Step by Step - Dwarf King

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Hello brush friends,

again its me - told you about those real old tutorials of mine, which i will spamm here sooner or later to have everything on one place.

This one is about 3,5 or 4 years old now, sure my painting changed, but i hope some thoughts might be intresting for one or the other who is reading this. Model is from Games Workshop, Dwarf King on shield bearers, but with another dwarf king above, as i can remember he is from the Mail order.

Introduction

This guide is obviously not high end or the true word of figure painting. It aims to those of you who are interested in just an insight into my way of working, gives my thoughts and my brush strokes a word and serve perhaps to one or other of you as a proposal while painting. Surely there are ways and means to paint the model at a higher level, in the end the model is used on the gaming table.


Basics

The dwarf king was set on top of the shield with a metal pin to get maximum security. Since there prevails a small conversion by using another dwarf king the bridge at the bottom of King was removed with a hand drill, sandpaper was used on the model so that it adjusts the curvature of the shield he will be standing on. 

The model has been primed with black primer, followed by white primer. Like always, click the pictures to get a bigger view, most of them are big, but not all - yeaha, weirdo style, hehe.

First Steps of paint - primary colors Order:

Used combinations of colors:

Skin: Tanned Flesh / Bleached Bone (approx 60/40)

Beard King: Vermin Brown / Fiery Orange ca (50/50)
Beard/guy left: Schorched Brown and Chaos Black (approx 80/20)
Beard/guy right: Bleached Bone / Skull White / Graveyard Earth (ca. 50/20/30)

Pouch on the back of the bright-haired: Bleached Bone / Skull White / Graveyard Earth (ca. 50/20/30)
Small bag, rear of the brunette one: Schorched Brown and Chaos Black (90/10)

Gloves on brunette: Bleached Bone / Skull White / Graveyard Earth (ca. 50/20/30)
Gloves bright haired: Schorched Brown and Chaos Black (90/10)

Axe handle - Part 1: Bleached Bone / Skull White / Graveyard Earth (ca. 50/20/30)
Axe handle - Part 2: Chaos Black / Bleached Bone ca (80/20)

Shoes of  King: Chaos Black / Bleached Bone ca (60/40)
Bearers: change color of the gloves and shoes

Since I have not used other combinations of colors, I think, should be recognizable to other areas.

Second coats Order - True Metal

Here, once a small illustration of how a single metallic tone (I have used Mithril Silver) could be mixed to different colors for metal.

Just mix an ordinary "other / normal" color to it and you open a lot of newl possibilities of a truly intresting metallic color. I have mixed here a lot  just to clarify what i mean with this point - I will not use all on the dwarf ...

A = pure Mithril Silver
B = MS / Ice Blue
C = MS / Hawk Tourquise
D = MS / Camo Green
E = MS / Dark Angel Green
F = MS / Schorched Brown
G = MS / Deadly Nightsade
H = MS / Space Gray Wolves
I = MS / Snakebite Leather
J = MS / Liche Purple
K = MS / little Chaos Black
L = MS / more Chaos Black

To the dwarf king - I hope this is understandable - extremly weirdo style i had those days some while ago - don't panic, take your time:

My basic thought on the metal parts on the Mini: man, these guys almost wear entire plate armour, chain mail, etc. ---> i had to focus on the king also with the metal parts.
The armor of the king was in the brightest shades of paint to stand him out. That is why his armour parts, already here in the beginning became the brightest and he gets more brighter parts than the two other dwarfs.

The axe was given a basecoat of G and was re-painted over with B. Here everything again without the lines and letters:

suche

Initial Shades

You need to take care, that your color is thinned with water, also take care to get most of the water out of the brush by shed it over a tissue or something like that, because if there is half a river in your brush your miniature will drown in this shade and you are not able to control it very good. Always remember while using a thin shade to move the brush only in one direction, not with the tip of it, use the length side of the brush to move the pigments where they shall stay:

Since the previously applied metal is at its place i will do some shades, I'll explain this in detail. Starting with a simple shading, means thinning the colour you want to use very thinned with water. You can use whatever you like for this. Setting some basic shades on bright ground helps me to see where the lights will be and i can work myself to them. Now it is time to get wild, at the moment there is no need to work specificly concentrated, just have fun with your colours...

For the first shade i have used a mix of this:

And it looked like that on my wet palette:

First step:
A = Chaos Black / Smoke / W&N ink - Peat Brown (approx. 20/40/40)

Second step:
B = pure Schorched Brown
C = pure Chaos Black

Next, I used thinned pure Chaos Black, to roughly set the darkest places on the metal.

The Schorched Brown glaze was targeted at points, which I later want to have an old, tattered, used look, weathered and rusty - similar to these gentlemen:
klick!

Here, I will of course again get brighter and darker again and again and again brighter dark blubb, etc. - but more on this in the next round - this time the image to the text above:

Rust gain and first light points on the armour

Pure Vermin Brown, that was a little stretched with water was used to intense the rust effect. This has been done to intense the shades of Schorched Brown. Not as an additional special step, only for intensing what i saw and i did like - in my eyes it is always a good thought to intense things a bit more extrem when you like them.

The armor and chain mail were given a coat of Mithril Silver, which I had mixed again, as always, (water, etc.). The order was made on the points on which I have defined for me the light. Yet it all looks pretty rough. But the next steps will be here to clarify more precisely all the groundwork.

Shading the skin and setting the darkest parts of the metals

The skin was processed only with multiple glazes of Tanned Flesh, that by increasing the addition of Hawk Tourquise / Chaos Black (approximately 40/60) has been darkened. Thus, the dark areas of skin were determined. So far, this is all still the guide to begin shortly with the brightening and shading i was able to at this time ago.

The hair was retouched also available with the mix (as HawkT / ChaosB). At the hair on the top of the skull - i mean above where the light impinges on an even keel, i had done nothing here.

The metal has also received a strengthening of the darkest areas with this mixture.

 

Start skin brightening and gold

I mix gold, just like the rest of the metallic colors i use usually a drop of "normal"  color in. By gold i either use a bit of Dark Angels Green or Liche Purple. With Liche Purple, in my oppinion in the end it looks a little ostentatious, while the green leaves are more blunt look. But as I only mentioned my personal experience and evaluation.

The base layer consists of a mix Gold Shining Gold / Dark Angels Green (approximately 70/30).

The skin was coated in the direction of the brighter areas with glazes in Tanned Flesh. Now I'll start soon to work out the brighter parts.

More Brightness to the skin, other metal work

suche

The skin was further lightened with Tanned Flesh, with increasing addition of Bleached Bone.

The hair of the king were darkened with a glaze Liche Purple.

The metal still got a dim stronger shadow with pure black - Warning too thin here, of course.

The floor was given a basecoat of Schorched Brown and Dark Angels Green. This mix leaves the ground, slightly earthy, mossy contribute, in my experience.

Skin Darklining, grass, straw, brown bags / gloves and eye start

The skin was further lightened with almost pure Bleached Bone. Here I note that I did not brighten the whole skin, now slowly beginning to grope in the places where the pure light will be predominantly - or at least I try it, haha.

The eyes and the gems were painted with black.

The bags / gloves were given darkness with the addition of Hawk Tourquise / Chaos Black (approximately 50/50) in their respective primary color (see above) to also begin there with shadows. By further addition to almost pure black, the shadows were also located there. For the first brightening step there was placed a drop of Bleached Bone in the base color.

The entire miniature was given a total Darklinig cure to the areas targeted slowly separated from each other. This serves me as a basis for working out the respective areas. The black was applied for Darklining as always glazing, but this time a little water was held back in the brush so that everything selectively accumulates in the depressions.

The base was covered with grass litter. The retouched after drying with a heavy glaze of brown and watery, "has been flattened."

Further steps in the skin, lightening of the metals, eyes, hair of the King, Gold

The skin was given a final highlight of pure Bleached Bone.

The metal parts have been marked upward slightly with an accent Mithril Silver / Ice blue (approximately 70/30). The mixture creates an - in my eyes - even brighter Mithril Silver, which looks significantly after polishing. Here, I make sure that I hit the lightest spot on the metal and then sit until the paint is still wet with one, forgive moistened in the mouth brushes to get a transition "- to leave here are no hard accents. Exercise is a little thing, but I hope that I could give more explanation these pictures below, ahh, sorry for my poor english skills, even to me my words feel strange, haha  hope you get what i mean by these pictures:

The eyes have been done white on the black. If the plotting and diluted milky color but before stripping off from too much wetness on a towel - you can minor misfortunes with another extra brush to use as quick as possible when a mistake has happened.

The hair of the king was again fundamentally made stronger after all the shading by adding a mix of Fiery Orange / Scab Red (approx 60/40) to the basecoat  and painted carefully again the single higher hair parts.

The gold was awarded to a layer of pure gold to the Shining light points. The approach here was the same as those of metal brightening.

 King brightening the hair, eyes, gems, shading of the skin, blood

This step is preceded by the nighttime where the muse rode me, sorry - so a very big step, but I try to explain:

Tthe color of the hair at the step above has been given more and more of Bleached Bone and i did want to bring in a bit more light from above to the hairs, the hair and beard was further lightened.

The eyes were given a central point of Chaos Black / Midnight Blue (approximately 60/40) and obtained after drying a white reflective dot in the pupil (on the king this has not happened yet -> see picture below). This approach is matter of practice, just a little trial and error - it will come with time and patience - also don't forget to breathe while doing - breathing is important.

The color of the gems was Vile Green. This I have first darkened  with Chaos Black, plotted and then went back again to the original color. This was then driven with increasing addition of Skull White in the brightness. Finally got the gems, a white reflex point - there - where the light from above strikes the gem.

The skin was with a heavy watery glaze before (well stripping) again tinted with Tanned Flesh. Here I am currently facing the problem that the skin and hair stand out not really good enough from each other. Probably I will make the hair a little darker.

The blood on the axe was created - as a test with my own blood, because i cut myself in a tiny accident on this day:

Hair of the king, gloves, leather bags, gold, base, minor  things

The beard and the hair of the king were made with a glaze of Schorched Brown 2-3 times to darken them.

The blond beard of the blond carrier has gradually brightened over Graveyard Earth / Bleached Bone (50/50) to Bleached Bone / Skull White.

The beard of the other carrier has been his base color lightened her lightly with Fortress Grey.

For the gloves / leather bags / belts / etc. I went back to their base color and have them gradually lightened with Bleached Bone. Here I have tried to mix up the middle tones with the respective primary color and produce a slight glaze to smoother transitions with Schorched Brown .

Shining Gold was gradually mixed with Mithril Silver to set the Gold dots of light. Into pure Mithril Silver, I would not necessarily go, so unless you have the special something that you would like to stand out strongly. To make this transition smoother, I have yet - very careful - 2 ~ 3 glazes Schorched Brown and Bestial Brown ca (60/40) held on the gold parts.

The leaves on the base are separated birch seeds, which I have attached the following:
- Glue to the desired location on the base
- Moisten the brush with spit
- Add selected "sheet" with moistened brush
- "Leaf" on the basket glue place
- Brush abruptly turn around and press down with the brush end of the "leaf" a little

The longer blades of grass have been separated from an old paint brushes with nail scissors and were delicately color the panels with glue - downwards with Schorched Brown and Chaos Black.

At these steps i have focused my attention on bringing all upper parts brighter from the light above:

Final Steps / finetuning / final sprint

Including the previous reasoning: "All light comes from above !"... now, all parts - primarily again the metal - have been checked for dirty places and colour irritations. Here and there a middle tone was brought in when it was needed. Especially in the metals, I again reached for the pure Mithril Silver and sat on the "spit-wipe technique" again last bright edges.

The tattoo of the king was placed with a milky glaze Chaos Black / Midnight Blue over repeated fine lines. Here it often helps to makesome sketches on paper to get used on what you want to draw and how the brush flows with your movement. Make the brush a friend of yours and get to know him.

So that's it for now - in my eyes he was ready for a great looking on the gaming table
Hope I could help one or the other a little and maybe even inspire a little.

Should there be questions please feel free to ask. The finished model can be seen here - and as i told you it is an old model i have painted years ago:

Klick!

Happy Painting all around the globe!
Regards
Roman