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I've recently discovered a technique called "pre-shading" where you prime the model black, then spray gray at an angle, then white at a higher angle to give a gradient kind of effect that lets you tint the colors and get shading/highlighting relatively easily. Something like the technique illustrated in this article, although I would be using very thin paints instead of washes: http://handcannononline.com/blog/2013/05/01/painting-with-secret-weapon-miniature-washes/

My issue is that I'm in a very humid area and every time I use spray primer, it gets all fuzzy and looks terrible. I've switched to using Vallejo Surface Primer since I can brush that on (I don't have an airbrush), and so I'm curious if it's possible to achieve a similar pre-shading effect without needing to spray primer either via a can or an airbrush. Could I, for example, prime dark gray and then give the model a heavy drybrush of white on top and get a similar effect? I'm okay with the fact that it won't be quite as good as using spray, as I have to make do with the resources available to me, but I'm curious if anyone has tried this technique with a brush versus a spray?

Absolutely. People use the sprays because its quick. And the gradient is very easy to get. With drybrushing you could achieve the same for sure, but itle take more work. I can imagine the edges would be more prominently highlighted too. It might be worth the spray guys doing a drybrush of white after the white spray too for the purpose of exaggerating the edges.

Which color of the Vallejo primer are you using? If it's the grey, you could pretty easily do a drybrushed variation on my pre-shading method. I prime (very light) grey, then give the model a heavy coat of a DIY black wash. In your case, you'd follow this up with a top-heavy drybrush, instead of a steeply angled spray, of white (preceded by a more shallow angled spray of light grey, if you're feeling fancy). Using a wash out of order instead of going straight black>grey>white, I find, helps distinguish texture on the upper surfaces better than pure zenithal highlighting.