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I'm using Vallejo Black Wash and if I put it over say, skin, I want it nice and dark in the recesses but I don't want big blotches of black all over the skin, is that possible? I'm using the wash straight from the bottle, and I'm wondering if I should be adding something to it?

Paint it into the recesses carefully then. Though most would probably lay down the base coats, wash, then dry brush on a layer, and then high light. That way the drybrush and highlights go over any blotches created by the wash.

Others however prefer the blotches. The basic randomness of it is more organic and natural and looks more realistic then the clean cartoonyness of a perfectly executed everything in it's place color scheme.

I’ve always been a citadel guy, myself. Got hooked at a young age and never looked back.

You could try adding a bit more medium and water. My normal formula, per the good folks at Privateer Press, is 1 part paint to 3 parts medium to 4 parts water. Adding more medium would dilute the colour, and adding more water should make it flow more easily off of raised surfaces.

Multiple light coats into the recesses rather than the normal 'slop it on' wash approach will do it, and allow you to build up gradual transitions.

Although black is an unusual choice for washing skin, unless you're painting Salamanders or Drow...

Peachy actually covered this on a Warhammer TV Tip of the Day a few months ago...

I really don't like the vallejo black wash. It's a very heavy wash, but I've found if you dilute it with water then the pigment separates out and goes clumpy and you get a nasty white residue in places as well. May be worth trying to dilute with acrylic medium instead, but honestly if you're buying anything to improve it just buy nuln oil instead...

Crispy78 wrote:
I really don't like the vallejo black wash. It's a very heavy wash, but I've found if you dilute it with water then the pigment separates out and goes clumpy and you get a nasty white residue in places as well. May be worth trying to dilute with acrylic medium instead, but honestly if you're buying anything to improve it just buy nuln oil instead...

I’ve found the same; I’m a big fan of Vallejo paints, but their washes just don’t match up to GW in my experience, particularly black vs Nuln oil.

@insaniak; I’ve found that black wash over brown makes for a pretty good Afro-Caribbean skin tone.

3 parts wash, 1 part Future floor polish is a good setup for what you're aiming for. The Future breaks the surface tension more and flows into recesses better. Will end up super glossy though and takes much longer to dry. I still recommend a dry brush or highlight over it though.

Recess shading (good tutorials on Warhammer TV) or mixing with matte medium.

The easiest solution for this is to prime gray, wash everything, and then pick out your details and colours. Just be sure not to slop paint into the recesses, and for this step I usually use thicker pain't.

It's what I do for smaller stuff like 15 or 20mm scale.
Saves time and you don't have to worry about the wash ruining your base coats.

Could you try thinning it down with Vallejo Thinner Medium or something? I'm not a fan of the Vallejo washes for exactly this reason; they seem to just "stain" everything rather than go into the recesses.

Use vallejo flow improver and some water to get the right mix.

You shouldn't be washing it over everything unless the staining is what you want.

The 'eavy Metal way is to paint the shade into the recesses not over the whole area or model.

That's the "next level" of using inks/shades/washes. Controlled application.

Liquitex Flow-aid helps with splotches / surface tension so it "wicks" a bit better and their Slo-dry to help it stay wet longer to get where it needs to go.
I find mixing these two items with their "ink" line is ideal as a wash, the inks are like something between watercolours and light body acrylic paint, a very fine pigment.

I started a long time ago with Testor's enamel paints <shudder> and got straight into GW acrylics for decades, Liquitex I use a fair bit beside GW stuff and am getting into Vallejo paints alot more in the last couple years.

You have a technique problem, not a product problem. If you was over everything, you will have to touch up your base coats. If you only want the wash in the recesses, put it only there.

Crispy78 wrote:
I really don't like the vallejo black wash. It's a very heavy wash, but I've found if you dilute it with water then the pigment separates out and goes clumpy and you get a nasty white residue in places as well. May be worth trying to dilute with acrylic medium instead, but honestly if you're buying anything to improve it just buy nuln oil instead...

It works really well if you spray it on with an airbrush, if you want to apply a "shade" like effect to a panel or plate. Or add a soot-like appearance to a muzzle or exhaust.

washes will always discolour surfaces around recesses if you apply indiscriminately. you need to take your base colour and go over those areas afterwards, if youre not going to apply the ink directly into the recess. another option is to use a satin varnish before you ink, which will channel the ink into the recess.

You need to thin that right down, a medium to maintain the distribution of pigment and some water.

I'd suggest start at Wash:Medium:Water ratio of 1:1:2 and adjust as you test. Each wash is different and you'll even see some variation between pots.

Also, look at the direction in which you're applying the wash.

The brush will apply a heavier "dose" of paint at the end of the brush stroke, so your brush stroke should be ending at the deepest recess.

This way you're drawing excess away from the raised area and into the recess as you apply the wash.

Rik

Another trick you can try if you're looking for a faster method is gloss varnishing the model before shading. It will help the shade flow into the recesses and not stick to the high spots as much.

It's not perfect, though, so don't expect miracles.

Look into Enamel Washes from AK Interactive or the PLW (Panel Line Wash) from Mig Jimenez, they're magical. They go on like an acrylic wash, but after they "dry" they can be removed with a q-tip dipped in odorless mineral spirits or white spirit and it'll wipe away clean leaving the wash in the recesses with almost no staining at all.

You can also do the same with homemade oil washes by thinning down regular artist oil paint to a wash consistency with mineral spirits, applying the wash over the model and letting the mineral spirit evaporate, leaving a thin film of oil paint that stays wet long enough to wipe away from where you don't want it. Model needs to be gloss varnished first for oil washes or it will leave some staining, enamel washes can go over regular paint without needing to varnish first

Crispy78 wrote:
I really don't like the vallejo black wash. It's a very heavy wash, but I've found if you dilute it with water then the pigment separates out and goes clumpy and you get a nasty white residue in places as well. May be worth trying to dilute with acrylic medium instead, but honestly if you're buying anything to improve it just buy nuln oil instead...

I'm a huge Vallejo fan so I spent some time "figuring out" their washes. They are notoriously heavy strait out of the bottle and you are correct that water alone just turn things into a tide-mark fest. What works for me is going 1:1 with their Glaze Medium. That definitely addresses the tide-marks (because the glaze medium is a retarder). If you want more flow you can add 1 part water, but you may find once dry you dont have enough shade (always looks darker when wet).

Also, if you are looking to do the proverbial "go crazy" sloshing it all over the model and expect it to land only in the recesses, you simply must gloss varnish it first. If you dont, while its still collects heavy in the recesses, it also holds a thin coat everywhere else, acting more like a filter (which for certain tasks/effects can be used to advantage).

Typically to get good results with liberal wash, it should be the step before 2nd layer.

Primer/Base
Layer 1
Wash
Layer 2
Highlights

This way you don't have to worry about the wash dulling the layers you've built up.

Often times people use washes as the final step, which I think doesn't yield very good results.

You also might want to dilute the wash. 5:1 for following the above step. I find undiluted washes too glossy, which looks awful (why would the crevice catch more light than the hightlight???)

Alternatively, washes can also be used to blend in the layers at the last step, esp for parts that don't need further highlighting.

Adding in a little shade to you base color when you lay that first color down makes it very easy to work up to a good highlight.

adding in lahmium medium with the shades creates an easy way to transition from one color to the next.

I like:
primer and or base color coat
block out colors layer 1
shade & medium appropriate to the colors
next color dry brush or Layer 2
highlight with either edge or dry brush
fine recess shade
super mini highlight