This is my first army. These are the first models I have ever painted so please give advice. My fluff is that when Dracothion lead the slann to a new home a new Lustria was formed. I hold that the Slann remembered the spawning pools and built new temple cities. My army comes from a city built into cliffs over looking the sea. Unit 1 saurus warriors
I am not an expert by any means, but I have tried "drybrushing" before, normally on terrain pieces. The darker color (dark blue) would go on first, followed by a lighter blue on top, gently applied to not go into the recesses of the scales. In theory at least, but there are plenty of fantastic painters who could give you better advice. This might help give a visual of what i meant:
Yes the dry paint is almost solid in the pot but you should stir it with an old brush handle before using it. With miniature painting you need to exaggerate shading and highlights so they stand out. Have a look at this chart it will help you choose which colours to use together. https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads/CitadelPaintingSystem.pdf
I could never get on with the dry brush paint from GW, I prefer to just use the normal paint if i'm going to drybrush. The shield looks to have some nice shading going on. You can achieve some very nice results with a base coat and wash I find.
I also use normal colors for drybrushing. Just dip your brush in, then brush most of the color off on a paper towel. No water, no thinning. I usually then try on the back of my hand, the brush should leave a barely visible amount of paint, that's the right amount.