Lemartes Shoulder Pad

Although this article applies to Lemarte's right shoulder pad (a large skull icon), it can equally apply to his helmet, or any skull iconography in general. It's a fairly involved process, so probably best suited to those particularly special models.

Up until now, I've been mostly starting skull icons with a fairly light base colour, typically Rakarth Flesh. I am starting to appreciate building up from a darker base however, as it seems easier to blend up to a lighter tone than down to a darker one. So with that in mind, Rhinox Hide was used to give the shoulder pad its base coat. Do note that the model, as usual now, was given a coat of Chaos Black spray first.

Rhinox Hide base coat.

I should point out that I'd already painted some of the helmet by now, but the photos didn't turn out quite as nice as I wanted. Wanting to use a few layers to gradually build up, but I next used Baneblade Brown as a first stage highlight.

Baneblade Brown layer.

Due to the poor lighting (as anyone reading any of my posts will know, I don't have the greatest camera or lighting conditions for taking these sorts of photos) it appears here a little lighter than it should. I was a little concerned about Baneblade Brown being too light actually, but as the next step are some washes, they tend to darken it back a little, so the layer I feel was a good choice.
Next up, the washes. I actually used two this time around, based on a small excerpt from here. The idea is not to use only brown colours - blue, purple, red, something else for the shaded areas. I've toyed with something similar before when using different layer colours on purity seals than the base colour. It just gives everything a whole different texture, and I recommend people to experiment for themselves just to see what effects they can achieve. Back on track, I used first a wash of Drakenhof Nightshade, and then Druchii Violet. I ended up with two because the first made it dark, and then I realised I wanted a hint of red or purple in there, just to make it more menacing and less cold.

Drakenhof Nightshade and Druchii Violet washes.

I think most people would agree that it does look more impressive than with just using simple earth tones. The next step I messed up a little, and had to go back into the shaded areas with very, very thin layers of purple and blue, which I mention as something else that can be done. One doesn't always paint it exactly right on the first go, so often touch ups must be done along the way. If a layer becomes too light, go back and use a (very) thin layer to darken it again. Just remember that very thin layers is the key - it really allows you to work the highlighting, fixing, changing, adjusting as you go. Don't be afraid darken and re-highlight as needed.
At any rate, the next step was further highlighting with Ushabti Bone. The helmet used Karak Stone instead, but I just wanted to see the difference. I think I personally prefer Karak Stone, but either can be worked with. Unfortunately, the photo really didn't show up properly at all, so the next image combines also the following step of Screaming Skull highlights along select edges.

Ushabti Bone and Screaming Skull highlights.

I've also done some additional layering of White Scar to again really make it stand out as a skull, though I can't remember if the photo above included that or not. It doesn't really look like it, but that could just be the lighting, so I'll say it's not. Either way, the above looks how it did without the final layer of white, so I'll just leave it at that.

I'm happy with how the pieces of Lemartes are turning out so far. I'm not painting this model all in one go, but rather little details one at a time. So I won't be finished for quite a while, but the model is such a great looking one that it deserves no less than my best effort for every part of it.

To wrap up this post, I'll mention a little about painting styles. The final layers of the shoulder pad started to look a little rough, and it's something I've mostly kept with. Photos from Games Workshop normally show a nice, smooth finish to the painting, which most people try to emulate. It looks better in photography. They also typically use hard edges to various highlighting stages - something I've actively tried to avoid in this case, preferring to try blend everything together. I decided that the rougher appearance had a more used feel to it, grittier, and more in line with who Lemartes is. The point I'm trying to make is: don't simply copy from photos of how a model "should" look (and I don't just mean the colours). Develop your own style as you improve your painting skills, and don't be afraid to experiment. It's more fun that way.

-- silly painter.