Painting a black panther

Introduction

My DnD group has a shape-shifting druid, and I needed a break after painting all the armor trims on the Chaos Chosen, so let's go for black fur! This miniature was part of Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game.

Painting

Painting the fur

After a black primer, I did not bother to paint the whole model in black just for the sake of it. So let's go for that fur! I watched some tutorials asserting that black fur should be highlighted in greenish blues, but I wasn't convinced, so I looked up pictures of real animals.

What do you know! Bluish hues!

I edge highlighted the body with a green-blue mix. It sits well on black but is barely visible.

For the next highlight, I added white to the mix. Now this really stands out, but is too much of a contrast.

So I toned it down with a black wash, then drybrushed some of the previous color back on for this subdued, more natural look.

Painting the face (and claws)

Two coats of dark red basecoat the inside of the mouth.

Throw in some pink for the highlights.

Bonewhite on the fangs and eyes. Again, I looked to the picture of a panther above to realize that the white of the eyes aren't exactly white.

Light blue irises complete the feline look.

Brown basecoat, then bonewhite highlights on the claws.

Basing

My usual woodland basing technique. 

Paint the base green in case it shows through anywhere, then throw on some soil...

Then some grass...

Apply the PVA glue sealant. Wait for it to dry a bit, Add some bushes. Apply more PVA glue sealant on them, too.

Finished!

Unfortunately, my brave smartphone camera decided that it can't handle this much black on a model, and took some very bad photos. I tried to balance quality with quantity, but I think the details can be seen better in the above in-progress pictures. See for yourself.