Step-By-Step Blood Angel

OK, it's Blood Angel time!

Step 1: Basecoat

Step 2: Mechrite Red
...because Blood Red doesn't go on black so well.

Step 3: Blood Red
You're not a Blood Angel unless it's Blood Red.

Step 4: Fiery Orange
This was used to edge out the armor. Now, left alone the orange highlight actually makes the armor look less red and more ... vermillion, I guess. We'll fix that, trust me.

Step 5: Devlan Mud wash
This was applied ONLY in the recesses to give some depth. I had done a test model where I coat the whole thing in Devlan Mud, and it turned out way too dark. Great if you're looking for the Flesh Tearers red, or the Angels Vermillion. Not so much for Blood Angels. I did find a remedy for that orange, though:

Step 6: Baal Red
Ok, now THIS was coated over all the red. Notice the effect it had on the orange; it brought it closer to the red armor, which is perfect.

Step 7: Charadon Granite
This is for the black gun and sword casing.

Step 8: Fortress Grey
Edging on the gun and sword casing.

Step 9: Boltgun Metal

Step 10: Badab Black
This was for all metal, and for the gun and sword casing.

Step 11: Dheneb Stone
For all scrolls, skulls and purity seals.

Step 12: Shining Gold

Step 13: Mithril Silver
This was drybrushed lightly over all the gold bits as a highlight. I'm setting up a few things here for a Devlan mud wash...

Step 14: Vermin Brown
For all the leather and rope.

Step 15: Bronzed Flesh
This makes a great highlight color when drybrushed over the Vermin Brown leather/rope parts.

Step 16: Devlan Mud
This was washed over all the scrolls, skulls, purity seals, gold bits, and leather/rope bits.

Step 17: Bleached Bone
Build back up the skulls, purity seals and scrolls. Leave the Devlan Mud in the recesses.

Step 18: Skull White
Highlight/drybrush the scrolls, skulls and purity seals.

Step 19: Gryphonne Sepia
Bring back some midtone to the scrolls, skulls and purity seals. Stay away from the white highlights.

Step 20: Skull White
Coat the wings on his armor with white.

Step 21: Asurmen Blue wash

[picture lost to the warp]

Let it on heavy, this is for the shadows, we're going to build back up the highlights with white again...

Step 22: Skull White
re-highlight the wings with white, leaving the Asurmen Blue in the recesses.

Step 23: Iyanden Darksun
This sergeant is a productive member of the 2nd Company, and thus his blood drop is yellow. All my yellows are based in Iyanden, it makes things so much easier.

Step 24: Sunburst Yellow
Nice and bright yellow.

Step 25: Blood Red
This is for all the blood droplets/gems on the armor.

Step 26: Astronomican Grey
There's an odd vial hanging from his wrist. I will fill it with blood (what else would it be?).

Step 27: Scab Red
The blood for the vial. Also, this was applied in the upper sections of all the blood drops/gems on the armor.

Step 28: Fiery Orange
This was applied along the lower rims of the blood drops/gems on the armor.

Step 29: Skull White
This was applied as a small dot of light in the blood drops/gems on the armor. It is best placed within the darker Scab Red area. Also, a thin line of white on the vial to make it look like a glass sheen.

Step 30: Scorpion Green
For the eyes.

Step 31: Chaos Black
Scribblings on purity seals, writing along scrolls, and the bolt pistol gun barrel.

Step 32: Calthan Brown
Base him!

Step 33: Basing sand/Devlan Mud
I glued down some basing sand, then washed in Devlan Mud to darken after the glue was dry.

Well, there he is. I have to admit, getting the red satisfactory was a bit of a challenge. I had to do a few test runs to find the right approach. The Baal Red made the red+orange highlight look great, but didn't add enough depth. The Devlan Mud added depth, but darkened the red too much. The method that I liked was to use both, just using Devlan Mud only in the recesses. What do you guys think?

The Dornian Heresy

I need to give two colossal shout-outs for something that happened this last month. The first one goes out to Elazar the Glorified (The Glorious Works) for making me aware of this. I cannot thank you enough.

The second goes to the team at The Bolter and Chainsword, one of the great 40K communities that exist out there. They are the ones responsible for crafting this great work of art (and I don't just mean the picture above). They wrote the Dornian Heresy.

What's the Dornian Heresy?
Oh man, if you haven't already seen this you are in for a rare treat, my friends. The Dornian Heresy is this amazing pdf document containing 82 pages packed with fluff and images - all centered around a simply amazing "what if" alternate timeline in the 40K universe. What if, as in "What if the Ruinous Powers chose Rogal Dorn instead of Horus?"
A simple, single decision that changes everything. What happens in the heresy? How do things play out? Who are the main players? 82 pages of glory, people, and it's only VOLUME 1. It looks like there's more on the way, and damn am I anxious to see what else they can put out.

You all should check it out, it is good. You can read/download this for free off The Bolter & Chainsword's site HERE.

DO IT. DO IT NOW.

Step-By-Step Dark Angel

I painted this veteran sergeant for a friend. He's an accomplished painter himself, so I hope this is up to snuff.

Step 1: Basecoat

Step 2: Dark Angels Green / Knarloc Green mix
This serves as the base that will be darkened with a wash. It took some fiddling to find the right mix, and Knarloc is in there to make it thicker and easier to apply. The mix is 2 parts DA Green to 1 part Knarloc.

Step 3: Goblin Green
This is for the edges. I had previously used Knarloc for this, but I like the added brightness that Goblin Green brings.

Step 4: Badab Black
Yeah, there's our Dark Angel. Before this step, I'm always afraid I'm painting a Salamander.

Step 5: Dheneb Stone
For all cloth, bone and parchments.

Step 6: Mechrite Red
This is for the gun casing and the lining of the robe.

Step 7: Blood Red
Covered all areas based in Mechrite (plus a sword icon on the shoulder cloth as well as the eye-lenses).

Step 8: Fiery Orange
Edged out the gun casing.

Step 9: Shining Gold

Step 10: Mithril Silver
This was lightly drybrushed over all the gold bits.

Step 11: Vermin Brown
For the sword handle and the waist rope. Ignore the old pot, this color has been renamed Vermin Brown.

Step 12: Bronzed Flesh
I like to drybrush Bronzed Flesh over all leather and rope areas that I based in Vermin Brown.

Step 13: Devlan Mud
Ok, several areas are ready for Devlan Mud; The cloth, parchments, all red areas, gold bits, and the leather/rope.

Step 14: Bleached Bone
I'm building back up the mid-tone for the parchments and cloth.

Step 15: Skull White
Highlighting the parchments/cloth.

Step 16: Gryphonne Sepia
I'm not coating the parchments/cloth here. I applied it only in the recesses, where there was still some Devlan Mud to bring some more depth to the cloth. Basically, stay away from the white areas and you'll be fine.

Step 17: Boltgun Metal

Step 18: Badab Black
Applied to the metal. Do not apply this to the sword though. I'm going to apply a power weapon effect to it.

Step 19: Skull White
I'm laying out the lightning/power arcs along the blade sides. I've drawn them specifically to have the lightning hug the edges to better accentuate the blade's shape.

Step 20: Asurmen Blue
This sergeant's power weapon will be blue. However, feel free to exchange this wash with any of the other washes for a different color power weapon.

Step 21: Skull White
I pulled the Skull White back out to pick out a few edges and corners in the lightning to make it pop just a little more.

Step 22: Skull White
I still have the Skull White out. This time to get the chapter icons on his shoulder and his helmet.

Step 23: Chaos Black
Parchment writing and gun barrel holes.

Step 24: Calthan Brown
My friend's armies are based in brown dirt with patches of static grass and a brown rim ... similar to how a lot of the GW staff do theirs.

Step 25: Basing Sand
Glued down with PVA (Elmer's White) glue ... then after it dried I added a layer of watered down glue over the top to seal it in and keep the sand from falling off.

Step 26: Devlan Mud
To darken the sand.

Step 27: Static Grass

And there it is.
Yeesh, last time I try taking these pics at dusk. Lightbox or no, this is attack of the sepia tones.