Painting THE GRIFFIN from The Witcher: Old World

Steps

1. 1 Base-coat all the lion-fur areas — the lower half of the body, the claws, and portions of the face — with Brown Sand.
2. 2 Base-coat the end of the tail and the feathers around the top of the head with Black Grey, without worrying about blending yet.
3. 3 Hit all the nails on the claws with Black Grey.
4. 4 Base-coat the lower halves of the wings with Black Grey.
5. 5 Base-coat the upper parts of the wings with Dryad Bark, again without blending yet.
6. 6 Once the feathers are dry, mix Black Grey and Dryad Bark separately with retarder medium and a little water; apply Black Grey to the upper part of the grey-to-brown transition and Dryad Bark to the upper part of the brown area, then scrub them together with a clean, semi-damp brush for a smooth wet blend — repeat on both sides of each wing.
7. 7 Wet-blend the transition between the head feathers and the wing feathers the same way.
8. 8 Mix retarder medium into Brown Sand and wet-blend the transition between the lion coat and the feathers.
9. 9 Dry-brush Buff over all the feathered areas to bring out the texture.
10. 10 Dry-brush a highlight over the upper feathered areas with Bone White, then add a smaller third layer after mixing in a little Ivory.
11. 11 Paint some of the rocks on the base with Buff and others with Cold Grey, using whatever earth tones feel right.
12. 12 Touch up the face with more Brown Sand.
13. 13 Paint the entire beak, including the inside of the mouth, with Black Grey; also use it on the tufts of fur on the legs and to fill in the bottoms of the paw pads.
14. 14 Dry-brush the already-painted stones on the base with Praxeti White for a highlight.
15. 15 Apply Agrax Earthshade over the entire model except the black portions, and over the base as well.
16. 16 Wash the black areas of the feathers with Nuln Oil.
17. 17 Highlight the beak and the tops of the nails by mixing Ivory into Black Grey, focusing on the edges and picking out striations, then build up over a couple more layers on a smaller area with more Ivory mixed in each time.
18. 18 Fill in the eyes with Abaddon Black.
19. 19 Reestablish the lion-fur base tone with Brown Sand over the areas that still need highlights, then lighten it with Ivory and apply the highlight mainly to the upward-facing areas, the face, and the claws.
20. 20 Paint the rim of the base with Abaddon Black.

Paints used

• Abaddon Black (Citadel)

  Fills in the eyes, and paints the base rim as the final step

• Agrax Earthshade (Citadel)

  Wash over the entire model except the black portions, and over the base

• Black Grey (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the tail end, head feathers, lower wing halves, nails, the entire beak, leg fur tufts, and paw pad undersides; wet-blended with Dryad Bark on the wing transitions; mixed with Ivory for the beak and nail highlights

• Bone White (Vallejo, Game Color)

  Dry-brushed highlight over the upper feathered areas, then mixed with a little Ivory for a smaller, final highlight layer

• Brown Sand (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the lion-fur areas; touch-ups on the face; wet-blended into the lion-coat-to-feather transition; reapplied over the wash to reestablish the base tone before highlighting with Ivory

• Buff (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Dry-brushed over all the feathered areas for texture; also used to paint some of the rocks on the base

• Cold Grey (Vallejo, Game Color)

  Paints some of the rocks on the base

• Dryad Bark (Citadel)

  Base coat for the upper parts of the wings; wet-blended with Black Grey on the wing transitions

• Ivory (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Mixed into Bone White for the brightest feather highlight, into Black Grey for the beak and nail highlights, and into Brown Sand for the fur highlights

• Nuln Oil (Citadel)

  Wash over the black areas of the feathers

• Praxeti White (Citadel, dry)

  Dry-brushed over the already-painted stones on the base for a highlight