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"The deep underground ocean known as the Shadow Sea has held mysteries for thousands of years, remains of ruined civilizations that built advanced cities and technological wonders in the abyssal depths. As the world of Theira falls into chaos, small bands of adventurers and mercenaries dive into the waters of the underground sea to hunt for the legendary ruins of Darkstar Rift for treasures and artifacts that can help their forces survive the cataclysm of war." https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unchartedrealms/419486578?ref=lq05fa&token=16233964&fbclid=IwAR03tj5q6Y4pjx81sWjCuubFjOzAGQK4TQ9f_XkZvd4Q4yeWuq7jZEAwXTE

It's no secret, I absolutely love the Shadowsea world, and the Dark Mariners faction are one of the coolest lines in all of miniatures IMHO. They really turned me on the the special style of Bob Olley's sculpting, and I am now a superfan. I mean look at it! he is literally oozing character! So many neat details. I am grateful that DSM is keeping the line around, because I'll keep painting them - more to come. I stuck with the style I originally used on these critters a decade or so ago, and though I am a much improved painter now, there Isn't much I'd actually want to change about it - a mix of bright and muted marine colors, with metallics of all shades. Of all the details here, I particularly like the conch like underside of his carapace. He will fit right in with his hideous compatriots.

Hi folks! It has been years since I posted here but it has also been a while since I painted anything. This is a step-by-step tutorial for painting the Daggertooth King Lizard made by AntiMatter Games for ShadowSea. The way this model is painted is in steps that require the paint to completely dry before going to the next step. It is a lot of washes and glazes that build up on top of each other and not wet blending. Step 1 was to prime entirely in white. Then in Step 2 the underside was painted with a mixture of Liquitex Muted Gray and Matte Medium, about 50/50, then thinned with a touch of water. By touch, I mean dipping the tip of the brush into water after putting the color on the brush. The ink mix needs to be thin enough to flow but not so thick it collects in thick pools. Step 3 was to paint the top side with thinned Yellow Oxide from Golden Fluid Acrylics, mixed with Buttermilk (Americana Brand). More water was added to glaze this color onto the edges of the Muted Gray underbelly. Step 4 was a shading step, where the underside was given a wash of Black Ink + Phthalo Blue ink (20/80), mixed with Matte Medium (50/50 of mixed color to medium). Black can overpower the color, so only a small amount is needed. The top side was given a wash of Burnt Sienna ink + Matte Medium (50/50). The inside of the mouth was given a wash of brick red paint mixed with black paint and a bit of matter medium. The underside was done first and allowed to dry. When painting the top side, the model was flipped upside down so that the ink did not run down onto the underside. Sep 5 is something a little different. This is a glaze of thinned white paint to reduce the “intensity” of shadows and even things out. More layers were applied to the tops of muscles and areas that are highlight zones and to also make the belly lighter overall. The white paint was basic craft paint from Americana brand. Step 6 was a glaze step. Glazes of Burnt Sienna ink, thinned with about 50% water, were painted on the upper body and head and Burnt Umber ink was applied to the top of the back. The claws and spikes were given a wash of Burnt Umber ink + black Ink + Matter Medium (50/50 with color). Step 7 was to give paint some stripes. This was pretty simple, using black paint + Turquoise ink, thinned with water so it was translucent (maybe 60/40 water/color). Step 8 was the basic highlight stage. Thinned Buttermilk color was painted on the top edge of scales to simulate light reflection while thinned white was used to highlight the legs and underside. This was done with a very small brush, unlike all of the previous steps. The spikes on the back were painted with more Burnt Sienna ink mixed with Buttermilk to blend them, then thinned Buttermilk for the edge highlights. Some final highlights were with thinned white on the top of the spikes. Step 9. Final Highlights and Base. The claws were painted like the spikes in Step 8 while the teeth were glazed with white to build up brightness, then painted in the edges with pure white. Small details, like eyeballs were done here also, using bright yellow and orange for the eyeball and back pupil with a small white dot for the reflection. The base had rocks painted in gray paint and the ground a light tan. This was allowed to dry, then a wash of a mix of Raw Sienna + Turquoise ink + Matte Medium was applied. The ground was washed with Raw Sienna ink + Matte Medium. Highlights were made with the tan paint on a bristly brush (an old drybrush brush with bristles pointing all around). The paint was put on the tips of the bristles and stippled around to add some random patterns. A bit of thinned white was used to add some edges to the rocks. Then the while model was given a coat of Dullcote, which ended up being a bit glossy, but that’s how it goes sometimes. cheers, Eric antimatter-games.com

The Stygian Depths - Lost Temple of Xibalba, via @Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/524168246/the-stygian-depths-lost-temple-of-xibalba

I picked this fellow out of my increasingly vast collection because I figured he would be a simple speed-paint while I work on a more involved multi-piece project and, hey, who doesn't need a cultist on their shelf? He was finished in two short sessions, yay! I ended up liking this guy a lot more than I was expecting with such a simple subject and painting approach; I guess I'm learning to appreciate more subtle color palates as time goes on. I think I'll be picking up the Reaper bones cultists (with circle) to give him some buddies. Painted primarily with the dark elf skin, dusky skin, and vampyric skin triads, with nightmare black (one of my all time favorite colors) for good measure. I was going for a dark and generic color palate, but I wanted his skin to have a creepy pallor to reflect his life in the shadows. Comments are always appreciated Full disclosure: I edited a single white pixel in one photo that was bugging me. not sure what it was, it wasn't on the mini itself....

Hi all, Here is the painted version of the sculpt I did for the Jade Salamander, a 60mm tall brute of the lizardman made in FIMO classic. It is all cast up in resin now for the ShadowSea game and is currently going out to backers of the Rise of the Draconids kickstarter. The painted version was done with many washes and glazes of inks and transparent paints, followed by opaque paints for highlights. The sword was metallics and inks.

Here is a Nautiloid Chrysalid for DeepWars done in some fast washes, a bit of blending and edge highlights to finish quickly. The shell was two two main colors over a white primer, Burnt Sienna ink (Liquitex) and then when dry, Pthalo Blue ink. The inks on the shell were applied in washes, so covering everything and moderately thick, mixed with Liquitex matter medium and a bit of water to give better flow. The tentacles were Pthalo Blue ink wash, with A Dioxazene Purple wash near the "face". Then the face and thin tentacles got a wash of Magenta ink. Highlights were added with a bit of white mixed with the ink, and some Cerulean Blue ink for the blue, and magenta for the purple areas. After highlights, a glaze of blue ink was added to the big tentacles to help enhance the shadows near the face. The eyes were Indian Yellow (Golden Fluid Acrylics), highlighted with white mixed in. The base had washes of blue, green, sienna and umber ink with a bit of drybrushing with Reaper MSP Golden Highlight. The shell got Golden Highlight on the edges also, and on barnacles. The Weapon was gold with a wash of Pthalo Blue ink, then a glaze of Burn Sienna (just a bit), then highlighted with Reaper shining gold and silver. Some Sap Green ink was added around barnacles and encrusting growth. For gaming figures like this with a lot of texture, using washes and then doing edge highlights is very effective as much of the blending occurs from the washes. The basic highlights on the tentacles were done quickly almost like drybrushing, especially on the suckers. It is still important to do some edge highlights though, using almost pure white, to add contrast and define the parts. The crystal on the weapon, for example, was just a wash of blue ink and white lines on the facet edges. Simple and quick.

Here are some painted Dark Mariners done using the basic glaze style of painting using inks and translucent paint, followed by highlights using opaque paint. This style is very effective for anything with scales and surface texture. This was a set of gaming-level figures, so painting them in an efficient way was critical, something that the glaze style really helps with. A couple were already started, but overall, this was a weekend's work, so not too long. They key, as always with the glaze style, is to shadow with contrasting colored inks. In this case, the shell is a burnt Sienna over white primer, making a nice orange color, then it was shaded with dark blue ink and some black paint. Then finally, a bit more burnt sienna ink to bring the orange back out on the highlights. The encrusting sea growth was given a glaze of Sap Green ink, a very nice forest green color. Then everything was touched up with bone and white on the edges and barnacles.

Here is a smattering of gaming minis painted with washes and glazes for DeepWars and ShadowSea. The metallics in the first photo are started in either gold or bronze with a light coating so the white primer shows through in highlight areas. The metals were then washed with blur/green ink to make shadows, and in some, given a glaze of burnt sienna to bring back some bright color. Then they were highlighted with gold+silver, with more highlight used for "cleaner" metal while the more dingy metal had in mainly on the edges. Finally, extra biofouling color was added with Sap green ink. The jellyfish mech was a little different in that more green ink was used on the armor, and the white area was glazed with turquoise ink + matte medium only. Some very fine amounts of black paint were added to some cracks, but the goal was to make that section as bright as possible. When dry, the white plates were highlighted with thinned white paint, with edges in pure white. Eric www.antimatter-games.com

Hi all, Up from the depths comes the Dire Fish-Lizard. I sculpted this a while back and it was good to finally be able to paint it properly. This one was almost entirely done with ink washes and glazes, with edge highlights using opaque paint to finish it up. This one will be going into a painting guide that was part of the latest Kickstarter for ShadowSea/DeepWars (Rise of the Draconids) to show the glaze technique for painting scaly beasts. http://antimatter-games.com/games/draconids-pledge

Hi all, 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.