Flesh is a groovy addition. Just have to ensure it's merely informing the transition from dark to light, existing in the transitions as one adds white rather than adding more and more flesh and having that sit atop in a pure flesh form cos that just looks weird, like it's a chaotic mutation or something. Reckon the psychology of it works similar to the turquoise, in that we don't look at it and refer to a visual memory as we don't tend to see things in our world existing with those kind of colours, so instead we see it on the mini and just have to consider it for what it is without mental baggage informing us how right or wrong it is.
I keep falling into the same colours in the black to white mix. Regal Blue, Turquoise, Bubonic Brown. All the same kinda process, just playing in the background, informing the transitions, dragging it a bit off a plain black/grey/white range.
Blue for leather. Like some fancyB&W photos, and films with a lot of darkness (Underworld/Batman).
Bubonic Brown for organic material, like cloth. Though I must remember to slap my hand when reaching automatically for Bubonic Brown next time, and try other browns instead. An additional thing I've been doing of late is subtle cross hatching. Done in addition to the regular blending, it conveys a rough cloth texture.
Artificially created stuff like plastic weapon casings and armour, regular black/grey/white works a treat. Without a tint of anything else it looks suitably artificial. Though adding Shadow Grey can throw up a creamy looking black that remains clean and contrived enough for artificially created stuff.
Turquoise for anything I'd want to look proper black, without a texture informing how it comes out.
Though stumbling across P3's Coal Black (a dark turquoise) has saved me from many mixing stages. Looking for other paints to reduce stages will be an ongoing excuse to buy more paints.
Where normally the stages could be,
black,
black/black/colour,
black/colour,
black/colour/white,
add more and more white until finished, depending on how high or low contrast it's to be.
Paints like Coal Black can serve as the middle black/colour stage, and reduce the previous black/black/colour stage to just black/coal black. Settling on a nice very dark blue than retains some richness, or a black-brown paint, that should help cut out some of the mixing work for other textures. While also regulating it somewhat. Lending itself to a consistent end result across various models. Least, that's my excuse for buying more paints, as if any were needed.
