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Tutorial Painting A Skink And Getting Weird

Discussion in 'Tutorials' started by neveroddoreven, Jun 17, 2017.

  1. neveroddoreven
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    neveroddoreven Well-Known Member

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    Hi Lustria, it's been a while.

    So recently the skirmish rules for Age Of Sigmar have finally pushed me to start a passion project that I've had on my mind for about a year. I just started the first model, and I remembered a lot of requests for a tutorial of some kind so I started snapping some photos. I'm kind of making it up as I go along and trying some new things, so it will either end up great or we'll learn how not to paint. Lets see how this plays out!

    I've wanted to paint some classic blue Lizardmen, but I didn't want to start a new army because I already have a huge force. However I've always got room for a skirmish warband. I'm taking inspiration from the recent trailers for Total War : Warhammer 2, and will be using them as source materiel.
    SkinkPic.jpg
    I'll be using Vallejo paints, so let me know if you want me to convert the tutorial with the Citadel equivalent. With lots of glazes and freehand stuff going on, just note that if you'd like to follow along at home that this is a stupid way of painting a big force, but great for single models.
    I started with an undercoat of Citadel Corax White, and will generally be working from light to dark.

    SkinkPaint1.jpg

    1.
    I started with the base, painting the stone with Beasty Brown (72.043), then a heavy drybrush of Heavy Ochre (72.150) and a final drybrush of Bonewhite (72.034). I like drybrushing for stone, you get a great texture from it. The dirt was painted Charred Brown (72.045), then drybrushed Heavy Brown (72.153). The vines were basecoated with Charred brown, then Earth (72.062), then Dead Flesh (72.035). The leaves were painted Sick Green (72.029), then layered with Goblin Green (72.030), then highlighted with Dead Flesh.
    Once the base was done I began on the lighter skin colour of the Skink with an all-over basecoat of Pale Grey Blue (70.907).

    2. I then defined the skin with washes. When layering washes or glazes, start with the lightest colour first. I mixed Heavy Warmgrey (72.148) with black in a 3:1 ratio with Citadel Lahmian Medium. When that had dried I mixed the same colours 1:1, and applied it as a wash into the deeper recesses like the hands, feet and face, wrinkles and around jewellery.

    3. Once the skin was shaded down I neatened it up by layering on the basecoat colour over all but the recesses, then I started on making this boy blue.
    I mixed Turqoise (72.024) with Pale Grey Blue (70.907) in equal parts and using Lahmian Medium, thinned it to the consistency of a wash and applied it in 3 layers taking care to keep the edges soft. I left the underbelly, face, forearms and lower legs white just like the reference pictures.

    4. I painted the scales Magic Blue (72.021). I used the same colour as a glaze in 2 or 3 layers on areas where larger scales will be later such as the shoulders, elbows and knees. I also used it darken the tail along the sides as well as the back of the head.
    At this point I thought there was too much contrast between the skin and scales on the back, so applied the wash from step 2 there.

    And that's it for now. Next time: Scaly freehand craziness and probably some other stuff too.
     
  2. deer riffs
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    deer riffs Well-Known Member

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    Fantastic content. Thanks for making this! I can't wait to see more.
     
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  3. PhoenixTheCat
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    PhoenixTheCat Well-Known Member

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    The title made me think that you were going to be painting a Skink in a weird fashion, so I was a bit disappointed. The Skink is still amazing.
     
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  4. Crowsfoot
    Slann

    Crowsfoot Guardian of Paints Staff Member

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    Don't be disappointed @neveroddoreven is one of the best painters to grace Lustria on line, we have asked him for a tutorial and now we are going to see how we should be painting our extra special models.
     
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  5. Crowsfoot
    Slann

    Crowsfoot Guardian of Paints Staff Member

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    @neveroddoreven

    I can't wait for part 2 you have already shown what a great painter you are and now we get to try your techniques, I'm well happy.
     
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  6. neveroddoreven
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    neveroddoreven Well-Known Member

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    SkinkPaint2.jpg

    5. I added 2 layers of highlights to the back scales by adding in a little Pale Grey Blue to Magic Blue. I used the same colours to add scales along the tail. I didn't want the highlights too bright here, as I thought there wasn't enough blue on the model.
    With that in mind I added another light glaze of blue to some areas. I also painted the brow blue to help frame the eyes as they will be a similar colour to the helmet. After looking again at the reference pictures I have, I noticed that the transition to white on the hands and feet was more of a mottled pattern rather than a fade like the underbelly, so I corrected that.

    6. Using Pale Grey Blue I began to line in the scale pattern on the dark blue areas. I started with the semi-random mottled pattern on the arms and legs, then I did the grid-like pattern on the shoulders and knees. The light blue areas also had freehand scales applied as more of a highlight like I had done on the tail.

    7. The white areas were next. I used Silvergrey (70.883) to paint the freehand scales, and pure white for where they needed to act as a highlight such as knuckles and joints. Just like the blue scales the pattern varies depending on which part of the body it is. The underbelly is applied in a tight dotted pattern row by row, the lower legs and digits were painted in a pattern like the scales found on a bird's legs and feet, and there are larger scales in a row along the mouth.

    SkinkPaint3.jpg

    8. The mouth, eyes and crest were basecoated Tan (72.066). Even though these areas will look different, using the same base colour will help the model seem more organic. Colour theorist's will tell you that a restricted gamut helps with colour harmony. Working with a limited palette can be a challenge sometimes, and I usually forget to plan out colours ahead, but I always like the results when I do.

    9. I mixed Beasty Brown 1:1 with Hexed Lichen (72.015) and applied it as a wash to the mouth, eyes, nostrils and lower eyelid. When that had dried I highlighted the tongue with Rose Brown (70.803) in a line along the sides, and added a dot of white.
    Equal parts Tan and Gold Yellow (72.007) were mixed and painted on the eyes and crest. I used medium for this stage as well as the next layer, for a softer blend.
    The teeth were painted Bonewhite in a light drybrush motion.

    10. An equal amount of white was added to the previous mix of Tan and Gold Yellow and applied to the eyes and crest. Pure Gold Yellow was painted as a stark circle to the eyes, then black for the pupils, just off centre so the Skink was looking forward. Then a dot of white in the upper pupils.
    The teeth were looking a little dull, so I brightened them up with Silergrey.

    Next time : Hopefully everything else.
     
  7. Teheloqtec
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    Teheloqtec Active Member

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    Thank you so much for taking the time for this tutorial. I've always been a fan of your work and will definitely try to replicate the technique you use for eyes and the free hand scales in particular, although I think I can learn quite a bit from every single step hehe
     
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  8. PhoenixTheCat
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    PhoenixTheCat Well-Known Member

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    I have two questions. Where did you get an actual Skink, and why did you cut off its right hand? Wait, it's actually a miniature?! Wow. Have a Spider-Man.:spiderman:
     
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  9. Crowsfoot
    Slann

    Crowsfoot Guardian of Paints Staff Member

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    Excellent so far, I have a request @neveroddoreven if you would be so kind.

    Can you make the tutorial into a pdf file when finished so I can download and print it for future reference, could you also include all the alternative paints?

    Reading how you paint is really inspiring me into taking my time and I want to try and replicate your methods,
     
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  10. tom ndege
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    tom ndege Well-Known Member

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    This is really great! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with us!

    I support @Crowsfoot's request for a pdf version. While I usually paint on my work deskt with my laptop on it, it's usually closed while painting for safety reasons... (to lazy to put it away and to afraid of damaging it to leave it open ;))
     
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  11. neveroddoreven
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    neveroddoreven Well-Known Member

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    Sorry updates are slow. I admit I'm a slow painter, but I'm also taking photos after every step and putting them together in Photoshop too. Also work. Sometimes life gets in the way of life.
    I'll try that PDF thing. I have no idea how to go about it as I am notoriously bad with computers, but I'll look it up and give it a go. I'll make a list of the colours used and convert them to the closest Citadel equivalent as well.
    Hopefully next update will be tomorrow, where I'll at least go over the gold areas.
     
  12. Crowsfoot
    Slann

    Crowsfoot Guardian of Paints Staff Member

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    Out of curiosity how many Vallejo paints do you now have, switched completely and how do you find them?
     
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  13. Ritual
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    Ritual Well-Known Member

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    I use pretty much all Vallejo at this point... They're cheaper than GW, and the quality is fantastic. I use a couple of GW paints such as retributor armour as a base gold as it's ridiculously high pigment and gives great coverage over black straight away. To get that in vallejo I would do silver followed by gold - so it saves me painting and dry time.

    Vallejo metallics are all great though, their finish in particular compared to GW.
     
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  14. The Red Devil
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    The Red Devil Defender of Hexoatl Staff Member

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  15. neveroddoreven
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    neveroddoreven Well-Known Member

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    SkinkPaint4.jpg

    11. The javelin haft and pendant cord were base coated Terracota (72.065). A highlight of Tan was applied to both, in a wood-grain texture on the haft.
    The same colours were used on the shield, which was basecoated Tan, then washed with terracota. A second layer of wash was added to the centre of the scales.

    12. A glaze of Charred Brown was added to the scales and javelin.

    13. Bonewhite was thinned down and lined around the edge of the shield's scales, and a single shiny highlight line on the javelin. For this kind of lining motion the paint was thinned with water instead of medium, as that seems to break up the pigment in tiny amounts as it dries and thickens faster.

    SkinkPaint5.jpg

    14. Desert Yellow (72.063) was mixed with black 2:1 and applied as a basecoat to all the gold areas. It's all going to be non-metallic, because I'm useless at metallics.

    15. More Desert Yellow was added to the mix (3:1) and layered on. At this point I started deciding which areas of gold will be bright and which will be dark, as the layers won't be a uniform covering.

    16. Pure Desert Yellow was then layered on. This is the midtone, where the colour will be it's most vibrant, so it's quite an important layer. Adding white to a colour will brighten it but at the same time make it weaker. The same goes for black, it will darken but not deepen the colour.

    17. Bonewhite was applied firstly as an edge highlight around all the sharp angles, then as a layer to the shinier areas. For the flat parts on the helmet I applied the layers in glazes, all the other smaller gold parts were painted normally.
    I also added simple reflections by painting a thinned line in dark areas such as the underside of the javelin.

    18. Lastly for the gold, pure white was used to add reflective highlights here and there on corners and light-catching points.

    Just a few more bits left to do. Next update should finish it.
     
  16. Crowsfoot
    Slann

    Crowsfoot Guardian of Paints Staff Member

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  17. Aginor
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    Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member

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    Thanks for that link!

    ...and of course also thanks for the tutorial, @neveroddoreven !
    I'd love to see a video of one of these being painted. I have the urge to try that on some model some day. As soon as I am skilled enough to pull it off. :D
     
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  18. neveroddoreven
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    neveroddoreven Well-Known Member

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    SkinkPaint6.jpg

    19. The jade details began as an equal mix of terracota and Sick Green, which was the base green of the leaves on the base. Bonewhite was added to the mix in increasing amounts for the next 3 layers. I decided that the centre and bottom tip of the snake motif on the helmet would be the brightest areas in a similar way to how the gold was painted. The last layer was applied as an edge highlight as well as a layer. To finish off, each corner was picked out with Silvergrey, and the corners in the centre with white.

    SkinkPaint7.jpg

    20. The javelin's blade was basecoated Pale Grey Blue then washed with Nuln Oil in 2 layers. Pale Grey Blue was applied again as an edge highlight first, then as a glaze in some areas where I wanted it to look like light reflecting. The corners of the edges were picked out with white, which was also glazed in the shiny areas.

    Other things I forgot;
    The claws were basecoated Charred Brown, highlighted Bonewhite towards the tips, then a reflective dot of Silvergrey was painted at the base similar to how you would paint a gem.
    The inside of the shield was basecoated Beasty Brown then washed with Charred Brown.

    SkirmiSkink1.jpg
    SkirmiSkink2.jpg
    SkirmiSkink3.jpg

    And there you have it, an overly complicated way of painting a 1 point model!
     
  19. tom ndege
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    tom ndege Well-Known Member

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    :cool::cool:
     
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  20. Aginor
    Slann

    Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member

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    Just great. I lack the words to describe how awesome those fine details look. Skinks are tiny yet you manage to do all those diminutive details.
     
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