Painting HeroQuest: Episode 8 - The Bard

Steps

1. 1 Dry-brush Titanium White over all the skin, then cover it in a heavy coat of Ghillie Dew speed paint to match the tone used on the Orc monsters.
2. 2 Base coat the undershirt visible under his hand with Bony Matter speed paint for quick, one-coat coverage.
3. 3 Base coat the pants with Ultramarine Blue and the hat and vest with Eldandil Violet.
4. 4 Base coat the vest's light trim and the face of the lute with Iraqi Sand.
5. 5 Base coat the boots, belt, and chest straps with Mournfang Brown.
6. 6 Base coat the sword scabbard with German Camo Black Brown, the bottom of the lute with Dryad Bark, and the wooden crate he's standing on with Deathclaw Brown.
7. 7 Paint the cap feather with Ishtar Pink, the inside of the mouth with Brown Rose, the eyes with Lilith Yellow, and touch up the teeth with leftover Iraqi Sand.
8. 8 Alternate Mournfang Brown along the sword handle, then base coat all the silver bits - lute tuning pegs, bridge, frets, and the sword handguard - with Leadbelcher, and the metal on his chest with Glorious Gold.
9. 9 Fill in the rest of the sword handle with Slaughter Red speed paint, dry-brush black over the face of the lute to pick out the strings, and fill in the sound hole with black.
10. 10 Dry-brush a touch of Titanium White onto the hat feather, and mix black into Leadbelcher for the iron reinforcement around the chest.
11. 11 Highlight the pants with progressively lighter layers of Ultramarine Blue mixed with Fenrisian Grey on the upward folds, glazing thinned Ultramarine Blue over the transitions; paint thin pinstripes with thinned Eldandil Violet and highlight them with a touch of Fenrisian Grey mixed in.
12. 12 Highlight the vest by layering white into the Iraqi Sand base, and highlight the jacket and purple hat areas with layers of Fenrisian Grey mixed into Eldandil Violet, glazing the base color over the transitions.
13. 13 Highlight the boots, belt, and straps with layers of Deathclaw Brown mixed into Mournfang Brown, finishing in pure Deathclaw Brown, and pick out the vest buttons in pure black.
14. 14 Highlight the wooden crate with white mixed into Deathclaw Brown, and the back of the lute with Iraqi Sand mixed into Dryad Bark.
15. 15 Repaint the inside of the mouth with Carroburg Crimson, then wash all the leather and wooden areas with Agrax Earthshade.
16. 16 Dot in fingernails with a Ghillie Dew and Lilith Yellow mix, highlight the vest buttons with gray dots, lighten the upper teeth with Iraqi Sand and white, and dot in the eye pupils with a Micron pen.
17. 17 Shade the feather with a Brown Rose and Eldandil Violet mix, highlight the gold medallion with Vallejo Gold, and add dark lines with Agrax Earthshade between the feathers.
18. 18 Edge-highlight all the metal with Runefang Steel, add a few thin Mephiston Red stripe accents to the metal, and paint the base rim in Hull Red.

Paints used

• Agrax Earthshade (Citadel)

  Wash over all the leather and wooden areas, and used for dark lining between the two feathers

• Black (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Dry-brushed over the lute face to pick out the strings, fills the sound hole, mixed into Leadbelcher for the chest's iron reinforcement, and picks out the vest buttons

• Bony Matter (Army Painter, Speedpaint 2.0)

  Base coat for the undershirt under his hand, for quick one-coat coverage

• Brown Rose (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the inside of the mouth, and mixed with Eldandil Violet to shade the cap feather

• Carroburg Crimson (Citadel)

  Repainted over the inside of the mouth after the earlier Brown Rose coat

• Deathclaw Brown (Citadel)

  Base coat for the wooden crate he's standing on; highlighted into Mournfang Brown for the boots, belt, and straps, and mixed with white for the crate highlight

• Dryad Bark (Citadel)

  Base coat for the bottom of the lute; highlighted with Iraqi Sand mixed in

• Eldandil Violet (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Base coat for the hat and vest; thinned for the pants' pinstripes, mixed with Fenrisian Grey to highlight the jacket and hat, and mixed with Brown Rose to shade the feather

• Fenrisian Grey (Citadel)

  Mixed into Ultramarine Blue to highlight the pants, and into Eldandil Violet to highlight the jacket, hat, and pinstripes

• German Camo Black Brown (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the sword scabbard, for a darker leather look

• Ghillie Dew (Army Painter, Speedpaint 2.0)

  Base coat over the whole skin, to match the tone used on the Orc monsters; also mixed with Lilith Yellow for the fingernails

• Glorious Gold (Vallejo, Game Color)

  Base coat for the metal on his chest

• Gold (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Highlight on the gold medallion, over the Glorious Gold base

• Hull Red (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base rim, painted last

• Iraqi Sand (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the vest's light trim and the face of the lute; also touches up the teeth, mixed with Dryad Bark to highlight the back of the lute, and mixed with white to highlight the upper teeth

• Ishtar Pink (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Base coat for the cap feather

• Leadbelcher (Citadel)

  Base coat for all the silver bits - lute tuning pegs, bridge, frets, and the sword handguard; mixed with black for the chest's iron reinforcement

• Lilith Yellow (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Base coat for the eyes, and mixed with Ghillie Dew for the fingernails

• Mephiston Red (Citadel)

  Thin stripe accents on the metal areas, matching the artwork

• Mournfang Brown (Citadel)

  Base coat for the boots, belt, and chest straps, and alternated along the sword handle; highlighted with Deathclaw Brown

• Runefang Steel (Citadel)

  Edge highlight on all the metal, over Leadbelcher

• Slaughter Red (Army Painter, Speedpaint 2.0)

  Fills in the rest of the sword handle

• Titanium White (Liquitex)

  Dry-brushed over all the skin as a base for the Ghillie Dew layer, and dry-brushed lightly onto the hat feather

• Ultramarine Blue (Vallejo, Game Color)

  Base coat for the pants; highlighted with Fenrisian Grey mixed in

• White (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Mixed into Iraqi Sand to highlight the vest and upper teeth, and into Deathclaw Brown to highlight the wooden crate