colour scheme issues

[NemoG]

Hello, I'm new here and I am painting my first few minis. 
I'm painting the gravelords and I didn't want it to be purple/red as... everyone has that. 

i choose turquoise and I love it! very happy with my pick as primary cloth colours. see the necro and skeleton i am happy with that result for my first try.

 

However with the vampires (Crimson Court) I am not happy. they seem... dull I kept the skin grey as they are dead... but with the huge amount of silver they look like a grey blob.. I'm thinking the armour would be better in gold but I don't want them to look "good" especially not as I use them in War Cry. But Bronze might be a good option, I just don't want to keep painting layer over layer and ruin the minis so any tips from more experienced people? 

Edited December 1, 2023 by NemoG
added an extra photo

[Vasshpit]

Looks good so far. 🤘

Maybe try a more saturated teal on the vamp cloaks. This could present the idea of their more regal look than of their dirty and dingy undead servants all while still keeping the scheme. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Vasshpit

[Gitzdee]

Sorry if this is a lot of information, but im trying to help. These techniques made me a better painter.

If u want to stick to this colour scheme contrast is key. U could try blacklining or stronger edge highlights where things look samey. It also helps to keep in mind what the focal point of the mini is. Most of the time its the face/ chest area. It helps your brain to see the difference.

A wash could also do the trick, u could try black, but some clothing parts could look good with a blue or turquoise wash too, maybe a Seraphim Sepia wash for the skin to keep the undead tones. Its easy to desaturate a colour when using washes or when drybrushing a lot. Just paint the middle parts back a bit with the original colour works wonders.

One other thing i would do is paint the base a different colour. Some brown to counter the grey could work. Karak Stone or Zandri Dust could be a good choice. Something more brownish or darker could work too.

Try to keep in mind what u want the end result to look like. I just want things to look good on the tabletop from a short distance. Sometimes i have to literally take a step back and look and see if im happy with the result. 

Try youtube for more info on blacklining, washes, using contrast and focal points. They explain it a lot better than i could. Hope this helps.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Gitzdee

[MarkK]

Hi, in addition to the good advice given, I would add a contrasting spot colour, an orange or red detail would work, so you could use bronze, but I would use for smaller details like armour trim and weapon handles.

This would keep your primary colours the turquoise and silver, while drawing the eye to the smaller details. I'd recommend a colour wheel, I use it a lot when deciding secondary colour, like on the cloth on the figures below.

[MitGas]

Your main problem is that you mix white to highlight your blues/teals, that desaturates it further and makes it blend in with the neutrals more than it otherwise would. A stronger contrast on the grey/silver parts would also help a lot. Additionally - or alternatively - you could introduce either a warm color (doesn‘t have to be truly warm if you wanna go for vamps) into the scheme as its own thing for details (see color wheel but adhering to those combinations gets you cookie cutter schemes, even if powerful ones) or add it to the vampiric flesh tones. Or even the silver, silver‘s a true canvas that can be pushed into multiple directions. Unless you want to go for a cool mood - then you could add blue to the shadows but you usually only see that on armies with winter themes as it‘s quite „cinematic“. 
 

Personally I‘d push the contrast in parts and not introduce any overtly warm colors there (you could save them for spells or something, something that needs to pop). It‘s a good and fitting look you got there but I like gloomy stuff…. And add some brown (maybe add some blue into the brown there to keep them cooler) to the horns of the vampire dude. (I think those are horns/tusks on his shoulders). Those stick out to me in a bad way. You could also put some stronger/more saturated color on the lady‘s hair and use less white for the highlights on your blue/teal, that would add that colorful punch you look for. Just my 2 cents.

[JackStreicher]

Black armour should do.

you are running into the issue of too many desaturated cold colors. You are amplifing the issue with grey bases.

look at my avatar: It would not look as good with grey skin: There needs to be some contrast in color warmth.
 

Rule of thumb: Dark models need bright bases and vise versa. In your case it’s either bright or dark with a little bit of red/turquiose flowers that‘d do the trick.

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by JackStreicher

[Sparxius]

14 minutes ago, JackStreicher said:

Black armour should do.

you are running into the issue of too many desaturated cold colors. You are amplifing the issue with grey bases.

look at my avatar: It would not look as good with grey skin: There needs to be some contrast in color warmth.
 

Rule of thumb: Dark models need bright bases and vise versa. In your case it’s either bright or dark with a little bit of red/turquiose flowers that‘d do the trick.

 

I agree with Jack here.

But maby get your Turquiose alot brighter, so that pops more.

They are in the end royalty and don't get their hands dirty unless really necessery. Also they are Hero characters who should be a bit more promenant.

For the dude with the big horns/tusk maby try giving it a brown wash so another colour is introduced, Now it all looks really flat.
If you want to have a look, you can check out my instagram page on how i painted them. Totally different colourscheme as they are Jungle vampires haha.