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A little while ago, I participated in an overnight painting competition at our Local Games Store. Afterwards, the customers of the store voted for which mini they liked the best, and this little beauty took first place.

So, I figured it would be a good idea to post it here and see what people think. I started painting him at six in the evening and finished at six in the morning. It would have probably taken me fewer hours, but my eyes were crossing by the end.


you can see more angles on my website.

What did you use to paint it? techniques. . etc. I am really impressed.

Do you just want the Blood techniques, or would you like some of my other methods?

(Also, I don't have time at this moment to give you a full description, but I'd be happy to give you the whole run-down later)

I want minute-by-minute.

If this is the best you can do with a while 12 hours of time, then I am horrible unimpressed and, frankly, ashamed to even have heard of you. I mean really now...

Nice job... I find I do my best work in one sitting as well.

Awesome!

And, where is that model from?

That's Kromac the Ravenous, a Circle Orboros warcaster
for Privateer Press's Hordes game.

Actually, that's just Kromac in Beast form...where's the
shaman?

Thanks for all the nice comments.

I don't have little kromac done yet, so... I'll make sure I post him when I do.

I wouldn't have painted him in one sitting normally. Actually, this doesn't represent a normal 12 hour paint job. This represents sleep-deprived painting. I'm normally much faster- if I can start in the morning rather than the evening. But not one sitting. Especially with all that extra detail on him... Jeez!

I'll post my How-to soon. I've got to go pick up my wife right now.

As I've repeatedly told my wife, Dakka first her second.

What's your deal?! POST INSTRUCTIONS!

That model would make for a nice Beastman General...

Ok, now I have some time to go over him.

I always start with a black undercoat.

The eyes were painted first, then the face around it. The eyes are just black dots. Not much to say there.

The skin started out as Vermin brown, and I worked it up by mixing more and more Bronzed flesh into the mix. There are probably half a dozen layers on the skin. This mini's musculature is fantastic, so it wasn't too hard to get all the highlights in the right places. I was able to get the blending smooth- mostly through application of transucent layers.

Next, I worked on the white on the clothing. This is a cream color I often use for bone. It starts out with a Mustard color mixed with White (Snakebite Leather was my mustard for this mini). I didn't do any straight snakebite on him, I started with a little white and kept working it up until I was applying the white without any Snakebite in it.

The formula for the leather on the mini is an odd one. You start out with a neutral brown and shade with brown ink. Next, highlight with Vermin brown (it has a little red in it, almost terracotta, but darker) and highlight that with a yellowy brown like Snakebite leather (don't mix the two). That gives you an uneven coloring to the leather and makes it look as though it is especially worn. If you want to highlight more (I went a little lighter on the pouches) add a little Bleached Bone to the Snakebite and go up.

For blond hair, start with Snakebite and highlight up with Bleached bone, drybrushing less and less with each successive layer. This hair has probably five to seven layers on it.

The Bronze metals on this mini start don't require lots of layers. Start out with Bronze and give it a wash of Brown ink. After that, highlight with a gold (shinning Gold here) and further highlight with a mix of gold and Mithril silver.



Ok, that's a start. I'd like to post this in two parts so the second part will have the effects added afterwards.

Effects. These are things I added after getting the basic colors just the way I wanted them.

First, I did some tattoos in blue. You can't see them as well in this picture, but there are some others on my site- especially look at his back.

{edit: this pic should show some of the tattoos and mud stains, along with more blood splatter than we got to see the first time}



To get the tattoo color, mix bronze flesh with blue (I think I used Ultramarine blue for him). Apply this like most free-hand: paint a shape generally, then go back and fix it with bronzed flesh. Afterwards, apply a super thin wash of Bronzed flesh.


The mud on his clothing was applied next. This is a haphazard process. I thinned down several different browns and applied them each in turn. I used an older brush and intentionally made each coat a little uneven, making the mud stains look dirty and realistic.


the Blood staining is a similar process. I started out adding the blood to the axes. I started with a mix of Black and blood red to a very dark Scab looking color (not Scab Red, but the color of actual scabs). I then mixed some Chestnut Ink into this, and a little more Blood Red and went over it again.

Make sure this isn't terribly even, or it will just look off. I did several uneven layers using watered down mixtures of Black, Blood Red and Chestnut ink at different ratios. The darkest color was applied to the center of the axe, and everything kind of goes out from there.

The last layer I added on was Tamaya Clear Red. This is a translucent blood red that comes out glossy, making it a wonderful finish for Wet Blood.


The blood Splatter was made with an older brush. I flicked the brush at the mini with a wet mixture of the three colors from above (Chestnut, Blood Red, and a tiny bit of black). Also, I used the brush like someone would use a toothbrush to put this mess of blood on the mini.




Ok, I think I have explained most of the colors on the dude. I'm willing to answer any questions or go into more detail.