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Hi everyone
i dunno if someone else asked for it, i did'nt find anything that give me answer, so i'm asking. Please forgive if it's an already known thing

i started using contrast few months ago. For me they are a revelation, a paint made with fairies' powder; i'm still experimenting and did'nt (yet) started using combination of traditional and contrast paint on the same model, but i have some plan for the near future so i'll keep doing experiments.
I see they are great use for a simple-shaded basic, and also useable as a shader or a glaze adding different quantities of medium (contrast medium only!!!)

However what they are really good at is for speed painting: at the moment i used to paint some works i had sitting on the box for way long time, and i painted in a bit more than one and half month:
- 10x escher from Necromunda Underhive
- 6x fembot from Hasslefree
- 1x fembot leader from Hasslefree
- 9x cowgirls / western female from Black Scorpion
- 1x pirate lady from Black Scorpion
- 4x horses from Black Scorpion
- about to start painting 110x goliath from Necromunda Underhive
they are more than 30 miniatures in less than 2 months, and that's a record for me
(i would have'nt even finished half the escher gang in the same amount of time with traditional method...)

However, since first days i discovered wet palette are a big NO for contrast: after a few hours they become so watery they lose their magic and the day after they are worse than a cheapy ink
besides, using them on a dry palette, i mean on a plastic dish like the one used for food, they go dry on few minutes and i can't even complete the basic layer on all miniatures i'm serial painting

So after this very long prefaction my question is:
there is a "palette" that are better/advisable for contrast? using wet palette with just few drop of water? using wax paper alone? using plastic dish and really little amount of paint at anytime? go on with wet palette?

Ty for your advices!!

I’d suggest working from the pot.

In my *very * limited experience with them, I think they’re designed with two different formulas inside. The lighter seems to dry faster, while the darker “rolls off” the lighter to rest in the recesses where it then dries.

I found best results dipping into the pot, wipe a bit off on the rim, and paint from there. I don’t normally use a palate though, I just mix in the lid of the pot, so that’s just casual advice, not pro.

Really, water and contrast don't mix well and it affects the properties. In theory, you could use Contrast Medium as the 'wet' in the wet palette, but this would get costly in the long run.

Also, forgot to mention, when I found my brush getting “gluey” I’d give it a quick swirl in my water pot.

I then ran it across paper to dry (a bit) and form a point-ish.

I don’t get a real point to my brush when using Contrast, as I really just soak it on. I generally use a GW “standard” brush loaded up and wiped on the rim to form a slight chisel on the tip.

I haven’t had any issues with a *little* water interfering with the Contrast properties.

 John Prins wrote:
Really, water and contrast don't mix well and it affects the properties. In theory, you could use Contrast Medium as the 'wet' in the wet palette, but this would get costly in the long run.

I've been watching Darren Latham's videos lately, and he uses Contrast paints quite heavily with a regular wet palette. It seems to be working quite well for him, but he's not really going for the "one thick coat".

I really like the contrasts for speed painting so long as your technique is good because cleaning up borders is challenging.
My experience:

Shake them well and make sure you press the cap down.
When you're done shaking, shake them again.
I transferred mine to dropper bottles, this lets me count the drops as I go.
I use one of those palettes that has six little dishes to it and line it with aluminum foil for easy cleaning.
For flat panels I use 5:2 drops of paint to contrast medium.
No water. The water causes the paint to slide around too much, the contrast medium thins it nicely and makes it a little 'wetter' without having too many tide marks.
Don't overload the brush, if you have a big dollop on the end that's too much and you'll either have a runny mess or be wicking the stuff up. Cleanup with contrasts is hard so be careful not to let drips get near borders.
Clean you brush often and switch brushes, that paint gets sucked up into the ferrule very quickly and can dry in there.
For flatter panels I use a flat watercolor brush, it's easier to get a smoother coat with a flatter brush head. Watercolor brushes have a bigger well so you don't have to reapply as much.
Try a metallic base, it looks great!

 Albertorius wrote:

 John Prins wrote:
Really, water and contrast don't mix well and it affects the properties. In theory, you could use Contrast Medium as the 'wet' in the wet palette, but this would get costly in the long run.

I've been watching Darren Latham's videos lately, and he uses Contrast paints quite heavily with a regular wet palette. It seems to be working quite well for him, but he's not really going for the "one thick coat".

Yeah, you can do it, but it affects the properties. If you're just using it as a tint, it's probably fine. I've used contrast on my (ghetto) wet palette, but I don't leave paints on there for hours and hours in most cases, I just use the wet palette to keep from bothering to add water occasionally.