Gold NMM Sword Handle on Illyria

Hi fellow Wizards and Necromancers!

In this tutorial we will continue painting the Illyria Boxart for ThorbjørnBarone’s Kickstarter as we will tackle the sword handle and the nails. Explanation on layer and glaze consistency is below. A PDF version of this tutorial is also available, you can find it below. Let’s get into the tutorial!

1. Start with a basecoat of Rhinox Hide, layer consistency. 2 coats of paint will be enough.

2. Add a glaze consistency highlight using Averland Sunset across the most raised, light-facing details. Bring the highlights towards the top, focusing the brightest points on the areas that would be getting most of the light. If you are unsure on where to place the highlights on your piece, take a picture of it under good, bright lighting before painting and then have a look at the actual light placement. You should then highlight your model according to that. In this case you can go back to step 1. and see the lighter areas. If you compare them to areas that I chose to highlight, you will notice that they are the same or very close.

3. Use the same logic as in the previous step to apply a further highlight using Ushabti Bone, glaze consistency. Make sure to cover a smaller area than last time, so that you can achieve a smooth transition between all of the colours.

4. Next, use layer consistency Ushabti Bone to sketch a few light orbs on the forehead of the skull on the sword handle. If the detail that you are painting has a different shaped handle, ou can still place those highlights on it, placing them close to the brightest spot of the area you are painting. These will work as light bouncing off the area – as glint of light, if you will.

5. Next we will use glaze consistency Ivory from AK Interactive to bring all of the highlights to a brighter tone. Add this VERY sparingly as we don’t want to overpower the gold feeling here with white.

6. Finally we will use a 1:1 mix of Mournfang Brown and Black, glaze consistency, to add some shading and bring back some of the contrast. Focus the shading on the lower parts of the gold.

Here is a collage of all of the steps for convenience:

Here is a picture of the finished sword:

This tutorial should be very useful for anyone who wants to gold NMM or wants to know how to place high contrast highlights in general.

Thank you very much for supporting me – it means the world to me! I dream of being able to paint and make tutorials full time, so if you like my Patreon – please tell your friends about it. It would make a massive difference to me and hopefully it will be beneficial for your friends too :)

*Layer consistently = paint mixed in a 1:1 ratio with water.

*Glaze consistently = paint mixed in a 1:3 ratio with water.

Best wishes,

Mamikon