Black on black - washing ...

[clivethecelt]

I know this sounds very basic and fundamental, but I've two Heresy "barguests" to paint; I've sprayed them with Army Painter base black, but I don't want to highlight their physique like, say, horses, as they're supposed to be dark and nasty, not nice and shiny. For teeth, claws and spines, GW Bleached Bone, and some nice Blood Red eyes and maw. Any thoughts as to what to use? Washes? Dry brush with ... ? Suggestions please! Thanks (in anticipation!).

[Biggus Dickus]

Clive, before someone else says it, I'll say it............"Army painter dip"...............Now that nonsense is out the way............
................I always use a dry brush of grey on black it picks out the detail.....maybe try a dark one.
Other than that can't help.....be interesting to see what other suggestions there are, I might even use some of them!

[Big Al]

I would wash with GW's Asurman Blue wash or some other dark blue wash. You have to be careful with dark blues, though. Some come out purple when they dry.

[clivethecelt]

Thank you, gentlemen. I have some AP dip in the "dark" shade, BD, but didn't think it would work to "shade" black; I'll give the lighter shading a whirl. I do like the idea of using a very dark blue or purple/indigo, Al, like on a black panther. Hmm; food for thought.

[Parus Ater]

I know the model and I'd be tempted to drybrush with black plus ever increasing amounts of a drk brown and any other colour you want to tinge it a bit and manually highlight the face and feet go a bit lighter than you'd want. Do the mane a different shade of the same, likely lighter. and then give it a sludgy wash/dip, if it's too light then do another wash.

[Cubster]

I'd go for a series of thin glazes to gently highlight the areas that'll catch the light. I'd plump for your black base with black/blue blends then blue/grey blends maybe finishing on the lightest parts with something like GW Shadow Grey. It's what I use for blacks that don't need a polished look.

[clivethecelt]

Thanks, guys - I knew this wasn't going to be as simple as it first appeared - colours would be much easier, shades of black ... oh dear. Maybe they'll have to be red and green plaid, I can just about do that! Seriously, thanks for the advice, I think I'll try the layering of blue/black/greys - more experimentation needed. Cheers!

[Cubster]

Here, look at the hat on this geezer -



That's using the glazing (thin layers) method I described. Just go slow and keep the paint thin and you'll be fine. Worst that can happen is you go a bit too grey and then you can just darken it up again with a quick black ink wash.

[clivethecelt]

Thanks for the tip - that's a great effect; I think I need to get the paint much thinner than I am doing at present, lots more layers. Very nice mini, by the way.

[Comte Michel]

As you've started with a black base I think I'd go with drybrushing with shades of grey until you get the degree of shading you want in 'monochrome', then wash with either brown for a grubby finish, or blue for a cleaner black. Try it on something scrap first.