Ork Skin Tutorial

Ork Skin Tutorial
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Over the past months I have been asked a few times: "How do you paint Ork Skin". I have replied to those questions but I thought it would be nice of me to make and article about how I do it.
With this method you get a light colored skin tone and the recipe and techniques are quite simple. The key to this is GW's  paint "gretchin Green" of which I still have a few pots but you can't buy it anymore but for you I have also researched the current Citadel colors and used them for this article. I can't say this enough but you need to water down your paints to get the best result. Undiluted paints tend to look "thick" and messy and most of all they obscure the finest detail of your models specially if you use multiple layers.

So here's my step by step recipe:

-First basecoat the Ork model in light grey primer. I used to use the citadel black primer but using a grey primer is much easier.

 -When you start the actual painting use watered down Deathworld Forest (Gretchin Green). I use 60%paint & 40% water, because the paint it has loads of pigment and diluting it will not make it transparent but will make it flow easily and will give you a thin layer.

-Then I wash all of the skin with Agrax Earthshade. I also dilute this to 50/50. You don't have to dilute it but I prefer it so it doesn't pool and doesn't look too thick.

Ork Skin close-up
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-Next I paint all the raised areas like muscles with the same paint I used in the first step, Deathworld Forest. Make sure the wash is completely dry or it will become messy. just leave the deepest areas as they are. this will create the first bit of definition.

-The next step is mixing up Deathworld Forest with Ushabi Bone and again dilute the mixture it water. I use about 60%DF and 40% UB and water this down again to get a nice flowy paint. I use this mixture to paint the higher areas leaving just a bit of the previous layer visible.

-The 5th step is highlighting the most raised areas and edges. For this I use a mixture of 30%Deathworld Forest and 70% Ushabi Bone but I water it down quite a bit so it becomes a bit transparent and blends with the previous layer.

-The last step is to blend it all together a bit and for this I use Biel-Tan Green wash that I water down a lot. 20% BTG and 80% water. If you leave the Biel-Tan Green too thick it will puddle in the deepest areas and it has the nasty habit of leaving a very light color when it pools. If you dilute it like me it will blend all your layers together nicely without any nasty side effects, almost like a glaze. I started with this technique before we even had Glazes so now I just stick with the same method I have always used.

As an alternative you could experiment with the color of washes. I sometimes wash a model with Seraphim Sepia to finish it up or use a purple wash instead of Agrax Earthshade in the 2nd step.

(around the mouth area like lips and the ears I mix in Cadian Fleshtone. This seems to give a nice effect to the Ork's face)

This is a very simple guide on Ork Skin. Of course you can add extra detail by painting in the veins or tattoos.