Thanks guys! really glad you like them!
Great ideas for the warpaint too
I've come across the blown reverse handprint before when looking at paleolithic art and definitely plan to do that on some scenery for the elk-men
bar-codes would be an awesome one for a tech-wastelander tribe as well
A while back I mentioned I'd do a little how-to on my painting style on the next crow...and now many crows later I've finally done one!
Step 1 is priming (ignore the browns for now). I tend to prime in white as a bit of a relic of learning to paint with eldar. Plus, it's easier to get lighter colours to work, especially those with poor coverage.
Step 2 is to block out the base colours that are straight out of the pot. For these guys that's Abaddon Black for the metal and quills, Pallid Wych Flesh for the skin, and Ushabti Bone for any bones (none on this guy). No need to be particularly neat with this step as you can touch stuff up later.
Step 3 is to mix up some colours for the cloth and wood/leather. Each colour gets maybe one or two uses on a model before mixing a new one, which helps get some variety into a limited-palette model. I tend to start with a mix of Abaddon Black and Fenrisian Grey to make a cold grey, and then gradually add different blues and greens into the mix to get varied colours.
It's the same process for browns, starting with Rhinox Hide mixed with Fenrisian Grey to cool it down, with various blues and browns mixed in to vary the colours. It helps if you've got a couple of models primed for this bit so you can use the same colour on multiple models before you mix it into a new one
Step 4 is to roughly drybrush some highlights onto the metal, cloth, wood and leather. The aim here is to be a bit rough and streaky, picking out high points and adding texture. Steel gets Leadbelcher. Blues, greens and greys get Fenrisian Grey. Browns get Ushabti Bone. Quills get Pallid Wych Flesh.
Picking a light colour here works really well, and you can get some really nice colours by drybrushing over a non-standard highlight colour (blue over green/bone over red/light green over blue etc.). I've added a pic of the shield as it really helps pick up details like this
Step 5 is to add in any little embellisment colours, like Warplock Bronze on trinkets and fittings, Wazdakka Red on lenses, and Administratum Grey on hoses. Now's the time to touch up any messy bits. Hopefully by doing the unmixed colours first you should only have to touch up straight from the pot. If you do have to touch up mixed colours, don't fret too much about the colour match. It's rarely noticeable unless it's way out.
Step 6 is washes. Fairly liberal Nuln Oil Gloss wash over everything but the skin, which helps blend in the rough drybrushing a bit and pick out the highlights. The skin gets a lighter wash of Druchii Violet.
Step 7 involves re-drybrushing the skin with Pallid Wych Flesh, adding some freehand tattoos and then doing another very light drybrush of your skintone over the tattoos to help them look worn in.
Step 8 is to sit back and admire your finished crow! (and touch up any mistakes, which I haven't done on this guy yet). Pretty much all of my models use this same process, but vary the colours used to get different schemes. Sometimes there's variations in order (the elk-men have their skintone highlight under the wash to help them look grubbier etc.), but that's pretty much it
All-in, there's probably only 15 or so colours in all of my models, just in different combinations and mixes, so it's cheap too!
