Dilution Ratios

[Aliengod3]

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to know what are good dilution ratios for the following:

Highlights
Shadows
Glazes / Washes
Juices

I know that it is different for everyone so if the ratios vary greatly between people it is not a big deal.

Also, when glazing is there a good method that stops the paint from pooling? I wipe my brush but then the glaze does not fully cover the area that I am trying to glaze.

 

[Legacy Account]

Like you said, it varies. I like my highlighting colours to be comparatively thick. I tend to thin the colour on the mini when blending.

When glazing, the brush shouldn\'t be too loaded and you\'re aiming to cover the area with the finest layer you possibly can. If that layer doesn\'t do the job, let it dry and put another one over the top. And so on.

Same thing applies to painting any part of your figures really. Keep it thin and build it up gradually in layers.

There really is no magic mix. If super-thinned paints don\'t do it for you, use them less diluted.

 

[Aliengod3]

I was painting a vampire with super thin layers and when I looked at the shading on it, after a crap load of layers, the blends were not very good.

I actually have something else I want to ask if anyone has a suggestion. When shading a miniature is it better to lay down the base coat and then shade the entire surface and then go deeper into the recesses with darker layers or should the basecoat be left showing?

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[mattrock]

As has been said, it\'ll vary, but here\'s my general averages:

Highlights, Shadows, Juices: these are all the same for me and I do them at about 10-11:1. This would be for display minis. For something tabletop, about half that.

Glazes and washes are really too all over the place for me to even give you an average. I have actually used inks straight up in a paint on, sop off kind of approach, all the way to 10or15:1 depending on the application.

 

[mattrock]

Originally posted by Aliengod3
I was painting a vampire with super thin layers and when I looked at the shading on it, after a crap load of layers, the blends were not very good.

I actually have something else I want to ask if anyone has a suggestion. When shading a miniature is it better to lay down the base coat and then shade the entire surface and then go deeper into the recesses with darker layers or should the basecoat be left showing?

Thanks everyone for the help.

I paint my midrange and then shade only the darker areas, leaving a little bit of the actual mid in between where the shading and the highlighting start. I always draw my brushstrokes towards the light I\'m working towards. In other words when I\'m shading I draw the stroke from lightest to darkest in direction. Vice versa on the highlights.

 

[Aliengod3]

I have been practicing drawing the paint in the direction of the shade / highlight. What is strange is that when I look at my mini from a couple feet away the mini looks like it is being lit by the environment around it. It does not look like I painted the lightlights or shadows. Hope that makes some sense.

Also with super thin layers how do you get the highlight to coat enough that it fully covers the base coat? I try to lay down a bunch of layers but the basecoat still shows through. Am I just not putting enough layers on?

Here is a picture of the vampire I was talking about.

 

[Einion]

Some prior threads on dilution:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=25618
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=25356
And especially:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=25013

Highlights
Thin enough to do what I need to do at any given time.

Shadows
Same as above.

Glazes / Washes
Don\'t use washes much, but very thin. With glazes (which is how I normally paint highlights and shadows, unless working over a dark basecoat or primer) it\'s just \"thin enough\".

Juices
Don\'t really know what they are.

Originally posted by Aliengod3
Also, when glazing is there a good method that stops the paint from pooling?

Minimal paint on brush - just damp

Originally posted by Aliengod3
I wipe my brush but then the glaze does not fully cover the area that I am trying to glaze.

Glazes shouldn\'t cover, they\'re intended to be semitransparent.

If you are using a coloured glaze (to tint an area or unify some shading) then you want it to just colour. If you\'re building shading using glazes - layering - then the paint is a bit more opaque than this, but still multiple coats (sometimes LOTS) would be required for any major change.

Einion