![Picture](/uploads/1/1/2/6/11261556/1373163076.jpg)
I started the Well-Dressed Cultist with a base coat of red over most of the body and black for his cloak. Later I covered his cloak in a combination of silver and black - as mentioned previously, adding a metallic paint to other colors gives it a reflective shine. Or maybe it just looks glittery? I experimented with filling in the creases with black and then edging with the original color (see below, left); you know the effect is good when it is hard to differentiate your work from lighting effects. I was quite worried that it wouldn't work out, or that the black would provide too sharp a contrast. I know that it could be improved, but I am still learning...
I didn't like the robes to be pure red, so I played with different blends of red and black. I think the final color evokes an atmosphere of blood and shadow (which seems appropriate for a cultist). To continue experimenting with shadow and highlights, I used the highest black-to-red ratio for only the creases; in the middle image below, you can see the darkest shade near the belt. I layered paint with a higher proportion of red over the creases to layer the color. Eventually, I was painting red directly on the highlights; surprise, the shade beneath would show through. I went through a lot of layers before deciding that it was as red as it would get. I think a little of it shows through in the image. I used a mixture of flesh and brown for the skin color, which originally was for a pair of dwarves but I had some left over so I used it for the skin of the Cultist. I like the dusky tone, which has a somewhat purplish cast.
The skulls on the back of the Well-Dressed Cultist were a neat addition - in these pictures, they are very prominent but on the figure they're only 1-2 mm across and blend in with the figure (at least if you have old-people vision). I originally wanted to paint them silver, but I decided to go with a yellowish white like real bone. At some point I went from "real bone" to "fantasy bone" and used fluorescent yellow instead of regular yellow. So, my Well-Dressed Cultist now has glow-in-the-dark accoutrements. In the image below on the right, the paint looks a little spotty but at regular resolution it looks pretty well-defined. As I mentioned above, it's as if the skulls appeared out of nowhere as the paint flowed around the surfaces and into depressions. I should have added some flat black to the eye sockets to improve the appearance but I just don't have motor control that fine. I noticed after the picture that the skulls are hanging on a chain, so I brushed on some silver. My best results came from using my brush that has a single hair sticking out from the rest at the edge (that's about the size of the chains). I thought it was pretty darn fine work.
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/2/6/11261556/1373149946.jpg)
The fingers aren't as well defined as they could be, but I decided to leave well enough alone. Ditto for the face, which has no touch-ups or detailing. The sculpt had sufficient detail that a thin paint coat did not obscure either nose or mouth. I could have done more with the scepter, but I don't know what... nothing inspired me.
Overall, very pleased with this piece, probably my favorite so far. I may use the same sculpt for a regular wizard as a player figure and use a more pleasant color scheme.