Capturing the Darker side... Hobby advice sought!

[earthen]

Hi all, looking for advice from the fantastic group of hobbyists here on B&C.

 

I've noticed that the new DA almost have a couple dark magic style elements to their work - examples would be;

 

Cover art - collection of skulls and wooden stakes sticking out from the backpack

Company master - Did you see the skulls nailed to the rotting boards, the lack of any kind of bright red, and the maroon feathers?

Interrogator chaplain - dark and nasty.

 

I've been playing around with about a dozen test models and just can't seem to capture the look correctly.

 

Any advice to get that dark color tone with popping elements is greatly appreciated. Thanks!