How to paint gem

How to paint gem

Citadel’s new Gemstone paints seem to be the hotness lately. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the new Citadel Gemstone technical paints, they are a new line of translucent glossy paints. The purpose of them is to give you good looking gems without a bunch of hassle doing them the «old fashioned way». A lot of folks have really liked the gradient undercoat for the gems I did testing on. So I thought a quick tutorial is in order.

This tutorial will follow the gradient technique that I used in my testing for the Gemstone paints review.

Since this is a quick one, I just used an old High Elf halberd I had laying around. I chose Spiritstone Red as the example color, because I like it the most and I think it shows the effect best.

For this tutorial we will be using the following colors:

After the primer coat, the first step is to apply an even coat of black on the gem area. For this tutorial I stuck with all Game Workshop colors and went with Abaddon Black for the base coat.

The next step is to paint Leadbelcher on the bottom 2/3s of the gem, angled slightly into the northeast edge of the gem. Also, keep the metallic paint from going all the way down to the edge of the gem holder. We want a black «outline» around the base of the gem’s sides.

Next up, we paint the lower half of the Leadbelcher with Ironbreaker, you can also leave a small line of Leadbelcher showing along the edge of the black, if you like.

Finally, we paint on the Gemstone paint. For this one, I needed to paint it on twice in order to get the coverage that I liked. But I also think I had a bit too much water on my brush during the first coat and that may have affected it a little.

After a quick touch of gold around the edge trimming, it looks all nice and pretty.

Until next time! Til then you can catch me on Twitter and Instagram @ryglore. Thanks for reading!

[Easy] How to paint round gems

Here is how to draw a gemstone with a round cut surface.

①Preparation

The first step is to paint while shaping the gem.
Select the color you want to paint on the gem.
In this case, we will use an orange color to represent a topaz.

Once the color is decided, use the fill tool to create an ellipse.

Set the setting from “Rectangle” to “Ellipse”.

Click on the canvas to create an ellipse.
(After the ellipse is created, you can move the ellipse and change its size by using the Move tool or select → shape

②Shadow

Next, let’s add a shadow.
Add a layer and do some clipping.

Select the Airbrush tool to apply the shadow with the airbrush.

Apply a darker color than the undercoat to create a gradation.

Paint with a darker color to deepen the gradation.

After painting, erase the edge of the image with the eraser.

③Paint the light

The next step is to paint the light.
Add a layer.
Set the layer setting to “Add and Emit”.

Use an airbrush to paint a gradation on the opposite side of the shadow with a highly saturated and thin color.

④Reflections

Next, let’s draw a reflection in white.
Add a layer and set it to “Add and Emit”.

If you split the reflection, it will look like the reflection of a window.

Lower the transparency to blend it in.

Add a layer.
Set the layer to “Soft Light”.

Draw the reflection as you like.

And it’s finished!

This is how you paint round gems.
I hope this can be of some help to you.

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How to draw gems using watercolor brushes.

In this article, I’ll show you how to draw shiny gems realistically.

①Underpainting

The first step is to draw the shape and paint the base.
Add a new layer.
Since we are going to add about 10 layers, we need to name the layers.
Click the link below to learn how to rename a layer.

We will use a shape that has corners and looks like a jewel.

②Gradient

The next step is to apply a gradient.
Add a new layer.
Add clippings too.

The clipped layer will not extend beyond the drawn area.

Choose a darker color than the underpainting and select the Airbrush in the Brush tool.

Paint in a gradient from top to bottom.

③Add shadow

Next, let’s add a shadow.
Add a new layer.
Since we will be creating two shadow layers, we will name it Shadow 1. (You can name it anything as long as you can distinguish it from the layer you will add later.
Choose a dark color with high saturation.
After choosing a color, select the watercolor brush in the brush tool.

Layer the colors with watercolor.
Overlap the lines irregularly using large and small brushes, and create small squares and triangles with gaps and differences in color.
The key is to layer them in an geometric manner.

Add a new layer.
Add shadows with a blackish color.
Compared to the area you just painted, paint in small areas where the gem will be exposed to light.
Be aware of the shading.
(This will make the highlights stand out)

After adding shadows, use an eraser to create a surface pattern. Create squares and triangles.

④Light

Next, let’s draw the light.
Add a new layer.
Name the layer “Light 1”.
Paint it with a slightly whitish color.
After drawing the lines, use the eraser to make small triangles and squares as in the previous step.

We will draw a larger light.
Add a new layer.
Name the layer “Light 2”.
This time we will set the layer to [Add and Emit].

If you want to know more about the effects of blending and processing layers, click the article link below.

Once you have “light addition and emission”, draw a large light.
Use a regular pen and not a watercolor pen.
If you draw with the corners in mind, it will look like this.

I use an airbrush to blur them.

If you want to make it geometric, you can draw it in with a pen after blurring.

After blurring, lower the opacity of the layer so it’s not too bright.

Again we will add a new layer.
Name the layer “Light 3” and set it to [Add and Emit].
Select Watercolor.
Draw the light in whitish color with the image of overlapping lines.
After that use the eraser to create triangles and squares of various sizes.

Add a new layer “Light 4”.
Use a white pen to scatter highlights near large lights.

Add a new layer “Light 5”.
Set it to [Add and Emit].
Place it below Light 4.

Now draw a highlight with a highly saturated color.
Use a watercolor brush to paint near or under the highlights painted in Light 4.
After that use the eraser again to make triangles and squares.

And there it is.
I hope you find this helpful.

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Tutorial: How to paint crimson gemstones

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Hey guys, I was asked how I paint the gemstones 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. Learn how to paint crimson gemstones – after the jump.

This tutorial assumes you have a good understanding of how to paint and involves non-Games-Workshop 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:

In case you need to expand your paint collection, head over to Wayland Games and Element Games, which both stock a huge selection of paints at competitive prices.

Crimson gems painting guide

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.

Gemstone painting theory

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.

More tutorials

Check out this tutorial for painting my Craftworld Iybraesil scheme:

And you can check out my Avatar of Khaine from Forge World by following this link.

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

Pinman Miniature Painter

The somewhat random products of Onlyonepinman’s paint brush.

HOW TO – Paint Gemstones part 2

15 Saturday Jun 2013

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This is a follow on from an earlier article about painting gemstones that shows you the basic steps of painting gemstones. If you haven’t read part 1, you should do so now otherwise the rest of this article probably won’t be of much assistance.

In HOW TO – Paint Gemstones part 1, I covered the basic steps of painting gemstones using Jade/Green as an example. The reason I used green is because green is the easiest colour to make into a gemstone effect, although the basic principles are pretty much the same whatever colour of gemstone you are painting. This article aims to show you how to develop your own gemstone colours and provide you with a few alternative colour schemes. Note that all of the colours I list are from the Games Workshop Citadel Colour line, if you use other paint ranges, I suggest you use the Colour Conversion Chart link in the menu on the left which will convert between the new and old citadel ranges, Reaper, Vallejo Game, Vallejo Model, P3, Coat D’Arms, Rackham and even the hex codes used by computers!

So how do you develop a gemstone colour scheme? Well, the first step is identifying what colour or type of gem you are painting and this doesn’t necessarily need to be restricted to Diamond derivatives (such as Emeralds, Sapphires and Rubies), there are many semi-precious stones that were historically (and still are) used as ornaments and jewelry – this dramatically increases your scope for gemstones far beyond red, blue and green. Once you have decided what kind of gem you are painting, find an example of it and study the colours carefully. I’m going to use Green Agate for this example because this is a colour scheme I developed myself for my High Elf Sword Masters.

This is a what Green Agate looks like, it’s green but with a slight hint of blue – a cold green if you like.

So now we need to decide what colours we will need in order to replicate that on a model. Citadel do have a nice range cold green colours, including a wash. So for the base I selected Incubi Darkness, followed by a Coellia Greenshade Wash. The layers are made up of Kabalite Green, Sybarite Green and Gauss Blaster Green (from the Edge range). To bring the colour out I use a mixture of Guilliman Blue & Waywatcher Green glazes and of course finish the stone using ‘Ard coat. The final result is slightly darker than the photo above, but that’s as much to do with the lighting on the picture than anything else and there are many examples of green agate in varying shades.

So there were two key steps:

1) Identify the gem you’re looking for and find an example picture.
2) Identify the best match colours and what layers you will use.

Here are a few examples of other gem stone schemes I have learned.

Jade/Aggate

To paint a gem like the one shown above, this was the colour scheme

The layers are applied in the same way as described in the previous tutorial only using the colours listed above. The techniques are exactly the same. This is the result.

Amber

Amber is a strange colour scheme because although it is typically a gold or yellow gemstone, yellow is not the main colour.

As you can see below, although the lighter areas are yellow, there are lots of oranges and browns in there too.

This is the colour palette I use for painting Amber gemstones:

Because of the huge difference in colours during the transition from dark to light, this gem requires no less than 10 layers, including the Glaze and Varnish, however as with most things, the extra effort really pays off. Also note that the orange layer should really be little more than a thin band of colour there to help bridge the gap between the Brown and Yellow areas.

This is an example of a painted model with Amber Gemstones.

Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli is a semi-precious stone famed for its blue colour, often with flecks of gold. It has been prized as an ornamental stone for thousands of years (possibly as early as 3000BC!).

It’s a very vibrant shade of blue but it is probably the most difficult gemstone colour scheme I have developed to date (all my own work through trial and error). This is my colour palette:

Initially I tried to use Macragge Blue as the base but it wasn’t dark enough and the resulting gemstones didn’t have enough contrast between the shadow and highlight areas so I eventually opted for the darker Kantor Blue.

This is an example of a painted model with Lapis Lazuli stones: