Wings. Is drybrushing the only way?

[evl hmr]

Hi people

I am in the midst of painting a huge demon (Krull from Mierce), now this boy has some huge wings, and they are very textured. I've been told that drybrushing is the best way to paint them, but I'm not 100% comfortable with this as it always looks drybrushed, even when I glaze afterwards.

Is the airbrush a better alternative? or do I plug away with my W&N size2?

I'll add photo showing the size and the base coat when I get my camera back today.

Thank you all

 

[ischa]

depends on your ambitions and skill level. the way to go is always different, depending on who´s painting=) personally i would never dry brush, but i only paint for display or competition reasons. dry brush could be more than sufficient if you paint to play.

 

[MAXXxxx]

No not the only way.

I'd suggest preshading the feathers with an AB.
then either highlight them one by one or lightly drybrush, just to bring out some of the structure.
If drybrushed, then the color used should be really near the lightest AB color.

 

[gohkm]

I tend to do wetblending nowadays, to get the colour transitions across wings. I'll finish up by picking up individual regions with a brush, and then shade back when necessary.

 

[evl hmr]

The wings in question MAXXxxx are unfortunately not feathers but skin. I have base coated them in a deep red as this is my standard skin starting point. gohkm wet blending is a possibility, maybe using some purple tones? to match the gold armour.

I am having a bit of trouble uploading so I'll do it from work tomorrow.

 

[MAXXxxx]

skin... then I'd go the lazy way: simply airbrush, oil-wash to bring out any wrinkles/patterns then with a brush add any details (veins) or strengthen some shadows/highlights.