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When I first entered this hobby I got interested in painting my models very well and all my friends who played chaos marines told me "dude, just dry-brush, dry-brush is the best. You only need to know how to dry-brush"

So I got started with Eldar and dry-brushed everything and ... it really gave me a very grithy scratched up dirty look. Now I'm no expert but I don't think Eldar were supposed to look like that. I was hoping to get a very smooth clean blended look and dry-brush just did not do that. I told this to my CSM friend and he went "why would you want your army to look gay, they're supposed to look grithy and scratched."

ugh.

Now several months later, I've learned some "real" techniques using washes, layering, blending, wet blending and feathering and while ALL of them might take longer they are much more sophisticated methods than "yo dude, let's dry-brush EVERYTHING". I really think dry-brush is overrated now and people do it mostly due to lack of patience to learn better finer methods and how fast it is.

While dry-brush works well in limited areas with space marines or imperium vehicles, it does NOT work with Eldar, Dark Eldar, etc which need smooth blended lines for a nice clean appearence. Don't ever take painting advice from your friends who play Chaos Space Marines... whose only 2 colours he uses are black and red. >_<

No technique is better than another. They are all used for dif. situations. Dry brushing is good for things with many high and low areas such as skeletons as long as you give them a wash too, also ground and rocks. A main problem with drybrushing is it doesn't photograph very well. Layer photos very nice and you can do more things but def. takes a lot longer. Your friend is just being silly. Paint as you want, then brag about how much better you are at painting!

I do honestly think your really over-reacting TBH.

Eh. Drybrushing has its uses. Granted I don't use it much on my marines, what with all the flat surfaces, but it definitely is useful for painting sand on bases and for putting dust and mud on the greaves.

Also, I use my drybrush as a temporary stippling brush while I wait for school to be done and when I can order my summer list of hobby.

It depends on your priorities. For example there is no way I am going to wet blend my WHFB Night goblin army, but I will be for my Terminator army. While wet blending looks better, dry brushing is faster and easier. For new people dry brushing is usually better as it improves the look of a model relatively quickly. It's also a good way to introduce the idea of shading.

It also depends how much effort you put into dry brushing and how good you are at it. There is a skill to dry brushing, if you are willing to do it with very little paint on the brush and instead do more strokes it looks better than loading the brush up and doing less strokes, however you need to learn how much is the "right" amount of paint.

If you take your time and make the colour changes subtle drybrushing can work fine on Eldar. If you practice you can get similar results to layering with dry brushing , of course blending looks better but you have to decide whether you want to spend the extra time. I personally believe there are good situations for both (although I use layering more) .

Indeed drybrushing has its uses but personally I love the way it looks, and now that I have a little bit more skill I will use at least a minimum of 2 colors when drybrushing to get a decent used and worn effect on the armor. Knowing the 'right' amount of paint for drybrushing is key to it.

but if you want to start using layering for you eldar, then by all means go for it.

I would rate dry brushing an advanced painting technique, in contrast to beginner and expert levels. So a rough classification goes like this:

Beginners don't paint or paint one colour per surface.
Advanced modellers use washes and dry brushing. Good rather quick results, but limited in what it can achieve.
Expert use blending and layering, but need a lot of time for each miniature. 10+ layers per surface not uncommon.

I found that power armour and Eldar armour need different techniques than other models because of the clean unstructured surface. Some people start with thin accents at the borders of each armour plate. Personally I still have to master painting these.

Drybrushing is a lot easier than blending and layering, and isn't always used on the same surfaces. For instance, I would never try using blending and layering to paint the riveted, rough textures my Guard tanks have, as drybrushing will bring out the raised areas nicely. Drybrushing on smooth Eldar or Tau armor wouldn't look anywhere near as good.

It's all situational.

I drybrush a lot when painting due to it being efficient and gives a good effect. But all techniques have their uses as said. In the end you need to tell your friend to stop being overly critical and a jerk by sound of it. Find what you feel works best for you and develop on that. I know some friends in the hobby who never drybrush and spend hours pouring over every basic model in an army. I just don't have the patience for that. I like to get a decent effect on models but not spend forever on them doing so.

I'll agree with everyone. It's all about the right technique for the right job, and the correct application of that technique.

You can get almost any effect with almost any technique, but it's about how much time and effort you want to spend. Tom Schadle (Commander Y, many-time Golden Demon winner) once did a series of Ultramarine models with nothing but dry brushing where the blending of color effect easily was as good as you would get with layering or glazing. But he used makeup brushes and many many passes of drybrushing with multiple different colors to do it. He probably could have gotten the same effect faster with layering.

By the same token, you could paint on all the mud splatters and paint chipping on a fully weathered model layer by layer by layer by layer by layer.... but you'd probably go insane or die of old age before get the effect you could from some fairly simple sponging or drybrushing.

I've been painting miniatures on and off for 20 years. I've gone through all sorts of phases where some technique was "the best" and I'd use it for everything.

These days, I tend to focus more on 'fast' techniques. Things which get my miniatures looking 'good enough' without too much effort. That means I tend to use GW washes as a first pass and then use glazing layers if a particularly smooth transition is necessary. Metals tend to get drybrushed after a wash, because that produces good enough results in relatively few steps. Somethings just get a few layers with no washing, like draped cloth. Any weathering (rust, mud, paint chipping) is almost certainly drybrushed or stippled on.

Is it a useless technique? no.

Is it an unsophisticated & amateurish technique? not really.

Like any technique it can be used in an amateurish way or an advanced way.

Its a very good technique to learn as a beginner, because it gives an introduction to shading, which you can build on when you have the confidence to try more difficult techniques.

Its also a common sense thing. A smooth surface like power armour or eldar armour can't be drybrushed because there arent any textured areas for it to highlight. Unless youre trying to make the armour look scratched & damaged.

Tom's Ultramarine Squad, Drybrushed:

Heffling wrote:Tom's Ultramarine Squad, Drybrushed:

Very nice.

Saying dry-brushing is better than blending (or vice-versa) is a bit like saying a hammer is better than a screwdriver (or vice-versa).

Heffling wrote:Tom's Ultramarine Squad, Drybrushed:

Point Proved.

DorianGray wrote:Don't ever take painting advice from your friends who play Chaos Space Marines... whose only 2 colours he uses are black and red. >_<

This is a good idea, however. Learning to recognize scrubs and useless advice is a valuable skill.

aromasin wrote:

Heffling wrote:Tom's Ultramarine Squad, Drybrushed:

Point Proved.

not really. there is a heck of alot of more advanced painting techniques and skill used on those guys than just dry brushing.

i rarely use drybrushing anymore.

actually only for bases.

i once painted a khorn berzerker squad using drybrushing:

undercoat black,drybrush bloodred4 or 5 layers(gives you a dark red/brown look),inked the models with an old oop brown ink followed by red oop ink.
after that i painted the details and all the gold/brass parts

Every painting method has it's niche.

Drybrushing and blending and many other techniques can be used to great effect all in one model.

Eldar look great with blending, sure. But dry brushing the engine-burn on the exhausts is a good way of doing it.

level 1: Beginners just paint one colour.

2 After a while they realise a line of highlite is ok.

3 then usually drybrushing comes into use.
I have no draybrush-level mini pics but can take later on.

4 Then washes start to be used.
Most "good" people stop at "4" though.

5 The next step is to try out multiple layers.

6 After that usually one of either two "tastes" come forward, either pro metallic or NMM. Both are pretty difficult but NMM is more time consuming and requires more knowledge of how light plays on surfaces while pro metallic takes more mini preparation time like sanding etc.
This level is usually enough to compete in golden daemons although never get "up there" with the really good ones.

7 This level is the same as "6" with the only difference being time spent on every detail of the mini not cheating anywhere. I might upload some of my level 7 mini pictures later on as examples.
This level is usually good enough to compete up with the 10 best at golden deamon competitions.

Here are some simple "3-4" level minis using simple highlites and washes (no drybrushing used as I consider it to simple):











Here are some level "6" minis:

Drybrushing is a great technique - efficient, looks good, and can do some stuff other techniques like blending really can't do. That said, there is a certain point when you realize that drybrushing can't do everything (Helloooooo blending).

I still use it for most of my highlighting - blending is a pain to do for run of the mill troopers. I've learned that drybrushing is a losing battle to try and do it to large, flat surfaces though.

Editted for Clarity

What can DB do again that layering cant?
Its rather the opposite, layering can do all the things DB can and also things DB cant do.

As for large flat surfaces such as vehicle plates, I use layering on those as well to great effect.
Saying DB works better for large surfaces is false. All it does is saving time if you are happy with lesser quality.

As for large amount of rank and file minis etc then DB really shines as it is a time saver but again, as long as you are prepared to accept the lesser quality.

I'm at the level that I use a base colour followed by a wash. The base colour again as the first highlight followed by a highlight of a lighter colour of the base.

This doesn't mean that I do not use drybrushing any more.

It is a fairly simple technique that was one of the first I learned however I still use it to do most of my metallics as well as other colours I want to achieve a dusty type effect - bone for instance.

This doesn't mean that DB is a single colour. I usually use at leat two colours on the drybrush as well as a wash to give it depth.

Now all I need to do is practice and master blending and I'll be a happy chappy with my painting.

Pyriel- wrote:What can DB do again that layering cant?
Its rather the opposite, layering can do all the things DB can and also things DB cant do.

As for large flat surfaces such as vehicle plates, I use layering on those as well to great effect.
Saying DB works better for large surfaces is false. All it does is saving time if you are happy with lesser quality.

Sorry, worded it poorly - DB is pants for large flat surfaces.

Drybrushing seems to work better than layering for metallics for me. Chainmail, tank treads, intricate metalwork - drybrushing gives me a nice effect where layering just turns into a hash. Could very well just be a skill thing I suppose.

Well yes. Layering with skill turns out much better but it is very time consuming compared to DB.
Flat surfaces are actually pretty easy to layer with some practice but tracks and such is a nightmare and even I almost exclusively use DB on tracks.

As for normal metallics, its a level 1-2 thing that comes with one colour minis and simple highlites and it can be done to look much better with DB along with washes.
Sadly normal metallics just cant take a mini past the "standard" look but its perfet for nice looking mass armies where time saved is needed.

i can sugest a couple of things about painting for everyone : the best way to learn techniques or master them is by just doing it, if you want an example you should look at some youtube stuff i learnd blending from it an i learnd myself dry-brushing, its not that hard. And everyone should paint his models how he wants it but i would not recomend ONLY dry-brushing, you're not gonna get a nice model whit only dry-brushing...

I understand the pain bro, you feel that your being surpressed by your friends a bit? Well feth what they say, you can paint whatever way you want to, just listen to the above posts and develop your painting.

Some people DO hammer drybrushing too much, as some sort of miracle cure (washes get the same treatment). Using quick drybrushing for all highlighting is fast and gives table top quality, but I wouldn't put it higher than that. Skilled drybrushing on appropriate places gives brilliant results but I would not say it can replace blending. Not would I say blending can replace drybrushing for most tasks.

Personally, I hate drybrushing. I just don't like the gritty effect it gives, it doesn't suit my DE at all. So I do 3 quick layers on base troops and varying amounts of blending on other models. Drybrushing is reserved for fur, ends up being about 10 layers and is treated like blending but with a different application, and a little careful layering on top for the fine tips. I take way too much time painting a model worth 15 points...

I personally use drybrushing a lot, mostly because it gives a nice effect to the metal of my Iron Warriors. Of course, I won't use it when it's not appropriate, such as the skin on my orks, who do require some basic layering. It really depends on the situation at hand. After all, it's good to DB for a basic colour, but for the best results more advanced techniques are gonna have to be used.

The end result is all that matters.

If a model looks good/cool/interesting then it is mission accomplished as far as I am concerned, the technique used is irrelevant.

Painter snobbery is lame...

DorianGray wrote:When I first entered this hobby I got interested in painting my models very well and all my friends who played chaos marines told me "dude, just dry-brush, dry-brush is the best. You only need to know how to dry-brush"

This is because dry-brushing is quick, simple, and easy to become proficient in. When you start painting, you don't want to try to tackle really advanced techniques because, 9 times out of 10, you will fail to pull off the effect you want. This can cause alot of people to get frustrated, and stop panting their minis, or leave the hobby all together. Because of these facts, dry-brushing is pushed as an intro level technique. At least this is the GW party line that I have been fed numerous times. I have never liked dry brushing, and don't know that I ever really perfected it, before moving on. You can move into wet blending and layering if you wish, they are more advanced techniques. They will probably give you the look you are going for, but they are more difficult to use, so be patient and don't get frustrated.