paint step by step

Here is another one I just finished, the Giant Anglerfish. I also sculpted it, but I'm just going to show the painting steps. To simplify things, any inks referred to in the text are Liquitex Professional Acrylic Inks, and the matte medium is by Liquitex also. White and Black paint is Americana Brand.

So, step one is the ubiquitous zenith priming, with black first, then white at an off angle from above, maybe about 60 degrees up (30 deg from nadir). It takes some practice to get the right amount of coverage and the highlights doing this, but it makes washes and glazes easier to apply and get a good result quickly.



The next step is to apply base coats with thinned opaque paint, and by that I mean things like most hobby paints created for coverage. They should be thinned to a light cream consistency. For the body, Vallejo Game Color "Hot Orange" was used. The teeth were given a coat of Americana Desert Sand (cheap but effective paint). Th mouth was given a light coat of purple ink mixed with Desert Sand. The fins, eye and lure were given a light coat of Cerulean Blue ink, which is more like a thin opaque paint than a transparent ink. Everything was left to dry fully before the next step.



The next step was to make the bold red base color. This was done with Napthol Crimson ink, after which it was left to dry fully.



Next, the rad was darkened with Golden Fluid Acrylics Quinacridone Red, a very transparent red with very dark and bold color, mixed with various amounts of black, matte medium and water. This step involved some wet blending to give a bit of transition. It took a few applications of the paint, letting it dry in between, to get the dark shadow area on the cheek. The teeth were given a wash of black + purple ink + Desert Sand. Again, everything was allowed to dry fully. It may help to have a fan nearby.



The next step is something that may be called "ugly" as it is a rough drybrush of VGC Hot Orange all over the body, with some stippling to make an irregular skin pattern.



Now back to "pretty" again, with a glaze of Quinacridone Red to even out the drybrushing, and then highlights added all over the body with Hot Orange, mixed in some places with a bit of Reaper Golden Highlight. Here, some of the creases and cracks are highlighted on the bottom edge to make them look like they are illuminated from above.



The lights were the focus of this step. They were fist given a light coat of Cerulean Blue ink, then highlighted with a mix of white and blue ink. More highlights were added to the body here also. Glow from the lure was added to the head with a glaze of Cerulean Blue ink, "scrubbed" around with the brush to make it a bit irregular. The fins were glazed with Dioxazine Purple ink.



Now, to finish things off, the lights were highlighted some more with pure white, thinned so it went on smoothly and could be applied in layers. The fins were given a wash of thin Hot Orange near where they join the body. Then the whole fins were brushed with purple ink mixed with white paint. The teeth were given multiple layers if white, mixed with a touch of Cerulean Blue ink, while the inside of the mouth was given light glazes of pink, shadows with washes of black paint, then some more highlights with pink. The eye was done by painting a light gray iris, then applyign multiple layers of thinned white to make it look hazy, then adding the reflections with pure white paint. When dry, more glazes of white were added over to smooth it out. Some edge highlights were applied to the body with Cerulean Blue + white to make the source lighting effect. The base was painted with a drybrush of Desert Sand. When dry, it was given a wash of Turquoise Ink then let to dry. Then it was washed with Burnt Sienna ink, with some Magenta ink here and there, and then given a glaze of Burnt Sienna and Turquoise ink mixed together (a greenish hue). This was allowed to dry fully, then white highlights were added.









Now, here is a size comparison of the anglerfish with the nautiloid and a little Clal-Chk bug man (still close to 35mm tall). The other figures would make a nice snack for the anglerfish.