Painting Deneghra 2

Now that all the parts are base coated and covered with a black wash, its time to move onto base coating all the details. You should let your wash dry for thirty minutes before continuing on with painting. Painting onto a wet wash causes a weird reaction with the paint so it is best to wait till it is completely dry.

We're now going to paint all the metal details that are going to be bronze or gold in a basecoat of "Tin Bitz". This will help give the bronze or gold a rich color and prevent us you from having to paint too many layers. Were also going to paint the back of her legs and the inside of her arms "Scab Red," then cover this in a black wash.

Once that is finished we are going to use "Adeptus Battlegray" foundation to highlight the edges and any areas that light hits when you shine a light directly above the models head, on the black areas of the skirt. We are also going to paint the weapon shaft now as well. Highlight the blue area in the same manner with "Regal Blue." Since we want to keep the model dark and sinister, I chose to highlight with Regal Blue. Since we already put down a black wash, it will come out brighter than the first layer of Regal Blue we put down. While the gray is drying, we can go in and lay down "Dwarf Bronze" on all the area's we painted in Tin Bitz earlier.

Now grab "Shining Gold" and paint the top  half and raised areas of all the parts you painted with Dwarf Bronze. I chose these colors to keep them the model dark and also to add to the steam punk feel of the Warmachine world. By now the gray we painted onto the black skirt should be dry. To avoid seeing any lines where one color stops and another continues (Layering), and to prevent the gray from being too bright on the black, we are going to cover the gray with black wash. I used two layers to bring the brightness of the gray down letting one layer of wash dry before applying another.If you look at the skirt in the picture below you will see that it looks like light shining off of black, rather than a stark contrast on top of a black.

 Techniques Used:

Now is a good time to talk a little bit about technique since we are no longer at the point where straight painting will do anything for you to achieve the look you want to go for once you get to this point. I always use a number of different techniques that compliment each other on each different type of model. Once you use one set of techniques on one model, then it is best to do the same on all models of the same type. What I'm saying essentially is, if you are going to drybrush, layer, highlighting and metallics one of the two boars on an "Orc Chariot," then you should do the same four techniques on the other. This way the unit stays uniform. If you wanted to move onto wet blending, highlighting, Lining In, and non metallic metals on a different chariot or set of "Orc Boar Rider" then that's fine as long as all the boars in that unit are done the same way.

For Those who don't know what I'm talking about here is a run down on all the techniques I use and a few I don't.

Painting: Always use the tip or point of the brush when painting details. Also when painting using any technique only paint in one direction. Painting in one different direction and going back over that spot in the other direction in one brush stroke is counter productive. When you paint in one direction you end up laying the pigment down evenly throughout the whole model.

Drybrushing: Dry brushing is when you use a  flat, stiff bristle brush and dip your brush directly into the pot (Hence "dry," no dilution) covering the tip of the brush. You then take off a majority of the paint on a piece of papertowel, and test on the back of your hand how much paint is coming off the end of the brush. If there is very little paint coming off you can start going over the area of the model to be drybrushed. Use the flat side of the bristles rather than the point and quickly brush stroke in one direction over this spot. This will quickly highlight only the raised areas of the model.  

Layering: Is when you paint an area with the base color, and let it dry. Then paint the next color up in your triad halfway to three quarters of the way up and let this layer dry. Then add the brightest color to the bottom quarter of the area. When you look at the model up close you will see a line dividing the colors, but when you look at the model on the table from playing distance it creates the same effect as wet blending.

Wet Blending: Wet blending is when you take the darkest color in your triad and the brightest color and dilute them the way you normally would, 1:1. Then you put down the darkest color at the bottom of an area half way up. Then start at the top with the brightest color and work your way down letting the paint bleed into the dark color.Once you get the the bottom grab some dark paint and start pulling it back up towards the top, continue moving the pigment back and forth until the two colors blend together, with no lines visible between the colors and a visible mid tone created when blending the two colors back and forth. This is the only time in is okay to paint in one direction and then go back the other. Here is an example of layering and wet blending side by side with the layering technique being used on the figure on the left side and wet blending on the right.

Blending: This is when you use a little drop of paint directly out of the pot and place it at the top of an area where the light shines. Usually you will be using a bright color so try to no overdo it. Once you place the paint in the spot use a second brush to push the paint out in all directions, down towards the bottom of an area till the paint gets real thinand then can't be pushed down any further. This is why you only want to use a small amount of paint. This will create a lighting effect, and seamlessly blend the dark and light colors together. This works well for animal, beasts and vehicles. Or you could wet blend, it will just take you a little longer. The end effect should look roughly the same.

Highlight: This is when you paint a thin line on the edges of the model with the brightest color in you triad to make the model pop. It is also used to refer to painting the bright colors that would be created on a piece of material when it moves in the light.

Glaze: This is when you thin you paints down way more than normal. Some people like mixing their paint 1:2 or 1:4, making each layer very thin causing you to paint 3-10 layers until it is the exact hue you want. This will give the model a very soft appearance, and will allow for some serious contrasts, shades, and shadows. This technique can be applied to the model or just certain parts like ethereal appendages, incorporeal figures and wings.

Now that we have part of the model completely covered, we are going to highlight. The colors you will need for this are shown above. Were going to start with the armor so grab some "Chainmail" and start highlighting all the edges.

 

Once this is done it is time to fix up the  the lighting effect on the shin pads and for this we are going to use the blending technique. Place a small line of paint under the knee plates, then with a second clean brush slowly start pulling the paint down till it wont go no further. Do this again on the other side and the paint a thin line down the middle of the shin pad half way down the leg. Now take Badab Black wash and place a thin layer at the bottom of the shin pad plates and pull the wash up till it just passes any line the first highlight may have made. If you blended it correctly there shouldn't be the appearance of a line, but put the wash down anyway to ensure it blends the top and bottom seamlessly.

Now grab "Enchanted Blue" and do a highlight on the blue areas of the skirt. Once this dries, go over the whole blue area with "Asuran Blue" wash to bring down the brightness of the enchanted blue and to blend the different blues together. Once this dries, highlight the red areas with "Blood Red" and once this dries, drop into the recessed of the leg guard and wrist guard to ensure there is separation between these red highlights. Be careful not to get wash on the areas you just highlighted.

Next up we'll finish off her back piece and vents. Only a few steps to go!