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I am painting some old space marines as Dark Angels and I feel that my layering or edge highlighting ability is trash. Just trash.

Background: I have painted miniatures forever. I have a graduate degree in painting. Really.

I feel that my paint consistency and handling of the successive layers of paint is the problem. Stroking the brush, cleaning the brush, wetting the brush, getting a fine point on the brush, when to rewet the brush. Everything. I just tend to get jinky edges or kluzty edge layers unless I spend forever working on a miniature. So I want to ask a couple questions:

Everyone is using a wet palette, right?
At least for the layer part of the painting. Basecoating can go quick with any old palette. But keeping the paint a nice workable consistency needs a wet palette. I was constantly remixing my paint if I was working on a dry palette under the hot lights.

A lot of us are using custom mixes of mediums, retarders, and wetting agents, right?
I know there are a lot of super-pro painters out there who just use the thinnest washes of watered down paint to build up the layers with straight water. However I don't think I have that amount of patience. I pretty much am looking to do one stroke layer and edge applications. (one stroke per color). When I was using just straight water and paint I was having a lot of problems with paint drying on the brush-tip before it could go on the mini OR the paint would be too watery and bead up in awkward places. I threw in the towel and conjured up my best idea for a painting medium. It ended up being 5% flow release, 10% liquid retarder, 35% matte medium, 50% tap water. All artist materials. I add a drop of this to my paint instead of thinning with plain water and it seems to work pretty well. The problem is that it ends up being transparent enough that each color probably needs to go on twice to be visible and the consistency mixing is still really tricky. Anyone do one-stroke edges and layers neatly? Am I just being impatient? Does any layering technique just require multiple passes on one color to get right and strong?

We are all using sable brushes on layers and edges, right?
I was slowly going mad using a nylon brush on layers and details (standard GW). The tip would curl after a short while and it would not hold much liquid. I had a breakthrough when I used a leftover, cheap, sable brush, and it was so much better. Synthetic is fine for base colors.

Everyone is constantly swishing their brushes right?
To keep my brush from drying I find that I have to constantly rinse and repoint my brush for edge and layer work. Am I obsessive?

What is the blacklining mix that people prefer for tight seams between armor plates?
Frequently I will see the studio team does edge highlighting in really tight areas that are separated by crisp blacklining. Like the fine line between pauldron plates and pauldron edges. Are those painted willy-nilly at their join and then just blacklined at the end to cover it up?

Sorry for the blabbing. I guess my real question is: Can any good layering or edge highlighting happen with one pass or does it take a couple thin passes to get it nice and clean?

If I had to guess, based on what you mentioned your problem might be in the brushes you're using. A good-quality brush of the right size won't need constant repointing and will hold enough paint that the brush won't dry out so fast. Sable hair is definitely the way to go (although you're correct that synthetic will work fine for basecoats and large areas). What brushes are you using currently?

Are you trying to layer, or edge highlight? The two techniques produce a bit of a different effect and work best in different circumstances. With an edge highlight, the color transition is hard and obvious. Layered highlights are better in flatter, smoother areas where you can create a smooth transition between the colors.

To answer your questions specifically:

1. I use a wet palette occasionally, but usually just a cheap metal palette (plastic works just fine, too) with the little wells for the paint. The wells help reduce the surface area of the paint exposed to the air, but the wet palette definitely helps keep the paint at a usable consistency for longer. It's worth trying one out.

2. No, just plain water. Some of the pros use their own fancy mixes, but there are plenty of professional or otherwise excellent painters that don't. I do like having Lamian Medium (or other brand equivalent) on hand if I'm thinning something down a lot.

3. The brushes I do ~95% of my painting with are Kolinsky sable. High-quality brushes are worth the investment - I do probably 80% of my painting with a Windsor & Newton Series 7, size 1.

4. While a brush is usually best behaved right after washing, it shouldn't be necessary to be constantly cleaning it and starting over. You should be able to get the brush to a usable point on the palette when you go to pick up some more paint. This problem is a big part of what makes me think that you might have a problem with your brushes - a good quality brush is built so that it "wants" to form into a point.

5. Not sure what specific blacklining you're referring to (pics?) but I suspect that it might be that they've washed over the area to get that dark line and then brightened up on either side. Washes are quite good at hiding any little areas in crevices between two colors, and then afterwards it doesn't matter so much since the two colors aren't actually touching any more.

Hope that helps!

 Wasteland wrote:
If I had to guess, based on what you mentioned your problem might be in the brushes you're using. A good-quality brush of the right size won't need constant repointing and will hold enough paint that the brush won't dry out so fast. Sable hair is definitely the way to go (although you're correct that synthetic will work fine for basecoats and large areas). What brushes are you using currently?

Thanks Wasteland, I am not sure if my problems are coming down to brush alone. I am using a couple cheaper sables (from defunct art store brands) but I am reluctant to get out the series seven since mini painting is hard on brushes (I use the WN 7 on ink drawings). The cheap sables do generally form a point most of the time. I just feel that the consistency of the paint is betraying me. It seems that either the paint is either very wet and flow-able or a bit thick and prone to drying on the tip. And when the paint is wet and flow-able, it sponges into the bristles of the brush and it loses the neat point from the expansion. Maybe I will try the 7, but I will just have the $30 racing through my mind when I do.

The type of black-lining and edge layering that is driving me nuts is shown in this studio model of a blood warrior.

[url]https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/catalog/product/600x620/99120201059_ETBBloodWarriors03.jpg
[/url]
Specifically where the RED plate of the armor pauldron meets the BRASS trim. There is an edge highlight on both the brass and the edge of the red plate with a fine black line between the two. I really have no way of hitting such a fine edge like on the trim without bodging the red plate below.

1. The black in the recess came from the wash. Doesn't mean you have to use the GW bottle washes. That could have been black thinned down into a wash.

2. The gold was edge highlighted with a small brush (think GW artificer) using the side of the brush.

3. The red line highlight you are asking about would have been painted with the same size brush but with the paint thinned a little bit more than usual. I'd use medium to thin it. Before painting it you'd test the brush on your pallet ensuring you can almost write with tip of the brush. Steady hands, great lighting, and ensure you can see the detail that small (I use a low Rx pair of reading glasses to help here).

Greengoat wrote:

 Wasteland wrote:
If I had to guess, based on what you mentioned your problem might be in the brushes you're using. A good-quality brush of the right size won't need constant repointing and will hold enough paint that the brush won't dry out so fast. Sable hair is definitely the way to go (although you're correct that synthetic will work fine for basecoats and large areas). What brushes are you using currently?

Thanks Wasteland, I am not sure if my problems are coming down to brush alone. I am using a couple cheaper sables (from defunct art store brands) but I am reluctant to get out the series seven since mini painting is hard on brushes (I use the WN 7 on ink drawings). The cheap sables do generally form a point most of the time. I just feel that the consistency of the paint is betraying me. It seems that either the paint is either very wet and flow-able or a bit thick and prone to drying on the tip. And when the paint is wet and flow-able, it sponges into the bristles of the brush and it loses the neat point from the expansion. Maybe I will try the 7, but I will just have the $30 racing through my mind when I do.

You can buy cheaper sable brushes than WN 7 that won't get hooked tips like synthetic brushes do. If you plan on using your good brushes for acrylics make sure you use brush cleaner and avoid getting paint up near or in the ferrule (Duncan in his videos loves getting paint up close to the ferrule but it's a recipe for short life spans on your brushes).

As for consistency, it just comes with practice. Before you try actually applying the line to the model just load up the brush and start putting thin streaks on a piece of scrap plastic. Do a streak, turn the brush a bit, do a streak, turn the brush, eventually you'll reach the correct amount of paint on the brush to paint a streak the way you want so pick up the model and go to town. If you can't get sufficiently fine streaks which are smooth even on the scrap piece then you might be too thick, if you can't get thin streaks that don't look completely transparent, the paint might be too thin.

A very small amount of flow improver can help the paint flow off the brush and a drying retarder will extend the time the paint is a good consistency on the brush, but don't go overboard adding too many mediums and additives because the paint ends up too transparent. You could totally just do it with water but the improver and retarder makes it easier.

The type of black-lining and edge layering that is driving me nuts is shown in this studio model of a blood warrior.

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/catalog/product/600x620/99120201059_ETBBloodWarriors03.jpg

Specifically where the RED plate of the armor pauldron meets the BRASS trim. There is an edge highlight on both the brass and the edge of the red plate with a fine black line between the two. I really have no way of hitting such a fine edge like on the trim without bodging the red plate below.

The edge highlighting they do on studio models is super fine, finer than Duncan does in his videos. It's difficult to do unless you have...

1. An extremely steady hand and good eyesight.

2. A good quality fine detail brush. I use a Raphael 4/0 or 6/0 if I have to crank out details that fine.

3. A lot of patience. Doing a simple edge highlight like on that miniature can easily chew up a couple of hours if you're trying to achieve those super fine lines.

In some areas you can use the side of the brush to make life easier, but you can see in the picture you posted there's lots of places where they did fine line highlights and there's no way it can be done with the edge of the brush.

I can do super fine lines using my standard brush, a Windsor Newton Series 7 size 2. It's all in the tip. Doing good edge highlights depends on

1. The brush. See above. Use those Series 7s!
2. The paint. Using as little paint as you do when doing edges, the paint might dry on the tip. Use a retarder if this is happening, otherwise water should be fine. Also don't thin too much or it'll run. I agree that it's hard to get a good consitency that only needs one layer. Also depends on which paint it is, some paints have a lot of pigment and so can take more thinning without becoming transparent.
3. How steady your hand is. When doing fine lines I put both my elbows on the table and use my left hand to steady my right. This allows me to paint fairly straight lines that are very thin.

 Mymearan wrote:
I can do super fine lines using my standard brush, a Windsor Newton Series 7 size 2. It's all in the tip.

The tip has the final say in how fine the line can be but using a smaller brush definitely makes things easier especially if you don't have a rock steady hand. Smaller brushes have a larger margin for error as far as pressure is concerned, apply a bee's dick too much pressure with a #2 brush and your 0.1mm line turns in to a 1mm line, but with a small brush you have a more gradual increase.

The downside being paint dries quicker in the bristles, but depending on what I'm painting it's a trade off I'm willing to make.

I am preparing an article about how I improved my painting techniques, and hit on most of the same points.

There are a few items that could be added:

1) Mix the Retarder with Water in the Wet Palette - If I want paints to stay wet without having to mix them all the time, I use a mix of 20% retarder in the water on the wet palette. Nothing dries unless it is on the miniature.

2) Use a Magnifying Glass - I started using a Third Hand Clamp with a Magnifying Glass to inspect layers, shades and fine details. It explains why something looks a little botched and how to improve it.

3) Use Brush Cleaner - Every time I finish painting, I scrub the brushes in a tub of masters. It means the bristles are firm and come to a point the next time I come to paint.

Thanks for all the good advice folks
Generally, what you all are saying is what I thought. I just needed to double-check myself against my lack of patience for what it takes for a studio looking model.
It's kind of the taunting height of cruelty to show young kids the fine miniatures that the GW studio does and not really let on how much practice and intense time it takes to execute those things. Even at 25 years of painting I still feel like that naive kid.

I think my hand is steady, just not slow enough. I lock my hands upright with a bright light right behind my shoulder. My back will kill me if a haunch over a table. I will try some type of magnifying setup to see how it feels.

Green, that's the catch.. is there is almost always some new technique to apply here, or try there, to get this or that effect.

My old technique to push myself for better brush handling was playing with more and more complex or crisp camouflage patterns - I did a Tau Human Auxiliary years ago with Swiss Alpenflage camo on his clothing. Of course, these days that's more a case of playing with things like multicolor Ambush and Dazzle patterns, or a few other experimental ideas like tinted flames using a gemstone paint over white and grey but also the black background to give a lacquered look, or working on heat bloom or weapon glow effects.

This isn't a science, really, it's an art, and as an art there's all manner of places you can play around and experiment with things.

Most of all there's two key things they never tell you out front.

First, do what makes you happy. Paint schemes you like, weathering you like, it's really about you being happy with the miniatures you've worked on, and feeling comfortable with your work.

Second - Explore and play around, it's not serious, have fun and experiment with things. There's tutorials for all manner of things out there on the interwebs, and don't look at just miniatures, look at scale modeling groups, look at auto paintshops, and experiment with your own version of these ideas.

In the end, there's only one person who needs to be happy with the end product - You.

I am frustrated at my edge highlighting as well. It is never so fine as in the territorials and there are simply some parts of the SM minis that are impossible for me.

 DalinCriid wrote:
I am frustrated at my edge highlighting as well. It is never so fine as in the territorials and there are simply some parts of the SM minis that are impossible for me.

This is where a Third Hand Clamp with Magnifying Glass comes in. I have one that's been sitting on a shelf for years and started using it recently.

When I use the magnifying glass, I can see what's going wrong and how to fix it. When I use the clamp, I can use 2 hands for brushwork, where the brush rests on my left index finger as a guide while my right hand moves it.

Huge difference in quality. Will be uploading some photos of the Raptor squad I am working on now with before and after images.

I have a set of helping hands with a magnifying glass and have never found them all that, err, helpful, lol. I've used them for assembling small fiddly things before, but for painting the warped depth perception throws me off too much.