Painting CIRI from The Witcher: Old World

Steps

1. 1 Paint eyeliner-style Black around the eyes, then once dry base-coat the pants and gloves with Rhinox Hide.
2. 2 Add Ivory for the whites of the eyes, leaving a little Black around the outside.
3. 3 Base-coat the boots, the leather corset, and the small armband with Mournfang Brown.
4. 4 Use Black to cut in and define the shape of both eyes (adding pupils if you want them), and to base-coat the decorative metal belt piece for a non-metallic-metal treatment later.
5. 5 Base-coat the upper portion of the gloves with XV-88, and the leather belt and boot straps with Eshin Grey.
6. 6 Base-coat the exposed skin — face and neck — with Brown Rose, then use it to soften and thin out the Black eyeliner lines.
7. 7 Base-coat the scabbards and the straps across the chest with Hull Red.
8. 8 Base-coat the shirt with Silver Grey.
9. 9 Base-coat the sword, dagger, and other small metal bits with Black, to be resolved into metal later.
10. 10 Base-coat the yellow stripe across the chest with Ice Yellow, then the hair with Cold Grey.
11. 11 Highlight the pants and gloves in stages: mix XV-88 into the Rhinox Hide over the raised, upper areas and each finger individually, then lighten further with Ice Yellow over a smaller area.
12. 12 Highlight the boots and corset the same way, mixing Mournfang Brown with Ice Yellow over two lightening layers on the raised and folded areas, leaving downward-facing surfaces alone.
13. 13 Thin Rhinox Hide with glaze medium and feather it between the highlighted and shaded areas of the pants to soften the transition.
14. 14 Highlight the straps, boots, and leather belt by mixing Eshin Grey with Silver Grey; highlight the red leather pieces over two layers by mixing Hull Red with Brown Rose; then highlight the upper gloves over two layers by mixing Ice Yellow into XV-88.
15. 15 Highlight the hair by gradually mixing White into Cold Grey, painting small strokes that follow the hair's direction and building brightness in a halo around the crown over many layers as it approaches white, then reintroduce shadow with pure Eshin Grey in the lower hair and sculpted recesses.
16. 16 Wash the brown leather areas with Agrax Earthshade and the black leather belt with Nuln Oil.
17. 17 Highlight the shirt by mixing Ivory into Silver Grey on the raised folds and the shoulder.
18. 18 Highlight the skin by mixing Flayed One Flesh into Brown Rose on the forehead, nose, cheekbones, chin, and neck, then paint the lips with Slaughter Red.
19. 19 Highlight the yellow chest stripe by mixing Ivory into Ice Yellow.
20. 20 Base-coat the dirt on the base with German Cam. Black Brown and the large rocks with Cold Grey.
21. 21 Apply Apothecary White contrast paint into the shirt's recesses and shadows.
22. 22 Dry-brush the whole base with Longbeard Grey, then edge-highlight the rocks with Silver Grey.
23. 23 Add a subtle shadow under the chin and neck with Reikland Fleshshade, and pick out the metal studs on the pants with White.
24. 24 Wash the entire base with Nuln Oil for texture and grime, and dot Purity White in where the blue gems will sit on the metal belt piece.
25. 25 Paint non-metallic metal on the sword by mixing Black, White, and Hoeth Blue, building thin gradients from dark to light across a few chosen areas of the blade, handle, and pommel, then add sharp edge highlights along the blade and its central ridge as the gradient approaches white.
26. 26 Extend a smaller non-metallic-metal treatment to the scabbard ends and belt metal bits, and to the decorative metal belt piece using Eshin Grey and Purity White.
27. 27 Paint the rim of the base with Abaddon Black.
28. 28 Apply another coat of Nuln Oil over the body's metal bits and add dark separation lines between materials.
29. 29 Dot in the blue gems on the metal belt piece with pure Hoeth Blue.

Paints used

• Abaddon Black (Citadel)

  Base rim, painted after the rest of the miniature and base were finished

• Agrax Earthshade (Citadel)

  Wash over the brown leather areas

• Apothecary White (Citadel, contrast)

  Applied into the shirt's recesses and shadows for extra contrast

• Black (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Eyeliner around the eyes, cutting in the eye shape, the sword/dagger/small metal bits base coat, and the base of the decorative metal belt piece; mixed with White and Hoeth Blue for the sword's non-metallic-metal highlights

• Brown Rose (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the exposed skin; also used to soften the black eyeliner lines; mixed with Hull Red and with Flayed One Flesh for highlights

• Cold Grey (Vallejo, Game Color)

  Base coat for the hair and for the large rocks on the base; gradually mixed with White for hair highlights

• Eshin Grey (Citadel)

  Base coat for the leather belt and boot straps; mixed with Silver Grey for their highlights; used pure for hair shadow; mixed with Purity White for the metal belt piece's non-metallic-metal highlights

• Flayed One Flesh (Citadel)

  Mixed into Brown Rose to highlight the forehead, nose, cheekbones, chin, and neck

• German Cam. Black Brown (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the dirt on the base

• Hoeth Blue (Citadel)

  Mixed with Black and White for the sword's non-metallic-metal highlights, and used pure to dot in the blue gems on the metal belt piece

• Hull Red (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the scabbards and chest straps; mixed with Brown Rose for their highlights

• Ice Yellow (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the yellow chest stripe; mixed into Rhinox Hide, Mournfang Brown, and XV-88 for their highlights; mixed with Ivory for the stripe highlight

• Ivory (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Whites of the eyes; mixed with Silver Grey for the shirt highlight and with Ice Yellow for the chest stripe highlight

• Longbeard Grey (Citadel, dry)

  Dry-brushed over the entire base

• Mournfang Brown (Citadel)

  Base coat for the boots, leather corset, and armband; mixed with Ice Yellow for their highlights

• Nuln Oil (Citadel)

  Wash over the black leather belt and, later, over the entire base and the body's metal bits for grime and material separation

• Purity White (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Dotted in where the blue gems sit on the metal belt piece; mixed with Eshin Grey for that piece's non-metallic-metal highlights

• Reikland Fleshshade (Citadel)

  Subtle shadow under the chin and neck

• Rhinox Hide (Citadel)

  Base coat for the pants and gloves; mixed with XV-88 and Ice Yellow for highlights, and thinned into a glaze to soften the shading transition

• Silver Grey (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the shirt; mixed with Eshin Grey for the strap/boot/belt highlights and with Ivory for the shirt highlight; also used pure to edge-highlight the base rocks

• Slaughter Red (Army Painter, Speedpaint 2.0)

  Lips

• White (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Gradually mixed into Cold Grey for hair highlights; picks out the metal studs on the pants; mixed with Black and Hoeth Blue for the sword's non-metallic-metal highlights

• XV-88 (Citadel)

  Base coat for the upper gloves; mixed into Rhinox Hide and with Ice Yellow for highlights