Tutorial: How to paint gems

Hey guys, I was asked how I paint gems in my Eldar army of Craftworld Iybraesil. Well, painting gems is a technique that is easy to master and looks great. It’s actually pretty straightforward once you understand the basic principle. Find out more after the jump.

This tutorial assumes you have a good understanding of how to paint and involves non-GW paints. Underneath each picture are the corresponding instructions. Each step shows the paint(s) I used during that step. If a non-GW paint was used, I try my best to give you suitable alternatives [in brackets].

Paints I used for this tutorial:

GW Khorne Red

GW Wazdakka Red

GW Pink Horror

GW Emperor’s Children

Vallejo Game Colour Squid Pink [Fulgrim Pink]

Privateer Press Formula P3 Carnal Pink [Fulgrim Pink + white]

1. First I basecoated the whole gem with a suitably dark colour. I used Khorne Red for this.

2. Then, I applied the first highlight with Wazdakka Red. Notice the round area in the upper left which I left Khorne Red.

3. Next, I used Pink Horror for the second stage of highlighting, concentrating on the lower right while following the shape of the gem.

4. The next highlight was applied with Emperor’s Children. For smaller gems you can skip this stage, like I did on the gems on the fin.

5. Concentrating more and more on the lower right half, a highlight of VGC Squid Pink [a good replacement would be Fulgrim Pink] was applied. This must be a very thin highlight.

6. I applied a final and extremely thin highlight of Formula P3 Carnal Pink [Fulgrim Pink with white or pure White Scar can be used instead]. I also added a small dot to the dark area in the upper left – this is supposed to represent the reflection. Congratulations, the gem is done. If you like, you can also add a coat of ‘Ardcoat.

The schema above illustrates the basic principle of painting gems. Start with a very dark colour, then work up to white or an almost white colour while applying your highlights to the lower right area. The size of the gem dictates the amount of layers you’ll need for a good blending. For larger gems you might need to add a couple more stages. Mix your paints when needed.

You can adapt this technique to paint gems in any colour you want. For example, for the turquoise gems in the pictures above I started with Stegadon Scale Green, then went on with a mix of Stegadon Scale Green and VGC Falcon Turquoise, pure Falcon Turquoise, then Falcon Turquoise mixed with white, Falcon Turquoise with more white and pure white for the final highlight and reflection.

Hope you liked this quick and easy tutorial – if so, drop some words in the comment section below 🙂

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