Bland painting syndrome HELP ME!

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**KingCracker**

Ok so I was planning on making a nice big painting tutorial on how I personally paint Orks, using the Flash Git I made in a step by step. The problem is, the damn trench coat, its such a large area on the mini, and I cant for the life of me figure out how the hell to paint this thing with some zing to it. I was planning on painting the color in the pic, but its just so plain looking. I wanted a brighter color as the rest of the mini is already pretty dark, I didnt want to over whelm the mini with grimdark.

Im thinking about paint the trench coat a dark brown like the boots now, but Im completely stumped. As of right now, the bottom of the coat has black and white checkers on it(ork style) but Im pretty sure Im going to paint over those. Its simply driving me nuts here. Im not a super fantastic painter, so no crazy golden demon worthy tricks here. I think I mainly need some input on where to go with this thing.
HELP ME DAKKITES!!

Oh yea heres pics. (bummed too because I was wanting to wait for the tutorial to post this step)

Dear god look at the bland! THE BLAND!!!!

**Exarch_Nektel**

paint an iron cross to fit with the trench coat theme. btw, it's gotta be grey.

**KingCracker**

Grey was a color I was thinking about going with from the start. Maybe thatll help. Ill be able to at least highlight spots of wear, unlike the current color. Its so light you barely see white on it. Hmm.....Need more ideas though, Im not a big fan of painting the cross on there simply because it would clash something fierce with the rest of my army. No iron crosses or anything of that nature.

**romeo.lima**

Hrm. Try a wash of Devlan Mud or Gryphonne Sepia. It'll run into the recesses (the few there are) and shade it. Then you can add a few highlights here or there to complement that, or add additional shading to create the illusion of a highlight.

**KingCracker**

Well like I stated in the first Flash Git WIP thread, I learned alot doing this guy here. I can tell you one thing, tissue paper is the way to go for sure. The paper I used on him just wasnt plyable enough to really sink into the spots I wanted it to. Thats where Im getting the problems with this super bland dealy. Ill try the wash idea first, as I wont have to repaint the whole thing if it actually works out well.

**Mistress of minis**

Another problem with hte trench coat, is its shape is going to make it harder to paint.

Theres little to no folds, creases or wrinkles in it- the clot on figs may look too wavy, but its those fold points that we highlight, and the creases that are darker that give it depth and shape so we see it as cloth. Compared to what we are used to seeing as cloth- the FlashGit seems to have a card board box he's wearing as a coat(not trying to be mean, thats just how it looks atm)

Without those traits, it will be harder to paint and get good results with, since the techniques you use can't work.

Im gonna go look at your WIP thread on that guy, and see if I can offer some advice on the creases/folds for the technique you're using. Ive been sculpting a ton of cloth for my Tallarns

**Exarch_Nektel**

KingCracker wrote:Grey was a color I was thinking about going with from the start. Maybe thatll help. Ill be able to at least highlight spots of wear, unlike the current color. Its so light you barely see white on it. Hmm.....Need more ideas though, Im not a big fan of painting the cross on there simply because it would clash something fierce with the rest of my army. No iron crosses or anything of that nature.

does your army have any insignia? you could use that. IF it doesn't, maybe this is a chance to give it some

**children of filth**

perhaps you could paint it like a patchwork trenchcoat? lots of different colors and patterns looted from all the armies he has faced.

**Natorum**

You could also muddy up the bottom of the cloak with various brown shades or even weathering powders to add a little interest to that area and break up what pattern you do use.

**KingCracker**

children of filth wrote:perhaps you could paint it like a patchwork trenchcoat? lots of different colors and patterns looted from all the armies he has faced.

Now THATS a good idea to fix this. If I paint that right, itll give the coat some depth that it really doesnt have. Ill give this a try today for sure. Ive never ever attempted something like that, so heres to hoping my skills are good enough to pull it off lol.

Thanks for the ideas everyone

**Kilkrazy**

Paint the bullet casings brass colour to add some eye interest.

**Fifty**

Just go for checkers in - probably black and white or red and white, then make sure it is muddy to.

edit: No, wait, got it. Red and Yellow checkers.

**KingCracker**

Kilkrazy wrote:Paint the bullet casings brass colour to add some eye interest.

I planned on that for sure. Like I said, Im planning on making a rather in depth tutorial on how I paint and such. Ive got more steps to go but this was just a "oh dear this is a billboard on an ork"

So far Im planning on trying the patchwork problem solver. Im going to use mainly earth tones, but some patches here and there will be contrasting colors, to kind of keep the eyes moving. HOPEFULLY how Im planning on it coming out, will come out how I want it

**Mighty Moj**

Paint a message

"Waagh

Kum Get sum"

and a body count tally"

Or whatever you feel your Ork might want to tell the enemies he's about to crump.

**Lord Nimr0d**

Some ideas:
-green/greyish colour to make it look like an old coat
-roughened up edges (possibly muddy edges)
-bullet holes in the coat
-paint/blood splotches on the coat (artsy orc)
-Really bright colours not otherwise found on your model (like yellow, blue or something)

I hope this helps, if only a little.