Painting Painting Guide 1 - Painting Scaly Beasts Copyright ©2015 Eric Louchard Art by Eric Louchard & Dilsukee Miniatures in book sculpted by Eric Louchard, Paolo Fabiani, Sandra Garrity, Garrity, Bob Olley, Jeff Grace, Julie Guthrie Book layout, art design and painted miniatures by Eric Louchard Game models available from AntiMatter Games No portion of this book can ca n be reproduced without consent from the publisher. publisher. Published by AntiMatter Games www.antimatter-games.com www.antimatter-games.com
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Painting Painting Guide 1 - Painting Scaly Beasts Copyright ©2015 Eric Louchard Art by Eric Louchard & Dilsukee Miniatures in book sculpted by Eric Louchard, Paolo Fabiani, Sandra Garrity, Garrity, Bob Olley, Jeff Grace, Julie Guthrie Book layout, art design and painted miniatures by Eric Louchard Game models available from AntiMatter Games No portion of this book can ca n be reproduced without consent from the publisher. publisher. Published by AntiMatter Games www.antimatter-games.com www.antimatter-games.com
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Contents Introdu Introduction ction ..................... 3 Te Basics Basics ............... ..................... .......... .... 4 Glaze Painting Concepts Concepts......... 4 Miniature Miniature Preparation Preparation ............. 4 Undercoat ndercoat.................... .............................. ............... ..... 4 Paints, Paints, Inks and Tinning Tinning ....... 5 Inks ................... ............................. .................... ................. ....... 6 Mediums Mediums.................... .............................. ................. ....... 6 Mixture Mixturess.................... .............................. .................. ........ 7 Shadows Shadows and Color Teory .... 7 Brushwo Brushwork rk ................... ............................. ............... ..... 8 Choosing Choosing Brushes Brushes ............. ..................... ........ 8 Brush Brush Sizes .................... .............................. ............. ... 8 Handling Handling Paint Paint .......................... ............... ........... 9
Step 1 - Zenith Z enith Prime............. 18 Step 2 - Base Coats .................18 Step 3 - Shading.......................19 Shading .......................19 Step 4 - Drybrushing .............. 19 Step 5 - Edge Highlights .......19 Step 6 - Glow Effects .............. 20 Step 7 - Final ouches ouches ............ 20
Dire Dire Fish Fish Lizard Lizard............. ............... 10
Nautilo Nautiloid id Chrysalid ........ 22
Step 1 - Base Coats .................10 Step 2 - Warming Up Up ............. ......... .... 10 Step 3 - Cooling Down..........11 Down ..........11 Step 4 - Adding Contrast ...... 11 Step 5 - Edge Highlights .......11 Step 6 - Shadows .....................12 Step 7 - Final ouches ouches ............ 12
Step 1 - Base Coats .................22 Step 2 - Warm Midtone ......... 22 Step 3 - Cool Shadows........... 23 Step 4 - Adding Detail ...........23 Step 5 - Edge Highlights .......23 Step 6 - Finishing ouches ouches .... 24
Clal-Chk Freebooter ...... 14
Step 1 - Base Coats .................14 Step 2 - Shading Down .......... 14 Step 3 - Color Enhancement 15 Step 4 - Cloth Highlights......15 Step 5 - Edge Highlights .......16
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Giant Giant Anglerfish Anglerfish ........ ............. ..... 18
ips and ricks ricks ............... 26
Blacklining ...............................26 Overlapping Scales .................26 Feathers .....................................26 Pebbly exture Skin ................ ............... . 28 Painting for Gaming...............29 Gaming ...............29 Conclusion ...............................29
Introduction Painting gaming miniatures is a relaxing hobby that involves many different artistic techniques. Some folks paint for enjoyment while other paint to enhance their games. For players of DeepWars and ShadowSea, painting the miniatures for the games can help make each warband unique, giving personality to the characters. Tis way, the games become more immersive as the painted models really stand out on the tabletop when amid colorful scenery. Te goal of this book is to present a simple and efficient method to paint some of the more challenging miniatures that are found in games, large scaly beasts and gribbly monsters. For many painters, large miniatures, and especially those with extensive texture, such as scales, bumpy skin, layered armor plates or other types of surface features, are very imposing to paint. In many cases, the challenges they present are due in part to the use of painting techniques that are better suited to smaller areas, such as wet blending or layering, where each patch of texture is worked up in layers of paint. Te techniques in this book are focused on the use of washes and glazes of thinned paint, a more efficient and natural method for
painting large, textured surfaces. o introduce painters into the “glaze style” of painting there is a brief section that describes preparation, colors of paint and ink, brush types and how to handle them with washes and glazes. Four step-by-step tutorials show the methods in use, with a few tips and tricks at the end. Hopefully, the techniques presented here will help expand the skills of both beginning and advanced painters.
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The Basics Glaze Painting Concepts With the glaze painting style, instead of painting dark to light, as one does when using a black undercoat or dark base coat, one paints from light to dark, shading down from a bright base coat. Te style is similar to traditional painting with watercolors in that the lightness of the background material, in this case the white primer, is meant to show through to either be a highlight or to bring an underlying glow to a thin layer (glaze) of paint. As an example, note how the watercolor painting of the sea turtle below uses the white paper as a highlight. Te glaze style of painting give one a great deal of control over the color transitions, as each glaze builds color depth and smooths out the previous layer but still retains an overall brightness from the underlying white undercoat.
Miniature Preparation Miniatures often come in a number of parts that need preparation, cleaning and assembly. Tese parts need to have mold lines and flash, the excess metal that is the result of the casting process, removed before painting.
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Mold lines may be difficult to see on bare metal but they are much easier to see on resin or plastic miniatures or when a metal model is undercoated. For most miniatures, the main mold line runs along both sides of the body from foot to head, following along around the entire figure. Tis line needs to be trimmed down with a hobby knife or filed off with a fine-toothed file. When using a knife, fine lines can be removed by holding the blade perpendicularly to the line and scraping along it. Separate parts, such arms or bases will have their own mold lines since they are cast separately, so everything should be carefully examined. After the parts have been smoothed, the figure should be washed with some soapy water (dishwashing soap is fine) to remove excess oils and residue from the molds. Tis will help glue and primer paint adhere better to the miniature. Once the miniature is fully cleaned and dried, the parts can be assembled using a “super-glue” otherwise known as cyanoacrylate (CA) glue.
Undercoat Now that the figure has been prepared it needs to be primed with an undercoat so that the paint will stick well. Painting on bare
metal is not recommended, as the paint will rub off easily. Any white enamel spray primer or brush-on white primer will work well for this purpose and will create a strong base layer. Completely cover the figure with primer and allow to dry in a well ventilated area.
Paints, Inks and Thinning Te most important part of painting is clearly the paint itself, and how it is thinned and applied. Any brand of paint is fine to use but pure, transparent or translucent colors tend to work better for thin glaze layers and subtle color changes. Tis guide refers to artist acrylic color names ( Burnt Umber , Sap Green, etc.) from Liquitex and Golden. Te reason for doing this, instead of referring to proprietary paint names given by gaming companies, is that this guide is meant to teach color theory and application at its most basic level, using colors that are common across oil, acrylic and watercolor styles. Before painting, it is necessary to become familiar with the three basic densities of paint that are used for the miniatures in this guide, “base”, “wash” and “glaze”. Some of the typical paint colors used are shown in the figure to the right, along with their shade when mixed with water to make these densities. Te colors shown are all from the Golden Fluid Acrylic line and are generally transparent with high pigment content and flow well from the bottle. ube paints can also be used but they require more thinning. Note that black and white are not shown since they are not technically colors, although they are used extensively for creating shadows and highlights. Base - Tis density is meant for base coats or final edge highlights and is essentially the paint straight from the bottle or tube, mixed with a bit of water so that it has at least 80% paint. It is important for base coats that the paint is not completely opaque, as we want to see some of the raised sections appear lighter than the recesses.
If the paint comes in a bottle, make sure to shake thoroughly to completely mix the pigment with its medium so that it does not separate on your palette. Squirt a drop of paint on the palette - any piece of plastic or aluminum foil works well. If it does separate, you can mix it together on the palette. When the base coats are applied it is best to clean the brush after each color is applied so that residual paint has not dried in the bristles and will not mix in with the next color.
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Wash - Te second density used for building up highlights and shadows on the base coat is called a “wash”. It is roughly a 50/50 mix of paint or ink and thinner, so that the transparent color is still strong but translucent, and opaque paint appears to be like a heavy cream. Tis density is useful for blending and making color transitions when building up highlights or creating shadows. Normally, washes should be mixed on the palette, but they can also be made by dipping a brush into base-density paint and then quickly dipping the tip of the brush into water. Glaze - Te third density is roughly 10% paint to 90% water. Te end result is almost like colored water and should flow easily from the brush. One should be able to see the underlying color of the surface but the glaze will tint it slightly. Multiple applications of glazes are used to build up a rich color gradient and their use will be explored more during the step-by-step process of painting the sample miniatures in this book. One thing to remember about the densities described here is that the percentages of paint and thinner are estimations and there are actually infinite variations between them. In general, these are the thinning levels that will be used most, but painters should experiment a bit as different paint types may need more or less thinning.
Inks Inks provide an additional way to add color depth to miniatures. Te inks used in this book are Liquitex Professional Acrylic Inks, which contain extremely fine pigments suspended in an acrylic emulsion. Tere are many other brands of inks one can use but it is important to choose inks that are water soluble and water-resistant when dry. Since acrylic ink shares the same basic properties of acrylic paint, these types of inks can substitute for paint in any of the steps or
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be mixed with paint to enhance or change the colors. Some of the most common colors used in the step-by-step guides are shown in the figure to the right. Due to their exceedingly high pigment content, inks are best used when thinned down and applied in thin glazes, preferably mixed with an acrylic medium.
Mediums Acrylic paint can be thinned with water to make washes and glazes, but sometimes the resulting colors may not stick properly, creating pools or beads of color that dry in odd patterns. One of the most common artifacts is the “lake ring” effect where the wash leaves a ring around the inside of a recess, like the ring around a drying lake. In order to avoid these patterns one can include a clear medium to the ink or paint, such as matte or gloss acrylic medium. Liquitex Matte Medium was used for all models in this book.
Te amount of medium used depends on how thick and sticky one wants their wash or glaze, but a good rule is to replace half of the water used in the mixture with medium. Some ink washes used in the step-by-step guides have equal parts medium and paint or ink and only a about 5% water and are good for adding deep shadows. Tese are very thick washes that take some practice to use well.
Mixtures While the glaze style of painting relies heavily on pure colors, it is often necessary to mix up custom shades. Te most common mixtures used in the step-by-step guides are described below. Bone White - Tis versatile light brownish shade is made with Burnt Umber mixed with white. Tis is the most common highlight for browns or bone (not surprisingly). It is a bit cooler than Golden White . Golden White - Te preferred highlight color for sunlight reflections, this warm yellow-cream mixture is made with Burnt
Umber , white and Indian Yellow , or with Raw Sienna and white. Metal Wash - Tis simple wash is a mixture of Burnt Umber ink and Deep Turquoise ink. Different metal base coats use varying mixture amounts (gold or bronze = more Turquoise , Steel = more Burnt Umber ).
Color Theory An important aspect of the glaze method is creating color contrast in shadows and highlights through the use of complementary colors, or colors opposite one another on a color wheel (see below). While glazes of black are used for some shadows, complementary colors are better for creating contrast in color as well as lightness. For example, using cool blue to shade a warm orange or light brown. Generally, dark blue makes a good color to glaze and wash with when making shadows, but dark green can also be used for shadows on reds. Highlights can also be made to be complementary to shadows although the brightest ones should share the color of the light source (sunlight, fire, blue crystal, etc.).
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Brushwork Choosing Brushes Te brushes one uses to paint miniatures depends a great deal on personal preference, how they feel in the hand, the amount of paint they hold, the length of the bristles, the material, etc. One feature should hold for all miniatures painters though, the sharpness of the point. Tis, over all other aspect of a brush, is critical for painting fine lines and tiny dots without making a mess of things. When choosing a brush, the point should be the first thing to check. Make sure that it is straight when wet, not hooked or bent, and that it springs back after making a line. One can use some water and paper for this test, but after a while it will become obvious what to look for. Natural fibers, such as sable, will generally hold their point the best, while cheap synthetic fibers like nylon may tend to hook and bend quickly. Te quality of synthetic fibers varies a great deal though, and some are almost as good as natural fibers. In general, one should try to get the best quality brushes as possible for detail work, but cheaper brushes can be used for applying washes or glazes over large areas. It is worth the extra money to avoid frustration when trying to paint tiny reflections on an eyeball, drawing freehand lines or highlighting canines on some little monster. Tere is nothing worse than having to repaint small features over and over again simply due to poor tools. Having high-quality brushes will help to do things right the first time. For detail work, the best type of brushes are watercolor brushes made from Kolinsky sable, a weasel in actuality and not a sable. Tese natural fibers have optimal flexibility and resiliency so they can last for years if properly cleaned and cared for. Kolinsky sable brushes are fairly expensive, especially the larger sizes. If cost is an issue, red sable brushes also work well.
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Brush Sizes While many painters will have bunches of brushes, often sticking out of a jar like a mass of fluffy spikes, one can actually accomplish all of the techniques described in this book with just a few brushes. Te main brushes used in the book are: Size 6 - Tis “big brush” is generally used to apply washes or base coats to the largest models or “drybrush” large surfaces. Size 1 - Tis is the preferred brush size for base coats, washes and glazes on medium sized surfaces or edge highlights on medium features. Medium in this case means something like the fins and spines of the Dire Fish Lizard, features that are 1-20 mm long. Te Size 1 brush is one of the most versatile tools in that about 80% of painting on larger models (40 - 54 mm tall) can be done with it if the tip is sharp. Size 0 - Tis is a slightly smaller brush than the Size 1, but it is used for the same things, only for smaller models. For most human-sized models, this will be the primary tool for all but the smallest details. Size 00 - Tis is the main detail brush used for edge highlights on scales, teeth, and other small features. It holds enough paint to work well for freehand linework and its sharp point helps apply thin glazes around eye sockets or between teeth. It is not really suitable for painting larger areas, however.
Size 000 - Tis is the brush to use for Feathered Blending - Glazes are tricky the smallest of details, such as pupils, letters to blend and require multiple layers. Te end in books, tiny teeth and for adding final result can be exceptionally smooth though. highlights, or “hotspots” at the most reflective When blending glazes, the tip of the brush is points on a miniature. It is not recommended moved in multiple quick strokes, like tickling to use this brush with glazes or washes as it with a feather, before the liquid in the brush just does not hold enough liquid. has time to dry. Each stroke places a bit more glaze so that is builds up color. Te surface dries quickly and the new layers simply add Handling Paint on top, although this can change due to room On the surface, painting is a fairly temperature and humidity, in which case simple process “put paint on brush, put there can be a bit of wet blending involved brush on miniature, rinse and repeat”. Te also (see below). complexity lies in how the brush is moved on the miniature, what part of the brush is used Wet Blending - Te classic wet blending and how different color interact. Tere are a technique is used infrequently in the glaze few simple methods for applying paint to a style of painting, but is crucial for flat, miniature that are described below. smooth surfaces. Here, the base coat density is used most often, with some thinning to Drybrushing - Tis classic method make it flow evenly. One shade of color is to add highlights to texture involves rapid painted on the surface first and, while slightly brushing with semi-dry paint so that paint wet, another shade is painted either on top sticks onto only raised features. Te surface or to the side. Gentle brush strokes with the should be washed or glazed afterwards to tip are used to blend the two shades together smooth out any “chalky” or rough texture before they dry completely. Te more strokes, that can occur with drybrushed highlights. the smoother the blend. Glaze Touch - Tis technique is exactly Edge Highlights - While the two what it sounds like, touching the miniature blending techniques work for most highlights, with the tip of the brush so the glaze flows sharp edges and “hot” reflections require a off the brush and onto the surface. Te brush special technique. Edge highlights are done should be full of liquid so that it requires with opaque paint filling the brush, but not little motion except a gentle touch to get the to saturation. Te side of the brush, pointing paint flowing off onto the desired place. Once almost perpendicularly to the direction of the the glaze is off the brush, it can be moved edge, is placed on the edge and drawn along around to ensure it covers the surface evenly, it, leaving behind a nice layer of paint only “wicking” up excess liquid using a dry brush. on the edge. An alternate method is to use only the tip of the brush and draw a fine line Glop - Te opposite of the elegant glaze along the edge facing the light source. Tis touch, this technique is best done with a takes practice but is the technique used most cheaper brush. It involves using an acrylic often on scales and muscle ridges. medium mixed with ink or paint to make a thick wash mixture that is “glopped” onto Scrubbing - Tis tricky method is used surfaces to shade them or change the color to quickly blend the edges of glazes that tone. Te ratio is 50/50 paint and medium, would otherwise dry and leave a distinct with a small amount of water added to ensure border. After the Glaze Touch leaves a layer of that the mixture can flow off the brush. Make paint, scrub rapidly with the tip of the brush sure to wash the brush well afterwards. on the edges of the glaze to smooth them out.
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Dire Fish Lizard Te Dire Fish-Lizard is an interesting beast with a great deal of surface relief due to its geometric scales, large spines on the back and along the cheek, and massive teeth filling its long snout. Painting it was made relatively simple with washes and glazes, though. Te color palette that was used was broad, ranging from cool blues to glowing oranges, matching the vibrant concept artwork.
Step 2 - Warming Up Once the base coats had been allowed to dry completely, warm glazes were applied. Te yellow areas were given one to two glazes of Vivid Red-Orange ink with the Size 1 brush, with more applied to the tips of the fins and along the snout to shade the teeth. Some sections on the head were left without an orange glaze, leaving yellow stripes that were to be shaded later in the next step. Te midline ridge along the sides of the model was given a glaze of Napthol Crimson Step 1 - Base Coats ink. Tis darker shade of red was also allowed Te first step in the painting process was to flow into the cracks down the belly sightly, to prime in white and apply base coats to the although the bulk of the belly was left yellow. creature with a Size 1 brush. Te coral reef Te tips of the fins and the base of the tail base was finished in the last step so it remains were also shaded with Napthol Crimson. white for now. Tere were two distinct regions of the miniature, the warm head, back, belly and fins, and the cool flanks. Te warm parts were given a wash of Primary Yellow paint and allowed to completely dry. Next, the cool flanks were given two glazes of Cerulean Blue ink, the first on the entire surface of the flanks, allowing it to flow onto the yellow to begin blending shades. A second glaze of blue was applied near the tail and feathered towards the head. Te bright reflection near the middle of the figure was allowed to stay white by wicking some of the glaze from that area with a dry brush (see “Handling Paint” on page 9).
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Step 3 - Cooling Down In this step, cool blues and greens were used to shade the orange and create a sense of being underwater. Te flanks were given a glaze of Pthalo Blue ink using a Size 1 brush, with two glazes applied near and on the tail to give it a brighter blue glow. Te belly was glazed with blue to shade the scales but the breast was left a golden yellow color. Te blue glaze over yellow gave the belly a greenish tint. A glaze of Sap Green ink was also applied on the head in the yellow stripes from Step 2. It was found that shading of the fins and back spines needed more contrast with the blue so additional glazes of Vivid Red-Orange ink were applied and allowed to flow into the adjacent scales slightly, especially on the fins.
Step 4 - Adding Contrast
Step 5 - Edge Highlights After all of the washes and glazes had dried completely, it was time to paint edge highlights. Tese were done using opaque white paint, thinning it enough to flow well but still at about 80% paint. Te tip of a small brush (Size 00) was used to draw fine white lines across the top of raised features, such as scales and spines, and on the bottom of recessed features, such as scratches and pits. Te idea was to simulate how light from above would reflect on edges. For the spines and teeth, multiple thin layers of wash-density Bone White were feathered to build up highlights, finished off with a glaze of pure white along to top edge and tip. A white glaze was also used to add a glow to the upper middle of the body below the dorsal spine.
Tis step was meant to increase contrast before highlighting. Te head was given a few glazes of Napthol Crimson ink, mixed with Vivid Red-Orange ink to shade all of the recesses, cracks, spines and scratches using a Size 0 brush for more control. Of particular importance was the teeth, where the ink was applied with a Size 00 brush to get in between them, and the recesses around the spines around the cheek plate. Some of the red and orange ink was also allowed to flow down between the scales on the upper part of the flanks, below the dorsal spine.
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Step 6 - Shadows Now that the edge highlights were done, the figure needed darker shadows to increase contrast. Tinned black paint at glaze density, mixed with Matte Medium, was painted with the tip of a Size 00 brush into scratches and crevices on the head, between the teeth and in the mouth, and finally, around the spines and cheek plate. It is important when painting with the glaze style to not go overboard with shadows using thick black paint. Multiple layers of washes and glazes will build up natural colored shadows, so a light glaze of black is all that is needed to reduce the lightness in shadow areas.
Step 7 - Final Touches Te last step was to complete the eyes and the base. Te eyes were painted to appear like translucent gems, with light pooling at the bottom and reflecting from the top “hotspot”. Te main color of the eyes was Primary Yellow , mixed with a bit of white along the bottom and Indian Yellow paint at the top. An iris was added with a small dot of black paint. o make the hotspot, a dot of white paint was added right above the iris. Te base was painted with multiple washes of brown, orange, green and blue ink, highlighted with white lines and dots. Te small mollusc on the base was painted with purple tentacles and yellow eyes.
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Te tattered uniform was painted using a wash of light blue ( Cerulean Blue ink + Bone White mix). A bit of the blue was mixed with the light green from the body to glaze the Te Clal-Chk Freebooter appears to be pistol in the lower left arm. Indian Yellow paint a menacing creature with chitinous plates was painted at wash density onto the pistol in and an alien countenance. In reality, Pik-Kck the upper left hand and the tassels and ropes. is a nice guy with an eclectic fashion sense Burnt Umber ink, mixed with a touch of Bone and four arms carrying an armory-worth White , was glazed onto the spear and musket of weapons. Te focus when painting this stock, while pure Burnt Umber ink was used miniature was on subtle color combinations, for the straps on the arms and legs. Finally, a since most of the exoskeleton and armor thin coat of pure silver paint was applied to appear brownish-green in the concept art. the metal parts of the musket. When looked at closely though, there are multiple shades of green, red, orange and purple that make it more complex.
Clal-Chk Freebooter
Step 2 - Shading Down Step 1 - Base Coats Since the color tones of the Clal-Chk are relatively muted, the base coats were painted using light shades over a white primer, focusing on the figure and leaving the base for the end. A Size 1 brush was used for all base coats. Te chitinous plates of the body were given a wash of a light greenish tan, a mixture of Sap Green ink, Burnt Umber ink and white paint, while the armor plates with spikes were given a wash of Bone White . A bit of Matte Medium was added to the washes to thicken them up so they could be glopped on quickly (see “Handling Paint” on page 9).
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Tis step focused on shading using multiple layers of contrasting color, applied with a Size 0 brush. o start, the chitinous exoskeleton was shaded with a wash of Dioxazene Purple ink mixed with Matte Medium so it flowed into cracks and crevices. Te spiked armor and bone blade were shaded with a wash of Raw Umber ink, mixed evenly with Matte Medium and glopped on. Te bio-pistol in the lower left hand was given a glaze of Raw Umber ink while the orange pistol in the upper left hand was painted with a wash of Burnt Sienna ink. All of the wooden parts (spear haft, musket stock) as well as the metal were shaded with Burnt Umber ink. Shading metal
in this way gives a nice grimy and corroded look, appropriate for a bug-man that salvages weapons in a fungal forest. Some color was needed to offset the brown tones, so the pants were given a wash of Pthalo Green ink mixed with Matte Medium. Te model was placed on its back to allow this wash to dry and pool in the crevices on the front. Ten the same was done for the back, laying the model on its front. Tis technique is very handy to use when applying washes as it avoid the problem of the washes running off the model and onto the base. After the green wash was completely dry, it was time to paint some more brown. Te tassels, trinkets and ropes under the jacket and the skulls on the left shoulder were shaded with glazes of Burnt Umber ink. Finally, the bandana on the creature’s head was given a light glaze of Dioxazene Purple ink mixed with black paint, and a touch of Burnt Umber ink glazed on the top of the head.
Te bio-pistol in the lower left hand was given a glaze of Primary Yellow paint, brightening up the tone, while not covering over the greenish-brown shadows. Te other pistol in the upper left hand was painted with a wash-density layer of Burnt Sienna ink, mixed evenly with Indian Yellow paint and a bit of Matte Medium. Tis was done to make the color more saturated, as it was a bit too faint in the previous step. Te tassels, trinkets and eyes were also painted with the same wash mixture of Burnt Sienna ink and Indian Yellow paint. Lastly, the body plates and armor were given a glaze of Quinacridone Magenta paint to give the whole model a warmer tone.
Step 4 - Cloth Highlights
Step 3 - Color Enhancement Te goal here was to apply more glaze layers with the Size 0 brush to build up color saturation. For the clothing, complementary colors were used to create dark shadows and change the color tone. Burnt Umber ink was applied as a glaze, making the green tone more of an olive and darkening the shadows.
Since there was clothing on this miniature, the cloth was given its own separate step. Multiple layers of thinned Cerulean Blue ink, mixed with increasing amounts of white paint, were applied using a feathered blending painting method with a Size 00 brush (see “Handling Paint” on page 9). Feathering helped build highlights up to white and made smooth transitions into the shadows. o smooth out the blending even more, light glazes of Cerulean Blue and
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Pthalo Green ink were applied, then a few more glazes of light blue mixed with white were feathered on. Tis process of “glaze and highlight” is what gives the smooth and “hard” look of the surface. Multiple layers of white paint on the coat trim and gold buttons finished it off.
Step 5 - Edge Highlights Edge highlights were painted with Golden White using a Size 00 brush. Te tip of the brush was used to paint fine lines on the edge of each carapace segment, armor plate, spike, and anything else raised or needing highlights. Pure white paint was used to add “hotspot” reflections, where light strikes from above, and highlight the tips of spikes and the edges of crystals. Te eyes were highlighted with light glazes of white mixed with Burnt Sienna ink, then given black pupils and pure white dots for hotspot reflections with the tiny Size 000 brush. o blend in the highlights, surfaces were given glazes of their primary colors. Te biopistol and golden tassels were glazed with Primary Yellow paint and the crystals glazed with Cerulean Blue ink. Wood and straps were glazed with Burnt Umber ink. Te base was painted with washes of magenta, green and blue inks. Te little mushroom was painted with glazes of magenta paint, mixed with white. A few white dots were added to complete the fungus.
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Giant Anglerfish Te deep sea is populated by many monstrous creatures, but few are as terrifying as the Giant Anglerfish. Tis model is massive in size, fully able to hold a human-size figure standing within its mouth, so it requires a different approach than smaller models. Big brushes were required in order to apply the large amount of paint needed for the body, and patience was important to allow time for the washes and glazes to dry. Te color palette used here was relatively limited, mainly reds and blues, but the key was to vary the tones and create the glowing effect of the angler’s light as the main focus.
Step 1 - Zenith Prime When priming this model, a different technique was used, called “Zenith Priming”. Here, the goal was to create shadows and highlights by first priming with black, covering the entire model, then spraying with white only from above. Te idea was to simulate how light strikes when the sun is at a zenith angle above (not necessarily at 90 degrees but around that angle). White paint will strike and build up on the upper portions while leaving the dark recesses with black primer. A few sprays are needed and the model can be laid down if it helps, as long as the spray is striking the top of the model first.
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Step 2 - Base Coats Base coats were applied using a Size 6 brush with opaque paint, thinned to a light cream consistency so it flowed easliy. For the body, a light orange hue was used, made from Vivid Red-Orange ink mixed with a small amount of Primary Yellow and white paint. Tis mixture was allowed to fully dry, then the body was painted with a wash of Napthol Crimson ink to give it a deep, pure red color. Te teeth were painted with a wash of Bone White while the inside of the mouth was washed with Bone White mixed with Dioxazene Purple ink. Te fins, eye and lure were painted with a light coat of Cerulean Blue ink. Everything was left to dry fully before the next step.
Step 3 - Shading Te giant fish needed shading next. Basecoat red was darkened with Quinacridone Red paint, a transparent red with dark and bold color. It was mixed with a bit of black paint, Matte Medium and water and applied with the Size 6 brush. For darker areas, such as behind the eyes or below the fins, more black was used. It took a few applications of the paint/medium mixture, letting it dry in between, to get the dark shadow area on the cheek. Te teeth were painted with a wash mixture of black paint, Dioxazene Purple ink and a bit of Bone White paint and Matte Medium. Everything was allowed to dry fully, using a nearby fan to speed up the process.
Step 4 - Drybrushing
Step 5 - Edge Highlights In order to smooth out the irregularities from drybrushing, a glaze of Quinacridone Red paint was applied and allowed to dry fully before edge highlights were started. Edge highlights on the skin were painted using a Size 1 brush with Vivid Red-Orange ink mixed with a bit of Golden White, thinned with water to about 80% paint. More white was added when painting edges where light reflected (bottom edge of scratches, top of raised areas). Te lights and the eyes were highlighted with wash-density Cerulean Blue ink and white paint. Glow from the lure was added to the head with a glaze of Cerulean Blue ink, “scrubbed” with the brush to blend (see “Handling Paint” on page 9). Fins were glazed with Dioxazine Purple ink.
Tis step was meant to help lighten up the model as well as give the skin a bit of complexity. Unlike the Dire Fish-Lizard, this model did not actually have scales to be painted and instead had smooth skin with many small wrinkles and scratches. o quickly highlight the skin texture, a big Size 6 brush was used to “drybrush” with a mix of Vivid Red-Orange ink, Primary Yellow and white paint (see “Handling Paint” on page 9). A few layers were drybrushed to give a slightly random look to the skin.
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Step 6 - Glow Effects Lights on the body and the one on the tip of the lure were highlighted with pure white glazes, applied with a Size 1 brush. Reflections from these lights were applied to the body with Cerulean Blue ink and white to create a simulated “light source” effect, with more highlights painted closer to the lights. Te eyes also needed to show the reflections from the lure light. Tis was done by painting light gray iris, then applying multiple layers of thinned white to make a diffused reflection. A hotspot reflection was painted with pure white paint, covering part of the iris since the lure was so close.
Step 7 - Final Touches Final touched were added using a Size 1 brush. Te fins were given a glaze of Quinacridone Red paint near their bases. Edges of the fins were highlighted with Dioxazene Purple ink mixed with white paint. Te teeth were painted with multiple glazes of white paint, mixed with a touch of Cerulean Blue ink. o contrast with the teeth, the inside of the mouth was painted with glazes of pink (white paint and Napthol Crimson ink) and shaded with a wash of black paint mixed with Matte Medium. Te base was washed with green, blue and brown inks, then drybrushed with Bone White . Some pink glazes were added here and there as well as white dots for reflections.
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Nautiloid Chrysalid A truly alien denizen of the deep sea, the Nautiloid Chrysalid provides a challenge to paint due to its multiple textures and details. It has a large shell with sharp edges and encrusting barnacles, a mass of writhing tentacles with rows of suckers and a strange golden metal weapon tipped with a large crystal. Painting this model therefore requires the use of all painting techniques, from glaze painting to wet blending and edge highlighting. Te color palette includes many colors also, blues, purples, reds, browns and yellows, as well as metallic gold and silver.
Step 1 - Base Coats Te Nautiloid was primed using the “Zenith Prime” technique, first priming with black, covering the entire model, then spraying with white only from above. When that was dry, base coats were applied with a big Size 6 brush. Te shell was painted with a wash of Golden White while tentacles were given a wash of Cerulean Blue ink. Te small tentacles closer to the shell were painted with an additional glaze of Quinacridone Magenta paint. Lastly, the metal of the weapon was painted with a wash of gold paint.
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Step 2 - Warm Midtone Tis first shading step focused on warm colors with the idea to add a warm middle tone (midtone), the color between the highlight and shadow. Te light base coat would be darkened but the light edges would still show through. o do this, the shell was painted with a thick mixture of Burnt Sienna ink mixed with Matte Medium, glopped on (see “Handling Paint” on page 9) with a Size 6 brush so that it filled in the cracks and darkened the whole shell. Te metal of the weapon was also painted with the same wash to give it an orange-gold color. entacles were shaded with a wash mixture of Quinacridone Red paint and Matte Medium. Te mixture was kept thin enough to flow into the area underneath the shell. Some of the red wash was scrubbed further down the large tentacles using a Size 1 brush.
Step 3 - Cool Shadows Tis step helped create the range of color in the shell and weapon and used the Size 6 brush. Te weapon was washed with Deep Turquoise ink mixed with Matte medium and water (50% ink, 25% medium and 25% water). Te shell was washed with the same type of mix, but using Pthalo Blue ink. When the shell was being washed, the model was left on its side so the ink pooled in the recesses and did not run off the shell. One side was given a wash, allowed to dry, then the other side was done the same way. When fully dry, the shell was glazed with Burnt Umber ink in the recesses.
metal weapon was painted with a wash of Burnt Umber ink and Matte Medium to add shadows and make it look more corroded. Te tentacles were highlighted with multiple wash-density layers of Cerulean Blue ink, mixed with white. Tese paint layers helped to even out the main color transitions from shadow to midtone. Highlights were painted with glazes of white and a touch of blue ink, with final glazes of pure white. Te edges of the tentacles and suckers were painted with pure white on the hotspot highlights. A “freehand” feature painted on the tentacles was a rows of horizontal lines along the length of each in light blue, highlighted to white on the highest parts. Te tips of the tentacles were painted with a glaze of Quinacridone Magenta paint to finish them off.
Step 5 - Edge Highlights Edge highlights on the shell were painted using the tip of a Size 0 brush with Golden White paint, thinned with water to be about Step 4 - Adding Detail 80% paint. More white was added for edges Now that the main shadows were done, where light reflects the most (the bottom edge it was time to paint some of the remaining of scratches and top of raised areas). Since the details with a Size 1 brush. Te eyes were shell was segmented, every ridge edge needed painted with a base coat of Indian Yellow paint, to be highlighted. For some of the large then the tip of the crystal was painted with a protruding edges, the side of the brush was wash-density mixture of Deep Turquoise ink used instead of the tip for highlighting (see and white paint. Tis was to make sure that it “Handling Paint” on page 9). had a different shade than the tentacles. Te
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Te shell also had many barnacles encrusting the surface. Tese were painted with highlights of Bone White paint, then with pure white paint on the very top edges as final highlights. Te edges of the golden weapon were highlighted with a mix of gold and silver at 50/50, with the final highlights done with pure silver on hotspot areas. Barnacles on the weapon were highlighted with Bone White in the same way as the ones on the shell. Te eyes were highlighted with washdensity layers of Indian Yellow and white paint. Te pupils were painted as vertical lines on each eye with thinned black paint, a bit thicker than wash density. A fine white line was painted on either side of the pupils.
Step 6 - Finishing Touches Gradients on each crystal facet were painted with a Size 00 brush using washdensity mixes of Deep Turquoise ink and black for the dark side and turquoise and white for the light side, feathered to blend smoothly. Tinned wash-density white paint was traced on each edge of the facets, with pure white used to paint hotspots at corners. A minor glow effect was added on the weapon using a glaze of thinned turquoise white mixture near the crystal. Te base was painted with washes of umber, blue and magenta ink, highlighted with pure white paint applied as fine lines and dots.
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Tips and Tricks Blacklining Miniatures are small by their very nature and are viewed from a distance most of the time. Since small details become invisible unless they contrast from the background, it is critical that painters use brighter highlights and darker shadows than would be “natural” in a full-scale scene. Edge highlighting with pure white is one of the simplest ways to get high contrast. Another way is “blacklining”, where thinned black or very dark brown is painted at the junction between two surfaces. It can be overused at times, but blacklining is a very useful technique to delineate sections of a miniature. An example of effective blacklining and edge highlights for “visual pop” is shown below on the DeepWars Hydraform Mech construct. Black lines were painted in each crack between plates and at the junction of different regions on the head.
but there are some tricks to getting the best results. One thing to remember is that thinned paint will be pulled downward by gravity and end up flowing right out of the scales. A simple solution is to sit the figure at an angle or on its side so that the scales are upside down, meaning the paint can collect under the overlapped section between scales. Tis naturally creates a shadow and highlight area for each scale. For rapid edge highlighting, one can use the full length of the brush, moving perpendicularly across the scales instead of down them. Tis applies paint on the edges of multiple scales at the same time and usually needs only one brush stroke in one direction. Final edge highlights are applied with the brush tip to the “peak” of the scales.
Feathers
Overlapping Scales Some creatures have scales that are large and overlap one another. Tese types of scales are simple to shade using glazes and washes
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Feathers can be painted efficiently with mixture washes, fast drybrushing of basic highlights, and edge highlights to pick out detail. When painting feathers it is important to remember try to paint them individually as much as possible and not simply using the drybrush technique, which is just rapid brushing with semi-dry paint. While that technique can add highlights quickly it is messy and does not work well with fine features, like the shaft and barb texture.
In the example to the right of a Skullcracker Bird, the feathers on the lower body and wings were treated like large scales. Washes of blue-gray paint and Burnt Sienna ink were used for the shadows while highlights were built up on each individual feather using Golden White . A light glaze of the opaque highlight color was applied over each feathered area to help blend them together, a step not usually done with overlapping scales but very helpful for light feathers. Large feathers provide a chance to add stripes and other details. In the example Desert Griffon below, the tips of the long wing feathers were glazed with Raw Umber paint after being highlighted fully up to white. Stripes were painted with glazes of black paint, with thicker black painted closer to the tips. Te ideas was to create patterning similar to that found on many raptors, such as the Red Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus ).
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Pebbly Texture Skin Lizards, dinosaurs and dragons often have a rough skin texture of raised bumps that is referred to as “pebbly”. Tis skin can be painted effectively using a combination of subtle glaze painting and careful drybrushing. An example of this type of skin is shown below on “Te Hunter” model from Dragonblood miniatures, now produced by DarkSword. Te skin of the ceratosaur mount was first painted with a light base of Raw Sienna paint and allowed to dry. Ten it was glazed with Burnt Umber ink to create basic shadows. A glaze of black paint was used to paint the stripes along the back and sides. Te translucent black over yellowish skin created a slightly green hue to the stripes. When the glazes fully dried, the skin was lightly brushed with semi-dry Golden White paint, highlighting the pebbly texture while
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leaving the darker tones untouched. Multiple layers were drybrushed in this way to build up highlight color, mixing more white in to highlight the upper surfaces of muscles, skin ridges and bony bumps. Finally, a light glaze of Burnt Sienna ink was added to smooth out the highlights and midtones. Te rider’s pebbly skin was painted with a base wash of Golden Yellow paint. When fully dry it was painted with a wash of Napthol Crimson ink mixed with Matte Medium, then with a glaze of Dioxazene Purple ink in the shadows. Te horns were painted with a glaze of Quinacridone Magenta to give them a different tone. Careful drybrush highlights were added using Golden Yellow paint mixed with white, then glazed with more Napthol Crimson ink to smooth out the transitions. Edge of bony plates, horns, spikes and ridges were painted with multiple glazes of Bone White , allowing some pink to show through.
Painting for Gaming Te step-by-step guides described how to paint display-quality models. Tese steps were numerous though, and would be impractical for painting a warband in an evening for DeepWars or ShadowSea. For gaming-level painting, the key is to consolidate as many of the steps as possible into three main ones: Base Coat - Tis step should always be done with light colors over a white or Zenith Primed model. It is important to vary the basecoat shades for different item. Shadow Wash - All shading is done at this stage using different thicknesses of ink and paint washes, mixed with Matte Medium. Te wash colors should be complementary to the base coat color, where appropriate. Detailing - Tis step is primarily about edge highlighting and drybrushing. One can do some wet blending on certain parts (cloth, smooth muscles) and blacklining for maximum contrast, but most everything should be highlighted with opaque Golden White or pure white. Other fine details, like eyes, are done at the end. Finished miniatures should be coated with a protective sealer, such as estors Dullcote, for rough game handling.
In the example picture above, the Dark Mariners were primed white to start, then their carapace armor was washed with Burnt Sienna ink. Metal was base coated with a wash of gold paint and tentacles with Cerulean Blue ink. Fabric was painted with Bone White and the plasma blade held by the commander was given a base wash of Pthalo Blue ink. o shade the Carapace armor, golden metal weapons and writhing tentacles, those parts were washed with a gloppy mixture of Pthalo Blue ink, black paint and Matte Medium. Cloth was washed with Burnt Umber and Sap Green inks. Edge highlights were painted with Golden White on cloth, carapace and bone. Silver was used on the metal and thinned white for the tentacles and plasma blade. Finally, Sap Green ink was glazed on the barnacles and Magenta ink on the tentacle tips.
Conclusion I hope this book has been helpful to beginners and more advanced artists. Painting miniatures should be an enjoyable hobby and one of the main reasons for me to write this book was to show the techniques that make it fun for me. So keep those brushes moving, and the paint flowing. ~ Eric Louchard
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