Yesterday my hands itched to sketch old Roman gladiator helmets after watching a documentary. Felt inspired but clueless where to start. Grabbed my sketchbook and just tried drawing what I remembered - ended up with something between a baseball cap and a bucket. Total nonsense.
First Messy Attempts
Scribbled what I thought looked Roman-ish. Wide brim? Pointy top? Added some random feathers. Showed my buddy Dave who actually knows history stuff. He laughed his head off. "Bro, that’s more Viking-meets-space-helmet," he said. Paper became trash fast.
Decided to actually look up real helmets. No idea there were so many types:
- Murmillo: Like a fish creeping up your face? Weird fin on top.
- Thracian: Bends over your eyebrows sharp, makes you look angry.
- Secutor - Smooth round ball with tiny eyeholes. Like peeking through keyholes.
- Provocator - Fancy metal mohawk down the middle, kinda cool.
Trial And Error (Mostly Error)
Tried to sketch the murmillo fish-helmet first. Drew way too many scales on the forehead plate. Looked like a pinecone. Erased till paper ripped. Second try: made the eye holes huge like goggles. Nope. Threw that page away too. Realized Romans cut tiny slits - probably so they wouldn’t get stabbed right through the eyes.
Switched to pencil shading. Put my lamp real low to mimic arena lighting. Shaded too dark below the cheek guards - looked like a gladiator forgot to shave for weeks. Still not right.
When Research Saved My Sanity
Finally opened a book instead of guessing. Massive face-shields weren’t just for looking scary. The murmillo’s wide brim stopped sword chops sliding down onto the shoulders. Secutor's smooth dome? So nets couldn’t snag hooks into it during fights. Mind blown. Everything had a job. Felt stupid thinking they were just "huge shower caps".
Tried shading again keeping function in mind. Drew arrows where swords might glance off the Murmillo’s curved brim. Put deep shadow lines along the Secutor’s neck guard - that’s where sweaty sand would gather mid-fight. Stopped trying to make it "cool". Made it heavy, sweaty, real.
Still Not Perfect But Got Somewhere
Today’s sketch? Added dents. Big one above the eye slit. Small nick on the cheek guard. Used thumb smudges for grime near the hinges. Not pretty. Better. Felt like something dug up from dirt.
Key lesson? Can’t draw ancient stuff from fuzzy memories. Need to look hard at why metal bent that way. And helmets aren’t jewelry - they’re dented, scratched, lived-in shields. Maybe next I’ll sketch rust stains. Or gladiator sweat. Yuck.
Got tangled up at first trying to be fancy. Should’ve just opened a dang book sooner. Funny how you think "cool helmet" till you realize it’s mostly about not dying fast. Sometimes you just need to let the brush run messy - like bloodstains.
