![Picture](/uploads/1/1/2/6/11261556/1370044948.jpg)
So, this piece got a base coat of green with some blue mixed in. To me, it looks like a murky or weedy water color - it isn't a good base coat for bright or flashy (would white be the best option for that?). I painted over the base with a wash of blue and black (very light on black - a little goes a long way). I thought the wash would be very important since the scaly skin has many little indentations where shadows would gather. Then there was the Silver Incident...
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/2/6/11261556/1370045558.jpg)
Since the effect looked attractive on the kid's pieces, I decided to silver the Deepwater Naga's scales. I dry-brushed the silver directly onto the piece, which brought the texture of the scales into shocking relief. The image to the left really doesn't do justice to the aesthetics. The dark blue coat just barely shows through the drybrushed silver, so even the highlights reveal some of the coloration.
The downside is that I was so in love with the effect that I didn't want to ruin it through further work. It's a very static piece with no changes in color or tone, just base and highlights. I wish I'd worked on deepening the color in the coils to add shadowing, and maybe some highlighting on the tummy? Oh well, it's been lacquered now so it shall be as it is. I'll try to be more adventurous with some of my future pieces.