Demihuman

One of my all time favorite Step-By-Steps!

Originally Posted by Dblood

Hi all,

Here is a step-by-step description of the painting of the Nautiloid Chrysalid I sculpted for DeepWars. This was a resin casting, primed black, then zenith primed from above and to the side with white. This works very well for giving a basic "shadow-map" with light and dark areas.



Next, The base coats were applied with thin layers. The idea here is to apply thinned opaque paints, bone (Reaper Golden Highlight), and light blue paint (in this case Liquitex Cerulean Blue hue ink, which is like an thin opaque paint) to the tentacles. Some initial glazes of magenta inks were blended in closer to the shell on the tentacles. The weapon was given a thin coat of gold. Everything allowed to dry fully.



The next step was to apply the first washes. The shell was washed with a mix of Burnt Sienna ink + matte medium (Liquitex). Same for the weapon. The tentacles were given light washes of red paint+paint + matte medium to add some more shadow where the tentacles meet the shell. All allowed to dry fully.



Next is the shadow wash. This is the key to making the range of color in the shell and weapon. This is a greenish+blue wash with ink (turquoise works well here) on the gun, with matte medium. The trick is getting the right consistency and not letting it pool too much. The shell is washed with blue ink + matte medium, then with some burnt umber in places to add some more shadow. When the shell was being washed, the model was left on its side so the ink pooled in the right places and did not run down the shell.



When the shadow wash was dry, the tentacles were highlighted with Cerulean blue and white, with some magenta ink on the tips. The eyes were given a coat of a dark yellow/orange - Indian Yellow works fine here.



The shell was given edge highlights using reaper golden yellow. This is a tricky bit that requires some patience as it is mainly painting with the tip of the brush, almost like freehand. There was some slight blending of the shell itself with burnt Umber + white, but not much. The natural mottling effect from the ink washes is what gives the shell its look, so it is important to not obscure them.



Final steps - more highlights applied to the tentacles to smooth them out. Base done similarly to shell, but with more blue and burnt umber inks. Crystal done with Turquoise ink + white paint. eyes done with a light yellow + white mix, then a very light glaze of blue ink, then the vertical irises in black paint. The weapon metal was highlighted with gold and silver.

here is the final picture, with the link here http://www.coolminiornot.com/342216