Is Drybrushing actually USELESS?? or...

Drybrushing is a miniature painting technique that is often used for speedpainting your miniatures or to paint terrain pieces and bases. But just how useless drybrushing truly is? ...or is it secretly AMAZING?
I have mainly used drybrushing for all of the miniaures in the video - for example the necron miniature is solely drybrushed. The drukhari venom has some minor details picked out by a more precise brush.
In the end you will find that you can drybrush most of the miniatures, but it is best for either painting large miniatures or terrain/bases. When it comes to space marines, it does no really work for me. If I had to speedpaint space marines, however, I would just stick to airbrush and oil wash.
In the end drybrushing can save you a lot of time, after all it is a speedpainting friendly technique. For smaller miniatures I would rather use stippling.
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I am painting miniatures for warhammer, age of sigmar, marvel crisis protocol, D&D and much more! Whether it is superhero miniatures, heroic characters or space marines, I will paint them! If you are looking for some sweet miniature painting tutorials or warhammer hobby content in general, this is the right channel for you!

[@Zumikito]

What do you guys think about drybrushing now? Let me know! Edit: Some people think that I am bashing drybrushing here - which is exactly opposite of what this video is about. Drybrushing can get you really nice result and has its uses as mentioned. However, depending on what kind of style you prefer, it might not give you what you want for certain things. At the end of the day you will decide for yourself what you like and don't like, so never feel like you MUST paint something a certain way!

[@Uatemysoul]

Drybrushing is one of the first things I learned 15 years ago, and it has it's place. I use it for a lot of things most of the time speed painting. I paint my marines with drybrushing most of the time for a base coat but come back in with other painting methods at later points.I like my marines to look grim and dirty. I once painted a whole necron start collecting box with nothing but drybrushing and filling in details with a green model marker when I was done. I actually got paid pretty well for that. I however am completely self taught and my models are not sloppy but also not display perfect. Hence why I'm on here watching new stuff it's been a while.

[@Zumikito]

@@Uatemysoul I mean yea, as with all methods, its best to use it with other ones as well. I was quite surprised how well the necron turned out! I think that I will do more of them like this

[@landotucker]

With drybrushing I guess you could try glazing the paint you drybrushed with after to lessen the "grainy" look. Cool video!

[@dillondointhings2421]

It’s a tool to keep in your tool chest. It has its time and place.

[@moxopal5681]

Drybrushing is a horible technic, stippling on the other hand as it is more controlable is extremeny usefull for adding tecture and tectured gradients. Peolpe are refering to stippling as drybrushing (like a very notorious channel) while in fact they are stippling.

[@arnowinchester591]

Pure edge highlights have always looked cartoony to me, drybrushing has been the best way for black plate armour so far, at least for me.

[@TheAgentmigs]

TRON? :]

[@reflux1986]

Agreed! The edge highlight looks fake and overdone. The problem is that people use a larger brush then necessary, I have a small flat one and drybrush each part of the model in order, with two tones. Looks awesome and is fast compared to edge highlighting.

[@undeadch1cken523]

I know what you mean I'm not a massive fan of the cartoon look

[@Johnnodonoughue]

Edge highlights look poop and forced. Its just an exercise in precision. The easiest way of doing them it by using artists pencils. I love the layerd drybrush effect.

[@ScooterinAB]

Yeah. That really vibrant, blown out GW style of edge highlighting looks horrible to me too. But I think if you highlight with a colour closer to the base, it could look really good. I think that's the issue the video was pointing at; going too far with one technique doesn't really work.

[@danzodamanzo8192]

Drybrushing is easier, quicker and looks more realistic than the edge highlighting which doesn't accurately reflect the fact that this armour most likely has been to hell and back for over a hundred years. I always thought blue edge highlighting on black armour looks cartoony.

[@tyeklund7221]

I think the key with dry brushing is to not just dry brush. Use it to get a general color gradient, then go in with a detail brush to pick out small details. Glazes to help with the color transition

[@chocolatemilk4437]

Absolutely right

[@phil8821]

I remember dry brushing my lotr figures, according to a white dwarf article I found almost 20 years ago. They're some of the most realistic looking figures I've ever painted. Other than that I've mostly done highlight layers, I think I''ll go back to dry brushing when I get back to painting.

[@Guild0fGamers]

I actually really like the dry brushed power armor. It's one glaze away from a really nice cohesive gradient. I could also see this used with weathering enamels like streaking grim to make true grim dark marines.

[@Zumikito]

Sure, if you like them, that is awesome :)

[@Balnor]

I actually use that on my marines, really good finish, but only works with some colours, darker ones mainly. Brighter shades I'd still go traditional layers or airbrush.

[@Deris87]

I've had good luck with this method recently. I'm not a great painter, but by drybrushing and glazing I've managed to get some really nice highlights and gradation without the usual dusty texture of just drybrushing.

[@ArtisOpus]

That Venom though! Lovely work

[@malakim1773]

Ah yes the king of drybrushing marines himself. Absolutely quality work by these guys and they put out a lot of fantastic content. Easily one of my favourite painting channels up there with Duncan. Ordered a set of Series D from these guys so lets hope the shipping to Aus doesn't take too long lmao.

[@shaynhawley9637]

You sir, are a legend and have revolutionised my painting techniques. Can't wait for my Artis Opus order to arrive!! Thank you.

[@MaadcoClimbing]

I actually use drybrushing a lot for power armor ! You can get very smooth results with make-up brushes and glazes on top to unify the color. This also prevents the patchy andn dusty look you can get with that technique :) RobPaintsModels and Artis Opus have some pretty good videos on that subject. Great video as usual I love your style and work

[@Zumikito]

Thank you :) I have watched artis opus and pretty much the same applies, for example I just LOVE the Great Unclean One he painted but the power armor not as much. I feel like you could simply go with stippling approch and get better yet quick result

[@drsh0ckalu]

@@Zumikito The biggest offender for me was the Space Wolf mini he painted. The result looked *so* chalky to me. I loved the color scheme, but man, the execution needed a lot of work to tidy it up.

[@slanahesh]

Wanted to say the exact same. I don't like the hard line painted highlight look so I use makeup brushes to drybrush my space wolves armour to highlight and i use a matt varnish afterwards to bring everything together. One thing that stuck with me was a tip to taking the paint off the brush "if you think you have enough paint off, take even more off". Its always better to have to make another pass over the model than to slap too much on at once.

[@markwendt3496]

I had used dry brushing to paint the tank and file units of a Tomb Kings army I used to own. More specifically, I used the technique on the top layer (the bone color). I had primed the skeletons white, applied a brown wash, the dry brushed the bone on top of that. It turned out quite well.

[@DaytonaRoadster]

The virgin edge tracing vs the chad drybrush

[@jamzee_]

Aye, not all of us are able to dry brush things.... Non-acrylic liquid paints are expensive...

[@senorcapitandiogenes2068]

@@jamzee_ What? Drybrushing is pretty much exclusively done with acrylic paints. And come on, a cheap 99p brush and 2,75 Euro paint is not prohibitively expensive

[@jamzee_]

@@senorcapitandiogenes2068 *cries in poor american*

[@DrRipper19]

I'm glad to see someone else discover how useful drybrushing can be to make a bit of an OSL effect. I love using a tiny bit of drybrushing to make the textured parts of a model pop out a little more.

[@Zumikito]

Yea, totally, thinking of making a whole necron army like this, so comfortable doing that!

[@markdressel3022]

I feel all techniques have their place. I love drybrushing but usually throw a glaze over it to clean up the results and give it a nice transition from light to dark. Drybrushing is a great tool and gets a bad rap from painters who snobishly feel they are too elite to do anything other than wet blending.

[@Zumikito]

Well said, all techniques and tools exist for a reason

[@enchantedwenis4994]

Agreed, a good craftsman never complains about his tools. I’m a professional auto/diesel tech of 16 years. One day I was using a $500 smoke machine to try and find an exhaust leak on my personal vehicle. I could not pin point the leak until another tech walked up and told me to start the engine and used the back of his hand to feel for the leak. Within 10 seconds he located the leak and told me there’s your problem. Haha!! Moral of the story, there’s a time and place for every technique, method, or tool

[@jorel80]

Wow! that first bit with the ship surface was really inspiring! I am a big fan of dry brushing to get blends and highlights on textured surfaces, but never saw it done on something large and smooth like a vehicle surface. Nice work!

[@thecolourblindartist9412]

As an artist, I find dry brushing invaluable, especially for soft and subtle light. Stippling brushes are well represented in my army of brushes, as are miniature homemade rollers, if an item can apply paint, use it, it's the end result that matters. I spent many hours painting armoured vehicles when I was in the army.

[@urparentsdivorcepapers]

whoever says drybrushing is useless is a fraud😂

[@Zumikito]

To be fair, not many people really say that, but certainly some consider it to be inferior. As with all methods and tools, it has it's uses! :)

[@blacktemplar5828]

What is a "fraud"? I'm from Germany and don't know this Word.

[@urparentsdivorcepapers]

@@blacktemplar5828 so etwas wie ein Schwindler

[@joanjlopezrondoni8273]

Looks like in the power armor your brush wasn't dry enough and that's why it was leaving brush strokes and smudges all around. Byron from Artis Opus has some videos about painting space marines using mainly drybrushing and stippling (like the Dark Angels one) and although you can still see this "dusty" look, they look great.

[@Zumikito]

At first yes, after rubbing off more water it was not an issue. I know of the videos you are talking about, but unfortunately I did not really like the result there anyway

[@bledsoebaneminis2487]

Dude, please keep it coming. Your shorter format videos and the way you show what you're doing... in layman's terms, is mega helpful. No one else is doing what you're doing and your videos are really helpful.

[@gamelover260]

I have used those specific Drybrushes to great effect. I think its like other techniques, you combine them to make them better. I have a venom miniatures i painted by building up the colors, but then using glazing to smooth out and define Volumes. I have done some OSL with drybrushing, then smoothed it out with an airbrush, allowing me control, but smootness. Best thing about drybrushing is it does grow with you and continues too be usefull until the end. Very matte surfaces work well for drybrushing, so paints like Scale color are amazing

[@gamelover260]

@@Jason-wh7in the bigger ones hold better. The two small ones kinda. But they work great still. I since graduated them to metals

[@Seraphim2611]

Thanks dude for not making your videos too long

[@sunamori]

I think it all depends on what you're painting, just like you said. It works splendidly on miniatures like the airplanes from Aeronautica Imperialis, and I guess it works better if you have many angles and straight surfaces, and less so if you have curved ones unless they're big enough that there is space for the brush to build a nuance without the brush hair strokes being visible.

[@Zumikito]

Well said, truly depends on the miniature and the look you are going for

[@TheAgentmigs]

Drybrushing is actually a very realistic way to paint an army. Paint your base colors>dry brush>wash>edge highlight and you're done. Just make sure to get make up brushes. They are a MUST. And by realistic...I don't necessarily realistic looking. More like realistic on how much time you'll want to spend. Nobody wants to wet blend a whole horde army of 2000pts.

[@ballsdynamite]

You've inspired me to prime and dry brush the Necron figure I got in one of those introductory packs.

[@Zumikito]

Somehow I like it on necrons as well!

[@rip.tear.]

I think certain colours lend themselves well to dry brushing, like black base, which first layer and red looks great. I think with yellow you need to start with maybe a dark brown, then a white before yellow? Cool video none the less!

[@TheGreatCigma]

I do a lot of dry brushing, but I also paint mostly knights and skeletons and such, where the gritty feel is desirable. I am completely self-taught; up until this year I hadn't had any exposure to mini painters on KZbin, that is to say I am fond of the technique because I essentially discovered it myself just by working with paint over the past 12 years. I definitely appreciate yours and others videos as I am trying to take my painting to the next level.

[@Zumikito]

Thank you, when I started painting it was also one of the first techniques I discoveted since it naturally picks out elevated details so the minis look way better than just grey plastic. So yea, definitely has it's place

[@joshfoss7407]

Artis Opis has two great videos on drybrushing imperial fists with great results. One is a pure drybrush exercise with more muted tones and another using drybrushes for undershading and with a stippling technique on a 30k model. I think the problem here was that the jumps from black to base coat were too big.

[@J4MM1E2]

Dude, thanks so much for putting this vid together! It was super informative. I tried it out on my drukhari Reavers, a mix of drybrushing and stippling as you used and the result looks amazing and was soo fast. The result looks like a smooth airbrush blend! Thanks for showing me a new way to up my painting game.

[@Zumikito]

I am glad that it helped! I think that it looks great on drukhari vehicles too!

[@christianhellicar3104]

I'm a fan of dry brushing. Every technique has its place. If asked by new collectors I always tell them the best 3 techniques to master are: basing (2 thin coats), use an appropriate wash, & finally dry brush (two layers with the second one being much lighter). People can get too caught up using difficult techniques too early. Not that I'm an expert or even close. But get those 3 simple techniques down & you'll have models painted to a good table top standard. You can worry about the pro stuff later.

[@CAA2875]

HOW AM I JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS CHANNEL NOW. Great work, loved your videos

[@jakuboboza1713]

You can drybrush like this as your "base" and next use normal techniques to fill in rest. I'm not a skilled painter and i use dry brush as "edge highlight" at the very end of the process. That is it, i know it is lazy but again. If you have 120 marines to paint you don't want to spend 45 minutes on each. Also with vehicles you don't want to be clean. I hate the clean look of everything... in a grim dark war scenario everything is picture perfect clean ? nope.

[@beameyzed]

Genuinely hope the algorithm keeps being nice to you. Your content is pretty great!

[@Zumikito]

Thank you :) in the end I believe that my videos will be able to help/entertain more people for sure!

[@Dagglestone]

I saw the venom you painted on Facebook earlier today and I was blown away by how nice it looks!

[@Zumikito]

Thank you!

[@JamsMiniMods]

Great video and that Venom looks amazing, wasn't expecting that. 👌

[@Zumikito]

Me neither, I was pleasantly surprised with that

[@frasco1965]

Beautiful video, congratulations! A question of what material is the table where you mix the colors?

[@silentark6023]

From someone who only started painting a couple weeks ago, its a great way to highlight things liked raised portions of cloaks and equipment, but I'd never use it as a main means of painting

[@brandonelsdon-bird8310]

Those space marines look sick! Looks amazing to me, but fair enough, good insightful video thank you! :)

[@Zumikito]

Hey man, different strokes for different folks

[@mattbell5602]

I really liked the look too. Very statuesque!

[@dand1789]

I think drybrushing suits well for terrain pieces and large flat surfaces.Thx for testing different approches.Like the Venom effect!

[@x3tc1]

I'd recommend to use a softer brush and less paint. Yes it will give a dustier finish but most of that can be alleviated by following up with a wash or glaze. It's a really good way to get fast and good looking volumes on Marine armour.

[@awoken8infinite]

to avoid the dusty look you need to use a dampening pad. it's because it's too dry. also don't wipe on a paper towel as it takes all moisture out. you need to wipe it on wood instead. Artis Opus have brought pro dry brushing into the main stream. people have just been doing it wrong for years for the most part, and it's why it gets such a bad name unfortunately. If you have a highlights detailed mini though, you can pretty much go to town on it and will still look good. It's only when we're talking about flat plastic like space marines where you have to use specific techniques to get it looking good. If you can fix a dusty paint job with glazes though, then I guess that's a valid way to do it as well. I find for the first layer of dry brushing on a space marine though you should actually buff the areas using circles, rather than a back and fourth movement. and also need to have the correct amount of moisture on the ends of the bristles. The second layer should be a bit drier, and you are wanting to go from one direction only to hit the edges, but it will fade out a little bit like with feathering. Then the last dry brush will be drier again, and very carefully only hitting the edges. If you do this right, you will have 3 stages of bends into edge highlights that look amazing. You can then make a glaze to match your base coat and go back into the shadows as well, but I like to hit the mini with the spray GW varnish first as this helps with this stage. This is for doing black power armour anyway. starting with a tinted black to start with (I use a really dark blue green in my black on the basecoat) then dark reaper buffed onto the surfaces, then thunderhawk blue brushed onto the edges with enough moisture to get a slight fade, then fenrisian blue just on the edges. Then making a glaze with black/Huldra blue (scale 75) and lahmian fluid or something similar (same tone as base coat) and glaze some shadows back in. Looks awesome for Black Templars. I learned this from Artis Opus Byron. He actually has a video on it. Thing is as well is you can use the recipe to do a more volumetric highlight style as well, which is what I do on my characters. I am wanting to try and incorporate steel chipping and scratches to my armour next. I need to see if it will work though. But I think silver/steel probably looks best as battle damage on black. PS: make your own glazing medium with matte medium, water and a tiny drop of washing up liquid as well. It's way cheaper than buying lahmian from GW. PPS: you could adapt the recipe to do a more grey based black if you wanted, but BT are known for having this colder/blue style. I happen to like it a lot.

[@kylenguyen7371]

I actually really liked how the second Astartes came out; the dry brushed yellow and black looks very impressive, and gives the appearance of parts blending back into shadows. Another comment suggested the technique works well for depicting diffuse lighting environments, and that's certainly the vibe I picked up from your model. The first Astartes did not look quite so good, and I think that may have something to do with the colors used. I might try dry brushing my own Astartes once I get around to assembling them; I've been sitting on a sealed Betrayal at Calth box set for years.

[@AJDeLaRosa]

I only recently found your channel, but I wanted to say I love the format and the info. Great work!

[@Zumikito]

Thank you, more is coming :)

[@AJDeLaRosa]

@@Zumikito looking forward to it!

[@Scout3192]

While painting my black templars I found a video in which the painter dry brushed and the did 2 coats of nuln oil. Made it look really clean.

[@Deepfriedsoldier]

I drybrush in none of the situations shown. I paint fantasy mainly and honestly find its the best technique to use for chainmail and furs to pick out the chaos of those particular textures.

[@involuntarytwitch9771]

I LOVE the dry brushed power armour helmets and power backs. But yeah, it doesn't work too well on the shin and leg guards

[@maxxammax0]

Usually not a fan of marines, but those drybrushed ones look so cool.

[@Zumikito]

Different strokes for different folks :)

[@ChazCharlie1]

I think for the yellow one if he had used a darker yellow / ochre / orange as a base coat, there wouldn't be such a noticeable contrast from the black to the drybrushed yellow.

[@lorgarmor5886]

I tried drybrushing on power armour to unpleasant results, but for tanks and other machinery it worked tremendously fine (pretty much reflecting the results from your video). I love this technique as it draws its beauty from its simplicity. Make-up brushes are a cheap but surprisingly smooth alternative to dedicated drybrushes.

[@awoken8infinite]

you just have to use the right techniques to use dry brushing on power armour. I'd highly recommend checking out artis opus channel for this. it's all about controlling the moisture and using the correct brush motion for each stage. you should actually use tight. concentric circles to buff the armour for the first stage. This is how Byron does it anyway, and his stuff always looks great. I'm getting my D set at the weekend so I can eventually try it out for myself.

[@JSledge825]

Honestly basing off of that dry brushing on those Space Marines. It looks like it would work in some display sets real well if you were to display them instead of play with them. It looks like a glowing effect and you could go with a red or light green for emergency lighting hallways. And even some scenarios where a bright light is being shone on them with a white or maybe some yellow.

[@thomaswillberg4683]

Great vid! New to the channel but this was an easy sub. Looking forward to seeing your other tips👌🏻 Well done!

[@19platten20]

Drybrushing is the best technique. Either with dry brushing brush or a normal brush

[@avocus]

Loving the videos my man!

[@Zumikito]

Thanks my dude

[@simontompkins7804]

I love dry brushing. I love the gritty and dark look it gives units. Especially mechanical units.

[@Luke-td2mm]

My grandmother always, always! drybrushes the statues she paints and thats how she taught me. I love the way it looks

[@MysterySemicolon]

Nice video. What do you think about doing drybrush to lay down the colour for the area and then stippling to clean up the brush strokes and provide a bit of final highlight on the gradient?

[@Zumikito]

Can work for sure if you set it up right, good idea

[@TheAnikasis]

yeah I was a bit disappointed the first time I ever painted because the dry brushing was so volatile, especially to me since I was new to the hobby. I stopped dry brushing for highlighting for miniatures like you said, but for big stuff and terrain dry brushing is the way to go. I still dry brush minis but mostly in the beginning, since like you I like being in control of what I'm painting.

[@Somefurfag]

I really dig how that Necron came out and I'm still trying to figure out what to do with mine, so I may give that technique a try.

[@Zumikito]

Right? That necron actually makes me think that I might paint my indomitus half drybrushing it like this! Really great result for the time invested

[@olafolafsson2755]

dry brush and sponge painting adds so much life to the miniature. way better then the cartoony clean look

[@OriginPainting]

Nice use of drybrushing, especially on the venom. I do enjoy it on marines in a certain gritty comic book look but definitely not for standard GW style marines.

[@Zumikito]

Agreed, it depends on what look are you aiming for :)

[@Sturmtruppe1997]

You can reduce the dusty look if you put a wash or light glaze over it.

[@wolvie90]

Hello, Me from the future here. Drybrushing is a very useful technique to get good at, you can especially get amazing quick results by drybrushing a white gradient on top of black or dark gray primer and then go over once with a contrast paint. This will net you that cool "shiny pearlescent" effect with really bright highlights but dark-black shades. Really cool for velvety robes and the likes. Once you've mastered layered transitions, you can use a manual black-to-white approach with contrast paint on top to get even cleaner results. Try this on a Captain's cloak or tabard, it will be extremely eye-catching.

[@narthab]

What is the foam pot you use to add water to the dry brush

[@mikereckhaus1139]

Thanks for the cool video! I always wondered how to avoid paint getting dusty when dry brushing. The dampening pad seems a great idea. Is this basically just a wet sponge?

[@Zumikito]

Not a sponge really, it looks and feels like cut up foam that comes with fragile packages, but a soft one

[@Super-Sheepy]

You can dry brush and then a bit of a wash over it can help smooth out the scratch texture

[@onezerotwo]

haha that *pop* noise you are using in the video sounds like my work chat and was freaking me out while I was listening to this! good vid!

[@Zumikito]

Oh man, I hope I didn't scare you too much!

[@calastyphon2510]

There’s the issue of practicality as well. It takes a lot longer to edge highlight than it does to drybrush. I also think some models take to drybrushing better than others, like deathguard models who shouldn’t have a clean, sleek look.

[@Zumikito]

Very true, I agree

[@ionceateapinecone]

I did my chaos knight with about 90% dry brushing, it came out great

[@WhayYay]

Huh, I didn't realize people used dry brushing as a full painting technique, I thought it was just a bit of a supplement.

[@Zumikito]

For the most part it is a supplement, I will have to still paint details on venom in a regular way, for example

[@krampusklaws2238]

Same, I have always used drybrushing as a highlight method, rather than trying to paint the whole figure that way. It looks not too bad on large areas, but it's not so good for fine detail areas.

[@lokalnyork]

It's the terrain where drybrush truly shine. I would also use it to pick any raised details before airbrushing.

[@Zumikito]

I agree, I personally love it for terrain and bases as well

[@timothyperrigoue3997]

It is a matter of taste... I really like and always have liked dry-brushing. I mean it seems perfect as a time saver, the look is good and even recesses that get stippled; no big deal because I would always pinwash as well. Good video...made me subscribe. Cheers.

[@normalguygames]

I did a Blood Angel with drybrushing that turned out fairly well.

[@squidcultist0022]

I found it's super fast and easy to base coat with a dry brush and usually after 2 layers looks really good

[@DeathsOrigin]

I only paint models for use as game pieces, I dont have time or patience to do things like glazing. With a combination of dry brush, stippling, contrast paints, and pin washing, I get my models looking exactly how I want them My grey knights for example, are primed black, then dry brushed up from a dark metal to 2 lighter ones, then glossed, pin washes with a mix of black and blue oil paint, then matte sealed. Then I paint details like books, insignias and grenades with a dark base color and a lighter color on top. Sometimes it's a dry brush, sometimes it's almost an edge highlight but barely so Only advanced technique I use really is for the bluing. I wash with a diluted drakenhoff nightshade then get my lightest silver and put some dots and scratches over it to make it look blemished I think they look quite nice

[@nvcn86]

my dark grim custodes are black armour with loads of golden drybrush, imho they look amazing with minimym effort.

[@bluedotdinosaur]

The stippling basecoat + drybrush technique popularized by the artis opus guys is really the secret to unlocking what it can do. I mean, dry brushing is a well established technique in art and painting, not just for miniatures. The issue was always finding the right way to apply it to scale models.

[@Xenick289]

Darn! If I just waited a day I could of learned from you rather than messing up my Death Guard Marine yesterday (lucky being a bit messy and learning how to paint on them is why I bought them). I also found dry brushing just does not look good (at least to me) on power armor and had decided it was a pure 'rough' detail technique only, so I was very impressed with the results you got on the venom. Thank you for the tip on how to get a smoother effect though, my dry brushing results where very dusty/chalky.

[@Zumikito]

I am glad that it helps :)

[@MrDavfo]

It's about getting the right colours! I dry brushed all my Death Guard I'm happy with the result I drybrushed Pallid Wych Flesh onto Death Guard Green then washed over with Agax Earthshade then a very light drybrush of more PWF

[@georgeratkowitz8023]

One thing that brothers me with drybrush is chalkiness, and there is a simple solution for this: varnish it with solvent varnishes. So, experiment and find cheap spray cans which don't dull detail and add texture or just use 18ml liquid resin Vallejo varnishes (satin or matt usually), i apply them with a brush and it seems this way it blends out more in contrast to aribrush varnishing. Polyurethane varnishes by other brands also can do the trick, be sure to test it out before.

[@piperthirtytwo]

I'm building the Bandai 1/48 Star Wars AT-ST that has a serious amount of mechanical detail on it's legs and body that I figured a kind of steel color that has been dry brushed could not only be quick but also somewhat easy to do with nice results. i practiced earlier(my first attempt at drybrushing ever) on a spare seat for a model jet airplane cockpit, with 2 different brushes and both acrylic and enamel paints, thinning, not thinning, different brush stroke patterns, etc. Your videos made me just get to it and take the plunge. I love this video, but after watching it, I am thinking you might have talked me trying the stippling technique and am going to watch that video you uploaded to maybe change my mind! thanks for the education. EDIT: This is all being practiced before I attempt to paint my first mini, a Gamorrean Guard from Star Wars(The green orc looking dudes that guard Jabba the Hut) I really do not want them to look like a small child who missed his/her nap painted them. I learned something today, yay! @Zumikito Miniatures ...BTW does any of this info change on 3D printed resin?

[@danielmontgomery613]

First things first I actually think everyone of these models turned out to be gorgeous and I think you are the correct person to teach you will have some dry brush. You’ve done a very good job and I agree with every point you’ve made. If you want a couple pointers are some things that I enjoy about dry brushing. 1) The most important thing dry brushing does is it the illusion that the models have the correct light. By far the hardest thing to convey in a model so small is the tightness of some of the shadows. 2) Because dry brushing can be a little bit sloppy it’s best to finish all dry brushing at the end of your base coat step. Then go back and clean up the model and you’ll be on to details. 3) I think dry brushing over top airbrushed zenith hilight

[@markobranisel4094]

I am going to try it on my start collecting skitarii, i think dusty robes and metall can work with them, on a basecoat with wash, and do detail later. Do you make the brush damp just for stipling or also drybrush?

[@Zumikito]

For drybrushing a little bit, for stippling it is up to you how much you wanna

[@Traven158]

I actually discovered that I like drybrushing for worn cloth/clothing/fatigues. I've specifically had decent results with a method of Base coat>1st (dark) wash>drybrush>2nd (lighter/off-colored) wash>2nd (brighter) drybrush.

[@willsham45]

You can sometimes use a wash or glaze to bring everything together. I tend to find dry brushing is good for making things look good from a distance but not so much close up but sometimes that is all you need. But dry brushing is a good technique like any technique you need to pick the tight times to use it. Painting the space marines head and back pack seporatly might have helped.

[@kamilpawlowski6576]

I use a lot of dry brushing. It is an _and_ technique in my book. Usually I use it to leave paint on the highest portions of the miniature, so when I'm working this way there is almost no paint on the brush, and I have to be careful not to remove layers that have been put down before by being too aggressive. So for example on that glow effect I would have just painted the middle in its code color then used dry brushing to carry the color out to the edges where it would have reflected. When I want to go quick and dirty my formula runs like: reaper color triad. Base coat using middle color, wash using darker color, dry brush lighter color.

[@NIMMHATVRapBeats]

While it wasn't even the main concept of the video, thanks for telling us how you painted the windshield. Looks great for how easy it looks. Thanks

[@Zumikito]

as long as you take something from it, I consider it a success!

[@kdhlkjhdlk]

Dry brushing is very cool, but I always use a square brush and dry brush in a single direction.

[@harrisonlorens3585]

Artis Opus! Love those guys and their channel!

[@Zumikito]

Oh yea, their minis are awesome!

[@michaeldorn5330]

@@Zumikito that’s a impressive beard 🧔

[@harrisonlorens3585]

@Afk 2sec thanks for your absolutely awful unsolicited opinion.

[@Daniel-zc6ee]

Personally I like to drybrush a bit of a silver on my Deathwatch marines, to give them a battered and scratched look. It may not be for everyone, but as at it is begginer friendly andI like the result and it's really fast to do.

[@ieatmidget]

I tried dry brushing space marine armour as a test and tried to soften the scratchy/dusty texture so I used contrast paint with 4 parts medium to paint and roughly washed over the armour and it did soften it a bit and made it look a little more uniform. But it will never look as good as traditional methods.

[@Zumikito]

I agree, these fast methods can look good, but I still prefer traditional eavy metal look

[@PENFOLD1962]

I have really enjoyed the video and I SUBSCRIBED a couple of day's ago. Clear & concise videos straight to the point, I'd be an IDIOT NOT TO. I'm trying to dry brush the surface of a plastic fish! But I'm having problems!!! The textures and edges aren't very high or deep so the bristles aren't detecting them! Is there something that I'm doing wrong?

[@geteavnroc2250]

I think Artis Opus does an amazing job with their videos, demonstrating the process.

[@andreastsr11]

Drybrushing is very underrated! Thanks for the video!

[@FurFoxMcCloud]

I really like the marines as they are. I use Drybrushing mostly for Preshading as I am a sketch style painter and use Zenithal Higlighting, Shades and Drybrushing for preshading and then use glazes or the airbrush to put in the color. So In the end I think I am 100% with you talking about using drybrushing in conjunction with other techniques.

[@Dazron]

I actually quite liked the Space Marine result especially the second one

[@MetalCooking666]

The way I see it, drybrushing is a legitimate technique that has its place when done properly, which includes using proper drybrushes such as those made by Artis Opus. Comparisons with airbrushing aren’t really fair as airbrushing is always better than painting by hand for basecoating and for smooth highlights. The more relevant comparison is with layering or wet blending, and’s I would argue that *correct* drybrushing is better as it gives you a smoother gradient than the former and more control than the latter. Comparisons with edge highlighting aren’t really fair as they’re designed for different purposes and they can (and should) be used together. For example: I actually thought those marines looked like a really good start that should have been *finished off* with an edge highlight to make them look more crisp. Edge highlighting on its own looks bland by comparison.

[@Jdsayed]

The drybrush space marine was so much better than the cartoon effect heavy metal style.

[@robertlloyd9654]

I thought those dry brushed marines looked great, I'd be over the moon with an army of those.

[@Zumikito]

Sure, everyone has a different taste!

[@giovannizotti8549]

I think drybrush technique is a good start for fur and rusty metal. Like warg riders in Lotr. Then I use a white drybrush from above after a zenithal prime made with spray, to accentuate the light zones. Soroastro fast painting zombies are based on this approach. After this highlight Soroastro spread a tiny amount of diluited color (with few color on the brush) on the model. The thin layer is quite transparent so you can see the light underneath. But, definitively after this you should use your shade. So: fell free to use drybrush, expecially for chaotic surfaces (due to the fact that drybrush is a chaotic technique: lovely results on orcs and skaven, less good on bretonnians and space marines shiny armors) but then apply the shades.

[@tungamarkal9552]

The nmm looks really cool actually. Looks like a really rough metallic surface imo. Could use dry brushing to achieve that look for sure

[@metalempireinterviews729]

Great video as always! What's the benefit of stippling over his normal brush painting?

[@Zumikito]

You will see that in this week's video :)

[@metalempireinterviews729]

@@Zumikito ah great! Thank you for replying

[@c_weir753]

Nid carapace dry brush is super easy and looks good

[@elkor101]

I like using it with contrast paint. I paint a lot of hords (nids and GSC) so it saves time and mental health

[@Born_Stellar]

I drybrush my tyranid skin, its too organic to edge highlight and the drybrushing can look really good. Its easier to paint the big models with airbrush still though.

[@TheSzybas]

The Ghastly One looks awesome to me - I'd play that army!

[@fourfourths8445]

Dry brushing is a fundamental skill. Yes as you improve and define your own style it will most likely be used less and less. But after 30 years of painting miniatures and models i still use dry brushing regularly. Heck it is one of the two techniques i use when doing osl without the airbrush. The other is stippling.