Painting Nails

[Mosch]

Hi everyone,
got a little problem here. I am currently painting my Formor Fiend\'s nails, and I have no idea where to go with it. Here\'s a picture:

As you may be able to see, I blacklined the nailbed and painted the rest completely Bleached Bone (actually I used VGC Bonewhite). You are right, I did not thin it enough.
Now it doesn\'t actually look like nails yet, and I know I have to do something to it.... I am just not sure how to make it more nail-like. It\'s pretty hard to find close-up pictures of nails, but from what I have seen, it seems most people use a browner tone....?

 

[airhead]

Mosh, go look at your cats and dogs nails. or better yet, get to the zoo and look at some large animal claws. Most of them are kinda striped in browns or a monotone brown/tan. And, like your thumb, there is a spot up in the nail bed that is a different color - where the nail grows from. Then it changes color again as it leaves the nail bed and becomes a free claw. A sudden darker/dirty transition where it leaves the bed.

Finally, see the actual highlight on the big toe\'s nail - almost a vertical stripe in the photo. Duplicate that in paint on all of them at the end.

 

[Modderrhu]

I\'m not going to disagree with anything that airhead said, but I do think that you need to differentiate between nails and claws... what is it that you are trying to paint? Because claws are thicker, they will be more streaky and the nail bed isn\'t that obvious. They can be painted like horn really - brown -> bone -> white

Nails are similar, but less streaky because they are thinner and the flesh underneath shows through. Because of that, the nail bed is more obvious. I\'d go for something like dark flesh blended to bone with faint streaking.

 

[Crackpot]

Absolutely agree with \"Modderrhu\".
I think the color would have matched on a mini with human-like skin color. But you minis skin is much much darker, so this dark skin would \"shine\" through the foot nail. Try to match the nail more to the skin tone...
Ah darn, my english is too lousy to describe it any better... :~(

 

[Modderrhu]

Originally posted by Crackpot
Try to match the nail more to the skin tone...
Ah darn, my english is too lousy to describe it any better... :~(

No, you hit the nail on the head, Crackpot. :duh: That\'s a very accurate way of saying it, that\'s exactly what I was trying to get at. Claws can take on their own colour, nails are not thick enough to do that.

 

[Mosch]

Yes, I actually meant claws.

Thanks everyone. I think I\'ll try a brown glaze from a deeper clour in the nail bed to a lighter colour on the edges.

 

[airhead]

Think French Manicure.