This is my step guide to paint some (in my opinion) great looking zombies.
I have tried to search for a great look and feel of skintone, blood splatters and other ideas for my zombie army.
Today i think i found a great painting style today when searching for inspiration on youtube. The color scheme and technique is based on the one made by Alexandra AKA GirlPainting. She has posted a great video on how to paint a phase two zombie.. Thank you Alexandra :)
Anyway, i tried to follow her technique today, and with a small amount of modifications along the way, i ended with a almost finished look on 2 zombies.
Here is how i paint a "Phase two zombie" (being a zombie that has been dead for a while, not freshly killed and not been buried)
| New Citadel Color Name | Old Citadel Color Name | Vallejo Color Name | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bugman's Glow | Tanned Flesh | Tan (066) | Flesh |
| Ratskin Flesh | Dwarf Flesh | Dwarf Skin (041) | Flesh |
| Druchii Violet | Leviathan Purple Wash | Pale Grey Shade Wash (73202) | Flesh wash |
| Seraphim Sepia | Gryphonne Sepia Wash | Sepia Wash (73200) | Flesh wash |
| Doombull Brown | Dark Flesh | Dark Fleshtone (044) | Flesh wash |
| White Scar | Skull White | Dead White (001) | |
| Drakenhof Nightshade | Asurmen Blue Wash | Blue Shade Wash (73207) | |
| Nuln Oil | Badab Black Wash | Black Wash (73201) | |
| Ushabti Bone | Bleached Bone | Bonewhite (034) | Bone |
| Mephiston Red | Mechrite Red | Heavy Red (141) | Wound, Base |
| Khorne Red | Scab Red | Scarlett Red (012) | Wound, Layer 1 |
| Evil Sunz Scarlet | Blood Red | Bloody Red (010) | Wound, highlight |
| Blood for the Blood God | edgdes around wounds etc. |
Step 1: Basecoat the Zombie with a color of your choice. I prefer a white basecoat.. I actually haven't tried a grey yet, but i like the idea of a pure white base which does not darken the first layer of color.
Step 2: Paint the skin with a skin color of your choice. GirlPainting suggests "Tanned Felsh" now called "Bugman's Glow". In my opinion the very old pot of Citadel's "Tanned Flesh" i have is a very dark skin color, and based upon GirlPaintings video, my version is quite a bit darker tones that the one she is using. So i figured i would try to make to versions of zombies. One with "Tanned Flesh" and one with Citadel's "Dwarf Flesh" now called "Ratskin Flesh". When applying this paint, don't bother to follow the edges carefully.. It can and will be fixed later :)
Step 3: Make a wash out of Leviathan Purple (now: Druchii Violet) and Gryphonne Sepia (Now:Seraphim Sepia). I didn't have any of those colors, so i made my own mix of Dark Flesh (now: Doombull Brown) and Druchii Violet (wash). This wash was then applied on the two zombies.
The zombie on the top left (with the spear) is the one having the darkest basic skin tone (Tanned Flesh)
Step 4: Drybrush the original skintone over the model again. and once the initial first drybrush layer is done, another layer -with some white added to it, should be drybrushed over the model again.
Step 6: As with the violet wash, add small areas with a blue wash. The only blue wash i have is the original first blue wash by Citadel called... "Blue Wash".. A color from the current Citadel paint range would be "Drakenhof Nightshade". Trying to apply this in small areas, i soon realized that the color intensity on my version of blue wash was way to heavy to give a nice look of hurt dead flesh. So i thinned it further down.
Step 7: As with step 4 and 5, you need to apply yeat another carefully applied black wash to small areas, Typically where two colors meet..
Step 8: Paint other details such as bone, clothes and weapons.
Step 9: Paint rest of the model's clothes, wood and like with base color, shadows, highlights and other details.On the picturesbelow i simply applied a Black Wash of Nuln Oil for the first set of shadows. A zombie is a dirty being you know, so black shadows is a great start.
And after some more detailing, highlights, Metal Rust and basing:
So Blood and Gut is the final stage..
Step 10:
Blood and gut... I base all the bloody areas with the Base color Mephiston Red. Depending of the "freshness" of the wound apply a dark shadow where Nuln Oil represent a very old and dirty would, and a Agrax Earthshade would be used for a more "fresh" wound. Once the shading is dry, apply a layer of Khorne Red excepth for the deep crevasses. Once the layer of Khorne Red is dry, apply highlights with Blood Red. Once all this red is done, i apply either a line of Blood for the Blood God around edges of wounds and as splatter on the skin and around the mouth (very important) and/or Nurgles Rot if we are painting a long dead rotting zombie.
In the pictures below are more examples of Zombies i have painted following the instructions above
I still need some finishing details and shadows.
This is the 4 types of zombies i have painted:
I also used some of the new Citadel Colors:
Blood for the Blood god
Nurgles Rot
Nihilakh Oxide
"Blood for the Blood God" is a perfekt color for painting blood. Its a bit darker that the older Citadel color: Blood Red and it has a high gloss effect, leaving the realistic looking dark red blood with a "wet" look.
"Nurgle's Rot" is more of a slime effect. On the spear wearing zombie's gut i have added some Nurgle's Rot. Its a nice effect, mostly usable by Nurgle Armies, but it can also be used when painting rotting zombies.
The last new color used is "Nihilakh Oxide". Games Workshop states that the best effect is gained when using this new color on top of another new color named "Typhus Corrosion". I am still waiting for this last color (it was sold out at my local GW store). So i tried it at on top of the spear head. The closest color i had to Typhus Corrosion is Brass Scorpion. The result looks like this
 |
| Nihilakh Oxide on Brass spearhead |
