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Now i get my painting commissioned now days as its far better result wise but i have a question. Why does everyone insist on black washing models?

I see people do it at the club and the models look awful. I hate the look. Looks all sooty and dark. I used to use different inks based on the colour beneath what i wanted to shade and i thought it looks great. So i was wondering if anyone out there paints and uses lots of black wash can you put some pictures up so i can see if its just the people at the club or if its a common thing. I can see it being ok looking when done lightly but i never see it lightly done at all. Is it lazyness i am seeing (sloppy thick coats...) or is it the style of the time?

Cheers for the help im just sick of seeing the "put on black wash" advice all the time when it doesnt look anything like the models i get commissioned (who dont seem to use black wash...)

Washes are a shortcut to achieving depth on a model. People use them because they don't have the time or skill to work from a dark base and highlight every part of a model, but still want the satisfaction of painting a model themselves. 'Insist' is a poor choice of words really, implying that other ways are superior in all respects and it's somehow 'wrong' to use washes, when it fact they're just a tool to complete a job in a certain way. I've never commissioned a model to be painted, but I would hope that if I was paying enough the painter would be using proper layering techniques, as when they are done well a wash-job can't compete. However, washes are easier to apply, so for the vast builk of models which are painted to a 'tabletop standard', washes are perfectly suited to the role of getting them done in a comparitively rapid turnaround time.

As for examples, all these are entirely coated in Army Painter's Dark Tone (with the snake it's just the head, the armour & robes are Leviathan Purple):



I would never expect any of them to win a competition, but I'm happy with how they turned out and I didn't have to spend hours adding layer after layer of paint onto each part of the model.

Im not against washes. As i said i did use them a lot too. But yours are far from what i see. I just wanted to know if what i see in my area is what everyone else sees. The shading on yours is natural and has highlighting and what not. But what i am seeing is more just base colours with a thick wash of black over the whole model. I am a very casual gamer i just get annoyed when i get told im wrong for being against their method of washing kind of thing.

Just so i can show them what i mean, did you tidy the model after you washed or did you just wash sparingly? In a good way your models are basic and clean but still hold that natural shading look.


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There is an example: the picture is bad quality but the wash you see on the white is all over the models. Same colour, same thickness.

He likes the tank which im fine with its just the insisting that it looks far better than subtle shading and so on that made me wonder.

Mine have just been drybrushed afterwards (except probably the snake's head, I would have been a bit more careful there). Washes are no different from any other kind of paint in that it takes a while to learn the best way to load the brush and apply it to the model. People also often forget that washes have to be shaken before application, especially if they've not been used for a while, otherwise the consistency will be appalling. Speaking of appalling, I found Nuln Oil to be quite poor and prone to the sort of thing you're talking about, which is why:

a) I hoarded as much Badab Black as I could find before prices started getting silly

b) I was glad to find Army Painter's Dark Tone (I now only use Badab to colour match to older projects).

Interesting. Well that makes sense. Well now i see black wash can be effective judging by what you said it needs a better mix, some tlc after they apply it and we will see where it goes. Thanks dude.

For me, a black was is the half-way point in painting a model. I generally use a white undercoat, get all the colours neat and in the right place (with thinned down paints) and then do a black wash.

After that I go over everything with at least 2 more steps of highlighting. For example, for the folds of a red cloak, I'll go over the wash again with a thinned down coat of my darkest shade, so it looks like a dark red and not black. For place where two materials meet I leave the wash as it is in the crevasse, but highlight everything else around that.

So yeah, a model with just base colours and wash wouldn't be finished for me either!

Using washes is much like any other coat of paint. Too much is a bad thing. I have ruined a perfectly good paint job by covering it with a black wash. It made them look like they are coal miners. I prefer a thin brown wash. It gives depth and doesn't overwhelm all the other colors.

yea thats the same problem the guys i play with seem to be having. coal miners haha thats a good description. To me its just too dark for most colours. Ill suggest a thin brown wash to them.

I always have and always will wash with a darker shade of the color I'm washing over. It looks right to my eye. Black or brown over an entire model doesn't. They're both a "look", and you have to decide which you prefer, and go with it.

Black washes have their place in higher quality painting even if they are sometimes over used, for example on the models I'm currently painting for the OP the silver parts are washed black before layering, and as long as the layers are smooth after the wash there shouldn't be a sooty look.

olim wrote:
Black washes have their place in higher quality painting even if they are sometimes over used, for example on the models I'm currently painting for the OP the silver parts are washed black before layering, and as long as the layers are smooth after the wash there shouldn't be a sooty look.

Which look great by the way!

But metalics are a bit different to normal colours from experience in how they react to washes. Did you use black anywhere else on the models?

I did use a black and brown wash in the wood before layering, and a black wash/glaze on the underside of his hat

I'll be honest, I'm not a great painter. I'm decent. A thick black wash tends to cover a lot of my imperfections, and I like the "dirty" look. I don't mind my toy soldiers looking dirty. I'm a real Soldier, I get pretty dirty.

Better painters may not need the crutch, but I'd rather have dirty looking minis that look pretty good than clean minis that have visible imperfections (which is the alternative I am capable of creating)

 anonymou5 wrote:
I'll be honest, I'm not a great painter. I'm decent. A thick black wash tends to cover a lot of my imperfections, and I like the "dirty" look. I don't mind my toy soldiers looking dirty. I'm a real Soldier, I get pretty dirty.

Better painters may not need the crutch, but I'd rather have dirty looking minis that look pretty good than clean minis that have visible imperfections (which is the alternative I am capable of creating)

Now i dont know what your minis look like but i saw my friends models before he put on the black wash and thought "all he needs is some shading then done" but instead of using a red or bluse or whatever suits his taste he just used black. Im not a great painter, hell i pay people to paint my models, but i dont think the black dirty look is the right kind of dirty. I got my penal legion guiys done up with a dirty look but it was a brown subtle dirty look much like i expect it to be. But i have limited experience in the painting area so im talking from one towns worth of models (a small town at that). Does yours turn out like the fire prism in the link?