Drybrushing Tutorial - Less is More
Drybrushing gets a bad rap these days. I remember beginning miniature painting back in the early 80's when drybrushing was the secret technique that grognards shared with us newcomers. This magical skill applied incredible highlights and shading to a miniature in a short period of time.
Time marches on. Today many painters feel drybrushing is like a visit from Cousin Eddie: unfortunate, uncouth, and wishing that he would leave.
They key to proper drybrushing is to keep your brush dry. I mean really dry. Rub that brush on the paper until you don’t see any color coming from it… then rub it some more. Only then should you take it to your miniature and draw it across the ridges.
Another drybrushing tip is to think about where the light is coming from and flick the bristles across the miniature in that direction. Most of the time it will be top-to-bottom, but not always. I call that directional drybrushing.
The last tip is to consider drybrushing with different colors of paints. On my Dropfleet Commander UCM ships I did the initial darker colors in a circular pattern with multiple coats. When I switched to my lighter colors, I became more conscious of the direction of my brush and tried to only hit each area a one or two times.
As you can see from the Games Workshop EPIC Rhinos above, you can get a great result quickly if you are mindful of your technique: keep your brush dry, use more than one tone of paint, and make intentional decisions about your brush direction.
They key to proper drybrushing is to keep your brush dry. I mean really dry. Rub that brush on the paper until you don’t see any color coming from it… then rub it some more. Only then should you take it to your miniature and draw it across the ridges.
Another drybrushing tip is to think about where the light is coming from and flick the bristles across the miniature in that direction. Most of the time it will be top-to-bottom, but not always. I call that directional drybrushing.
The last tip is to consider drybrushing with different colors of paints. On my Dropfleet Commander UCM ships I did the initial darker colors in a circular pattern with multiple coats. When I switched to my lighter colors, I became more conscious of the direction of my brush and tried to only hit each area a one or two times.
As you can see from the Games Workshop EPIC Rhinos above, you can get a great result quickly if you are mindful of your technique: keep your brush dry, use more than one tone of paint, and make intentional decisions about your brush direction.
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