How to do good horn/bone?

[PlasmaDavid]

Any tips on getting good looking living horn (Saurus spikes, Stegadon horns etc)?

And whilst we're at it, bone?

Currently I'm just sloshing on Bleached Bone for horn, and washing with Mud. For dead bone I've been using skull white with a black wash, looks okay.

 

[n810]

The trick is layers of paint....

Start with like a medium brown base coat,
then starting at the pointy end paint like 2/3 to 3/4 of it bone white.
then starting at the pointy end paint like 1/4 of it skull white.
then go back and do a wash of delvin mud around the base 1/4.
and maybe a tiny wash of black around the base.

if it's a fairly large horn you can do some lines,
(do this before the washes)
Start at the base with stripes of the brown you used about 1/3 the way to the point,
Then some thin dark brown or black thin stripes slightly shorter than the other ones.
if you need to do some touch ups you can go in the other direction with some white.
and then finish up with the brown and black washes.


http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/nbundick/Lizardmen/100_1561.jpg

 

[PlasmaDavid]

Beauty, thanks.

I figured it would just be a matter of actually having the patience and motivation to do some blending/layering like that but for some reason it seems much less of a hassle when you state it plainly like that

 

[Qupakoco]

If you pick up the new White Dwarf there is a "how to paint ____" section that covers all the new lizard models. The horn/bone technique that n810 suggested is in there with pictures and stuff. Pretty handy if you want pics to go with the steps.

 

[Caprasauridae]

I usually do it like this:

First, base brown (I use the old Khemri Brown)
Then, from 2/3 from base I use greyish brown (old Chardon Granite or something like that)
Finally, from 1/3 from the point I use Bone White.

Looks pretty good without washes, but if you want to go one step further, you could dilute your wash to 1:3 or 1:4 with water and then paint the whole thing from top to base, leaving most of the wash to the base of the bone. Then, after it had tried, paint again, but start from little closer to the base. Continue this until you reach the base. Addition of black wash at the very base to act as a shadow is a very nice trick, like n810 suggested.

I also tried a different approach with the claws of my Cold Ones. I painted the claws brown and then diluted bone white to 1:10 or so, so really dilute, with water. Then I did the same layering as above, but started about 1/4 from the base and moved towards the tip. This is really a lot of work, but looks nice. Here's a picture for reference:



Good luck with your painting!