Painting Guide 1 - Painting Scaly Beasts

Copyright 2015 Eric Louchard

Art by Eric Louchard & Dilsukee
Miniatures in book sculpted by Eric Louchard, Paolo Fabiani, Sandra Garrity,
Bob Olley, Jeff Grace, Julie Guthrie
Book layout, art design and painted miniatures by Eric Louchard
Game models available from AntiMatter Games
No portion of this book can be reproduced without consent from the publisher.
Published by AntiMatter Games www.antimatter-games.com

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 Contents
Introduction...................... 3
The Basics.......................... 4
Glaze Painting Concepts.......... 4
Miniature Preparation.............. 4
Undercoat.................................... 4
Paints, Inks and Thinning........ 5
Inks............................................... 6
Mediums...................................... 6
Mixtures....................................... 7
Shadows and Color Theory..... 7
Brushwork................................... 8
Choosing Brushes...................... 8
Brush Sizes.................................. 8
Handling Paint........................... 9
Dire Fish Lizard............... 10
Step 1 - Base Coats.................. 10
Step 2 - Warming Up.............. 10
Step 3 - Cooling Down........... 11
Step 4 - Adding Contrast....... 11
Step 5 - Edge Highlights........ 11
Step 6 - Shadows...................... 12
Step 7 - Final Touches............. 12
Clal-Chk Freebooter....... 14
Step 1 - Base Coats.................. 14
Step 2 - Shading Down........... 14
Step 3 - Color Enhancement.15
Step 4 - Cloth Highlights...... 15
Step 5 - Edge Highlights........ 16
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Giant Anglerfish.............. 18
Step 1 - Zenith Prime.............. 18
Step 2 - Base Coats.................. 18
Step 3 - Shading........................ 19
Step 4 - Drybrushing............... 19
Step 5 - Edge Highlights........ 19
Step 6 - Glow Effects............... 20
Step 7 - Final Touches............. 20
Nautiloid Chrysalid......... 22
Step 1 - Base Coats.................. 22
Step 2 - Warm Midtone.......... 22
Step 3 - Cool Shadows............ 23
Step 4 - Adding Detail............ 23
Step 5 - Edge Highlights........ 23
Step 6 - Finishing Touches..... 24
Tips and Tricks................ 26
Blacklining................................ 26
Overlapping Scales.................. 26
Feathers...................................... 26
Pebbly Texture Skin................. 28
Painting for Gaming................ 29
Conclusion................................ 29
 Introduction
Painting gaming miniatures is a relaxing
hobby that involves many different artistic
techniques. Some folks paint for enjoyment
while other paint to enhance their games.
For players of DeepWars and ShadowSea,
painting the miniatures for the games can
help make each warband unique, giving
personality to the characters. This way, the
games become more immersive as the painted
models really stand out on the tabletop when
amid colorful scenery.
The goal of this book is to present
a simple and efficient method to paint
some of the more challenging miniatures
that are found in games, large scaly beasts
and gribbly monsters. For many painters,
large miniatures, and especially those with
extensive texture, such as scales, bumpy skin,
layered armor plates or other types of surface painting large, textured surfaces. To introduce
features, are very imposing to paint. In many painters into the glaze style of painting there
cases, the challenges they present are due in is a brief section that describes preparation,
part to the use of painting techniques that colors of paint and ink, brush types and how
are better suited to smaller areas, such as wet to handle them with washes and glazes. Four
blending or layering, where each patch of step-by-step tutorials show the methods in
texture is worked up in layers of paint. use, with a few tips and tricks at the end.
The techniques in this book are focused Hopefully, the techniques presented here will
on the use of washes and glazes of thinned help expand the skills of both beginning and
paint, a more efficient and natural method for advanced painters.

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 The Basics
Glaze Painting Concepts
With the glaze painting style, instead
of painting dark to light, as one does when
using a black undercoat or dark base coat,
one paints from light to dark, shading down
from a bright base coat. The style is similar to
traditional painting with watercolors in that
the lightness of the background material, in
this case the white primer, is meant to show
through to either be a highlight or to bring
an underlying glow to a thin layer (glaze) of
paint. As an example, note how the watercolor
painting of the sea turtle below uses the
white paper as a highlight. The glaze style
of painting give one a great deal of control
over the color transitions, as each glaze builds
color depth and smooths out the previous
layer but still retains an overall brightness
from the underlying white undercoat.
Miniature Preparation
Miniatures often come in a number of
parts that need preparation, cleaning and
assembly. These parts need to have mold lines
and flash, the excess metal that is the result of
the casting process, removed before painting.
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Mold lines may be difficult to see on
bare metal but they are much easier to see on
resin or plastic miniatures or when a metal
model is undercoated. For most miniatures,
the main mold line runs along both sides of
the body from foot to head, following along
around the entire figure. This line needs to
be trimmed down with a hobby knife or filed
off with a fine-toothed file. When using a
knife, fine lines can be removed by holding
the blade perpendicularly to the line and
scraping along it. Separate parts, such arms
or bases will have their own mold lines since
they are cast separately, so everything should
be carefully examined.
After the parts have been smoothed, the
figure should be washed with some soapy
water (dishwashing soap is fine) to remove
excess oils and residue from the molds. This
will help glue and primer paint adhere better
to the miniature. Once the miniature is fully
cleaned and dried, the parts can be assembled
using a super-glue otherwise known as
cyanoacrylate (CA) glue.
Undercoat
Now that the figure has been prepared
it needs to be primed with an undercoat so
that the paint will stick well. Painting on bare
metal is not recommended, as the paint will
rub off easily. Any white enamel spray primer
or brush-on white primer will work well for
this purpose and will create a strong base layer.
Completely cover the figure with primer and
allow to dry in a well ventilated area.

Paints, Inks and Thinning

The most important part of painting is
clearly the paint itself, and how it is thinned
and applied. Any brand of paint is fine to use
but pure, transparent or translucent colors
tend to work better for thin glaze layers and
subtle color changes. This guide refers to
artist acrylic color names (Burnt Umber, Sap
Green, etc.) from Liquitex and Golden. The
reason for doing this, instead of referring to
proprietary paint names given by gaming
companies, is that this guide is meant to teach
color theory and application at its most basic
level, using colors that are common across oil,
acrylic and watercolor styles.
Before painting, it is necessary to
become familiar with the three basic densities
of paint that are used for the miniatures in
this guide, base, wash and glaze. Some
of the typical paint colors used are shown
in the figure to the right, along with their
shade when mixed with water to make these
densities. The colors shown are all from the
Golden Fluid Acrylic line and are generally
transparent with high pigment content and
flow well from the bottle. Tube paints can
also be used but they require more thinning.
Note that black and white are not shown
since they are not technically colors, although
they are used extensively for creating shadows If the paint comes in a bottle, make
and highlights. sure to shake thoroughly to completely mix
the pigment with its medium so that it does
Base - This density is meant for base not separate on your palette. Squirt a drop of
coats or final edge highlights and is essentially paint on the palette - any piece of plastic or
the paint straight from the bottle or tube, aluminum foil works well. If it does separate,
mixed with a bit of water so that it has at least you can mix it together on the palette. When
80% paint. It is important for base coats that the base coats are applied it is best to clean
the paint is not completely opaque, as we the brush after each color is applied so that
want to see some of the raised sections appear residual paint has not dried in the bristles and
lighter than the recesses. will not mix in with the next color.

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 Wash - The second density used for
building up highlights and shadows on the
base coat is called a wash. It is roughly a
50/50 mix of paint or ink and thinner, so
that the transparent color is still strong but
translucent, and opaque paint appears to be
like a heavy cream. This density is useful for
blending and making color transitions when
building up highlights or creating shadows.
Normally, washes should be mixed on the
palette, but they can also be made by dipping
a brush into base-density paint and then
quickly dipping the tip of the brush into
water.

Glaze - The third density is roughly

10% paint to 90% water. The end result is
almost like colored water and should flow
easily from the brush. One should be able to
see the underlying color of the surface but the
glaze will tint it slightly. Multiple applications
of glazes are used to build up a rich color
gradient and their use will be explored more
during the step-by-step process of painting
the sample miniatures in this book.
One thing to remember about the
densities described here is that the percentages
of paint and thinner are estimations and
there are actually infinite variations between
them. In general, these are the thinning levels
that will be used most, but painters should
experiment a bit as different paint types may
need more or less thinning.
Inks
Inks provide an additional way to add
color depth to miniatures. The inks used in
this book are Liquitex Professional Acrylic
Inks, which contain extremely fine pigments
suspended in an acrylic emulsion. There are
many other brands of inks one can use but
it is important to choose inks that are water
soluble and water-resistant when dry.
Since acrylic ink shares the same basic
properties of acrylic paint, these types of inks
can substitute for paint in any of the steps or
be mixed with paint to enhance or change
the colors. Some of the most common colors
used in the step-by-step guides are shown in
the figure to the right.
Due to their exceedingly high pigment
content, inks are best used when thinned
down and applied in thin glazes, preferably
mixed with an acrylic medium.
Mediums
Acrylic paint can be thinned with water
to make washes and glazes, but sometimes
the resulting colors may not stick properly,
creating pools or beads of color that dry in odd
patterns. One of the most common artifacts is
the lake ring effect where the wash leaves a
ring around the inside of a recess, like the ring
around a drying lake. In order to avoid these
patterns one can include a clear medium to
the ink or paint, such as matte or gloss acrylic
medium. Liquitex Matte Medium was used
for all models in this book.

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 The amount of medium used depends
on how thick and sticky one wants their wash
or glaze, but a good rule is to replace half of
the water used in the mixture with medium.
Some ink washes used in the step-by-step
guides have equal parts medium and paint or
ink and only a about 5% water and are good
for adding deep shadows. These are very thick
washes that take some practice to use well.
Mixtures
While the glaze style of painting relies
heavily on pure colors, it is often necessary
to mix up custom shades. The most common
mixtures used in the step-by-step guides are
described below.
Bone White - This versatile light brownish
shade is made with Burnt Umber mixed with
white. This is the most common highlight for
browns or bone (not surprisingly). It is a bit
cooler than Golden White.
Golden White - The preferred highlight
color for sunlight reflections, this warm
yellow-cream mixture is made with Burnt
Umber, white and Indian Yellow, or with Raw
Sienna and white.
Metal Wash - This simple wash is
a mixture of Burnt Umber ink and Deep
Turquoise ink. Different metal base coats use
varying mixture amounts (gold or bronze =
more Turquoise, Steel = more Burnt Umber).
Color Theory
An important aspect of the glaze method
is creating color contrast in shadows and
highlights through the use of complementary
colors, or colors opposite one another on a
color wheel (see below). While glazes of black
are used for some shadows, complementary
colors are better for creating contrast in color
as well as lightness. For example, using cool
blue to shade a warm orange or light brown.
Generally, dark blue makes a good color to
glaze and wash with when making shadows,
but dark green can also be used for shadows
on reds. Highlights can also be made to be
complementary to shadows although the
brightest ones should share the color of the
light source (sunlight, fire, blue crystal, etc.).
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 Brushwork
Choosing Brushes
The brushes one uses to paint miniatures
depends a great deal on personal preference,
how they feel in the hand, the amount of
paint they hold, the length of the bristles,
the material, etc. One feature should hold for
all miniatures painters though, the sharpness
of the point. This, over all other aspect of a
brush, is critical for painting fine lines and
tiny dots without making a mess of things.
When choosing a brush, the point should
be the first thing to check. Make sure that it
is straight when wet, not hooked or bent,
and that it springs back after making a line.
One can use some water and paper for this
test, but after a while it will become obvious
what to look for. Natural fibers, such as
sable, will generally hold their point the best,
while cheap synthetic fibers like nylon may
tend to hook and bend quickly. The quality
of synthetic fibers varies a great deal though,
and some are almost as good as natural fibers.
In general, one should try to get the best
quality brushes as possible for detail work,
but cheaper brushes can be used for applying
washes or glazes over large areas. It is worth
the extra money to avoid frustration when
trying to paint tiny reflections on an eyeball,
drawing freehand lines or highlighting
canines on some little monster. There is
nothing worse than having to repaint small
features over and over again simply due to
poor tools. Having high-quality brushes will
help to do things right the first time.
For detail work, the best type of brushes
are watercolor brushes made from Kolinsky
sable, a weasel in actuality and not a sable.
These natural fibers have optimal flexibility
and resiliency so they can last for years if
properly cleaned and cared for. Kolinsky
sable brushes are fairly expensive, especially
the larger sizes. If cost is an issue, red sable
brushes also work well.
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Brush Sizes
While many painters will have bunches
of brushes, often sticking out of a jar like
a mass of fluffy spikes, one can actually
accomplish all of the techniques described in
this book with just a few brushes. The main
brushes used in the book are:
Size 6 - This big brush is generally used
to apply washes or base coats to the largest
models or drybrush large surfaces.
Size 1 - This is the preferred brush
size for base coats, washes and glazes on
medium sized surfaces or edge highlights on
medium features. Medium in this case means
something like the fins and spines of the Dire
Fish Lizard, features that are 1-20 mm long.
The Size 1 brush is one of the most versatile
tools in that about 80% of painting on larger
models (40 - 54 mm tall) can be done with it
if the tip is sharp.
Size 0 - This is a slightly smaller brush
than the Size 1, but it is used for the same
things, only for smaller models. For most
human-sized models, this will be the primary
tool for all but the smallest details.
Size 00 - This is the main detail brush
used for edge highlights on scales, teeth, and
other small features. It holds enough paint
to work well for freehand linework and its
sharp point helps apply thin glazes around
eye sockets or between teeth. It is not really
suitable for painting larger areas, however.
 Size 000 - This is the brush to use for Feathered Blending - Glazes are tricky
the smallest of details, such as pupils, letters to blend and require multiple layers. The end
in books, tiny teeth and for adding final result can be exceptionally smooth though.
highlights, or hotspots at the most reflective When blending glazes, the tip of the brush is
points on a miniature. It is not recommended moved in multiple quick strokes, like tickling
to use this brush with glazes or washes as it with a feather, before the liquid in the brush
just does not hold enough liquid. has time to dry. Each stroke places a bit more
glaze so that is builds up color. The surface
Handling Paint dries quickly and the new layers simply add
on top, although this can change due to room
On the surface, painting is a fairly
temperature and humidity, in which case
simple process put paint on brush, put
there can be a bit of wet blending involved
brush on miniature, rinse and repeat. The
also (see below).
complexity lies in how the brush is moved on
the miniature, what part of the brush is used
Wet Blending - The classic wet blending
and how different color interact. There are a
technique is used infrequently in the glaze
few simple methods for applying paint to a
style of painting, but is crucial for flat,
miniature that are described below.
smooth surfaces. Here, the base coat density
is used most often, with some thinning to
Drybrushing - This classic method
make it flow evenly. One shade of color is
to add highlights to texture involves rapid
painted on the surface first and, while slightly
brushing with semi-dry paint so that paint
wet, another shade is painted either on top
sticks onto only raised features. The surface
or to the side. Gentle brush strokes with the
should be washed or glazed afterwards to
tip are used to blend the two shades together
smooth out any chalky or rough texture
before they dry completely. The more strokes,
that can occur with drybrushed highlights.
the smoother the blend.
Glaze Touch - This technique is exactly
Edge Highlights - While the two
what it sounds like, touching the miniature
blending techniques work for most highlights,
with the tip of the brush so the glaze flows
sharp edges and hot reflections require a
off the brush and onto the surface. The brush
special technique. Edge highlights are done
should be full of liquid so that it requires
with opaque paint filling the brush, but not
little motion except a gentle touch to get the
to saturation. The side of the brush, pointing
paint flowing off onto the desired place. Once
almost perpendicularly to the direction of the
the glaze is off the brush, it can be moved
edge, is placed on the edge and drawn along
around to ensure it covers the surface evenly,
it, leaving behind a nice layer of paint only
wicking up excess liquid using a dry brush.
on the edge. An alternate method is to use
only the tip of the brush and draw a fine line
Glop - The opposite of the elegant glaze
along the edge facing the light source. This
touch, this technique is best done with a
takes practice but is the technique used most
cheaper brush. It involves using an acrylic
often on scales and muscle ridges.
medium mixed with ink or paint to make a
thick wash mixture that is glopped onto
Scrubbing - This tricky method is used
surfaces to shade them or change the color
to quickly blend the edges of glazes that
tone. The ratio is 50/50 paint and medium,
would otherwise dry and leave a distinct
with a small amount of water added to ensure
border. After the Glaze Touch leaves a layer of
that the mixture can flow off the brush. Make
paint, scrub rapidly with the tip of the brush
sure to wash the brush well afterwards.
on the edges of the glaze to smooth them out.

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 Dire Fish Lizard
The Dire Fish-Lizard is an interesting
beast with a great deal of surface relief due to
its geometric scales, large spines on the back
and along the cheek, and massive teeth filling
its long snout. Painting it was made relatively
simple with washes and glazes, though. The
color palette that was used was broad, ranging
from cool blues to glowing oranges, matching
the vibrant concept artwork.

Step 2 - Warming Up
Once the base coats had been allowed
to dry completely, warm glazes were applied.
The yellow areas were given one to two glazes
of Vivid Red-Orange ink with the Size 1
brush, with more applied to the tips of the
fins and along the snout to shade the teeth.
Some sections on the head were left without
an orange glaze, leaving yellow stripes that
were to be shaded later in the next step.
The midline ridge along the sides of the
model was given a glaze of Napthol Crimson
Step 1 - Base Coats ink. This darker shade of red was also allowed
The first step in the painting process was to flow into the cracks down the belly sightly,
to prime in white and apply base coats to the although the bulk of the belly was left yellow.
creature with a Size 1 brush. The coral reef The tips of the fins and the base of the tail
base was finished in the last step so it remains were also shaded with Napthol Crimson.
white for now. There were two distinct regions
of the miniature, the warm head, back, belly
and fins, and the cool flanks. The warm parts
were given a wash of Primary Yellow paint and
allowed to completely dry.
Next, the cool flanks were given two
glazes of Cerulean Blue ink, the first on the
entire surface of the flanks, allowing it to flow
onto the yellow to begin blending shades. A
second glaze of blue was applied near the tail
and feathered towards the head. The bright
reflection near the middle of the figure was
allowed to stay white by wicking some of the
glaze from that area with a dry brush (see
Handling Paint on page 9).

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 Step 3 - Cooling Down
In this step, cool blues and greens were
used to shade the orange and create a sense
of being underwater. The flanks were given a
glaze of Pthalo Blue ink using a Size 1 brush,
with two glazes applied near and on the tail
to give it a brighter blue glow. The belly was
glazed with blue to shade the scales but the
breast was left a golden yellow color. The blue
glaze over yellow gave the belly a greenish
tint. A glaze of Sap Green ink was also applied
on the head in the yellow stripes from Step
2. It was found that shading of the fins and
back spines needed more contrast with the
blue so additional glazes of Vivid Red-Orange
ink were applied and allowed to flow into the
Step 5 - Edge Highlights
adjacent scales slightly, especially on the fins. After all of the washes and glazes had
dried completely, it was time to paint edge
highlights. These were done using opaque
white paint, thinning it enough to flow well
but still at about 80% paint.
The tip of a small brush (Size 00) was
used to draw fine white lines across the top
of raised features, such as scales and spines,
and on the bottom of recessed features, such
as scratches and pits. The idea was to simulate
how light from above would reflect on edges.
For the spines and teeth, multiple
thin layers of wash-density Bone White were
feathered to build up highlights, finished off
with a glaze of pure white along to top edge
and tip. A white glaze was also used to add a
glow to the upper middle of the body below
Step 4 - Adding Contrast the dorsal spine.
This step was meant to increase contrast
before highlighting. The head was given a
few glazes of Napthol Crimson ink, mixed
with Vivid Red-Orange ink to shade all of the
recesses, cracks, spines and scratches using a
Size 0 brush for more control. Of particular
importance was the teeth, where the ink
was applied with a Size 00 brush to get in
between them, and the recesses around the
spines around the cheek plate. Some of the
red and orange ink was also allowed to flow
down between the scales on the upper part of
the flanks, below the dorsal spine.
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 Step 6 - Shadows
Now that the edge highlights were done,
the figure needed darker shadows to increase
contrast. Thinned black paint at glaze density,
mixed with Matte Medium, was painted with
the tip of a Size 00 brush into scratches and
crevices on the head, between the teeth and
in the mouth, and finally, around the spines
and cheek plate.
It is important when painting with the
glaze style to not go overboard with shadows
using thick black paint. Multiple layers
of washes and glazes will build up natural
colored shadows, so a light glaze of black is
all that is needed to reduce the lightness in
shadow areas.

Step 7 - Final Touches

The last step was to complete the eyes
and the base. The eyes were painted to appear
like translucent gems, with light pooling
at the bottom and reflecting from the top
hotspot. The main color of the eyes was
Primary Yellow, mixed with a bit of white
along the bottom and Indian Yellow paint at
the top. An iris was added with a small dot
of black paint. To make the hotspot, a dot of
white paint was added right above the iris.
The base was painted with multiple
washes of brown, orange, green and blue ink,
highlighted with white lines and dots. The
small mollusc on the base was painted with
purple tentacles and yellow eyes.
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13
 The tattered uniform was painted using
Clal-Chk Freebooter a wash of light blue (Cerulean Blue ink + Bone
White mix). A bit of the blue was mixed with
the light green from the body to glaze the
The Clal-Chk Freebooter appears to be
pistol in the lower left arm. Indian Yellow paint
a menacing creature with chitinous plates
was painted at wash density onto the pistol in
and an alien countenance. In reality, Pik-Kck
the upper left hand and the tassels and ropes.
is a nice guy with an eclectic fashion sense
Burnt Umber ink, mixed with a touch of Bone
and four arms carrying an armory-worth
White, was glazed onto the spear and musket
of weapons. The focus when painting this
stock, while pure Burnt Umber ink was used
miniature was on subtle color combinations,
for the straps on the arms and legs. Finally, a
since most of the exoskeleton and armor
thin coat of pure silver paint was applied to
appear brownish-green in the concept art.
the metal parts of the musket.
When looked at closely though, there are
multiple shades of green, red, orange and
purple that make it more complex.

Step 2 - Shading Down

This step focused on shading using
Step 1 - Base Coats multiple layers of contrasting color, applied
with a Size 0 brush. To start, the chitinous
Since the color tones of the Clal-Chk are
exoskeleton was shaded with a wash of
relatively muted, the base coats were painted
Dioxazene Purple ink mixed with Matte
using light shades over a white primer,
Medium so it flowed into cracks and crevices.
focusing on the figure and leaving the base
The spiked armor and bone blade were
for the end. A Size 1 brush was used for all
shaded with a wash of Raw Umber ink, mixed
base coats.
evenly with Matte Medium and glopped on.
The chitinous plates of the body were
The bio-pistol in the lower left hand was given
given a wash of a light greenish tan, a mixture
a glaze of Raw Umber ink while the orange
of Sap Green ink, Burnt Umber ink and white
pistol in the upper left hand was painted with
paint, while the armor plates with spikes were
a wash of Burnt Sienna ink.
given a wash of Bone White. A bit of Matte
All of the wooden parts (spear haft,
Medium was added to the washes to thicken
musket stock) as well as the metal were
them up so they could be glopped on quickly
shaded with Burnt Umber ink. Shading metal
(see Handling Paint on page 9).

14
in this way gives a nice grimy and corroded
look, appropriate for a bug-man that salvages
weapons in a fungal forest.
Some color was needed to offset the
brown tones, so the pants were given a wash of
Pthalo Green ink mixed with Matte Medium.
The model was placed on its back to allow this
wash to dry and pool in the crevices on the
front. Then the same was done for the back,
laying the model on its front. This technique
is very handy to use when applying washes as
it avoid the problem of the washes running
off the model and onto the base.
After the green wash was completely dry,
it was time to paint some more brown. The
tassels, trinkets and ropes under the jacket
and the skulls on the left shoulder were shaded
with glazes of Burnt Umber ink. Finally, the
bandana on the creatures head was given a
light glaze of Dioxazene Purple ink mixed
with black paint, and a touch of Burnt Umber
ink glazed on the top of the head.
Step 3 - Color Enhancement
The goal here was to apply more glaze
layers with the Size 0 brush to build up color
saturation. For the clothing, complementary
colors were used to create dark shadows and
change the color tone. Burnt Umber ink was
applied as a glaze, making the green tone
more of an olive and darkening the shadows.
The bio-pistol in the lower left hand
was given a glaze of Primary Yellow paint,
brightening up the tone, while not covering
over the greenish-brown shadows. The other
pistol in the upper left hand was painted with
a wash-density layer of Burnt Sienna ink,
mixed evenly with Indian Yellow paint and a
bit of Matte Medium. This was done to make
the color more saturated, as it was a bit too
faint in the previous step. The tassels, trinkets
and eyes were also painted with the same
wash mixture of Burnt Sienna ink and Indian
Yellow paint.
Lastly, the body plates and armor were
given a glaze of Quinacridone Magenta paint
to give the whole model a warmer tone.
Step 4 - Cloth Highlights
Since there was clothing on this
miniature, the cloth was given its own
separate step. Multiple layers of thinned
Cerulean Blue ink, mixed with increasing
amounts of white paint, were applied using
a feathered blending painting method with a
Size 00 brush (see Handling Paint on page
9). Feathering helped build highlights up
to white and made smooth transitions into
the shadows. To smooth out the blending
even more, light glazes of Cerulean Blue and
15
 Pthalo Green ink were applied, then a few
more glazes of light blue mixed with white
were feathered on. This process of glaze
and highlight is what gives the smooth and
hard look of the surface. Multiple layers of
white paint on the coat trim and gold buttons
finished it off.

Step 5 - Edge Highlights

Edge highlights were painted with
Golden White using a Size 00 brush. The tip
of the brush was used to paint fine lines on the
edge of each carapace segment, armor plate,
spike, and anything else raised or needing
highlights. Pure white paint was used to add
hotspot reflections, where light strikes from
above, and highlight the tips of spikes and the
edges of crystals. The eyes were highlighted
with light glazes of white mixed with Burnt
Sienna ink, then given black pupils and pure
white dots for hotspot reflections with the
tiny Size 000 brush.
To blend in the highlights, surfaces were
given glazes of their primary colors. The bio-
pistol and golden tassels were glazed with
Primary Yellow paint and the crystals glazed
with Cerulean Blue ink. Wood and straps
were glazed with Burnt Umber ink.
The base was painted with washes of
magenta, green and blue inks. The little
mushroom was painted with glazes of magenta
paint, mixed with white. A few white dots
were added to complete the fungus.

16
17
 Giant Anglerfish
The deep sea is populated by many
monstrous creatures, but few are as terrifying
as the Giant Anglerfish. This model is massive
in size, fully able to hold a human-size figure
standing within its mouth, so it requires a
different approach than smaller models. Big
brushes were required in order to apply the
large amount of paint needed for the body,
and patience was important to allow time for
the washes and glazes to dry. The color palette
used here was relatively limited, mainly reds
and blues, but the key was to vary the tones
and create the glowing effect of the anglers Step 2 - Base Coats
light as the main focus. Base coats were applied using a Size 6
brush with opaque paint, thinned to a light
cream consistency so it flowed easliy. For the
body, a light orange hue was used, made from
Vivid Red-Orange ink mixed with a small
amount of Primary Yellow and white paint.
This mixture was allowed to fully dry, then
the body was painted with a wash of Napthol
Crimson ink to give it a deep, pure red color.
The teeth were painted with a wash of
Bone White while the inside of the mouth
was washed with Bone White mixed with
Dioxazene Purple ink. The fins, eye and lure
were painted with a light coat of Cerulean
Blue ink. Everything was left to dry fully
before the next step.
Step 1 - Zenith Prime
When priming this model, a different
technique was used, called Zenith Priming.
Here, the goal was to create shadows and
highlights by first priming with black,
covering the entire model, then spraying
with white only from above. The idea was
to simulate how light strikes when the sun
is at a zenith angle above (not necessarily at
90 degrees but around that angle). White
paint will strike and build up on the upper
portions while leaving the dark recesses with
black primer. A few sprays are needed and the
model can be laid down if it helps, as long as
the spray is striking the top of the model first.

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 Step 3 - Shading
The giant fish needed shading next.
Basecoat red was darkened with Quinacridone
Red paint, a transparent red with dark and
bold color. It was mixed with a bit of black
paint, Matte Medium and water and applied
with the Size 6 brush. For darker areas, such
as behind the eyes or below the fins, more
black was used. It took a few applications of
the paint/medium mixture, letting it dry in
between, to get the dark shadow area on the
cheek.
The teeth were painted with a wash
mixture of black paint, Dioxazene Purple
ink and a bit of Bone White paint and Matte
Medium. Everything was allowed to dry fully, Step 5 - Edge Highlights
using a nearby fan to speed up the process. In order to smooth out the irregularities
from drybrushing, a glaze of Quinacridone
Red paint was applied and allowed to dry fully
before edge highlights were started. Edge
highlights on the skin were painted using
a Size 1 brush with Vivid Red-Orange ink
mixed with a bit of Golden White, thinned
with water to about 80% paint. More white
was added when painting edges where light
reflected (bottom edge of scratches, top of
raised areas).
The lights and the eyes were highlighted
with wash-density Cerulean Blue ink and
white paint. Glow from the lure was added
to the head with a glaze of Cerulean Blue
ink, scrubbed with the brush to blend (see
Handling Paint on page 9). Fins were
glazed with Dioxazine Purple ink.
Step 4 - Drybrushing
This step was meant to help lighten
up the model as well as give the skin a bit
of complexity. Unlike the Dire Fish-Lizard,
this model did not actually have scales to
be painted and instead had smooth skin
with many small wrinkles and scratches. To
quickly highlight the skin texture, a big Size
6 brush was used to drybrush with a mix
of Vivid Red-Orange ink, Primary Yellow and
white paint (see Handling Paint on page
9). A few layers were drybrushed to give a
slightly random look to the skin.
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 Step 6 - Glow Effects
Lights on the body and the one on the
tip of the lure were highlighted with pure
white glazes, applied with a Size 1 brush.
Reflections from these lights were applied to
the body with Cerulean Blue ink and white to
create a simulated light source effect, with
more highlights painted closer to the lights.
The eyes also needed to show the
reflections from the lure light. This was done
by painting light gray iris, then applying
multiple layers of thinned white to make a
diffused reflection. A hotspot reflection was
painted with pure white paint, covering part
of the iris since the lure was so close.

Step 7 - Final Touches

Final touched were added using a
Size 1 brush. The fins were given a glaze of
Quinacridone Red paint near their bases.
Edges of the fins were highlighted with
Dioxazene Purple ink mixed with white paint.
The teeth were painted with multiple
glazes of white paint, mixed with a touch
of Cerulean Blue ink. To contrast with the
teeth, the inside of the mouth was painted
with glazes of pink (white paint and Napthol
Crimson ink) and shaded with a wash of black
paint mixed with Matte Medium.
The base was washed with green, blue
and brown inks, then drybrushed with Bone
White. Some pink glazes were added here and
there as well as white dots for reflections.
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21
 Nautiloid Chrysalid
A truly alien denizen of the deep sea,
the Nautiloid Chrysalid provides a challenge
to paint due to its multiple textures and
details. It has a large shell with sharp edges
and encrusting barnacles, a mass of writhing
tentacles with rows of suckers and a strange
golden metal weapon tipped with a large
crystal. Painting this model therefore requires
the use of all painting techniques, from
glaze painting to wet blending and edge
highlighting. The color palette includes many
colors also, blues, purples, reds, browns and Step 2 - Warm Midtone
yellows, as well as metallic gold and silver.
This first shading step focused on warm
colors with the idea to add a warm middle
tone (midtone), the color between the
highlight and shadow. The light base coat
would be darkened but the light edges would
still show through. To do this, the shell was
painted with a thick mixture of Burnt Sienna
ink mixed with Matte Medium, glopped on
(see Handling Paint on page 9) with a
Size 6 brush so that it filled in the cracks and
darkened the whole shell. The metal of the
weapon was also painted with the same wash
to give it an orange-gold color.
Tentacles were shaded with a wash
mixture of Quinacridone Red paint and Matte
Medium. The mixture was kept thin enough
to flow into the area underneath the shell.
Some of the red wash was scrubbed further
Step 1 - Base Coats down the large tentacles using a Size 1 brush.
The Nautiloid was primed using the
Zenith Prime technique, first priming
with black, covering the entire model, then
spraying with white only from above. When
that was dry, base coats were applied with a
big Size 6 brush.
The shell was painted with a wash of
Golden White while tentacles were given
a wash of Cerulean Blue ink. The small
tentacles closer to the shell were painted with
an additional glaze of Quinacridone Magenta
paint. Lastly, the metal of the weapon was
painted with a wash of gold paint.

22
 Step 3 - Cool Shadows
This step helped create the range of color
in the shell and weapon and used the Size 6
brush. The weapon was washed with Deep
Turquoise ink mixed with Matte medium
and water (50% ink, 25% medium and 25%
water). The shell was washed with the same
type of mix, but using Pthalo Blue ink. When
the shell was being washed, the model was left
on its side so the ink pooled in the recesses
and did not run off the shell. One side was
given a wash, allowed to dry, then the other
side was done the same way. When fully dry,
the shell was glazed with Burnt Umber ink in
the recesses.
Step 4 - Adding Detail
Now that the main shadows were done,
it was time to paint some of the remaining
details with a Size 1 brush. The eyes were
painted with a base coat of Indian Yellow paint,
then the tip of the crystal was painted with a
wash-density mixture of Deep Turquoise ink
and white paint. This was to make sure that it
had a different shade than the tentacles. The
metal weapon was painted with a wash of
Burnt Umber ink and Matte Medium to add
shadows and make it look more corroded.
The tentacles were highlighted with
multiple wash-density layers of Cerulean Blue
ink, mixed with white. These paint layers
helped to even out the main color transitions
from shadow to midtone. Highlights were
painted with glazes of white and a touch of
blue ink, with final glazes of pure white. The
edges of the tentacles and suckers were painted
with pure white on the hotspot highlights. A
freehand feature painted on the tentacles
was a rows of horizontal lines along the length
of each in light blue, highlighted to white on
the highest parts. The tips of the tentacles
were painted with a glaze of Quinacridone
Magenta paint to finish them off.
Step 5 - Edge Highlights
Edge highlights on the shell were painted
using the tip of a Size 0 brush with Golden
White paint, thinned with water to be about
80% paint. More white was added for edges
where light reflects the most (the bottom edge
of scratches and top of raised areas). Since the
shell was segmented, every ridge edge needed
to be highlighted. For some of the large
protruding edges, the side of the brush was
used instead of the tip for highlighting (see
Handling Paint on page 9).
23
 The shell also had many barnacles
encrusting the surface. These were painted
with highlights of Bone White paint, then
with pure white paint on the very top edges
as final highlights.
The edges of the golden weapon were
highlighted with a mix of gold and silver at
50/50, with the final highlights done with
pure silver on hotspot areas. Barnacles on the
weapon were highlighted with Bone White in
the same way as the ones on the shell.
The eyes were highlighted with wash-
density layers of Indian Yellow and white
paint. The pupils were painted as vertical lines
on each eye with thinned black paint, a bit
thicker than wash density. A fine white line
was painted on either side of the pupils.

Step 6 - Finishing Touches

Gradients on each crystal facet were
painted with a Size 00 brush using wash-
density mixes of Deep Turquoise ink and black
for the dark side and turquoise and white for
the light side, feathered to blend smoothly.
Thinned wash-density white paint was traced
on each edge of the facets, with pure white
used to paint hotspots at corners.
A minor glow effect was added on the
weapon using a glaze of thinned turquoise-
white mixture near the crystal. The base was
painted with washes of umber, blue and
magenta ink, highlighted with pure white
paint applied as fine lines and dots.

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25

Tips and Tricks
Blacklining
Miniatures are small by their very nature
and are viewed from a distance most of the
time. Since small details become invisible
unless they contrast from the background, it
is critical that painters use brighter highlights
and darker shadows than would be natural
in a full-scale scene.
Edge highlighting with pure white is
one of the simplest ways to get high contrast.
Another way is blacklining, where thinned
black or very dark brown is painted at the
junction between two surfaces. It can be
overused at times, but blacklining is a very
useful technique to delineate sections of a
miniature. An example of effective blacklining
and edge highlights for visual pop is shown
below on the DeepWars Hydraform Mech
construct. Black lines were painted in each
crack between plates and at the junction of
different regions on the head.
Overlapping Scales
Some creatures have scales that are large
and overlap one another. These types of scales
are simple to shade using glazes and washes
26
but there are some tricks to getting the
best results. One thing to remember is that
thinned paint will be pulled downward by
gravity and end up flowing right out of the
scales. A simple solution is to sit the figure at
an angle or on its side so that the scales are
upside down, meaning the paint can collect
under the overlapped section between scales.
This naturally creates a shadow and highlight
area for each scale.
For rapid edge highlighting, one can
use the full length of the brush, moving
perpendicularly across the scales instead of
down them. This applies paint on the edges of
multiple scales at the same time and usually
needs only one brush stroke in one direction.
Final edge highlights are applied with the
brush tip to the peak of the scales.
Feathers
Feathers can be painted efficiently with
mixture washes, fast drybrushing of basic
highlights, and edge highlights to pick out
detail. When painting feathers it is important
to remember try to paint them individually
as much as possible and not simply using
the drybrush technique, which is just rapid
brushing with semi-dry paint. While that
technique can add highlights quickly it is
messy and does not work well with fine
features, like the shaft and barb texture.
 In the example to the right of a
Skullcracker Bird, the feathers on the lower
body and wings were treated like large
scales. Washes of blue-gray paint and Burnt
Sienna ink were used for the shadows while
highlights were built up on each individual
feather using Golden White. A light glaze of the
opaque highlight color was applied over each
feathered area to help blend them together, a
step not usually done with overlapping scales
but very helpful for light feathers.
Large feathers provide a chance to add
stripes and other details. In the example
Desert Griffon below, the tips of the long
wing feathers were glazed with Raw Umber
paint after being highlighted fully up to
white. Stripes were painted with glazes of
black paint, with thicker black painted closer
to the tips. The ideas was to create patterning
similar to that found on many raptors, such
as the Red Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus).

27
 Pebbly Texture Skin
Lizards, dinosaurs and dragons often
have a rough skin texture of raised bumps
that is referred to as pebbly. This skin can
be painted effectively using a combination of
subtle glaze painting and careful drybrushing.
An example of this type of skin is shown below
on The Hunter model from Dragonblood
miniatures, now produced by DarkSword.
The skin of the ceratosaur mount
was first painted with a light base of Raw
Sienna paint and allowed to dry. Then it was
glazed with Burnt Umber ink to create basic
shadows. A glaze of black paint was used to
paint the stripes along the back and sides. The
translucent black over yellowish skin created
a slightly green hue to the stripes.
When the glazes fully dried, the skin was
lightly brushed with semi-dry Golden White
paint, highlighting the pebbly texture while
28
leaving the darker tones untouched. Multiple
layers were drybrushed in this way to build
up highlight color, mixing more white in to
highlight the upper surfaces of muscles, skin
ridges and bony bumps. Finally, a light glaze
of Burnt Sienna ink was added to smooth out
the highlights and midtones.
The riders pebbly skin was painted with
a base wash of Golden Yellow paint. When
fully dry it was painted with a wash of Napthol
Crimson ink mixed with Matte Medium,
then with a glaze of Dioxazene Purple ink in
the shadows. The horns were painted with a
glaze of Quinacridone Magenta to give them
a different tone. Careful drybrush highlights
were added using Golden Yellow paint mixed
with white, then glazed with more Napthol
Crimson ink to smooth out the transitions.
Edge of bony plates, horns, spikes and ridges
were painted with multiple glazes of Bone
White, allowing some pink to show through.
 Painting for Gaming
The step-by-step guides described how to
paint display-quality models. These steps were
numerous though, and would be impractical
for painting a warband in an evening for
DeepWars or ShadowSea. For gaming-level
painting, the key is to consolidate as many
of the steps as possible into three main ones:
Base Coat - This step should always be
done with light colors over a white or Zenith
Primed model. It is important to vary the
basecoat shades for different item.
Shadow Wash - All shading is done at
this stage using different thicknesses of ink
and paint washes, mixed with Matte Medium.
The wash colors should be complementary to
the base coat color, where appropriate.
Detailing - This step is primarily about
edge highlighting and drybrushing. One
can do some wet blending on certain parts
(cloth, smooth muscles) and blacklining for
maximum contrast, but most everything
should be highlighted with opaque Golden
White or pure white. Other fine details, like
eyes, are done at the end. Finished miniatures
should be coated with a protective sealer, such
as Testors Dullcote, for rough game handling.
In the example picture above, the Dark
Mariners were primed white to start, then
their carapace armor was washed with Burnt
Sienna ink. Metal was base coated with a wash
of gold paint and tentacles with Cerulean Blue
ink. Fabric was painted with Bone White and
the plasma blade held by the commander was
given a base wash of Pthalo Blue ink.
To shade the Carapace armor, golden
metal weapons and writhing tentacles, those
parts were washed with a gloppy mixture
of Pthalo Blue ink, black paint and Matte
Medium. Cloth was washed with Burnt
Umber and Sap Green inks.
Edge highlights were painted with Golden
White on cloth, carapace and bone. Silver was
used on the metal and thinned white for the
tentacles and plasma blade. Finally, Sap Green
ink was glazed on the barnacles and Magenta
ink on the tentacle tips.
Conclusion
I hope this book has been helpful to
beginners and more advanced artists. Painting
miniatures should be an enjoyable hobby and
one of the main reasons for me to write this
book was to show the techniques that make
it fun for me. So keep those brushes moving,
and the paint flowing.
~ Eric Louchard
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