"How To Paint 'Colorless', 'Albino-like', Subterraneans?" Topic

Like for Morlocks, Ghouls and other creatures deprived of access to sunlight . . .

Suggestions?

CC

Here's a progression of colors I like to use on my Dark Elves:
Vallejo Game Color Khaki, Americana Fawn, Ceramcoat AC Flesh, Ceramcoat Ivory. Although in all honesty, you could probably get a very similar effect by starting with the Khaki and progressively adding white.

This gives a tan-pale flesh color, that looks natural, but unhealthy.

This picture is small, but should give you an idea of what it looks like:
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In the original Time Machine movie, the Morlocks were a pale blue. That seems to be the same as some "low-light" creatures that spend their whole lives in the dark. I think that almost any color would work if was very pale or pastel. I think a pale blue or green is also a popular ghoulish color.

I had to paint a 'copy' of an old Dutch master in school last year… mine had a madonna and child, and I'd have sworn that parts of her, hands and cheecks, were almost pure white… but on closer examination they were a rainbow of subtle tints… pinks, blues, greens… there wasn't any white anywhere, not even the high-lights.

The base of the blood affects the color of the blood..
which affects the color of the skin..

thus.. our (normal human) blood is iron-based. This leads
to blue skin .. unless the blood is oxygenated, in which
case it is red.. leading to reddish skin.

Copper-based blood would be straw-yellow, turning green
when oxygenated.

Basically.. think of metals when they 'rust / tarnish'
Iron -> red
Copper -> green
Silver -> black/darkgray

So Vulcan's should have a greenish tint?
What would make a critter blue?

The salamanders that come out at night around here are translucent – sort of a light pinkish tangerine. A pale flesh base with reddish highlights and bluish shadows would probably give a similar look.

A light fleshtone thinly washed with Reaper Brettonian Navy (or a Prussian Blue) makes a wonderfuly palid skintone.

Saladin,

Are they like these?
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CC

How NOT to paint morlocks!

Using Copplestone yeti as morlocks, for the skin I mixed a hint of red into white making a very light pink and then dry brushed them white. For the fur I used light grey dry brushed white.

The end result looked very very clean and snowy white, as if they were fresh out of the bath. Not at all like repulsive, grimey cave crawlers.

In hindsight I should have used light brown as the fur base instead of grey.

I did a Nosferatu mini once using GW Bleached Bone and a brown magic wash. It came out very well.

I am still trying to figure out if I should convert and paint some of my Pulp Figures' Neanderthals as Morlocks:

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Or if I should go another route:

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Either way, the question will be the same: How to make them like humans deprived of sunlight for generations.

I like the cave salamander comparison.

CC

Go buy a bottle of Vallejo Model Color 928, pale flesh color. Perfect.

(Works for Irishmen as well).

Voyager suffers from the same problem all the post Next Generations suffer from – Rick Berman as executive producer!!

Dave

Huh?

CC

Something that could be tried on 28mm figures would be similar to what I do when Airbrushing 2D work of pale skinned individuals…

Take the figure as it is primed (in white of course), and trace blue lines acrss the skin in the same pattern as blood vessels.

Then do a thick wash over these with your basic pale flesh color.

DO a thin wash of your shading color over this, and before you go back to begin highlight drybrushing, just touch-up lightly the high spots of the blue blood vessel lining.

Then, do you shading and highlighting as normal, finally, give the remaining blue thraces just a hint of hightlight themselves.

It is rather difficult to describe the process without actually seeing it done. I hope I got the point across though.

Judas, I like that! Thanks.

CC

Actually what I was talking about is apparently a type of gecko, not a salamander as I originally said. This picture is close, but the ones around here are mostly just translucent pink like the tail. (I think the lighting from the flash is exaggerating the blue in the body.)

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the afriels from that one WD with the sub-human doctrines in it would be colorless albinos…may want to check them out

"the afriels from that one WD with the sub-human doctrines "

Which ones are those?

CC

Are these the ones?

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CC

sorry for the late reply CC, yes those are them

I love the eyes on those Afriel shots.

CC

Reaper Master Series Fair Skin, Fair Shadow, and Fair Highlight are incredibly pale, pastier than I am in the wintertime (I'm a redhead). Those are probably your best bets.

I'll check those out! Thanks.

CC

I got some Baueda/Esair Trogs from Claudio and, after adding a little hair, I will try some of these color schemes. They might just work as Morlocks.

I may also try this on them, particularly on their upper back and shoulders:

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CC

LOOK AT THIS!!!

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CC

Something that I learned in Art school (and really wish I still had an example of):

Paint the figure in a natural flesh tone, and then wash it with a darker shade… drybrish with a natural flesh tone (This gives you a base pigment to work with..

Then, on the flesh draw in with a very fine brush blue tracings where you would normally see veins. On top of that, using a red or red-brown do a tracery pattern of red orbs and blobs that all connect over the flesh. They should be about the size of a quarter on the face (if the face was normal real-life sized) and about the size of a tea-cup saucer on the rest of the body… Then, do another slightly lighter shading wash, and then drybrush with a pale skin-tome and you will have you some really creepy pale mottled skin tone that looks as if it is about to fall off of the owner

Maybe white undercoat with blue, red, or green sharpie ultra fine tip marker drawn on, then wash with diluted white, yellows, or pink paint.

I really, REALLY like these guys!

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CC

Nice color schemes here too . . .

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CC

I think I may apply these painting tips to the 15mm Ghouls I got from Splintered Light:

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CC

I wish somebody would make some ghouls in more active, bestial poses. The ones that are generally out there are too static and seldom convey the sort of savage, predatory beasts I think of when I see ghouls.

I like the way that SL makes theirs look, just not the poses. Heresy has some nice ones in 28mm.

-Eli

I've seen some modern ones, in the vein of 'Left 4 Dead' and other 'fast zombie' films.

Here ya go:

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CC
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white?

The Boss needs suggestions on the topic:

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CC

Wow. I think that these two in the front have the absolute best color I have ever seen for Orcs:

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I must borrow that skin tone for mine.

Very close to what I think would be natural for a subterranean humanoid:

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Thanks.

Dan
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This is a Cephalyx Mind Slave from Privateer Press. They live nearly their entire existence underground and are the thralls of Iron Kingdoms proxy for the Illithid/Mind Flayers.

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So anyways it's black primer with a thin base coat of Rainy Gray, then drybrushed with a layer of 50/50 Cloudy Grey/Fair Flesh Shadow, then a layer of Fair Flesh, with some touch up with a thinned Grey Liner (all Reaper Master Series). The paint job sucks because I was in a rush and the can of primer was bad, which is why its so gritty. Not proud of this one.

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Those are some interesting guys to be sure.

I guess that the hair color doesn't have to be absolutely even in shade:

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Dan