How to Paint Black on Miniatures, Fast, Simple Tips (Cloth, Cloaks, and Armor)

Are you wondering how to paint black on miniatures? How do you highlight black on cloth, cloaks, and armor? In this video, I show you how I paint a compelling, realistic black color on miniatures without special contrast paints, mediums, or other fancy techniques.
I'm able to achieve great looking results on miniatures of any type and size by following two simple rules:
1. Don't use pure black paint.
2. Follow the 50% visible rule to ensure your surface stays "looking black".
Here, I show you how I create a custom off-black color (Payne's Gray) using paints you may already have in your collection. I also show you the technique for how I highlight and shade a black basecoat on the cloth of this Warhammer 40k Space Marine Eliminator (a sniper model).
The method I show you here also applies for any black painted surface on your miniatures or models. Here's a full write up if you'd prefer a written tutorial: tangibleday.com/how-to-paint-...
Given that you may want to paint black at some point, if you're not already doing so already, I hope my experience and thoughts are helpful. Whether you're painting for competition or casually, these tips and insights form the basic skills you'll want to know for any miniature paint job.
Have fun! I hope you enjoy this! Leave a comment and let me know what you think?
➡️🔥Here are the supplies I used in the video:
Vallejo Surface Primer: amzn.to/3jv03V0
Army Painter Matt Black (popular): amzn.to/3vCp2h6
Army Painter Deep Blue: amzn.to/42a6JMk
Citadel Nuln Oil Shade (wash): amzn.to/3u0wpyu
Watercolor Paints: amzn.to/3RIvBqZ
Vallejo Brown Earth Texture Gel: amzn.to/47Z6Uf7
Warhammer 40k Primaris Space Marine Eliminators: amzn.to/3U8GBPZ
Painting Handle: amzn.to/47BQr0F
The Army Painter Masterclass Drybrush: amzn.to/3QECmd0
Cosmetic Paint Brush (for Base Coating): amzn.to/3RQpPCP
Wet Palette: amzn.to/4a1Wc9x
Inexpensive Hair Dryer: amzn.to/3U5lufq
✍️🖋️Other useful tutorials and videos:
How to Speed Paint Yellow on Miniatures: tangibleday.com/how-to-paint-...
8 Must-Know Paint Blending Techniques:
tangibleday.com/8-must-know-p...
How to Dry Brush Miniatures:
tangibleday.com/how-to-dry-br...
How to Blend Miniature Paint (Video): • How to Blend Paint on ...
📸 💡 Accessories for Filming/Photography:
Redgrass R9 Desk Lamp: www.redgrasscreative.com/?ref=40
Neatfi XL Task Lamp: amzn.to/3Q4LAxM
Lume Cube Mobile Creator Kit 2.0: shrsl.com/48ilb
Sony A7R3: amzn.to/3Rhc1Ra
Sony Zeiss 35mm lens: amzn.to/3NrggbK
Rode NTG microphone: amzn.to/3taSzhf
Hobby desk lighting guide and review: tangibleday.com/best-lights-f...
Affiliate disclosure: I am a participant in the affiliate programs for Amazon Services LLC Associates and other vendors. These program are designed to provide a means for me to earn revenue by linking to the above affiliated sites.

[@Cesspit7]

paint black, leave in dusty room for a week, varnish

[@tangibleday]

lol or paint black, varnish… while wet, leave in dusty room. Done :)

[@RichieBenno]

nice, I was thinking of trying this method then found your video confirming it works well. Thanks.

[@tangibleday]

It does :) Thanks for the kind message !

[@Smilomaniac]

As in this video, ‘pure black’ paint like abaddon black or AP’s matte black are best applied in 3-4 very thinned layers over a primed black surface, for a flat result. However nowadays I just use Black Templar or Black Legion contrast, straight. In nature a common black is brown black (warm black with red or brown in it), as seen with insect carapace or ‘black cats’ when their fur is exposed to bright sunlight. For something like ‘eavy metal style black ork armour, I use stegadon green (it looks blue) as the thick highlight and sybarite green as the edge. Thinning a paint as a wash also works well to avoid the shine that washes sometimes add (use ball bearings to mix washes to avoid this).

[@alessiodecarolis]

I generally use Black Grey (Gris Negro) from Vallejo, it has a good cover and give good results, plus a mix of Turquoise, Black & White for highlights, naturally it depends from the light and details of the subject.

[@tangibleday]

Yep, that's a wonderful base coat color! One thing I'd like to try is to use a very warm highlight at some point and see how that looks. I do think cool toned highlights look natural and give it the realistic black that I'm aiming to create. Hey, thanks for the note, I appreciate it!!!

[@PhD777]

Excellent video. I have been in the miniatures hobby since 1972. Black is my favorite color to paint. The easiest way to paint black: paint black, dip the tip of the brush in white - mix, highlight. Do this again, but using a little more white. Thin black at 1 part black to 10, or 15 or 20 parts water (1:10, 1:15, 1:20); once mixed, apply the wash. Done. As a lifelong animal owner (horses, cattle, dogs, cats, chickens, guinea fowl), hunter and fisherman, I can assure you that there is black in wildlife.

[@tangibleday]

Indeed! Thank you for the message and kind words. Absolutely, I love that you can mix that black for the shading/filter after highlights! I do that sometimes too. But That “serial dilution” isn’t easy for many who are new to working with paints. By the way I also work with animals and I agree with you depending on a definition of black.

[@BrockliDawkins]

Really cool stuff. Thanks for sharing!

[@tangibleday]

I appreciate it!!!

[@maverickman6486]

Also if you go too black or too light, don't be afraid to switch to the washing with black or drybrush ( or whatever) with whatever shade of grey you need.

[@garcigarcia3437]

Very detailed! I'll use your technique

[@tangibleday]

Appreciate the note! Thank you and GL!

[@icenhorn4744]

that was a fun way of doing it. thank you for sharing.

[@tangibleday]

You're welcome! Thanks for letting me know and the kind comment.

[@khadorstrong]

I feel like you need more contrast for it, but this is nice for a table top figure

[@tangibleday]

Yeah I agree. It also depends on the kind of black material. Push contrast too high and it looks glossy black rather than matte cloth.

[@JK-zx3go]

Looks great

[@tangibleday]

Thanks ! 🙏

[@ErgonomicChair]

Nice!

[@iandestroyerofworlds576]

1. Metallic prime. 2.5 (optional) thinned blue. 2. Thinned black plaint. It's a kind of reflective black in the end.

[@tangibleday]

Oh I need to save this note for later. Thanks!!!

[@Ciberboy28]

Great tecnique! Thank you.

[@tangibleday]

Welcome!!!

[@ShipWreck68]

very simple. I use same technique but i use flesh tone or pink to bring the black color up for black leather or cloth. If I do black horses i bring the color up with a light yellowish sand color. Looks more natural to me.

[@tangibleday]

Oh I need to try a flesh tone. Yellow works well for me as well. For this I used neutral gray as an example :)

[@optimustrond]

Great video! Been struggling with my Black Legion. They all turn out really flat and uninteresting. I will try this. Thanks! ❤

[@tangibleday]

Yeah it’s hard to paint black. Even I struggled for a long time. I’m happy this helps and this encourages me to continue sharing what I learn too.

[@kmaker5]

I'm just wondering.. would it be looking very strange if you would mix black with red instead of blue? Would it get more leatheri-like color?

[@tangibleday]

Oh! Fascinating. I haven’t tried that. Give it a shot? I suppose the result will depend on how much red you mixed in. But a 1:1 ratio may not push it far enough for a brownish(?) color. Would be curious myself to see!

[@Mr3xA]

Hey looks really good, i'll give it a try. One question: Why didn't you use de pure black for bascoat the most deep shadows (lets say the darkest 10%) and then the paynes grey over the rest 90% and finish it up like you did? Wouldn't be there more depth? Thanks and keep going!

[@tangibleday]

Hey, thanks for the comment! Yes, that would work, starting with a pure black basecoat, then lighten with Payne's Gray, etc. It would also add more contrast/depth. But, maybe that would add complexity to the process and may be a tad unreliable, since there appears to be an extra step (painting the pure black basecoat). Nonetheless, that would work, too and may look really good!

[@maverickman6486]

I would also say you want a step away from black because the black wash will take care of the pure black@@tangibleday

[@Grimm.Wraven]

Out of curiosity, what is the model you were demonstrating upon?

[@tangibleday]

The model is a Primaris Space Marine Eliminator (Games Workshop) :)

[@TheMichaellathrop]

So why did you choose darksea as opposed to just adding a little white to your existing paynes grey?

[@tangibleday]

Hey, great question. Adding white to the Payne's gray I made would have been perfect, too. Except, it dried up in my palette and I didn't want to mix more. It's just easier to reach for a premade gray paint (darksea). And in principle, any lighter neutral-gray would be great for the highlight (using the dry brush application). When you do the last step, washing with the Citadel Nuln Oil shade, the highlight darkens down and the black colored illusion works!

[@valandhol9four680]

Funny i recectly used these two colors on my orks

[@tangibleday]

Oh how’d they turn out?

[@valandhol9four680]

@@tangibleday really great, it's a black armour with a hint of blue. For my beast snaggas so it's like the black bones of huge beasts :)

[@jostonpowell1346]

From what I have seen in Vince's videos and Google. Paynes Grey is more blue grey than dark grey like your example.

[@tangibleday]

Hey thanks for the comment!!! Yup Payne’s Gray could be a tad lighter, but it’s made with black and blue mixed together. The blue I used is darkish and less saturated. The last shade step takes all of it to the black illusion effect you see here.

[@oliverludwig6148]

Let me wear this black cloak to hide my shiny yellow armor.

[@tangibleday]

That’s the “Rule of Cool” at work I guess. Lol

[@MrNilo1990]

Nice video! I must ask, the mini in 00:33 is AI generated??

[@tangibleday]

Yep that’s an AI image. Though I’m sure there is a mini out there that looks similar

[@metalblizzard6024]

Sub... you ha e awesome content

[@tangibleday]

Thank you! 😊

[@jblade8028]

great video but probably best to use actual artwork or still life to show as examples, not only because midjourney (or whichever) is pretty shit. but because in nature, the black colour we see is called chromatic black (i.e. it's made up of other colours), the subtle tinge really changes how the black can look. Pure black is almost absent in nature.

[@tangibleday]

Yup, agreed. I could also have taken photos on my own but it's Winter and snowy here in the Northeast :) Thanks for the comment and indeed pure black isn't really found in nature at all

[@carlosdesouza3813]

Rolling Stones would be proud