Hello; I'm a long-time lurker, first time poster. I started painting miniatures in the mid-'90s (Warhammer 40k -- hey, I was in high school), but never advanced beyond "one thick coat and some drybrushing". A few months ago a friend of mine started a D&D 4E campaign, and that was all it took to get me back into the hobby. I've painted a few character-sized figures, but this is the first larger figure I've touched since, oh, probably a landspeeder or something.
Primer is grey Liquitex gesso; all other paints are Reaper. Base coat for the fur and flesh is cinder brown; base for the wings is a mix of red brick and true blue (my paint selection is a bit lacking); base for the mane is black primer (okay, very lacking). I like working up from dark to light.
I painted the eyes with green ochre and a dot of black for the pupils (cat eyes -- it's a manticore), with tanned shadow mixed with more and more pure white for the skin.
First colour coat on the fur is a 1:4 mix of cinder brown and green ochre. My plan is to put down another colour coat, then drybrush something even lighter (khaki?) over all of it to tie the layers together. The wings should be red with purple undertones; I have no idea how I'm going to do the mane, but I want to keep it fairly starkly black.
Criticism and suggestions most welcome.
