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So, the guy thats teaching me how to paint is really insistent that I use drybrusj on everything, Problem is I really dont like the way it looks, and Im considering painting them over to remove it. What do you guys think?

Drybrush done by a beginner will look one way, drybrushing done by a very experienced painter will look another.

It's just a method, a tool in a tool box. Dont PAINT (ha!) yourself into a corner by writing off such a huge facet of miniature painting because in one isolated situation it doesnt look good.

Without pictures we have no idea whats going on. It could be a myriad of things going wrong to make it look disapproving.

Except on really specific areas, I never use drybrushing.
There are so many other technics that are much more interesting and rewarding.

If you don't like to drybrush, don't do it.

Everyone has their own taste.personally I will use it for fur as it gives great results.
But on more flat or smooth surfaces it looks grainy so I rather highlight instead.

It's just a case of finding your style and what works for you though.

i'm with Minus...
i don't like the look of drybrushing, except on the rubble of my bases, where a rough texture is to be expected...

if you are just starting out, it can be helpful to show where highlights need to be, and then paint a smoother layer over that...
it can help you speed up your painting, especially on fur or chain-mail where the drier paint will help you out by not running into the recesses...
personally, i would rather just use less paint on my brush, and draw the bristles across the surface at a very shallow angle, and keep the smooth look of wetter paint...

to my eye, drybrushing still looks rough, even when done by an experienced painter, on surfaces like skin and cloaks, but can be ok on fur and scales...
depends on the finish you want to see...
don't feel bad if you don't like the look

cheers
jah

The wash I used on this was damaged because of the heat, but that aside heres a photo of screaning scull with wash and one with wash and ceramic white dry brush.
btw: his missing an arm cus Im halfway trought magnetizing my veterans.

Dry-brush has it's use like any other technique.

It really is just a large area means of edge highlighting, typically used for tiny details over a large area.
It is most useful for say fur, gravel on a base, scales (depending on size) or tree-bark.

You do not have to believe me, these guys I consider experts:
http://www.scalemodelguide.com/painting-weathering/painting-guide/general-info-drybrushing/
And these guys:
http://www.finescale.com/how-to/articles/2002/10/basics-of-dry-brushing

For some product designed for it:
GW has their "Dry Range" https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Painting-Modelling?N=102271+4294965852&Nu=product.repositoryId&qty=12&sorting=rec&view=table&categoryId=cat440136a-flat
Some people suggest thick old paint works pretty good.

If you are just trying to add a nice sharp looking edge to something: dry-brushing it would typically look sloppy.
For fixing dry brushing: If it is for only a couple edge highlights, you could take the base paint colour and cover up the area just short of the edge.
Applying a wash after (only when you think you are done!) tends to clean up the last of the overly aggressive smearing of paint.
You do not always have to paint over top all mistakes, only the areas that look bad.

Nice highlighting guide here:
http://fromthewarp.blogspot.ca/2011/08/basics-line-highlighting-made-simple.html

I just hate to see hard work wasted, it may be recoverable but it really depends on you.
Sometimes you come back to a model and gained a bit more knowledge and want to re-do many things... it happens.

Good luck!

<edit> Wow a whole bunch of you nin(jah)'ed me while I was typing away, glad we are in agreement on many things.

One area I like drybrushing is when I want something to look dirty. I paint it the colour I want it to be, then I wash it with a dark brown or black, then come back and drybrush the original colour.

It's a technique I use more on military figures though, when I simultaneously want something to look a specific colour but also look a bit dirty.

That's how I did the cockpit on this Zero...

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/827317-Zero.html

Pedro31 wrote:
ceramic white dry brush.

There must be some sort of misunderstanding... The 2nd picture is not an example of drybrushing. At all.

Could you describe the process you used? You're only supposed to catch the raised edges, with dry paint.... Yours ran into the crevices.

Did you actually use a dry paintbrush and reasonably thick paint? That looks like you washed it with watered down white.

The only parts of that DA mini I'd drybrush are the feathery wing things on the back (light drybrush to get the final highlight, probably after a basecoast and wash) and the glowing part of the plasma pistol (same technique)

The cloak I'd do with a baseboat, wash and probably just paint edge highlights to finish it

I did dry brush the wings and the plasma gun.

For white robes, I would base-coat more toward a cream colour.
Edge highlight with a brighter white.
Touch-up the highlighting with the cream colour.
Apply a deeper cream colour (add a drop or two of tan to the base paint, water it down (like the good old milk consistency) and "paint" into the crevices.
Then when it looks good, hit it with the "Sepia" wash, targeting mainly the deeper parts of the robe.
Touch-up any raised edge highlights that may have too much wash on it.

Yes, dry-brush I would never use on the robes.
The wings and the plasma gun ribs are spots where that technique is ideal.

Drybrush is better used on terrain, rough surfaces, small/bumpy stuff and for some basic weathering. Horrible for (big) flat or more rounded surfaces without any edges.

For the creamy colored robes of the Dark Angels I'd paint them Zandri Dust or if you want it lighter, layer Ushabti Bone ontop of it. Then use Agrax Earthshade or Seraphim Sepia thinned down with Lahmian Medium. It'll take out the usual blotchyness of the shade and flow better into the recesses. It'll take a few tries. But when you get how it works it'll look great and makes things easier for you.

 The Grumpy Eldar wrote:
Drybrush is better used on terrain, rough surfaces, small/bumpy stuff and for some basic weathering. Horrible for (big) flat or more rounded surfaces without any edges.

It really depends. Sometimes you have a big flat surface that you don't want looking really clean, so you can layer drybrushes to create a look not dissimilar to airbrushing but with more natural variation, giving a more weathered look.

Also some tanks drybrushing can be a good way to highlight the edges in a way that doesn't make it look like a weird unnatural edge highlight (admittedly not so much Imperial Guard tanksbecause IG tanks are riveted rather than welded or cast like most real life tanks)

To add interesting texture to the curved surfaces sometimes a "stipple" looks good.
Think of it as a dry-brush method of pointillism.
I think the look of the image here you can love or hate depending on tastes really.
Rather than the dense "digital cameo" it is more an "analogue cameo".

 Talizvar wrote:
To add interesting texture to the curved surfaces sometimes a "stipple" looks good.
Think of it as a dry-brush method of pointillism.

Spoiler:

I think the look of the image here you can love or hate depending on tastes really.
Rather than the dense "digital cameo" it is more an "analogue cameo".

I kinda like that effect, actually, it looks exactly like galvanised steel!

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 The Grumpy Eldar wrote:
Drybrush is better used on terrain, rough surfaces, small/bumpy stuff and for some basic weathering. Horrible for (big) flat or more rounded surfaces without any edges.

It really depends. Sometimes you have a big flat surface that you don't want looking really clean, so you can layer drybrushes to create a look not dissimilar to airbrushing but with more natural variation, giving a more weathered look.

Also some tanks drybrushing can be a good way to highlight the edges in a way that doesn't make it look like a weird unnatural edge highlight (admittedly not so much Imperial Guard tanksbecause IG tanks are riveted rather than welded or cast like most real life tanks)

I agree with this, I layer my DA Razorbacks with three coats of Caliban Green, paint the appropriate details, and then drybrush the panels Leadbelcher until it looks suitably weathered and battle-damaged, and then do a lighter drybrush of Runefang Steel over the Leadbelcher. It looks much better than just the straight Caliban Green, and is very easy to do.

I mean, the absolute extreme of drybrushing is stuff like this....




So that's what a skilled artist can achieve drybrushing on a perfectly flat object

Though that is difficult to achieve with acrylics because they tend to dry too fast, most high-end drybrushing I've seen is done with oils. You also need your basecoat to have a very consistent texture because drybrushing highlights the underlying texture of the paint (so it works best if your basecoat is applied by spray can or airbrush and on the matte side rather than the gloss side).

It's one tool in your toolbox, like washing, blending, or edge highlighting. You shouldn't be using it on every single thing, but it totally has its uses.

 Talizvar wrote:
To add interesting texture to the curved surfaces sometimes a "stipple" looks good.
Think of it as a dry-brush method of pointillism.

Spoiler:

I think the look of the image here you can love or hate depending on tastes really.
Rather than the dense "digital cameo" it is more an "analogue cameo".

I love that effect, although I wouldn't use the term "drybrushing" for it! I will try to remember that next time I want to paint granite.

Also, I wouldn't use drybrushing on something meant to represent cloth, the highlights in cloth is usually more subtle than what you get with drybrushing. With cloth, I think it's better to just use a wash. I usually only drybrush hard surfaces and metals.

i have been having a lot of fun using stippling (either with a sponge or a brush) and cross-hatching to create texture...
i find it way more controlled, and a lot less messy, than dry brushing...
it also has the advantage of not having the dusty, rough finish, that ends up needing a ton of wash to give the smooth finish that i prefer...

cheers
jah

I tend to avoid drybrushing, but it has its applications. It works best if you keep the contrast very low. Sometimes after applying a wash I might drybrush some of the original colour back over the top to lighten it up, that usually comes out beautiful and smooth, and you can't really see the process. If you try to do high contrast stuff, like white highlights, then it's going to look dusty and rough.

I also sometimes use drybrushing to assist me, just as a guide with things that are heavily detailed, or hard to see: things like hair or intricate machinery. A subtle drybrush can give you a visual framework for the details, which you can then highlight over properly using a fine brush. That can also be a handy time saver, as once you've picked out a few of the important details, it will already start to look finished, and give the illusion of being 100% hand-painted (so you can get away with cutting a few corners).

I also use dry-brushing for things I want to look dusty, such as mud, rust, stones etc...

As others have said, it's just a tool like anything else... If you use it appropriately, you can achieve beautiful effects. If you abuse it, and depend on it to do all your highlighting for you, then it's going to look like you did a lazy dry-brush job. You get out what you put in.

@Jah - I use quite a lot of cross-hatched drybrushing, if that makes any sense. A lot of my drybrushing is in diagonals, and where I want it to be more pronounced, I'll drybrush more densely, and where I want it even more pronounced, I'll crosshatch it.

Also, I often drybrush with very small drybrushes -- using the benefit of a brush with very little paint, and even less moisture so that paint only sticks on the most raised surfaces, without the loss control that people sometimes associate with drybrushing.

 Talys wrote:
Also, I often drybrush with very small drybrushes -- using the benefit of a brush with very little paint, and even less moisture so that paint only sticks on the most raised surfaces, without the loss control that people sometimes associate with drybrushing.

I know when the method was shown to me, it was like we were mashing the brush onto the surface and I found it rather barbaric...
Later-on I realized, rather than edge highlight every tiny link on some chainmail, you run across it just enough to paint the raised surface you want and nothing else.
I was interested in the wet/dry GW paints to avoid that "dusty" look since it is a byproduct of tiny globs of paint that are mainly dried-out.
I find either dry retarder or using oils is the only way I can get a neat look but they do tend to shine a bit.

@Talizvar - you can avoid getting the globs of paint by using a fresh drybrush with almost no paint on it, and stopping with it once paint starts to dry on it (cleaning it, and using a fresh one). Also, the old, round GW drybrushes are really good for little, controlled areas.

Drybrushing is something I would like to apply to terrain, larger models like rhino, their tank threads and larger models like the panels of Imperial Knight or a Land Raider. I tried Drybrushing space marine mini and I did not like the result. I prefer edge highlighting my marines rather than drybrush them. Now, if there are some chainmail elemts and etc on your space marine, sure, why not paint it black and drybrush it in something metallic, but overall I'd rather avoid using drybrush on an infantry models.

 Talizvar wrote:

 Talys wrote:
Also, I often drybrush with very small drybrushes -- using the benefit of a brush with very little paint, and even less moisture so that paint only sticks on the most raised surfaces, without the loss control that people sometimes associate with drybrushing.

I know when the method was shown to me, it was like we were mashing the brush onto the surface and I found it rather barbaric...
Later-on I realized, rather than edge highlight every tiny link on some chainmail, you run across it just enough to paint the raised surface you want and nothing else.
I was interested in the wet/dry GW paints to avoid that "dusty" look since it is a byproduct of tiny globs of paint that are mainly dried-out.
I find either dry retarder or using oils is the only way I can get a neat look but they do tend to shine a bit.

I actually found Tamiya paints work really well for smoother drybrushing. I think when you reapply paint to the brush the alcohol in it must clean/dissolve the old globs of paint on the brush.

The downside is, for whatever reason, it comes out quite glossy. I don't know why because Tamiya paint is naturally matte, but for some reason when I drybrush it, it comes out somewhere between satin and gloss, so I need to hit it with a matte varnish afterwards.

I tried dry brushing Tamiya and Mister Hobby. It is not a good idea at all to dry brush with alcoholic based paints.. If you gonna dry brush with a paint that is not specifically designed for this (like Citadel Dry) just use paper towel and acrylic paint like Vallejo, GW etc.

 DalinCriid wrote:
I tried dry brushing Tamiya and Mister Hobby. It is not a good idea at all to dry brush with alcoholic based paints.. If you gonna dry brush with a paint that is not specifically designed for this (like Citadel Dry) just use paper towel and acrylic paint like Vallejo, GW etc.

What sort of problems did you have? I have specifically drybrushed with Tamiya paints so I know it can work

Prior to putting on the gauges this was painted with Tamiya Rubber Black and then drybrushed with Rubber Black adding in increasing amounts of Tamiya Flat White....

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/828029-.html

This was painted with Tamiya Cockpit green, washed with Army Painter's Strong Tone and then drybrushed with Tamiya Cockpit Green...

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/827317-Zero.html

I mostly intended it to be subtle shading, but you can see the effect of the drybrushing on areas like the seat;