Ax Faction Zombie Hunter [WIP - Skin and Lower Torso]

Partly referenced from an online source and partly modified with my own colour mixtures, the skin tone on the Ax Faction Zombie Hunter was painted to simulate a particular Caucasian ethnicity i.e. Celts. By trying out skin tone recipes perfected by other painters as well as experimenting with some hues of my own has made me better appreciate why certain colours are used when painting skin. I am a huge fan of low contrast yet realistic skin tones that I see in the works of a lot of painters based in Japan. In my own journey as a miniature painter, I am hoping to marry that style with the higher contrast skin tones I see used by painters in the West, and eventually come up with my own style.

Ax Faction Zombie Hunter, work-in-progress on skin tone

Contrast was kept light but not too light as males tend to have higher contrasts on their skin tone

Originally I had planned this skin tone with red hair and beard in mind but now I am not too sure what hair colour I should actually use. Any indecisiveness increases ten-fold when you consider that my choice of cloak colour is changing by the minute. For the moment, my combo of choice is a Marsala coloured cloak with either strawberry blonde or dark red hair/beard on the Zombie Hunter.

Still undecided as to what colour to use for the cloak

Subtle interplay between light and shadows used to hint at ribcage and sinewy muscle

Meanwhile, I have more or less finished painting the hunter's lower torso with an eye towards simulating two very different cloth textures i.e. satin/velvet for the belt and cotton for the pants. Together with the boots, the overall colour scheme for his lower torso is fairly understated as befitting the mood of the piece. In my mind was this vision of the Zombie Hunter's prey catching a glimpse of the edges of a strikingly coloured cloak on a dark silhouette rushing through a dark forest.

Ax Faction Zombie Hunter, work-in-progress on lower torso

Satin/velvet-like texture on belt versus cotton-like texture on pants

For a miniature of this scale (32-mm), the detailed creases on the pants were amazing. It also made placement of lights and shadows on the pants that much easier. This was a big help to me seeing that I had used a very light pastel colour scheme for the Zombie Hunter's pants. Getting realistic contrast on lightly coloured clothing is very difficult - it's something I am trying to slowly master with practice.

Boots were painted dark grey to complement the greyish purple pants

Level of detail on the pants was amazing for the scale involved

Painting the Ax Faction resin miniatures continually challenges me to improve my skills. Although they demand a lot from a painter, it's well worth the price if one gets to learn from the obstacles faced when painting such details on a small scale. Speaking of learning new things, I finally - after 40 odd years of existence - learned how to ride a bike. At least this old dog can still learn new tricks.