Frosthaven - Deathwalker

I struggled with the Valrath Deathwalker for reasons I’m still not sure about. I think that inspiration just took its bittersweet time to bite. I started by painting her shawl with a mix of Xereus Purple and Corvus Black, and for a long while that’s as far as I got. I spent more than a while staring at the character artwork hoping for that jolt of enthusiasm that would get me to pick up a paint brush again. 

That jolt didn’t come but I did soldier on eventually and started to fill out the remaining details. For the skin, I basecoated it with a few thin coats of Cadian Fleshtone. The undersuit I painted with Caliban Green and the leather wraps with Corvus Black, same as I did for the Boneshaper. The staff I painted with a couple of thin coats of Army Painter Oak Brown. To add a splash of colour to the miniature I painted their bandana with Mesphiston Red and her neckerchief with Temple Guard Blue. The armour they have on their shoulders I painted with Vallejo Hammered Copper. The small dagger they have I painted with Scale75 Thrash Metal. 

In keeping other Valrath characters, I washed the skin with Army Painter Red Tone to give it that reddish tone that the Valrath are known for. The staff got a coat of Army Painter Strong tone and everything else was washed with good old Nuln Oil. Once the washes were dry I highlighted the tassels on their shawl with Xereus Purple. 

At this point you may notice that I hadn’t painted orb in their staff or the various flasks that they have dotted about their person. And that’s because I had no idea what to do with them. It took a while but eventually inspiration did strike and I decided to have them be bright yellow to contrast the dark scheme of the rest of the model. To achieve this I started by basecoating all the orbs and flasks with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. This was to help the next layer, Vallejo Heavy Goldbrown, stand out a little more. Once I had done the Heavy Goldbrown I gave the yellow areas a coat of Iyanden Yellow contrast paint. Finally, I highlighted the orbs and flasks with Yriel Yellow. 

For the base, I painted the tree stump with Wyldwood contrast paint and the exposed dirt with Dryad Bark and picked out a few rocks with Dawnstone. The latter two I then washed with Army Painter Strong Tone. Then, as I did for the Blinkblade and Geminate, I thinned some Valhallan Blizzard with PVA glue and a bit of water, and applied it to the snow areas and even to the tips of a grass tuft I had stuck down. Finally, I painted the rim of the base with a couple of thin coats of Warpstone Glow and the Deathwalker was ready to join the rest of the starting classes for Frosthaven.