Guildball Smoke

This was a commission piece I recently finished of Smoke, one of the new Alchemist players for #Guildball. Quite an interesting sculpt with most of the model suspended inside a spiral of billowing smoke. It was very difficult to paint the figure without touching the 'smoke', so I opted to paint that part last. It ended up being quite a fast paint job but I was happy with the result.

Bodice

For the bodice I used Vallejo Game Colour Khaki, sponged on a few different colours (Rhinox Hide, Skrag Brown, XV-88) then used Army Painter Strong Tone Wash. If you've never used Strong Tone, I can highly recommend it as a perfect substitute to the old Devlan Mud from Games Workshop. I used a few further glazes of Strong Tone to build up some extra contrast under the arms and into the folds of the fabric.

Hood/Trousers

The green was done with one of my favourite 'goto' paints; Scale Color Black Forest Green, a fantastic intense tone. Highlights were built up by simply adding more and more Scale Colour Sol Yellow (Yriel Yellow) to the base. It's a very saturated paint so you don't have to use a lot. In fact, you have to be careful not to add too much or the highlights become very harsh and it no longer looks like fabric.

I added some texture to the top of the hood with hashing very fine lines to help suggest a 'fabricy' look.

Gold

I did the gold in NMM, these parts were undercoated with a bright bone colour, I used Scale Color Mojave White, Screaming Skull is a great equivalent. I do this for two reasons. One, to increase the brightness of the gold and two, because yellow(ish) paints are so transparent, it makes it MUCH easier to get a clean opaque covering when you start with a smooth/bright undercoat. I based in Fantasy & Games Peanut Butter. (essentially the same as the old classic Snakebite Leather) Highlights were made by adding successive amount of white to the base, finally ending on a tiny sharp pure white highlight. Shades were built up by glazing with Vallejo Armour Brown. (a very intense, rich red/brown) 

Smoke

This was done very simply, I started with a medium gray, Scale Color Graphite (GW Dawnstone). Then built up highlights by adding white to the base. Extra definition was given with lining/glazing a darker gray into the lower side of the smoke plumes.