How To Use Contrast Paints!

#paintingminiatures #tabletoppainting
I use contrast paints for everything, which means I get a lot of questions about contrast paints! How to use, why I use them so much, how to use them with an airbrush, why certain mistakes happen and lots more! Hopefully this Contrast Paint Top Tips video will help explain things a lot more, and help you see the value of using this paint to both speed up and improve your tabletop painting!
Here's some videos that were mentioned or I feel might help!
Contrast Paints vs Classic Paints speed test!
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Tank painted with Contrast Paint
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Contemptor Dreadnought with Contrast Paint!
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Contrast Paint Space Marine armour
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Contrast Paint Legions Imperialis
• Speed Paint your Legio...
Priming for Contrast Paint Video!
• The Best Way to Prime ...
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Thanks for checking out the video!

[@colelanteigne4544]

This video was extremely helpful! You answered all the questions I had about contrast paints.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DaGoook]

Just my personal experience but your English is the most easily understandable of any Irishmen I've ever met!

[@VeloVios]

Said Da.....

[@martindonohue900]

He Scottish isn’t he? 😂😂😂

[@DaGoook]

@@martindonohue900 Nah he's Irish, mentioned it before.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Dublin, born and bred!

[@rymic72]

@@MediocreHobbies. Are you south side then? My west Belfast accent influenced by 12 years in Scotland isn’t nearly as clean or clear as your own 😂

[@Gdad_Cliff]

My use of contrast paints has vastly improved since watching your content. I just finished some Pestilens Clan Rats and they look great. I sincerely appreciate the encouragement and enthusiasm. Thank you!

[@MediocreHobbies]

Love hearing that, thanks for taking the time to tell me! Well done for getting your rats done! :)

[@andrewsaunders9639]

Cheers, Andy. Your channel has single handedly improved my painting. This guide was very helpful 👍🏻

[@MediocreHobbies]

@@andrewsaunders9639 so kind pal. Thank you.

[@commentingisdangerous7530]

so damn informative. this video was easy and fun to watch and yet it was very dense with information. great video, man.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Thanks so much, glad you liked it!

[@10urion]

Perfecet reminder/ introduction. Just about to get into painting a few more Blitz Bowl teams for which I want to go just table ready and not more

[@isophistchambers6694]

Don't make Andy sad! Brilliant video, Andy! I love the technique breakdowns because not only do i remember how to do things, it helps enable more people to paint minis!

[@MediocreHobbies]

Yes more models out there getting painted! That's all I want!

[@Scambul]

Great video! Another thing I’ve found with contrasts is using a wash before highlighting, or recess shading with a darker contrast. Really increases the contrast effect and smooths out any patchiness in the initial contrast layer.

[@MediocreHobbies]

I always use a shade before the layer stage, it helps seal in the contrast paint coat! and yes it's great for smoothening out patches!

[@Jason-man-in-black]

Very informative Andy, I especially appreciated the clips of you loading your brush, great job.

[@Mangix_the_Bear]

Great info for a newbie speed painter such as myself 😊

[@FromTheGrey]

Thanks, Andy for another helpful video! Totally sharing this to my hobby group!! Keep doing what you do, sir, you are doing quite a service!!

[@theorganicshadow]

I've only ever really used them when following traditional technique/paint guides, and in those instances they were almost always used as a shade instead of a base color. Watching your videos has VASTLY improved my confidence with using them and to be less intimidated. I think it's how casual and easy going you seem when you use them makes things seem less risky and more intuitive. Also glad you mentioned not to use water- but adding water actually (for me) helps turn them more into a Shade paint. So if you don't have the color Shade paint but have a bunch of Contrast pots, try and see if you can mix one up custom using water.

[@thomaswoodgate2900]

I actually started the hobby with contrasts as my main paint set I think learning this way has got me into many good habits, we have very similar habits! One thing I do do however is occasionally I will thin a contrast with water, I find it creates a really nice subtle filter colour, even a negative can have a positive use sometimes

[@ncfcpaul8761]

Great video- I use contrast a lot, and recently gave up on slapchop and went back to wraithbone primer. Much happier with the results

[@scroggie_mini_painting3983]

Cheers Andy! Laura on point with freeze frames! Contrast is a handy tool to have. Keep up the awesome work

[@Ryuondo]

I really like them for weathering cloth, weathering in general, tinting NMMs and TMMs, and making rocks look like they belong to a video game universe. I rarely use them how they were intended. But thwy arw really fun to play with.

[@araistel1980]

Thanks a million Andy ! I would add one more thing which is a handy paintbrush for using contrast paints. It's not a big deal because you can use any paintbrushes you want but for instance I use a Vallejo Pro Modeler Size 2 and it's really good. Seriously happy days :)

[@MediocreHobbies]

Oh great point! Damn it now I need to make another video 😂

[@elnaith2565]

Hi. Great, great video. Recently I started to experiment with Contrast Paints and your channel is becoming a reference for me in this area of the hobby. You mentioned that in order to choose a contrast paint to use in a triad system, you only have to substitute the base paint for the contrast paint. In the triad Death world forest-Elysian Green-Ogryn Camo. Which contrast do you think that matches better? Thank you in advance, and continue with your channel.

[@hannupajula1422]

I am a big fan of Contrast paints and I agree with pretty much all of your advice. The only difference is that I prefer to use mine straight from the pot as often as possible. Sometimes I don't even dig up the pallette at all and just do an all Contrast session. The learning process was rough but necessary. It took some trial and error to learn how to apply Contrast paints neatly and how to make the best out of them but I am happy that I went through it. Now my results are both faster and better looking than before Contrast paints.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Just be careful with consistency if you're using out of the pot, some colours can settle very quickly even if you shake them well at the start of a painting session and you'll end up with more watery paint where you dip in your brush! and yes, trial and error is important, not sure why some people forget to that when it comes to learning new skills :D

[@HelmandTemplar]

An excellent video extremely helpful and well delivered thank you.

[@scouser1701e]

i have also found u can use the silicone popper toys as a pallet for your contrast paints beacuse they have the wells u need for your paints and there also super easy to clean as u just wait for them to dry and just pop out the dry paint and throw it away.

[@MediocreHobbies]

It is SO SATISFYING!! Yes!

[@sethran9447]

Really good tips and tricks - your easy use of contrast on your videos let me get past the initial stigma and has really allowed me to get armies done for the first time in years

[@MediocreHobbies]

Love hearing that, anything to get people getting models on the table is a win!

[@LordNerfherder]

A great tips to make contrast really pop out and look better is just to put the image into photoshop and increase the brightness a little, and then crank up the contrast as well as saturation. That is what almost all do on the pictures published on the internet. They usually also even out the pictures a little. In lightroom you simply click a button and it adds a little smoothness to your painting levels. This and good lighting while taking the image (preferably a sharp light that adds shadows and depth) does more than painting tips does for the average person. But the pages on the net just claims their paint is throwing that beautiful contrast heavy light and that their contrast paint is mindboggingly saturated... despite being the same contrast colour and highlight colour you use.

[@MediocreHobbies]

…or you could just learn to paint from honest painters 😄

[@PhantomSt4gg]

I’ve finally managed to get contrast paints to work for me. I’ve managed to paint a Kruleboys and OBR spearhead box as well as an Armiger with almost exclusively contrast paints. Some things I still struggle with like larger cloaks or banners. Still haven’t gotten them to come out smooth.

[@davidm.corbin4643]

Contrast paints are great and you use them extremely well.

[@mjhsinclair]

I think there’s a middle ground as well on highlighting: some want layering up, some are fine, others are basically fine but some light highlights will make them “pop”. Plaguebearer flesh for example unless you do a deep shade it doesn’t really feel like it needs layering to me, but a few Ogryn Camo highlights will bring your orcs to life in very little time.

[@mjhsinclair]

Snakebite leather another one.

[@nickmayne1901]

What a great video, concise clear & zero bullshit 👌

[@MediocreHobbies]

Awesome review man, thanks 😄

[@paulbalfour9339]

Only just started using them to paint my Nid, really easy and quick but have to be accurate.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Contrasts and Tyranids are a match made in heaven

[@BrentIraEnman]

Great info appreciated

[@MediocreHobbies]

Glad it was helpful!

[@chadnine3432]

How does contrast paint taste compared to regular paints?

[@mrtricorder]

Very rich and refined like an aged wine

[@oldmate86]

I absolutely love contrast paints through an airbrush. You can go from transparent to opaque with little effort.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Yeah it's very cool to experiment with!

[@archg8323]

Love the videos man! Also, a little off topic, i have literally the same scar on my left hand... any chance you did it with a pull saw?

[@MediocreHobbies]

I used a knife to open a can of paint like an idiot.

[@archg8323]

@MediocreHobbies Hah! I tried to cut a wooden dowel I was holding.... Cheers again for all the tips and videos, really been helping.

[@MediocreHobbies]

@@archg8323 ah I see we’re both idiots lol.

[@archg8323]

@MediocreHobbies Well, that was never in question. When new plastic toys come out, I don't think 'this will be a smart purchase'. Give me that idiot dopamine everyday

[@acaughtfox]

Fantastic video. I tried Magos Purple on a model a few days ago and swore off all types of contrast paint as it… sucked. Especially the coverage. Turns out that’s just a particularly light and transparent colour. Tried Leviathan Purple a few hours ago on the next model and it looks awesome. Turns out the darker the colour the better the coverage. Who’dve thunk it? Gonna be using contrast (GW and TAP) on my new Imperial Guard army as my aim is to get to gaming as soon as possible. Wish this stuff was around in my first time in the hobby 😂

[@MediocreHobbies]

There's content creators who have done test pieces for every colour that are super helpful for looking at before testing out on your own models! Have a look at Tale of Painters! I think all our old backlogs would be smaller if we started out with this stuff haha

[@acaughtfox]

@@MediocreHobbies thanks for the tip!

[@HansenAsset]

Magos and Aether Blue are basically washes. Many are splotchy. Some are super smooth, but have no contrast. Just depends.

[@GordonStraker]

Very helpful

[@MediocreHobbies]

Glad to hear that!

[@Darkreaper1982]

@2:26 - there was a good video on Warhammer KZbin channel showing that you can also put down a silver or gold undercoat, then put a contrast over it to get a coloured metallic look. I don't really use contrast much, even though I do like the idea behind them, so thanks for the video.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Yeah there’s some very cool combos for getting metallics! Some of my Heresy videos have that in them to get a really fast result. Yeah I think if you look at them as more than just what they were originally designed for, it opens up a lot more possible uses for them

[@eugenecash2351]

I used your tyranid skin recipe my own carapace it works so well then used the stormcast graph stalkers and again worked so well would love a new blood angel armor recipe you know the red armor

[@MediocreHobbies]

Blood Angel scheme filmed today, should be up tomorrow! :)

[@Mr_Waffle.]

Some people don’t realise that contrast paints can be thin or thick consistencies. Imperial Fists yellow, Baal red, Black Legion are all thick- they are perfectly good for painting on tanks because they’re very opaque. The original range of contrast paints are very thin and transparent and will pool and stain easily- things like munitorium green are a nightmare for large flat surfaces because of how thin it is. So research the paint you want to use to avoid any pitfalls! Literally just search the paint name on KZbin, some channels have videos for every type of paint showing how it turns out on different primers.

[@liberalhyena9760]

I never got onto the contrast paint bandwagon though I purchased some colours a few years ago, most of which have remained unused. This video makes me want to get serious with them. I do, however, have a few questions... Firstly, have you tried any of the other ranges that came out in the wake of GW's release of the Contrast line? I ask this because some YT content creators. such as Uncle Atom of Tabletop Minions, have a strong preference for Army Painter's version. Vallejo also has a range called XPress, I think, though I have seen far less about this. I've forgotten my other main question for the moment but, at the risk of making you sad, I notice that you describe the paints as viscous. While my experience with them is, as I've mentioned, very limited, surely you mean the opposite - i.e. fluid? Viscosity seems counter-intuitive as well as counter-productive in a paint that is designed to flow into crevices.

[@MediocreHobbies]

I’ve done reviews as well for the other ranges! I’m just most comfortable with contrasts so it’s what I reach for most, especially with GW model tutorials! There’s a few differences between them but I’ve learned how to make contrast work best for my style, it’s up to how you paint and what you want from them. And yep. You’ve made me sad. I meant the opposite of that 😂 damn it.

[@MediocreHobbies]

@@liberalhyena9760 so if you look into it. Uncle Adam is paid by army painter he is one of there painters and does there events and stuff so not sure about that one. I have indeed used them and they are pretty good. But for range of colours and consistency I stick with gw paints.

[@liberalhyena9760]

I should have realised you were familiar with the other ranges but didn’t need to discuss them here because the video is all about technique.

[@liberalhyena9760]

Uncle Atom / Adam actually mentions his connection with Army Painter in his latest video, so what we do know is that he is just like Contrast paint, regardless of brand - totally transparent.

[@samsowden]

slap it on push it around till it looks good, dont let it dry where you dont want it.

[@MediocreHobbies]

You got it!

[@unpronounce311]

I assumed shade for dark primer and contrast for light primer. Is that right?

[@MediocreHobbies]

I'm not sure what you're asking there?

[@rickohanlon3370]

I'm glad these stains (or one coat) paints came along. Took the heat off us airbrush users for 'cheating'.😅😅

[@MediocreHobbies]

Can never understand any painting techniques being called cheating but i know what you mean haha

[@frostedbutts4340]

If you use contrasts through an airbrush that's double cheating lmao

[@GreenSevenCat]

Quit helpfull👍

[@MediocreHobbies]

Thanks!

[@RichardJRussell]

30-40 psi seems pretty high for hobby work, around 25 is plenty. (Source: Warrick from Harder & Steenbeck)

[@nomassgoer8350]

It depends on how thin you get your paints, but yes you are right.

[@benhayden9198]

Cheers

[@MediocreHobbies]

You’re welcome!

[@Kitbash.Carnage]

🔥🤘❤️👍

[@garysmithson9707]

Contrast paints are amazing for glazing.

[@MediocreHobbies]

I haven't really tried that myself but seen amazing results yes!

[@marcbowling6451]

Aren't contrast paints acrylic?

[@MediocreHobbies]

They’re acrylic washes!

[@marcbowling6451]

​@MediocreHobbies ah okay I was just wondering why everyone refers to non contrast paints as acrylic like contrast paints aren't

[@HappyDuude]

Came for the tips, stayed for the freeze frames

[@MediocreHobbies]

hahaha damn it

[@bludragon77]

It just takes practice like anything else just grab some troop models and just give it a try

[@MediocreHobbies]

Yes exactly!

[@lieutenantartus]

Contrasts are nice, but using them all the time limits your growth in painting experience. I urge people to try different methods with different things, and grow as an artist instead of becoming a labourer.

[@MediocreHobbies]

Not everyone is out to become an artist though! Some of us just want to get models painted to play with 😊

[@kronickingpin]

I agree 100% but I have a limited time\ to paint and a lot of models to paint

[@Altian00]

The problem no one talks about, this video included, is correcting mistakes. You're painting a blood angel with contrast. You get a spot of black on your red, front and center. You can't correct it flawlessly. No matter what you do there will be a discolored spot there. Contrast is great... if you never make mistakes.

[@scroggie_mini_painting3983]

If it’s a different colour that has not left texture on the model, I would suggest painting that section with the same colour as your primer and then reapply the contrast. I use contrast and make plenty of mistakes lol. All the best

[@MediocreHobbies]

Great advice there @scroggie! I make mistakes too, you can see them in videos, and I wouldn’t have more issues correcting them with contrast than with regular paint! Another thing to remember is the order of colours, work from darkest to lightest so it’s easier to correct things like that as you go!

[@3ratsinatrenchcoat605]

I paint with contrast and sometimes make mistakes, you just get a normal acrylic paint of a close colour and paint over the mistake. It's super easy. It's basically the exact same thing people have been doing for decades when they accidentally get a spot of paint over a section where they painted a bit and applied a wash