MINIATURE PAINTING: Dinosaur Skull and Rocks - Sculpt: Artisan Guild

I'm always trying to improve my painting so when I saw the dino skull sculpt from Artisan's Guild I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.  Surrounded by rocks and partially buried, this item just spoke to me and I knew that it was going to be not only fun but a challenge.  Why?

Well most people tend to think of skulls or bone as yellow, yes sunbleached it could be, but when you look at a lot of them, there is subtle shades of grey, white and of course yes, a slight yellowing to brown.  So what did I do, that made mine a little different.

Firstly I looked at some old bones and made notes of the colours within, I then rummaged through my paints and brought a few out to get started.  Unless otherwise stated paint colours are from Army painter (box set listed next to the colour).

PRIMER:  White Scar - Citadel

Rocks:

Base:  Necromancer Cloak (Mega Paint set)

Highlight:  Uniform Grey (Mega Paint Set)

Finer Highlight:  Ash Grey (Mega Paint Set)

Very light finishing dry brush:  Matt White (Mega Paint Set)

Skull:

Base:  Palid Bone (Speedpaint Mega Set)

First Drybrush: Uniform Grey (Mega Paint Set)

Finer Drybrush:  Ash Grey (Mega Paint Set)

Light Drybrush:  Skeleton Bone (Mega Paint Set)

Highlight Drybrush:  Matt White (Mega Paint Set

Whilst this does sound complex it is quite easy, you carefully apply the base colours to the correct place and then, using your Dry Brush (I use a make up brush as I find they're ideal) going round area's add less and less as you move up to the later layers.  

All round, it is simple and to be honest, something I've learned is to always have a look for something that exists in the real world to help you look at the various colours and how they work.  Its always more of a combo than any singular colour and whether you add a touch of white or black to lighten or darken your original colour, you will always find a different way to make the piece your own.