@stephen-w-towle - Agreed, I imagine you can tell I like to talk shop as well. Other than making videos for YouTube, I don't get to talk modeling much. I talk for a living as a teacher, but it's not this type of modeling and my students don't seem too interested.

I do appreciate the suggestion of looking at living lizards as reference, the green Iguana seems to be a great reference. The desert one from Mexico, which I've taken photos of myself while on vacations, seems far too grey.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Your right about mixing and matching the colors. Too gray becomes boring, a little color warms things up. You could stripe the tail slightly angling them towards the figure. What I like about your photos are the eyes. The eyes can really pop things up. If you think about having a Black and White storm trooper on top of an all gray Dewback that becomes boring. Many reptiles, mammals and fish have a light colored under belly too. Your photos are a great resource Brian. They can be a road map to what you can do with the project.
Idea's are like wet toilet paper that gets thrown up onto the ceiling. Finding one that sticks is the key. Its a messy process and little gross. Having worked with kids . . . has taught me that analogy.

Dewbacks can be seen in "A New Hope (Episode IV). The Phantom Menace. (Episode 1) and The Mandalorian, Star Wars Rebels. After googling it.

You can always do some thumb nail sketches, rather than jump in with both feet. Play around with the colors and then make a commitment. I agree some warm "hues" or washes maybe, an over spray with an airbrush to create tones with tans even some rust colored browns. You'd think a critter in a desert environment would be more of a buff color. Apex critters still have a camouflage. I would consider this kit to be more of an investment and worthy of some study given the price. Your right its should be done organically and not paint by number.

@stephen-w-towle - based on the reference I've found, the spiny tailed iguana, the grey one with the distinct stripes is the more desert version from Mexico. The green Iguana is generally found in more lush environments. Neither of them is really camouflaged for the environment they're in. I'm not sure if I'm just finding male or female, or if there's a difference in color patterns. Usually very different in birds. I am going to take an image into Photoshop and do some painting there before I start for 'real'. I appreciate the suggestion. I'm not always as patient as I should be.

@johnb - Me too!

I had a bunch of blue tones in the face at first and it just didn't feel right. I do like the stripes a lot though.

@johnb - That's my plan for today. I'm sure it won't be quite the same, but it is definitely my roadmap.

What a great idea to use photoshop to preview your color, Brian (@brithebuilder). Isn't technology great?