For Beginner: Dry Brush or Layering?

[Gussy]

I not sure if I\'m doing this the right way or not, but I\'m having trouble with the so called \"blacklining\" on my Space Marines. I was told by the GW store to just do dry brush Ultramarine Blue over the Chaos Black so that the separation lines shows. However, I\'m missing too many areas that should be blue. Should I be using this method or it\'s easier to paint in thin black lines? Use ink wash instead?

Thanks!

 

[Gilvan Blight]

I find the easiest way to blackline is to prime your model with black primer. Then paint your base colours on right over the black but leave a small gap where different parts of the model meet, leaving a thin black line (or blackline). I find this much easier then going in and trying to add lines later. I would start with a black undercoat, then paint all of the armour Ultramarine blue. Then add highlights to that. If Ultramarine blue is too light already, then use a darker blue (or mix black and ultramarine).

 

[No Such Agency]

Good lord, mentally throw away every thing the air-suckers at the GW store ever told you. Seriously, if they said the sky is blue, don\'t believe them.

Their sole goal is to get you to buy a WH/40k army, paint it like ass, and consequently buy more armies.

I always had trouble with Space Marines myself. Either too plain, or ridiculously ornate. Black-lining or some kind of wash sound like easier ways to get the result you are looking for. If you\'re feeling adventurous you could even try \"stain-painting\" with a dark wood stain.

 

[bullfrog]

I guess it all comes down to what experience you have had with painting minis so far and what you feel comfortable with in regards to trying new techniques.
Although there are people who swear by it blacklining seems to be waning a little in popularity.
You hit the nail on the head with your suggestion of washes though. It really is much simpler that what it sounds like so give it a go. The difference between even a basic layered mini and a drybrushed one is astounding.
Before you even start the most important tip that was given to me was to water my paints down a little. I couldnt believe what a difference this one piece of advice made to my finished mini. Some use a wet palette which you can find good tutorials for on here so I won\'t go into that. What I do is put my paint onto a dry palette and lightly spray it with a very fine craft pump bottle filled with water. I do this as a personal preference as I can take thicker paint from the middle of the blob and very dilute from the edges when needed.

Now back to the actual painting.... Try picking out a colour somewhere from the middle to darker end of the colour range you will be painting. Use this colour to basecoat your mini. It will give you a nice dark to midrange basecoat to work on. You could wash your mini with a darker ink or dilute paint and then go back over the raised areas with your basecoat again leaving the ink wash in the recesses. Or the way I usually go is to use a finer brush to carefully guide paint that has been diluted to almost a milk wash into the recesses. You can be very basic with this technique or as complicated and involved as you like using many coloured washes....each a bit darker than the last.
Now you should have a mini with a basecoat and shading. All that is left is to highlight with the lighter colours in your colour range. You can do this by progressively layering lighter colours.....the more layers you use the smoother the transition will be. You don\'t have to go overboard with this to have nice gaming minis. One or two shades will suffice as will one or two highlights.

Now that I have completely confused you....go and have a look at the tutorials available on this site. Give layering a go as I doubt you will be disappointed with it. As with evrything you just gotta keep at it as every mini will improve.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by No Such Agency
Good lord, mentally throw away every thing the air-suckers at the GW store ever told you.

Sorry, maybe I\'m behind the times here. I thought the official term was mouth-breathers?

Einion

 

[Gussy]

Thanks guys! I have absolutely no experience in painting. When I try to leave a little line between two areas I can\'t help overlapping. I mean, the figures are so small that it\'s hard to keep the brush from going over.

Let me try to take some photos of what happens and I\'ll post them.

 

[MathewBaich]

yeah, that happens just practice and your hands will get steadier.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

It will also help if you have a good brush (noy a GW one).

Go to an art shop and get a natural sable hair brush - DaVinci, Windsor series 7 brush or similar.

 

[sg2009]

i have winsor & newton series 7 size oo best brush ive ever had but its a watercolour brush does that really matter ???

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Einion

Originally posted by No Such Agency
Good lord, mentally throw away every thing the air-suckers at the GW store ever told you.

Sorry, maybe I\'m behind the times here. I thought the official term was mouth-breathers?

Einion

sorry einion, it\'s been updated, time to throw out that dictionary!

i agree that layering will produce the best results but it would be a pain if you are producing a whole army. for something like that (and of course it would depend on gussy\'s level of skill) i would suggest drybrushing to start with (but use pretty watered down paint to reduce the chalkyness and keep it smoother), then use a couple of layered highlights then a couple of thin washes to shade. if you are doing a few models at a time, the layer of paint you have added should be dry on the first model by the time you have finished the last

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by sg2009
i have winsor & newton series 7 size oo best brush ive ever had but its a watercolour brush does that really matter ???

Yes & No.
Einion will probably correct me on this but Watercolour brushes are designed to flow water & pigment evenly, while Oil & Acrylic brushes deal with dense pigment and materials and sometimes to give textural effects (impasto).
So Yes using a Watercolour brush is fine, & No there are some brushes designed to be used with Acrylics which are comparable.

 

[airhead]

@SG2009, most of us here swear by W&N Series 7\'s. They ain\'t cheap and you have to learn to care for them.

@Gussy, paint as well as you can. get some pics up so we can help you improve. I\'d personally use a wash to get the darkline/shadows if I was trying to produce a decent army for play.

 

[Gussy]

Here are the pictures. Notice how bad the white skulls are. Also, I can\'t seem to blackline well. The dry brush seems to be okay except I can\'t get to all the areas without ruining the others.

 

[Gussy]

Stain-painting? How do you do that?

Originally posted by No Such Agency
Good lord, mentally throw away every thing the air-suckers at the GW store ever told you. Seriously, if they said the sky is blue, don\'t believe them.

Their sole goal is to get you to buy a WH/40k army, paint it like ass, and consequently buy more armies.

I always had trouble with Space Marines myself. Either too plain, or ridiculously ornate. Black-lining or some kind of wash sound like easier ways to get the result you are looking for. If you\'re feeling adventurous you could even try \"stain-painting\" with a dark wood stain.

 

[No Such Agency]

Originally posted by Gussy
Stain-painting? How do you do that?

Well, you base coat your mini, then dip it in a dark wood stain to shade the whole thing at once! I can\'t think of a link to a good tutorial for it, offhand though I\'ve found various references to the \"dip method\". This is as close as I could find in the CMON Articles, it\'s the same basic idea but using a mixture of thinned paint and \"flow enhancer\" to wash the minis.

 

[Gussy]

Hmm...maybe I\'ll go to Home Depot and pick up a can for a try. It can\'t be worst than what I\'m getting now.

Thanks!

 

[funnymouth]

no dont! its the DARK SIDE OF MINIATURES PAINTING!
layering is the way to go to learn solid fundamentals and progress as a pinter. washes are useful though. try painting areas with solid colors (the white stuff), then wash with grey, then black by adding a very small amount of watery paint or thinned ink to the crevaces. be patient, and take your time - you can learn how to be fast after you lean hw to be tidy.

p.s. i dont suggest priming with black when you use such vivid, light colors.

 

[airhead]

Gussy, you don\'t say what part of the world you live in. I\'d find a decent game shop around and find the best painter there and ask to paint with him.

What you are attempting with the drybrush looks like you need to learn edge painting. Use the side of the brush to rub down the highlighted areas. Don\'t overload the brush and thin your paints.

Finally, take a drop of very dark blue (or a drop of blue and a drop of violet) and thin it about 10 parts water to the one drop of paint. Use a larger brush and paint the mini. Watch the wash receede into the creases and shade the mini for you.

If you were going to drybrush, only do it in the middle of the flat armor areas with a pale blue to show highlights. Although I would not recommend drybrushing, but thin the paints and layer up the highlights.

Read through the articles sections on layering techniques.

 

[Gussy]

Well, no more dry brushing then. Let\'s see if I can do better on my second figure.

Oh, I live in San Francisco. There are no GW shops in the city. One of the staff at GW in San Jose showed me drybrushing a regular Space Marine, but I just realized now that the figure he did was not as complex as the one I\'m doing.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[No Such Agency]

Originally posted by funnymouth
no dont! its the DARK SIDE OF MINIATURES PAINTING!

Yeah, but he\'s got an army to finish. I was just trying to help his throughput. I wouldn\'t recommend doing commanders etc. that way.