Seraphon Color Advice

[Just A Skink]

Hi all,
I've recently purchased the Seraphon Starter Set and I'm beginning with my saurus warriors. I want to ask for some color/painting advice.

A little background: One friend plays stormcast with green/gold (main) & red/gold schemes. One friend plays orruks with green skin/purple armor. One friend plays Khorne chaos with reds/browns/gold/black. And one friend who plays nighthaunts with ghostly blue/green & reddish cloaks

This is my first foray back into mini painting in MANY years (and I didn't do that much back in the day). I was originally thinking of a green color scheme, but with a decent amount of green on the table I've changed my mind. I'm strongly considering sticking with blue/teal/turquoise (similar to the standard seraphon) b/c I think it will stand out a bit more. But, I am thinking about flipping the look with a darker skin with lighter scales. Since I still remember the lizardmen, I've also toyed with painting yellow spines & stripes to dedicate them to Tlaxcotl.

Using the Citadel Paint app in the Turquoise section. I'm thinking...
Skin: Celestial Vindicators Armour (macragge blue, sotek green, coelia greenshade, temple guard blue) or Dark Teal (abbadon black, sotek green, temple guard blue) or maybe Thousand Sons Armour (thousand sons blue, nuln oil, ahriman blue)?
Scales: Light Turquoise (corax white, temple guard blue, coelia greenshade, baharroth blue)
Spine/stripes: Yriel Yellow or Flash Gitz Yellow (maybe a spot shade of Casandora Yellow?)
Shield: Dark Red (khorne red, carroburg crimson, wazdakka red, wild rider red)
Metals/jewelry: Bronze (balthasar gold, agrax earthshade, gehenna's gold, auric armour gold)

I'm a little concerned the teal/turquoise colors of the skin & scales may not be different enough. I haven't seen the colors in person. I thought it would make my paint purchases easier to basically get the standard lizardmen colors with only a few extra paints.

Thoughts/feedback/advice are welcome. Thank you

 

[LizardWizard]

In terms of color theory, which ever color has more white in it will stand out the most. So if you paint the skin a lighter/whiter blue than the scales it will cause the skin to stand out more and vice versa. This is why you often see Saurus and Skinks painted with light skin, then darker scales, followed by a bright red or yellow down the spin or the flange of their head. It allows for all three components to have a great deal of visual separation and a distribution of color intensity.

My recommendation based on the color scheme you were planning is to paint both the skin and the scales dark. Then spend you time picking out and highlighting the scales in a much brighter shade. Such as the turquoise you planned. Use a tinted down color of the same turquoise to highlight the wrinkles in the flesh. This will provide visual separation while still tying your model together. If you go for lighter scales then make sure the spins which arise our them are dark at their base and near white at their tip. This will help visually differentiate their height.

That being said, you can paint them any way you please. Make them your own. I hope that my explanation of their tradition color palate helps you decided how best to use or alter your own color scheme.

Lastly and most importantly, please post us some awesome pics of your finished work. Happy painting!

 

[Crowsfoot]

Looking at your scheme why not go grey for the skin, if you aim for a mid grey that will contrast well with the blue and yellow.

 

[Just A Skink]

In terms of color theory, which ever color has more white in it will stand out the most. So if you paint the skin a lighter/whiter blue than the scales it will cause the skin to stand out more and vice versa. This is why you often see Saurus and Skinks painted with light skin, then darker scales, followed by a bright red or yellow down the spin or the flange of their head. It allows for all three components to have a great deal of visual separation and a distribution of color intensity.

My recommendation based on the color scheme you were planning is to paint both the skin and the scales dark. Then spend you time picking out and highlighting the scales in a much brighter shade. Such as the turquoise you planned. Use a tinted down color of the same turquoise to highlight the wrinkles in the flesh. This will provide visual separation while still tying your model together. If you go for lighter scales then make sure the spins which arise our them are dark at their base and near white at their tip. This will help visually differentiate their height.

That being said, you can paint them any way you please. Make them your own. I hope that my explanation of their tradition color palate helps you decided how best to use or alter your own color scheme.

Lastly and most importantly, please post us some awesome pics of your finished work. Happy painting!

Thanks LizardWizard. I think I understand where you're coming from and it makes sense from a color theory standpoint; dark vs. light I mean. If I do paint the light turquoise scales maybe I should go for darker red or maybe even black stripes. Hmm... I'll probably try to do a test mini.

 

[Just A Skink]

Looking at your scheme why not go grey for the skin, if you aim for a mid grey that will contrast well with the blue and yellow.

Thanks, Crowsfoot. Forgive my ignorance, but I assume you mean a blue/grey like The Fang? Or more like Mechanicus? I guess I am wanting more color in the mini, but I'm not very familiar with GW's greys short of the app.

 

[LizardWizard]

Thanks, Crowsfoot. Forgive my ignorance, but I assume you mean a blue/grey like The Fang? Or more like Mechanicus? I guess I am wanting more color in the mini, but I'm not very familiar with GW's greys short of the app.

Something many painters over look is that often the base color will make less of a difference than your highlight color. If your highlight color is blue ontop of grey then most people will interpret the skin as blue.

 

[Cageyblood]

Something many painters over look is that often the base color will make less of a difference than your highlight color. If your highlight color is blue ontop of grey then most people will interpret the skin as blue.

Strongly agree. I ALWAYS fret so much about picking my base colour and it ALWAYS matters less than I think it will.

 

[Crowsfoot]

Strongly agree. I ALWAYS fret so much about picking my base colour and it ALWAYS matters less than I think it will.

Just think of your base colour as a second primer.