Hey guys Cavalier, commission painter for Frontline Gaming and co-host of Splintermind the Dark Eldar Podcast, back with another painting tutorial, this time on my approach to Spirit Stones
Recently I’ve received a lot of questions on how I paint my Spirit Stones on my Eldar vehicles, and since they are one of the key visual motifs running through so much of the Eldar range I thought I’d do a tutorial.
So this technique really applies best to gems that are going to be on the darker side, with all the colors fading to black. In this specific example we’ll be looking at how I do my teal gems so lets dive in!
Step 1
Start off by painting the gem entirely black, then do a thin ring around the entire gem with Stegadon Scale. Make a narrow oval at the forward facing of the gem and extend it half way towards the back of the gem. Stegadon Scale is one of those “near black” colors but really saves you a lot of time so you dont have to blend the color yourself on all those dang gems.
Step 2
Now make an even thinner ring of Sotek Green around the gem, leaving the rim nearest the casing of the gun (or the hull, armor etc) the dark Stegadon Scale. Make that same thin oval extending towards the center of the gem, but make sure you leave a nice “border” of Stegadon Scale on that thin oval. It really helps to establish a translucent effect.
Step 3
Now make an even thinner band of Temple Guard blue around that goes halfway around the circumference of the gem, leaving that ring of Sotek in the middle, dark Stegadon Scale nearest the casing of the gun (or the hull, armor etc). Then make another thin oval extending towards the center of the gem, but make sure you leave a nice “border” of Sotek and Stegadon Scale to establish a nice range of color.
Step 4
Here is my favorite part, using the beautiful Citadel edge paint Baharroth Blue. I dont see to many people talk about this incredible range of paint, but they are an excellent line of colors that are very thinned down and perfect for doing the finest details. Repeat the process as described above, doing a thin oval diamond at the very tip of the gem, with a very small edge highlight that goes maybe a quarter or less, along the circumference of the gem. At this stage you dont need worry about blocking out the “banding” of Stegadon, Sotek, Temple Guard as the area is so small the eye really struggles to pick it up. Besides it gives the impression of that “starburst” style effect. Do a tiny half-moon highlight on the back of the gem as well.
Step 5
Do a tiny Ulthuan Grey dot at the tip of the gem and a couple little sparkles (I like doing 3 on each gem) and boom! You are done!
Conclusion
What I like about this approach is that it doesnt make the vehicle look like it has blue spots all over it. The blend from black to blue, to bright neon blue is pretty subtle and helps blend it in to the overall model. Here are examples across a couple of models I’ve been working on recently.
Here are a couple of shots showing you how they appear zoomed out when looking at the entire model
So guys I hope that gave some actionable insight to all you guys. If there are any other things you’d like me to do a tutorial on, let me know in the comments section below. If you are interested in more Aeldari discussion check out our podcast: Splintermind for exclusive Drukharii and all things Aeldari news and discussion. If you are interested in following my painting exploits check me out on Instagram! Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
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