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Painting Harvey Walters of Mansions of Madness

What is an old man doing running around a creepy old mansion? Don’t underestimate the Prof! This week brings a tutorial on painting Harvey Walters, an investigator in the Mansions of Madness game.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness

Harvey’s use in the game is to solve puzzles and has a relatively high sanity – ideal for when the monsters start to show up. He offsets his frailty with a magic staff that allows him to reduce any damage down to one, yup even a Shaggoth can’t swallow the old man whole.

Painting wise, I wanted to give Professor Walters a classic suite, but with a hit of color. A white shirt, royal purple vest, and a black jacket it is. And to set off the vest, a bright yellow hanky.

Color List

As with the rest of the set, I’ve stuck to mostly the Vallejo range as I like their dropper bottles. All the Model Colors used are from the Painting Skin Set.

Skintones:

  • Model Color Light Brown
  • Model Color Medium Fleshtone
  • Model Color Basic Skintone
  • Model Color Light Flesh
  • Games Workshop Gryphonne Sepia Wash
  • Game Color Wolf Grey (hair)

Clothes:

  • Game Color Wolf Grey
  • Game Color Hexed Purple
  • Game Color Electric Blue
  • Model Air Cold Grey
  • Game Color Black
  • Model Color Burnt Umber
  • Model Color Mahogany
  • Game Color Sun Yellow

Step 1: Primer and Skin Base

After cleaning up mold lines, and filling in a bunch of gaps (real common on this set), I primed Harvey white and painted his skin Light Brown.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness with Light Brown Face

It’s helpful on a layered model like this to start from the inside and work outwards.

Step 2: Base Colors

In this fashion, I painted his shirt Wolf Grey, vest Hexed Purple, then his jacket 1:1 Cold Grey & Black, and the pants 1:1 Cold Grey & Wolf Grey. The handkerchief, tie, and shoes were also based.  I then touched up any misplaced paint.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness with Base Colors

I seemed to have missed a picture along the way as the image also shows that I highlighted the skin with Medium Fleshtone.

Step 3: Black Wash

To color in the hair and provide some contrast with his face, I added a wash of Black. This still keeps his hair looking aged, but now has a right amount of shadow.

Using black wash on the hair

Step 4: Painting the Skintones

Next up, I added two layers to his skin: Basic Skintone and Light Flesh. Because the model is relatively flat, some of the highlights were meant to add wrinkles to his face.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness with Skin Tones

The Light Flesh layer left him looking a little pale and lifeless. I fix this in the next step.

Step 5: Face Wash and Blue Vest

Another two-in-one picture. But to fix the too-pale skin, I added a wash of Gryphonne Sepia. This added some earth and shade without being as dark as a brown or flesh wash. I still wanted him to look like an old man.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness with Sepia Wash

I also highlighted his vest with Electric Blue. I didn’t bother with the shirt as so little of it shows through anyway.

Step 6: Jacket Highlights

Now onto the outer layers. Harvey is a classy dude, and sharply dressed. This is why I used a sharper contrast with the Wolf Grey. The tight folds of his jacket would cause brighter edges.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness with Wolf Grey

On a piece that was to be more display than gaming, I would probably do a mid-tone first, or at least shaded with a black wash.

Step 7: Pants Highlights

Wolf Grey was also used on his pants. It’s not as sharp of contrast, but it keeps the colors uniform.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness with Wolf Grey Pants

Step 8: Brown Highlights

Last up is the highlights for the brown. So the book, shoes, and staff all received highlights of Mahogany Brown.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness with Mahogany Brown

The staff also received a few scuffs of Wolf Grey added to the brown to make it looked more used.

Painting Harvey Walters Showcase

And there he is. A painted Harvey Walters from the Mansions of Madness, ready to solve any riddle.

Harvey Walters from Mansions of Madness Painted

I hope you enjoyed this week’s painting Harvey Walters tutorial. Coming soon is a tutorial on using his ski recipe (and a few others) to do a light skin version of my dark skin tutorial.