Hi I'm trying to paint some special models for my son. He wanted them shiny/ sparkeling . He is 5. So I said why not. Lizards are starborne so... To test it I painted two. See pic. I know bad quality. The left one is wash with army painter soft tone. The right one isn't wash. I kind of think that by washing the model becomes too dark but without the deep and shadows are missing. Help in want to make them bright and shiny without losing the depth of the model. How? Regards Bee
Nice to incorporate your kid in to your hobby. I'd say apply the wash and than highlight the raised parts with the yellow again, so you create some more depth but still have the bright yellow at the tops of the model. Grrr, Imrahil
Washing usually does darken or dull a bright color. I think @Imrahil is right. You'll probably have to highlight the model after washing/toning it. Alternatively, you could try GW Contrast paints. Iyanden Yellow quickly washed over a white base coat should give you the nice depth you want. Then just highlight the raised areas with your yellow sparkle paint. Or, you could try FolkArt Yellow Flash color shift paint. It might look a little more metallic, but that could be what you (or your son) wants.
So i tried retouching after washing. Didn't worked that well. See fist pic. On the second I used flesh wash instead of soft tone. Looks more promessing. I think I have to do the dry brushing before I do the sparkels. Btw. How do you drybrush gold? I always mix gold with some with.
personally I like the first skink, but you are going for the sparkle so the second one is better. It depends on the feel/look you are going for. You could take or add in some silver/metal. Or a brighter gold paint. Grrr, Imrahil