Wash: Ink vs. Paint

[hakoMike]

(This is a result of last night\'s Eldar fun.)

Discovery:
Black ink + future wash leads to darker crevices and lighter peaks. (high contrast)
Black paint + future wash leads to a fairly evenly pigmented model. (low contrast)
Blue ink + future wash leads to a fairly evenly pigmented model. (low contrast)

Are there some rules of thumb that people use for high contrast / low contrast washes? To only now be discovering these sorts of behaviors after two years of painting is a little embarrassing.

 

[UltraBlueMarine]

yea i wish i knew to cuz i just got some future today and haven\'t had time to try it out

 

[Ogrebane]

Welcome to the forum UBM dont be embarrassed hako Ive been painting for over 10 years and only learnt of future a few months ago and still havent had a chance to give it a go.

 

[lono]

Recently Liquitex Acrylic Matte Medium has been my additive of choice.

I picked it up because my local Hobbycraft stopped selling Windsor and Newton stuff and I have to be honest, I didn\'t hold out that much hope for it (I seem to remember it is fairly reasonably priced, which is never a good sign!) but it is great when mixed with plenty of water and paint. I\'ll have to try it with inks and see what effect that has.

It takes a wee bit of getting used to before you find the right consistency, but I\'ve found that it is perfect for speedy jobs if you just splash it on, but can also be used in a much more controlled way to determine exactly the level of contrast you want. It kinda turns any paint you have into a version of Tamiya\'s Clear Colour range.

The best thing is that it doesn\'t really seem to alter the tone of the paint at all so you get lots of control.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

i don\'t tend to use additives any more.
good old fashioned water works for me nowadays.
(got sick and tired of faffing with all the alchemy)

 

[Dragonsreach]

Water for me 90% of the time as well.
Other than that either Vallejo Matte Medium, Liqutex Retarder or Winsor & Newton Flow Improver.

But something I\'ve found to be of great value for adding a more realistic tonality and give a worn battered look is Vallejo Black Glaze. This is a very Black/Dark Grey paint which needs to be heavily diluted and can them be washed over to simulate the effects of dirt and strengthen shadows.

I understand that the Rackham \"In-House\" painters tend to use it quite a bit on the \'Darker\' figures.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

corpuscle was telling me they also used to use white glaze as it doesn\'t go chalky like white paint can when heavily watered down.

oh and i have just remembered, i use vallejo drying retarder when wetblending.

 

[markstorch]

I have found that using future is a bit of alchemy as generulpoleaxe said. (I still ove the stuff though).

The trick I have found in not the pain to future ratio, but the amount of water use use. For example, for darkening crevices (or cheating on blacklining) I use a small bit of black paint, usually just half a drop or so, 7-10 drops of future and about 10-15 drops water. This gives a consistency which I find very easy to control. The crevices will be dark and the peaks are barely affected.

If I want to glaze, I tend to go a lot lighter on the water, maybe only 5 drops or so. IT seems that it is the interactions of the acrylic in the water and the relative amouns that determine how much \"settle\" you get from a given mixture. That would explain why you get more contrast from using the black ink as it contains more water than paint.

 

[Talonicus]

I use water and nothing else.
99% of the time I dont use real glazes and inks instead I use very very diluted paint. I find it always does what i need of it, and I can\'t be arsed to mess about with anything else.