When I set out to paint his figure, my plan was to try and give it a black wash to provide shadows and still retain some of the purple translucency. So, first thing I did was paint the entire thing with Americana “DuraClear Matte” varnish to give the wash something to cling to. I then got the idea to try my Citadel Contrast paint to see if that would work to give a thicker covering yet still pool enough into the recesses and recede enough from the high points to give me the effect I was looking for. The initial coat ended up giving an uneven covering and dried really splotchy, not really flowing well over the matte varnish coat. I tried applying a second coat which didn’t improve things much. Also, by that time the figure was really dark and virtually opaque over most of its body. So, at that point I just threw in the towel and painted the whole thing, except the ends of the tentacles (which I had left bare to begin with), using Ceramcoat “Black”, abandoning the hope of making the whole thing partially transparent.
Next, I applied a wash to end of the tentacles using Iron Wind Metals “Purple” Ink. I then did a drybrushing over the body and tentacle shanks using Crafter’s Acrylic “Purple Passion”. I also used the color directly to paint on some highlights more directly on the head, claws, and where the tentacles meet the body. Next, I mixed the “purple Passion” with a lighter purple from a Reaper MSP S”sample” bottle I have, and repeated the process. Lastly, I hand applied some point highlights using Apple Barrel “Apple Lavender”. I also drybrushed a little of this over the end tentacle pads (which were dry by this time).