Skink Priest step-by-step part 1.

In this step-by-step I'll focus on how I painted the flesh areas of my Skink Priest.

The underlying blue tones of the skin are achieved with a relatively simple mix of colours

Colour Palette

Unless otherwise stated all the colours I've used come from Games Workshop.

Base Colour:

Sotek Green

Mid tones & Highlights:

Sotek Green + Vallejo Ivory

Shade:

Sotek Green + Evil Sunz Scarlet

Deep Shade:

Sotek Green + Evil Sunz Scarlet + Rhinox Hide

Step 1 Base Colour

First all the flesh areas are given a base coat of Sotek Green. I applied this in several very light coats to preserve as much detail as possible. Sotek Green is a very strong, highly pigmented, colour and, in my opinion, far more of a blue than it is a green.

Step 2 Mid tones & highlights

Working up from the base coat to the highlights is a simply matter of  adding increasing amounts of Vallejo Ivory to the Sotek Green. Using ivory instead of white can help to avoid over harsh or chalky looking highlights.

Sotek Green is a strong colour so avoid the temptation to add too much ivory in one go and work in gradual increments. Keeping the tonal changes subtle and working with dilute colour in very thin layers will give you a much smoother graduation. Avoid going too light with the highlights and keep the lightest highlights as small and sharp as you can. Good highlighting will really pull the paint job together and give your mini definition.

Step 3 Shade

Rather than simply using a dark blue/green colour I decided to go for warmer tones in the shade colour. I achieved this with a mix of Sotek Green and Evil Sunz Scarlet. The addition of red to the green first darkened and desaturated it then as more red was added the shade colour took on a purple hue. This is because Sotek Green is, as I said earlier, far more blue than it is green. As more red was added the purple shifted to a warmer tone. 

For the very deepest areas of shade I added a little Rhinox Hide to the green/red mix.

All of the shade tones were applied very dilute and built up gradually to keep the effect subtle. Remember it's a lot easier to add a little more shade than it is to take it away!

The Markings

For the green areas on the face and feet I glazed with Sybarite Green over the blue once it had been worked up to a mid tone stage. Next I applied a thin wash/glaze of Kabalite Green. I then built up the highlights with a mix of Sybarite Green and Vallejo Ivory. For the very deepest shadows on these green area I used a Kabalite Green and Coelia Greenshade mix.

For the markings on the crest I wanted to create a softer organic look. To achieve this I worked in thin layers with dilute glazes. The final effect involved a lot of going back and forth between the various colours and shades. It was an effort to resist my natural instinct to keep everything as sharp and defined as possible but I think it payed off.  The softer look of the markings looks more fleshy and provides an interesting contrast to the sharper more defined areas.

Later on I'll finish off my step-by-step for the Skink Priest with a description of my method for painting the gold, feathers and jade. 

But first I need to get a move on and actually paint those areas - GDUK is fast approaching and there is a lot still to do!