To paint a Unicorn, give it a nice white base colour, then wash it with a very thin blue-grey wash, and then highlight with white that has had just a drop of the artists' colour Ultramarine added to it to brighten it. Make sure that this highlighting coat is thinned so that it will flow evenly onto the figure and make sure you only have enough in the brush to coat just the very tops of the hair and areas you wish to highlight. Don't make it so thin it runs, or put so much paint in your brush it runs. It takes a little practice, but you will get the hang of it. For the Unicorn's horn, I like to base coat with Bleached Bone, then paint on white, leaving a little of the Bleached Bone at the very base. Do the same for the hooves. Then after you have sprayed with a matte finish, go back and brush gloss cote on the horn and hooves, being careful not to get it on any of the Unicorn's hair. Paint the eye medium brown, put a very dark brown dot in the very center, then a dark brown crescent across the top of the eye, and a yellow-brown crescent across the bottom of the eye. Touch the center of the eye with a very small white highlight. Paint the teeth bone white highlighted with Skull White. The tongue and lips should be a very light purplish colour, and you might want to paint around the nostrils and the very end of the muzzle with a pink/flesh mix.
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© 1999 Thomas Setzer