Painting Saruman of Many Colours

[armchairgeneral]

I have the GW Saruman figure but I would like to paint it faithful to the books in which his robes are described as they "had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered."

Just wondered if anyone has any thoughts on how to achieve this look on the figure?

[clibinarium]

My initial thought from the description was to paint iridescent pattern, because that would fit with the moving and shimmering changing hues. A quick google shows I am not the only one to think of this- indeed it seems to be the preferred approach.



To follow that image- iridescent underpainting with white over the top? This would be best achieved by an airbrush (and the white a sprayed fairly translucent ink), but not everyone has that piece of kit.

A possible approach to iridescent painting-
https://youtu.be/gNncnuhpZKk?si=6d10YmvGGxdpERhg

[armchairgeneral]

Thanks for the reply and link. May try that approach with dry brushing.

[Cubs]

I did one years and years ago and it was ... alright, not my best. If I did it again I'd use a similar method, just go a bit smoother and more patient - essentially painting the robes white, then subtly shading with gentle green/grey wash on one side (like, the left of each fold or crease) and then gentle purple/grey on the other. 

[armchairgeneral]

Thanks Cubs. That looks great. The figure I have is already painted white.

[mikedemana]

I wonder if any of the color shift paints would work for this effect...?

Mike Demana

[Mammoth miniatures]

I did some work for a well known artist once that involved painting humingbirds with iridescent feathers for a moving sculpture. We used various colours sprayed from multiple angles to create a patchwork of tones, then overlayed it with a transparent glaze of coloured ink mixed with Winsor and newton iridescent medium. The effect worked quite well and I imagine something similar applied to the recesses of a figures robes, with white for the outer highlights, could give a nice effect.

[Basementboy]

I'll third (fourth?) the irridescent idea- that was how I always imagined him listening to the audiobooks as a kid- and looks a lot cooler than going full Joseph's Technicolour Dreamcoat in my opinion

[armchairgeneral]

Thanks for the comments all. I am only an average painter so I am just going to do what Cubs suggested which for me is quite advanced