How to Paint an Ork Shaman
Ever since I saw the excellent Youtube tutorial Sorasto’r Painting on painting the Marvel Hulk I have had a great desire to paint one. That's why I got this miniature from Atomic Mass Games. Since its price was not small (approximately £ 26) I did not dare to practice painting green skin on it.
And so the Hulk stood (and still stands) unpainted for ten months until somehow at the same time the 2021 Winter Painting Competition with the theme Orktober and free STL with a miniature of Dagor Shaman High Craft Miniatures appeared. As a friend printed out a miniature for me, it was a great opportunity to make an entry for the WPC and try my luck at painting green skin.
The painting was pretty straightforward. I painted part by part… leather, pants, belts… But let's go from the start. The usual preparation included an example and the removal of any remnants of supports from printing. Then something that is not a real zenithal highlight, but I like to do it before painting miniatures where I give myself more effort. What people do when they say they do zenithal highlighting is to apply white on the black example exactly perpendicular to the figure (from the zenith direction = airbrush) to mark the parts of the figure that are most illuminated. I usually do it this way (because I don't use airbrush): I coat the gray-primed figure with Nuln Oil. When it dries, I make a drybrush white on top. - so even though you cover it, you didn't do it in vain.
I first painted his skin according to the instructions in the aforementioned Sorastro's Painting tutorial. Then I painted his pants purple, but I wasn’t happy. Not only did it remind me of some weird Hulk but the purple color just didn’t fit me into the whole concept. "Consulting" the color wheel, I decided to paint his pants red (contrast green). Step by step, various leather parts, such as bracelets and belts, were painted. Then it was the turn of the beard and the wooden part of the staff. I often went back to green skin and refined some details (a little more, highlights, a little more shadows, etc.). Basically, I wanted to achieve a higher contrast. Among the final details, I painted metal parts and skulls. I also added a bit of rust effect to the metal parts. Last in line was the base. As this is an old (experienced) orc, I wanted to avoid some cheerful base. So I put darker tufts and some dry leaves.
Pretty pleased with the results of this figure, I leave Hulk waiting his turn for a while longer.
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