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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Stahly
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This is brilliant. I love small tutorials like this! They can be used on all models and are about the principles involved. Thank you!
I've missed your long awaited tutorials, will there be any more as you wrap up current projects?
I try to do a tutorial every time I paint something new. However, for the time being I'll stick to Eldar, Dark Eldar, Ultramarines and Blood Angels, for whom I already wrote tutorials.
Awesome I love tutorials. I've been doing my gems basically just like this and this helps to solidify that I am indeed doing it right haha. My only problem is making the white dots (point of light entry) small enough so it doesn't actually look like a white dot haha This is excellent thank you! I need to buy me some khorn red and wazdakka though.. My gems are a bit on the bright side that would help me get more color out hmm thank again Stahly!
I like it! Can't wait to see this Avatar standing amidst your Eldar army!
Fantastic. They need'nt be much more complex than this, the principle is sound.
Thank you very much for your Eldar Tutorials. I really can't wait to try some on my own, I got my Airbrush today, so once my basecoats are all down I'll try out one of these gems.
Great Tut! Thanks for the effort.
Just out of curiosity – have any of the ToP folk tried out the new gem paints and can comment/tutorial on? I was tempted to try it on some new blood angel squads but the old school shading of gems usually looks pretty good…
No, I think most of us prefer the good old way of painting gems. Check out this video, it should give you an idea how the effect works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUBtItceuec&list=PLEaPE4sLDA7s-26V0v6SepDFiznb3y6hx&index=8
excellent!