Abyssal Turquoise

A deep turquoise for undersea subjects

This deep-sea blue-green shade stands exactly on the border between blue and green and stays dark at the same time. Painters of fantasy figures reach for it on scales, tentacles, sea monsters, water bases and on armor that is meant to act cold and alien. The paint is part of a program prepared for an airbrush, so its consistency is liquid and in ordinary use it does not have to be adjusted further.

The difference against the bright turquoise of the same palette

The palette also contains light, almost luminous turquoise tones. Those are intended for the tops of waves, for glowing runes and for places where the color is meant literally to shine. The shade here has the opposite role: it makes the volume and the depth into which that light color is only then written. When a model is to be tuned brightly and simply, a light turquoise will do on its own; as soon as you want a legible shape and a three-dimensional surface, though, you start with this dark tone and the light is added only on top.

The choice is influenced by the method of application as well. The brush counterpart of the same shade is thicker and is easier to work with on small scales, whereas spraying manages large organic areas at once and leaves no traces of bristles.

Dark blue-green pigments tend to settle, so stir the contents again before the work and as you go along. The recommended procedure on smooth materials includes degreasing the part and a thin primer, on which the paint holds considerably better.

The dried application is matte, so pigment powders and oil glazes bind to it well. Glossy places, wet scales or eyes for example, are created only with a separate varnish applied in spots.