Painting cold ones?

[Ragnar]

So here's the deal. I'm very new to painting and the only things I have painted are my lizardmen, and one DnD miniature. I'm having some difficulty trying to come up with a complementary colour scheme for my Saurus Cavalry. I paint my Lizzies with red scales and black skin, and I give them purple shields and crests. I really don't know how to go about painting something large like a cold one as well, so tips on that are appreciated. What colours should I use guys? Here's some pictures of my army so far...

Saurus


Saurus Champion



Skinks


Skink Brave



Temple Guard

Temple Guard Champion



And Yes I know the lighting is bad =/ Also feel free to critique my horrible paint job on everything =P
Thanks again, if you even managed to read this far =D

 

[totzro]

If this is the first thing you have painted I think you should be proud! Altough the pictures are a bit dark And it's hard to see, I think the look good.

One thing I always advice new painters is to try their hands on washes. They are almost watery and when you applybthem they go into the recesses of the model and creates natural shading. If you have a GW store nearby i'm sure they will let you try them out.

The bone helmets on the templeguards is a perfect example of where washes would be useful. In this case a brown wash would be best.


Regarding the cold ones. Look around for inspiration. Look at pictures of lizards and dinousaurs. Look at other peoples minis. Cool Mini Or Not is a great place to find inspiration.

On general note. Chose a color that stands out from your saurus, maybe a bright yellow would work?

I hope this has helped

EDIT:

Here's some cold one color schemes I tried out before I settled. Maybe they can serve as some inspiration.

 

[Ragnar]

Wow thanks! I really like the purple and blue one. I think I might go for an orange and purple one, maybe. It's so hard to decide! Thanks for the tip about the washes, I will definitely check that out. =D

 

[Caprasauridae]

totzro said it all. I completely agree that you should make the Cold Ones stand out from the Saurus. In your case, as your warriors are quite dark, you could use either bright colours, or if that is not your thing, more earthlike colours, like brown, blue, green, yellow and off-shades of white. And what comes to your painting, I think you have a lot of potential, your paint work is tidy and you can keep the colours where they need to be. This can be nicely seen from the weapons.

You can easily take your paintings to a next step by experimenting with different washes. They are easy to use and give nice shading effect. Also, in time you'll start to naturally seen where the shadows should be. This will be a great help if and when you want to move on to more demanding techniques. I'd apply a layer or two of dark brown wash on the copper of the weapons too. This not only gives them a nice "old 'n used" look, but also protects the metallic paint from chipping when your miniatures clash against others, be it on the battlefield or on their storage containers...

Keep up the good work!