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Was in my local store and caught a bit of a discussion about painting. Big brush method came up and the results looked awesome but i dont know how the method works. judging by the "big brush" part I imagine you use something rather larger than a detail brush, and the paint's probably thinned for coverage? could anyone shed some light on this for me?

thanks

Interesting. I've never heard of this. I too am curious.

i would imagine it's another word for drybrushing or for the technicue were you bid all colours with a wash all over the mini with a "big brush"...
//J
ps. if not..... i want to now!!!

It is a speed painting technique that essentially uses overbrushing, drybrushing and washes with a large brush.

Correct me if i'm wrong or if you have your own definition.

How big of a brush were they talking about? I use #4 flat brushes to block out lots of colors as well as for drybrushing and edging.

Ifurita wrote:How big of a brush were they talking about? I use #4 flat brushes to block out lots of colors as well as for drybrushing and edging.

I don't know what #4 means, but I remember when I met Augustus at Adepticon he
explained that he uses a shoe brush to drybrush quickly.

Hello all,

From what I understand is that this method is what we call the 30 minute paint job. It has many names. I use this method for space marines most of all. Here is what I do


1. Pick the color you want and and find one shade darker and one shade brighter.

2. Then comes the dry brushing. Dry brush the darkest color on usally black primer use a pretty heavy coat, not a complete coat but a good coating. This will cause a shading effect.

3. The color you choose is next with a lighter coat applied.

4. Now for bright coat a little less, this causes highlights.

5. My favorite step is get a very fine pin and run along the edges and blocks out the paint job and cleans the paint job, like the inside edge of space marine shoulder pads. This crisps up the job.

6. The last step is do eyes and other things to do details. not much needed like for marines the feather on the breast plate and the eyes that is it.


The reason why I uses this method is that it makes the marines look a little dirty. I believe that marines do not have a buffer in the trenches.

I hope this helps. I have heard this style called the big brush. I heard it as the thirty minute paint job

I know that Damien Garcia has taught his "Big Brush" method of painting armies quickly at the last few Adepticons and it is, as Alex correctly surmised, a mix of drybrushing, overbrushing, and washes to achieve surprisingly good results in a very short space of time.

Tyrolean, you may be in luck because I think Damien lives somewhere near Denver, and might be able to teach you locally.

Cheers
Dave

cool that was the kind of mental image i had gotten so ill probably try attempting it with a 1/4" flat brush and see how it goes. for example, for my striking scorpions, prime black. heavy drybrush orkhide shade followed by dark angels green....or snot green (not sure which yet). Follow that with foundation green ink wash and then highlight. The owner of my local hobby store was taught the big brush method years ago by Damien so next time im in Ill ask him more specifics

This method does not need washes. Sometimes it makes it worse. It hides sometimes the color changes. I would try one with out a wash. This tech. it not one that screams washes. The main thing I use this tech. for is tanks. Makes them look like they have been in alot of battles.

Another trick i do with this is something everyone thinks is odd, but it works. Go to a dollar store our cheap ass store and pick up there hair spray. Aqua Net works well and coat the models with it. It seals the paint and also plays with the dry brushing and makes it really stand out. It not a gloss finish and is a perfect sealer. I swear by it. Sometimes model sealers change the color of the paint and gives it a gloss coat. Dry Brush tech. like this does not go well with the sealers

Just some observations

davetaylor wrote:I know that Damien Garcia has taught his "Big Brush" method of painting armies quickly at the last few Adepticons and it is, as Alex correctly surmised, a mix of drybrushing, overbrushing, and washes to achieve surprisingly good results in a very short space of time.

Tyrolean, you may be in luck because I think Damien lives somewhere near Denver, and might be able to teach you locally.

Cheers
Dave

Thanks Dave!

That's me! I taught the big brush class at Adepticon. I certainly wouldn't claim Im' the only one with an idea called that. There are as many great methods as their are great artists! What I can say is I teach a Class about it, would be happy to show people localy and would also be happy to outline here!

In short:

The big brush drybrush methods is a method for army speed painting. The method relies on using 3 carefully selected tones over a black primer in progressively lighter drybrush applications, and of course the brushes are well, very big. They look like womens cosmetic brushes, with a bulbous shape and are often 1/2 inch in diameter in the tine. Further refinements involve reblacking, scraping, use of shader (square ended) brushes, and the use of overwash, particularly for fleshtone on models like Marine and IG heads.

The results are courser than wet blending, inking, or other shading techniques but orders of magnitude faster than anything else I have ever tried. The big brush method is very well suited to any model that is darkly colored and predomoniately monochromatic. Marines, Knights and Necrons being some of the best examples! Only dipping competes for speed and volume. I use to paint a complete unit in my class.

The technique was designed for the player as the best time investment per completed mini with a decent quality gaming standard. (Also great for tanks.)

If interest continues I will take/post some images of example figs I painted this way, materials I use in the class, and post places to get them.

could anyone post a pic of the result of this painting method?

please?

pics please augustas

Certainly gentlemen, thanks for the interest. This is the size brush I am talking about. It is actually a Camel hair round blunt brush, fair eceonomical, I get mine at Meininger, Michaels and or Hobby Lobby. They are common almost anywhere brushes are sold in racks, probably in crafter or artist type stores more than hobby stores.

Also pictured is a very simple color progression for 3 colors, the simplest progression showing black as the base here with a blue progression, perhaps for Crimson Fists base, or Night Lords.

Some simple Marines, this is really a 2 tone silver drybrush, one of the easiest and fastest looks to achieve, great for Knights, Necrons, Iron Warriors and or Iron Hands!

Also a good example on a nice consistent look on Tanks as well.

You should write up an article on it, Augustus. Or just post it all here, and we'll make Malfred turn it into an article.

Some WW1 colored Imperial Guard, again with tanks and matching troops:

Some Tau I helped a friend of mine match from a Dawn of War Army Painter Image. White can be a tough color. He also did tanks this way later.

Janthkin wrote:You should write up an article on it, Augustus. Or just post it all here, and we'll make Malfred turn it into an article.

Yes you are right, I should. I have been having fun with these nostalgic old images!

Janthkin wrote:You should write up an article on it, Augustus. Or just post it all here, and we'll make Malfred turn it into an article.

/shakes fist

Why you...

This would be a good time to point out that everyone has access to the Articles system

Various Imperial schemes on tanks

Why do you use round brushes instead of flat brushes? Is it to soften the edges?

The models in this Gallery were done by a friend of mine I taught the big brush method to and you can see these great Tau in the Gallery!

Ifurita wrote:Why do you use round brushes instead of flat brushes? Is it to soften the edges?

Yes that correct. Also because the big round brushes hold a lot more paint. This concept goes with assembly line painting, as in, painting at least a whole squad at one time. None of the vehicles shown in any of my images here took longer than an hour to paint (except the Tau, who had airbrush camo and light effects added).

How do you keep the paint from streaking?

That white Tau is exactly my colour scheme (Except Red not Blue markings) and I'm sure they look better then mine, and didn't take as long... DAMN YOU!!!!

Need that article! :-)

Augustus wrote:Some Tau I helped a friend of mine match from a Dawn of War Army Painter Image. White can be a tough color. He also did tanks this way later.

It should be noted that we did these guys with a combination of methods. The black parts are the Goop method over the big brush methods white.

Zip Napalm wrote:How do you keep the paint from streaking?

Well, I told paint that it was time to grow up and to take things seriously, as paint is clearly to old to be running around nekkid.

...

Actaully there are some streaks on some of the models, thats when to much paint is loaded in the brush. Some can be seen on the basilisk desert yellow example above. To avoid that one has to be careful about propper technique for loading a brush. That is only to saturate the tips of the brushes, in the example photo where mine are stained (from use) no more paint should go up the bristles, only loading the ends about an 1/8 inch. Also the lighter the colors get in the prgoression the less vigorous one needs to be with the drybrushing.

The load can be tested to see if the bristles stick together in the center or any paint drops are obvious when looking down the tip.

The Paper towel test is perfect to see if the brush is properly loaded as described, striking the loaded brush against a paper towel should display the texture in the towel, if it completely saturates it, there is to much paint in the brush (easily removed by striking it accross the towel some more).

Kroeger wrote:

Augustus wrote:Some Tau I helped a friend of mine match from a Dawn of War Army Painter Image. White can be a tough color. He also did tanks this way later.

It should be noted that we did these guys with a combination of methods. The black parts are the Goop method over the big brush methods white.

There are a wide variety of methods that can be combined with laying a big brush color base down, like using a glaze over parts, as in Kroeger's minis, or adding airbrush weathering, like the brown on the desert yellow example, or adding airbrush camo line, as in the Gallery Tau.

Other details can also be added of course with traditional methods like the strait black and white on the primary example marins or the red additions for lights and such in various examples.

The big brush method is just one more technique in a painters inventory of methods.

I quite like the big brush method!