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I'm going to be building and painting my first army this weekend--Sylvaneths in the "Gnarlroot" style--so I decided to check out the official painting guide. In the tutorial for this paint scheme (there should be a picture included of the first steps) I came across a painting technique that came across as very odd: at the ends of the extremities (lower half of the legs, forearms and claws, and the tops of the tree branches/horns) the guide recommends not applying any base paints or washes/shades, and to only highlight these areas directly onto the primer. The effect I believe they're going for here is a gradient fade from black to brown. So, I guess my question is: should I follow the guide and leave areas of unpainted primer on my finished mini, or should I apply a thin base layer of black or shade/wash on these areas?

They're just trying to make the hands and feet look darker, if you like the effect, use it, if you don't, don't use it.

It really depends on the effect you're going for. The paints are slightly opaque so whatever you put below them will show through ever so slightly. It's not a requirement to use a base paint. It will leave you with a different set of colors when you're done if you don't go with any base paints and that's really the only difference.