Washes held me back- Here's an alternative way to shade! :-)

If you liked this video, you might enjoy this one too! This is all about breaking the mental blocks for layering and highlighting :-) https://youtu.be/_dle8ers8IA

Never thought I’d see someone telling nerds NOT to wash.

As a tip from a learned visual artist: A lot of volume and shape is emphasized, visually, by how the shadow seques into light. On rounded parts where the shadow is created through the shape of the object (like the underside of arms or legs), the shadow is best given a soft gradient into the light. Wherever the shadow is thrown by something else blocking the light, like on the neck under the chin, a hard edge is best. Many shadows on the body will have both. For example, the muscles have little gradients from the lit parts of the muscle towards the parts the light doesn't reach. But the shadow merges with a hard-edged shadow created by the muscle blocking out some light towards the skin underneath it.

"It's not a crutch, dad. It's something I've come to rely on to help me through life"

I’ve started applying washes as paint. I put it where I want it, not just an all over covering. Then, if necessary, I just apply the base color to clean up any places I was sloppy.

I'll still tell amateurs to use washes for as long as they're comfortable. It teaches them the importance of dark tones and gives results quickly which is important when you're starting out, so you don't get discouraged. If you're just learning how to base coat and suddenly you're told you have to line shadows in crevices when you don't even have a steady brush hand, you're gonna hear a lot of "this isn't for me" really quick.

Your script reading voice is my favorite. It’s relaxing, satisfying, and almost meditative. You gave washes an objective analysis of pluses and minuses. Undead gnome has a good name.

Brent, those figs look like they belong in comic pages. I like it.

I prefer going from darker to lighter, it's easier to reach upmost points than having a perfect aim to paint the shadows in the little crevices.

Nothing new but coming from a voice like yours I hope it wakes up some people

Everybody: Three easy tips to paint your minis INSTANTLY! Brent, the Bob Ross of mini painting: This will be a lot nicer if we just take our time and enjoy the process. ❤

Great points here. I used to think washes were the one paint to rule them all, but I have learned that painting shadows and highlights is not only good at helping oneself improve painting skills, but also is very rewarding. Washes are great, but they should be used only in certain situations in my opinion.

I've done a few models without or with limited washes and I've always had fun with them! One thing I like better than doing midtone as base > shade color is to do the shade color as the base. Then you go over with the midtone on the raised areas. I personally find it easier to paint the raised areas than recessed areas AND you can do some layering to get transition zones between the shaded area and midtone.

I really love how there is not right or wrong here. Some parts really look better washed (like the bones and horns, some hair too). Some look better Painted. And some parts work with both well. The Drummer is a perfect example, The hand painted abs look great, like a neat borderlands cellshade. But the Wash makes the muscles shiny, as if he was sweating after 2 hours on stage. Both work well depending on what you want to portray. Really nice video!

That technique makes a really good comic book style .. looks awesome :D

For me, personally, I'm at an age where my eyesight is starting to fail on me, and I mainly use washes to help me distinguish the shapes on a model. Washes are a useful tool, but I agree there's nothing beating deliberate shadows and highlights.

Washes are a great tool. Even used in a controlled way as a quick glaze they have use. But understanding the limitations of a tool is also progress

You can also take a hybrid approach and concentrate the washes in the shadowed areas, then build up layers in the darker shadows. Another benefit with doing your own shadows if you start getting into building up multiple glazes is building in color depth, like making your shadows a cooler tone than the base color and highlights a warmer tone.

That is a stage makeup paint job on that demon! Love it!

Recently I've discovered the joy of shading by using a heavy wash then repainting the original colour on top and avoiding recesses then edge highlighting. It takes alot of work tho so i only use it on special models. But it's easier than painting recesses for me and makes it easier to get natural looking highlight colours with my limited paint collection.