the Chełm battle, was reviewed here by dr. Maciej Trabski.

The cavalryman depicted here might have belonged to one of the numerous but lesser known cavalry regiments and companies that had been organized alongside the Polish regular army cavalry regiments during the Insurrection. The uniform and equipment are only conjectural and come from general depiction in the period sources. 
This lancer is using a simplified Old Polish military saddle, akin to the Hungarian saddle of the XVIII and XIX centuries, and a similar horse bridle with a curb-bit.
The book [in Polish] can be had here.

Valete!

Metacom aka King Philip war from Infort editions

Salvete Omnes,

 some self promotion:
next month another illustration of mine that will be published on the cover of the new Polish history book telling the story of the King Philip war 1675-8 in New England.
 "Wojna »króla Filipa« 1675-1676"- by Rafał T. Czarniecki. I have not read the book yet.

again I used MyPaint, Gimp & Krita

 I consulted on the subject of with some historians and enthusiast from the States and from Latvia - thank you Yuriy - grouped under  King Philip's War forum on Facebook

some sketches


 

książka będzie do zakupienia tutaj ..
Valete

Bigos et imc pan Potocki

Salvete Omnes,
[Polish]
Wacław Potocki, wielki polski  poeta Sarmatyzmu - poemat epicki Wojna Chocimska, żołnierz-weteran wojny z rebelią kozacką et al., także 'heretyk silą na wiarę katolicką nawrócony', napisał cale multum wesołych fraszek, często mniej lub bardziej ironicznych czy wręcz szyderczych.
Dziś mamy Prima Aprilis ergo czas na krotochwile:

Prima aprilis
 

Pan towarzysz husarski .. w bigosie

Konik et  muł

Koń alias Szkap Chudy

 

Mosty Nieprzyjacielowi...

Humor Polski

Usarz ... podszyty


 

valete
ps
Literatura staropolska w opracowaniach prof. Romana Krzywego - dostępną jest via academia edu.

illustrations for Bitwa pod Sołchatem 22 VI 1434

Salvete Omnes,
a quick one this morning - 
 I would like to introduce another illustration of mine that has been published in Poland this month.

I painted this illustration for a book titled BITWA POD SOŁCHATEM 22 VI 1434 published by Infort Editions (part of the series Pola Bitew - Battlefields ).

This work, I have not read it yer as I am awaiting the printed copy,  deals with the XV century conflict in the Crimean Peninsula that resulted in a battle of Solkhat  (Stari Krym in Crimea) AD 1434, fought between the budding Crimean Tatar state and the Genoese troops from the Crieman colonies of the Genoa Republic,(incidentally the Italians hab been involved in slave trade, selling mostly orthodox Christians to the West, only the intervention of the Polish Kingdom stopped that horrible trade in human flesh, but they were stilltrading with the Ottomans etc) the work has been authored by Dmitrij Seliwerstow (Seliverstov- Д.А. Селиверстов ) from Russia and translated into Polish for this first edition.

I used MyPaint, GIMP and Krita ..
nota bene there is more to come of the Tatars and other warriors, God willing.

Książkę można zakupić tutaj - Wanax.
Valete!

Sketching husaria

Salvete Omnes,
just doing some digital sketching - I have bought a new computer so now I will have to buy a new tablet, or a pen display, my  tablet needs a replacement for sure

 quick black and white sketch

 

Valete

French infantry - my new illustration

Salvete Omnes,
last month I 'painted,' on my computer, a plate showing two French soldiers from late period known as the wars of Louis XIV. 
OD EISENBIRN DO HÖCHSTÄDT. Kampania w Górnej Austrii 1703 roku (1) (the first battle of Hochstadt etc) by Damian Plowy has been published by Infort Editions from Poland.
Infantry in general and early XVIII century Western European soldateska are not my favorite subjects.
It was a venture into the new world of uniformology, as part of doing research I did some questioning around and would like to thank  Tomasz Karpinski and Sergey Shamenkov (both gentlemen are reenactors and historians of the XVIII century soldiers, Sergey also is a very fine historical illustrator and sculptor) for their helpful comments.
All mistakes are mine - here you may find the cover of the new Infort Editions book.

I used Krita, MyPaint and GIMP, and my Wacom tablet.
Valete!
ps
 the next illustration I am going to paint for Infort Editions will be the King Philip War and the Algonquian woodland warriors etc - book will be published next month.

Odyseja Pomnika Katynskiego z NJ

 Salvete Omnes,
[in Polish]

z Twittera Slawka Platty

Walka o Pomnik Katynski w Jersey City, NJ trwa -  teraz raczej jest pewne, ze będzie musiało  mieć miejsce referendum - Polonia amerykańska uzyskała drugi oddech w boju o zatrzymanie Pomnika w miejscu w którym stoi dzisiaj.
Polski Dziennik z NY/NJ podaje
  Max Kolonko na twitter  podawał, ze Polonia przegrała glosowanie w Radzie Miasta Jersey City ale jak już wiemy nie złożyła broni i walczyła dalej pod wodza min mec. Slawek Platta , mimo oporu  burmistrza Fulopa i jego grup interesu,  członków  Komitetu Katyńskiego i także Klubow Gazety Polskiej (KGP) (Niezależna atakuje mec. Platte), I tak nasza amerykanska Polonia wygrywa jednak kolejna rundę w obronie Pomnika idąc do referendum nad losem Pomnika, teraz decyzja bedzie w rekach wyborców Jersey City, NJ.

 Matthew Tyrmand, nie znający języka polskiego 'desant z US' (obok desantu z UK czyli Jeff 'a Danniels'a), który fetowany jest w RP jako syn dawno zmarłego świetnego pisarza polskiego mości Leopolda Trymanda, otz tenze Matthew zdaje się, ze opowiada się po stronie czlonkow Komitetu Katyńskiego stojacych po stronie burmistrza, Fulopa (któremu zdaje się mocno 'zagotuje się pod siedzeniem') i KGP etc.

Reportaż -video z sutuacji - link [English]
Vivat Polonia, vivat proces demokratyczny w Ameryce!
                                              ciąg dalszy nastąpi
                                                          ***
w temacie pomników - strona Bitwa pod Komarowem pokazała na 'Fejsie' projekt pomnika sławnego zwycięstwa kawalerii polskiej na bolszewikami w zakończonym szczęśliwie 1920 roku.

copyright @ Bitwa pod Komarowem

Valete !
ps

szybki szkic towarzysza husarskie z kopia.  

Just sketching...

Salvete Omnes,
 
I have just learned that I will not be taking part in the August 15 reenactor parade* during the Polish Armed Forces Day in Warsaw  - the organizers allegedly saw no room for diverse troops, but just larger and more uniformed mounted troops like the 2nd uhlan regiment (Duchy of Warsaw) - we were going to go as Vistula Lancers, but being a few we did not cut the final team - they say...
 
...so just sketching, including copying figures from the XVII century paintings, and thinking about the Latin saying sic transit gloria mundi..





 

Valete!
*last fall the former minister of defense Antoni Macierewicz called for a huge gathering of reenactors to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining her independence - nota bene semper Vivat Polonia Resitututa .
It was supposed to be 600 cavalrymen and several thousand of infantrymen from the early Piast period to the War World II and beyond marching along the present day professional Polish soldiers.
 This parade would have been bigger than the Communist regime celebration of 1000 years of Polish history in 1966. But apparently due to many reasons this grandiose plan has been reduced in size and scope etc.
I hope there will be some parade on that August festive day, even if it will be smaller in size.

ancient Persia - Wiesehofer and other scholars' works

Salvete omnes,
summer in its foulness thus while you are on the beach or in front of your computer, it perhaps pays to visit the archive.org library, where there are treasures to be had.
I have not visited ancient Persia in a long time, therefore I would like to share with you some fine articles that you can read off the Archive library or download and read later on, whatever tickles your fancy.

from the Metropolitan Museum collection in NYC

Let me start with Josef Wiesehofer from Kiel University and his studies of the Achaemenid Persia - I like especially the one titled The Achaemenid Empire in the Forth Century B.C.E. - but there are a few more there and all are worth your while.
Nota bene I have finished listening, while driving, to a whole set of lectures by prof. K.w. Harl on the rise of the Kingdom of Macedon and Alexander's conquest of the known world - it was quite enjoyable and with plenty of newer scholarship( perhaps a bit too much about the otherness of the Macedonians when compared with the ancient alias  'poleis' Hellenes, and the way good professor pronounced the ancient Greek personal names was a bit tricky). However, I think the military information was too general, at times too vague and too short. On youtube there are other lectures by the good professor, search away.

harness ornament - MET, NYC

Maria Brosius, New out of old? Court and court ceremonies in Achaemenid Persia (2007)- you can listen to an intro to the Near East ancient history - lecture given by the very professor. 
Loyd Lewellyn-Jones,  King and Court in Ancient Persia 559 to 331 B.C. -  2013 [sic!]

a compilation of articles edited by Niels Nielding et al, Achaemenid Impact In The Black Sea. Communication Of Powers. 2010 - in that book dealing with northern and north-western reaches of the Achaemenids' empire, there is one by prof. Tuplin about the infamous expedition against the Pontic Scythians

and little Parthia, my favorite ancient Persian empire to study
pillar of Persian studies A.D.H. Bivar - Political History of Iran under the Arsacids - 1983 

fantastic Mary Boyce, Parthian Writings and  Literature, 1983,  and very interesting history of the Zaroastrian religion and its peoples  - Zaroastrians, 1979.

Archive Library's works of Marek J. Olbrycht will come in the future installment, in one of these linked articles chain, so to speak.
...
as per my sketches, these are my older sketches, but  I have been reworking them  be it in the 'libre' Krita, GIMP and MyPaint software.
enjoy