Wargrunt: Green Dragon of Melnibone

Monday, June 1, 2026

Green Dragon of Melnibone - Painting Part 4

Green Dragon of Melnibone Part 4

Painting the Horns & Spikes

Spiky bits all done!

The next step was to redo the dragon’s various horns and spikes. As ever, each successive layer leaves a little bit of the previous darker colour in order to create a gradation of colour from dark brown at the base of each spike then slightly yellow to bone white.

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The original horns…

And spikes

Here's what I did:

Stage 1. A base coat of GW Skrag Brown

Stage 2. A wash of GW Nuln Oil concentrating on the base of each horn & spike. This is meant to add a contrast between the base of the horn/spikes and the lighter tones to come.

Stage 3. A layer of a light ochre brown (Matisse Raw Sienna) leaving some of the darker areas from the last stage showing.
These next two stages move further to the horn/spike tips with progressively lighter shades.

Stage 4. A layer of a warm yellow, in this case GW Averland Sunset.

Stage 5. I wanted to stay with the yellowish effect as the process of lightening the horn/spike tips continues. So, I went for a layer of Vallejo Tan Yellow.

Stage 6. Continuing the gradual lightening process: a layer of 50/50 Vallejo Tan Yellow & Matisse Naples yellow light