Monday 9 May 2016

Somewhere after midnight


I've finally finished painting up the figure for my Tiefling Bard, Myth. To get him finished, I basically worked from top to bottom to get things finished off. I dropped in a wash on his trousers to give them a bit more contrast, then cleaned up all the leather patches, washed and drybrushed them to get them back to where they were before the trouser colour swap.

I dropped in a darker blue at the base of the jacket to give it much more contrast, and changed the colour of his gloves. I added gold buttons to the jacket, dropped a light sepia wash onto the puffed sleeves, lightened some areas of the face, and dropped in dark brown lines into his horns to improve contrast.


His tail had also been a bit too plain, so I brought it right up with a much lighter red. The lute also had a bit more tinkering and dry brushing to make it seem a little less shiny. Each individual thing was only a little thing, but I felt it really brought the miniature detail forward and made him feel finished.


 I was trying out a couple of new colours in this last paint session. The first was Vallejo Model Color "Dark Sea Blue". I picked it up on a whim after hearing someone on a podcast (I can't recall which one) say it was one of their 'go to' colours. I made a note of it at the time, and ages later have picked up some to play with.

I did find it needed a ton of shaking to actually make it mix - the first few drops I got out were clearly separated and worse than a wash consistency. It was far more than GW paints need, but I quite liked the colour. It has a dark blue green to it that I like.


I've also been trying to get out of my "everything is dark" painting habits, so grabbed this 'red' from GW. It's closer to a flourescent orange, really, but when blended over a darker red, really makes it pop. I used another red as a transition between the very dark red and this so the change wasn't too stark, but if you look at the tail in particular, it gives a lovely effect.

All in all, I'm pleased with both experiments. I'd recommend trying new paints or colours - or even colours in combinations you wouldn't usually consider. Pushing out of your comfort zone really helps you improve your painting.

Also, I got through the post without telling you about my character. You're welcome, internet.

8 comments:

  1. Purple trousers with that jacket tells us all we need to know about him......


    Jus' sayin'

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    1. Mostly, I decided to paint him up in one of his many costumes with some armour thrown over the top. His travelling clothes are pretty dull, and wouldn't be interesting to paint. I'm trying not to paint EVERYTHING brown! :P

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    2. Random background option 66: Wanted by the fashion police.

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    3. He may be on the run from a few people...

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  2. That looks fantastic, man! All the extra work really paid off!

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    1. Thanks! It just shows what a bit of extra blending and contrast can do to make a miniature look a whole lot better.

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  3. Very nicely painted,and very nice choice of colours! Cheers!

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    1. Thank you very much. I'm very pleased with how he turned out. :-)

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