Painting a Kor Monk

Introduction

After the death of the warlock (his body and soul lost in the Abyss, no less), his player decided to switch his play style over to a melee character. An avid metagamer, he pleasantly surprised me by looking up an add-on and choosing a custom race from there. Enter the Kor monk. The miniature itself is a modern martial artist. I consulted the player on the color scheme, and we decided to liven it up through some arcane-looking patterns on the clothing.

Prime 

In white. Although looking back the color scheme came out pretty dark, so a black primer would have done well also.

Other preparations included sticking the mini to a metal washer using a bit of putty, as I couldn't cut off the metal base with which it was cast, and he wasn't exactly standing straight.

Painting the skin

The Kor are blueish grey skinned. Start with a Sombre Grey basecoat.

Wash in Drakenhof Nightshade for deep shadows and pronounced muscles.

Broad highlights with Sombre Grey.

1:1 mix Sombre Grey and Wolf Grey for some lighter highlights on the muscles. Then finish with fine line highlights of Wolf Grey.

White hair

I have previously painted white hair up from grey, but this time I decided that there were already enough grayish tones on the mini, so I decided to go for a warmer tone.

Paint white, then wash in Seraphim Sepia.

Drybrush Ghost Grey.

Light white drybrush on the front and the top of the head.

Eyes

As per the painting tip.

Black shirt and gloves

As per the painting tip.

Pants and shoes: leathers and metallics

With several leather surfaces next to each other (belt, shoes, pants), I decided to paint the pants differently. Start with Dark Fleshtone, which is a reddish brown.

Black wash and highlight with Dark Fleshtone.

For the belt and shoes, I applied my usual color scheme: basecoat Heavy Brown, broad highlights Leather Brown.

Wash Agrax Earthshade.

Highlight again with Leather Brown.

There are pins of a sort on the shoes. As usual, basecoat Gunmetal, black wash, highlight Chainmail Silver.

Arcane patterns

Start by laying out the patterns in white.

Paint them with Nihilakh Oxide. This is usually used for weathering copper, but it's a perfect teal color for what I intended.

Highlight the patterns in white. Also use the original base colors of the shirt and pants to correct any mistakes.

Basing

Kor live in a rocky environment, so I planned the base accordingly. My usual rocky base looks more like a cavern or badlands, so I created something new. Rip some cork apart with your hands, as it gives a natural look as opposed to being cut.

I initially wanted a simple brown basecoat, but it's very hard to get inside all the nooks and crannies created by the cork with a brush. I could dilute the paint so that it flows inside, but then it won't cover much and it will need several layers. I then arrived at covering the base in Typhus Corrosion. It's thick but it adheres very well to any surface. It also creates a textured surface, offsetting the smooth cut planes of cork.

Drybrush in Dark Fleshtone.

Drybrush Heavy Brown, then Khaki. By keeping each successive drybrush lighter and lighter, I got some nice transitions all over the rocks.

Agrax Earthshade blends the colors.

Mix 1:1 Heavy Brown and Khaki for an edge highlight that won't break the established tone.

Selectively apply Bonewhite on a couple of edges for increased contrast.

Varnishing

Normally I wouldn't talk about this, as I would just apply a coat of matte varnish all over the mini. However, this time, I applied multiple layers of gloss varnish on the arcane swirls, just to make them stand out by being shiny.

Finished!