A Question of Mournfangs and other Beasts

[Solasun]

Evening all; I've come seeking a couple of opinions on how to paint various beasts - mostly the new Ogre plastic mounts.

My Ogres skin tone wise is blue painted in a muted tone of - Necron Abyss, Necron Abyss/Enchanted Blue, Enchanted Blue, Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue - with washes of Asurman Blue inbetween each layer of paint to tone down the sharpness of the lighter blues.

My query comes at this point; I have a Thundertusk, Stonehorn and pair of Mournfangs with mostly completed riders sat atop them and I haven't a scooby what to do with them colour wise. Done right they're going to be an amazing centrepiece to the army but I'm afraid to do more than quickly wash them with a light coat of black to pick out areas of deep shadow. I don't want to overpower the Ogres atop them, I'm quite proud of them; I suppose I'm looking to have the Ogre and Mount base colours compliment each other. My colour theory's rubbish and looking at a colour wheel is telling me 'Not that, not that not that' - rather than picking out something that goes 'that works.'

My other opinion is - what sort of colours would people suggest for the Ogre leggings to break them up and again - provide a contrast/compliment to the blue flesh?

[Verm1s]

I suppose I'm looking to have the Ogre and Mount base colours compliment each other. My colour theory's rubbish and looking at a colour wheel is telling me 'Not that, not that not that' - rather than picking out something that goes 'that works.'

I think it might help to look at the colour wheel again, keeping in mind 'not that, not that' can be useful. Not to give you too much 'homework', or deliver any sermons about mixing colours, but I think these blog posts by James Gurney could be generally helpful.

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/...-palettes.html
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/...ng-part-1.html
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/...r-schemes.html
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/...o-palette.html

Great blog, that. I have a feeling it can cram info and inspiration into your head just by osmosis.

Even though you mentioned that the blue scheme is muted, I'd guess it's still pretty saturated and intense! With that as the dominant colour, I'd initially think of a triad with complementary orange-yellow and orange-red - but as the blog posts suggest, not reaching all the way across the wheel to the full, bright orange colours. E.g. using vomit brown as a base for the orange-yellow; mixing, layering and/or washing that with even more desaturated (paler, duller, darker) colours. In other words, a kind of dull tawny colour than might suit mournfang fur.
In fact, as a visual aid, look at the GW studio's colours for the thundertusk - the blue-turquoise accents complement the pale, yellow-tan hair. I think the same or similar idea would fit your blue-skinned ogres. Moreso than this bluegrey CMoN thundertusk might. It's desaturated, but it would still be a lot of blue...