newbie painter looking for advice

[noretoc]

I am new to painting minis. I have a campaign going where it is heroes versus creatures of shadow. I am trying to personalize the minis I use. For shadowhounds, (Dogs made of shadow) they are described as creature with fur black as night, and gleaming white teeth. Thier eyes are also black and pupilless. Now, I picked up some hellhound fig, and are going to use them, but am having trouble with the color scheme. I start with a base coat of black, and from there I am lost. I tried using a grey wash, a blue wash, and both as highlights also. I even tried using white as a highlight. Anyone have any suggestion on some techniques or colors to try?

 

[nHammer]

I'm not real experienced in mini painting, but I got an idea.

How about base coating in grey, than use a dull black color? That may give a better look.

 

[Mark]

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/pp/pp20011004a Enhancing Different Surfaces from WotC painting tips

-and-

http://www.reapermini.com/painting/dire_wolf.php Reaper Miniatures Painting Guide (Dire Wolf)

Hope those help!

 

[noretoc]

Thoes sites are where I learned about how to paint. They are very useful, but unfortunatley not in this case. I am just have trouble getting a good color, to higlight the black. Black on grey is a great idea, but it gives the effect of fur. As these creatures are made of shadow (just look like fur) it dosen't work. (Actually it was the first thing I tried, which shows you great minds think alike ) Has anyone done something like this before, trying to accent black?

 

[Mark]

Just off the top of my head, what if you tried the "wet on wet" painting (using two shades of darker grey) by either painting quickly (before the first coat dries) or using an extender (to keep the first coat wet) and use some sort of "swirling motion" with the brush? Maybe that will help you get the "ethereal" look that will make it appear to be made only of shadows?

 

[alsih2o]

get a gloss sealant and a matte sealant, highlight with one and base with the other, it can bring great and varied effect to the black

 

[Mark]

On a lark, I threw together an image using a clipart wolf and colored it. I laid down some heavy black swirls, then added some semi-translucent deep grey swirls (to try and simulate thinned paint.) I think it illustrates what I am trying to express. If the black is underneath, it appears as the "true" color of the beast, while the greying represents its ethereal nature (perhaps being strongest at any extremity, I.E. nose, paws, tail, etc.) The eyes, since they also need to be black, could be done with a very glossy black so that they stand out well against the "flat black shadow" of the face. *shrug* Just spitballin' here.

 

[alsih2o]

the layers mark describes are probably exactly what you need, it i harder to say without seeing the mini and it's texture

 

[Gizzard]

Thats a tough one; basically you are looking for a couple things that are pretty hard to do. First up, making black look distinctive. Black is black; its the absence of color, hence it's just bland to look at in pure form. The second option would be some sort of translucence, which is difficult to pull off. Here are two figs from coolminiornot that are interesting:

This one is a dark Manticore. Only certain parts are very black, the rest is done in greys; the contrast focuses the eye on the body of the Manticore (good technique) and also makes the wings seem to be pools of darkness. If this is the answer to your question, then what to do is straightforward (even if it still requires some good technique).

This one shows how to get a translucent effect that I never would have believed was possible. Excellent work. I'm not sure how to make this work for a shadow hound; if you are blessed with an infinity of talent, you could maybe show muscles or skeleton under the translucent skin? But the amount of skill necessary to pull this off boggles my mind.

Alternately, it might be possible to paint the paws and legs with sort of a translucence which gives the same feel as whatever base you make (green strokes for grass, brown spatter for dirt etc). And then allow the "translucence" to solidify as you travel farther up the legs into the body of the hound. Less skill than doing muscles, but still probably enough to get you an 8+ on coolminiornot. ;-)

Whatever you decide, I'd be curious to see some photos if it comes out.

 

[noretoc]

I like marks idea, but the texture is all fur, so I am not sure I would be able to get it to look right. I am definatley going to try it. The two pic show talent I wish I had. They do give me an idea on color though. I think my best bet might be to try what alsih suggested. using a matte sealer, then highlighting with a gloss. I will try that first. Thank you everyone for the suggestions. They helped a great idea. I think I would be to embarrased to post a pic here as I eally am new at this and do not have much skill, LOL.