Become a DRYBRUSH MASTER! The complete guide to drybrushing minis

We're here to help you learn everything you need to know about drybrushing miniatures.
Massive thanks to Ravaged Star for the awesome minis! Grab a preorder bargain here: gamefound.com/projects/miniwa...
The cheap makeup brushes I used in the video: geni.us/makeupdrybrush
Check out Mamikon, the Golden Demon legend:
Patreon: / mamikon
Instagram: / mamikonpaints
Brand new Midwinter Minis t-shirts, sticker sheets, and art prints here: www.midwinterminis.com/
Music by Midwinter Minis and the KZbin Audio Library.
Listen to our album: • Grimdark Music For Pla...
Buy our album: midwinterminis.bandcamp.com/r...
Surprise your friend with a personal video from Guy! www.cameo.com/midwinterminis
Here are some useful links for stuff we use. Amazon gives us a few pennies if you buy using these, at no extra cost to you!
The voiceover microphone I use: geni.us/PodcastPro
The painting lamp I use: geni.us/DaylightLumi
The “hobby cam” I use for livestreams: geni.us/LogiBrioWebcam
My favourite headphones: geni.us/BeyerDT770Pro
The camera I used in 2020: geni.us/mwm50
The camera I use now: geni.us/SonyAlpha728-70
How I mount my camera to my desk: geni.us/SmallrigDeskClamp
My airbrush compressor: geni.us/AirbrushCompressor
My airbrush: geni.us/IwataAirbrush
The airbrush set I started with: geni.us/RevellAirbrush
A great model paint starter set: geni.us/VallejoPaintSet
A great beginner paint brush set: geni.us/RLTaklon
Cheap brushes for detail work: geni.us/RLDetailTaklon
00:00 Intro
01:08 The tools you need
03:48 The most important step!
04:30 Why bother priming?
05:14 Drybrushing basics
07:22 Dry VS Moist
09:40 Texture testers
10:58 Ravaged Star
12:19 Drybrushing vehicles
16:57 Colour fades with drybrusing
18:52 How to clean drybrushes
20:37 Next level tips
24:00 Pro painters drybrush!
25:55 New merch!

[@alonghallway]

I've been painting minis off and on for years and this is the first time I've ever seen drybrushing thoroughly explained. Tutorials always assume you know the very basics, like how paint should be on a brush, how much to wipe off, what part of the brush to get the paint on, etc, but if you've never done it you need a guide like this. Perfect video! Thank you so much for covering this!

[@MidwinterMinis]

That was the idea! No assumed knowledge, very beginner friendly. Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@CapitalExpression]

This is my one issue with Artis Opus videos. He's undeniably talented and clearly interested in helping people start out (heck he got me into drybrushing which saved my hobby experience) but I think in his videos he tends to gloss over some things.

[@SauceBoss98]

Dry brushing turned painting vehicles from a chore into my favorite thing, thank you for showing people the truth!

[@MidwinterMinis]

Yeah, same! Haha

[@henrytrimble4929]

Who up drying they brush

[@MidwinterMinis]

Yes

[@Bread_Baron]

Absolutely drying my shii man, I’m a hobby painter man I got paint on them bristles man…

[@wheels_0N_fire]

Me

[@low-resghul8306]

At the desk, straight up “brushing it”. and by “it”, haha, well. lets justr say. My minis.

[@ronanjohnson9718]

Bro is drying his brush

[@cataclysmuswind78]

And drybrushing is SO much quicker than line highlighting. And looks more accurate to how light actually plays across a surface. Also, been watching since the first Titan video came out. Those videos have helped with my Imperial Knights.

[@cidrain]

A friend of mine is just starting out and was nervous about dry brushing their first figure. Then BAM! New vid drops. ❤

[@MidwinterMinis]

Perfect timing :)

[@michaelrajeff9438]

Thank you for the guide for dry brushing

[@MidwinterMinis]

My pleasure 😊

[@samcooke4795]

I've watched a lot of dry brushing videos and none of them go into cleaning the brushes after use. Thank you for doing that.

[@andrewmcquary6995]

Thanks for adding that last bit about drybrushing as a 'beginner' technique. It makes my blood boil when i see others denigrate the technique so im very happy to see skilled painters shoot down the elitist myth.

[@aggonzalezdc]

Dry brushing is like most any technique, if it's the only one you know, or you don't know when, and when not to apply it, you may not get great results.

[@CoreReaper1]

Dry brushing is a beginner technique, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. Most beginners use dry brushing as a crutch. And that’s okay. Eventually you will get away from it entirely, then magically come back to it. Painting is a journey, and every tool is useful. Also: If your “blood is boiling” over people’s opinions on painting models, maybe this hobby isn’t for you… Go punch a wall or something. 😆 Then you can fix that wall , and paint it. Just keep punching, patching, and painting, and you can even dry brush the patch!

[@cleverpork]

Drybrush and Stippling has become my favourite parts of the painting hobby. Thanks for the guide Guy ❤

[@CronosVids]

This was an amazing overview video of all the types and steps of drybrushing. My non-hobby initiated girlfriend said: “Even I can paint that way.”

[@Vox_Rhododendron]

MWM really is the Bob Ross of the minipainting world.

[@MidwinterMinis]

Just some happy li'l Orks...

[@carlstanford7607]

Lol

[@aaronjames3833]

Really is! Find all the videos relaxing, entertaining and informative!

[@mr.potato2223]

​@@MidwinterMinis"he looks like a rascal, but I think he's just misunderstood"

[@GeneralJerrard101]

Not to disparage MWM, but my money's on Bill Making Stuff as the Bob Ross for minis.

[@GabrieleCastelli]

Hello! Great guide! Also, I'm Italian and you are the only mini-painting KZbinr I can fully understand without subs :)

[@Ben_Tren]

Tried dry brushing for the first time yesterday and thought i did okay then I've seen this video today all i can say is that this has been a massive help for me when i go and paint again! and if anyone is struggling trust me i'm only on my third model it gets easier! 😃

[@totschieck]

Great guide, respect for showing the same effect and mistakes on various models. Really drives the point home!

[@nodin9439]

Amazing timing, just when I started to investigate drybrushing a little more. Thanks Guy!

[@MidwinterMinis]

Nice! Perfect timing :) Good luck

[@Knightcat18095]

26 Minutes of drybrushing! Thx this actually helps alot

[@MidwinterMinis]

You're right, it should have been 26 hours, haha

[@JSN-he9ox]

I was never really good at drybrushing, this has helped loads thank you!

[@MidwinterMinis]

Hopefully this helps you GIT GUD! :)

[@razielmasta]

I've literally wondered about drybrushing about 15 mins before the upload

[@MidwinterMinis]

My psychic link is still working, I see

[@NewWarhammerNerd8881]

Was literally about to get me some brushes for drybrushing, this is perfect!

[@MidwinterMinis]

Awesome! These are the cheap makeup brushes I showed in the video, they're pretty decent for the price considering how many you get! geni.us/makeupdrybrush

[@NewWarhammerNerd8881]

@@MidwinterMinis Awesome! Thanks so much!

[@B4MBI72]

The tip about a thin wash over the top to blend in the dry brushing is a winner.

[@julesboyle9089]

I’ve only been painting for a few months and this is by far the best video on this topic I’ve seen. Answered all my questions and made it so simple. Absolute game-changer for me. Thank you. ✊🏻💚

[@MauroDiogoM]

Something I've learnt and works well is that if you'd like a less chalky look to the drybrushing finish, dip the brush into the paint as usual but do NOT wipe it off on a kitchen towel or cloth afterwards. These are very absorbant, which means that it'll absorb all the moisture very quickly leaving you with dry pigment.That's the point of drybrushing, but if you instead wipe it off on a textured palette or whatever tester surface you've picked until you have the amount of paint you want, it'll get rid of any excess paint, while keeping just the right amount of moisture for a much smoother drybrushing finish!

[@loganicles]

Great video! I started using dry brushing with my Kimera Kolors paint to help with highlights and I'm loving the results! The range has some great mixing guides to help give me highlights on a mid tone.

[@MidwinterMinis]

Nice! I've never tried them actually. I should give them a go!

[@MrSJPowell]

I know a tutorial is excellent when I go to add to my playlist of Mini Painting advice and find I'd already added it to that playlist earlier the same viewing. I did that twice in this video. Seriously, excellent work Guy. I used drybrushing all throughout a recent skirmish force paint job of classic silver Stormcast. Zenithal drybrush from a dark color up to my main steel color, gloss varnish, oil wash to darken the recesses, matte varnish, zenithal drybrush up to the second highest highlight (silver) and pick out the final details with a regular brush for the highest highlight (chrome). Boom, all of the metal was done super easily, to a really high level, with plenty of contrast and shine.

[@kaji_sensei]

Just got back into painting a little over a year ago (after a break of 25 years), and drybrushing is my go-to for almost any project. I've discovered that there's virtually nothing that an silver drybrush can't help if you're stuck on what to do-it exposes all manner of detail you sometimes can't spot until you start painting the model, it's sympathetic to most any color you want to put on afterward, and as you note in the video, it's even beneficial for metal pieces on the model. Just discovered the channel about two weeks ago and have been really enjoying the tutorials!

[@frankyboi1819]

i honestly appreciate these kind of videos, taking a relatively well known technique and both explaining it in a general sense as well as expand on it. It adds a lot of value to the video I think and makes them useful to both old and new painters, which I'm sure was your intention. TlDr great video, keep up the good work!

[@The_Drewid]

Great work as usual, Guy. Have you thought about doing an in depth video on airbrushing? A friend got me one and I'm a bit intimidated to start using it.

[@jamfjord]

Have you tried just practicing on pieces of paper or cardboard? Also just junk that's about to go into recycling for a variety of textures and shapes, if you created a dry brush palette from bits like Guy suggests maybe practice picking out details on that with the airbrush. A useful exercise can be making lines and dots, I started airbrushing 30 years ago and I still do this whenever I've had a break from using the airbrush. I get why you might be feeling apprehensive but any kind of practice will help, just maybe not on minis at first 😊 Also don't worry too much about breaking anything, airbrushes are more resilient than people make out. Most problems can be fixed with a good clean. Good luck, enjoy and welcome to the club 🙂

[@jollyjollyme]

In Guy we trust! Thanks for this bristling video 🎨 🖌

[@stujm84]

I forget where I learnt it from (probably Byron on Artist Opus) , but i remember hearing that for drybrushing you shouldn't move your wrist to paint but move your arm with your wrist locked in position to brush. Also, holding the brush closer to the ferrule will have a heavier brush stroke, and holding it further back enables a lighter "feathery" stroke.

[@todd_theremaxrealtor]

This is truly the best dry brushing video I have ever seen! Bravo sir!!!!

[@jonmorgan7621]

How long have I needed this channel!!! Thank you what an incredible channel I have been doing everything backwards and twice as hard!!!

[@terrywright884]

Fantastic video, thank you. I feel like a lot of tutorials just *brush* over simpler techniques. I've been painting for less than a year and found this really helpful!

[@taylorcooper9845]

As someone who's been following you for a while (but only just started painting) this is super helpful, and perfectly timed! Super helpful and well explained. And as a Battletech fan more then 40k, the Atlas may be my favorite piece you've done. Can't wait to see your painted Lances!

[@TheRotbringer]

My number one tip, is to avoid wiping the brush on a paper towel. I recommend glueing some extra bits to a sheet, then use that to wipe your excess paint before going to the model.

[@brittratzburg6591]

Hard agree! I got a sheet of knock-off lego from the dollar store and it works amazing as a texture pallette!

[@matzpfadfinder]

thank you for showing all sides of mini-painting. accessible methods leading to great results, as well as how it looks when too much/not enough paint and soon. love it. you can only learn from mistakes. thank you for educating like you do. I learn somethig every time :)

[@apathtrampledbydeer8446]

This is the best drybrush tutorial I've seen so far!

[@Gorkymorky656]

Thanks I didn’t even know this was a thing, helps with painting my vehicles!

[@MidwinterMinis]

Happy I could introduce it to you!

[@Gorkymorky656]

Oh and I see you were painting a blood bowl model, do you play?

[@NLGedonis]

The example models really help with the explanation of all the different techniques. Thanks for adding those!

[@itilin]

thank you for the video. Very useful and thanks for having Mamikon's cameo

[@GeneralRasp]

Great video Guy! Saved to my painting tutorial play list!

[@Withered416]

One of my favorite dry brushing techniques for a quick and good looking gold (over a zenithal primed miniature) is to do a base coat of Nazdreg Yellow contrast paint and then dry brushing retributor armor over the top

[@Gidonamor]

Great video! Your tutorials are always the best for easy understanding

[@gearbot1001]

Finaly a true dry-brushing video that has helped me under stand, Hope your doing well Guy and thanks!!

[@dominicscreativefilms]

I've been using dry brushing for a while (especially after I started slap chopping) and I love how it gives you great details within a short time. This video was really helpful in how I can improve my dry brushing technique.

[@chellybub]

Inspiring! I love the thorough job you always do Guy and Hattie 💜

[@captainkarnage9874]

I really don't like how a lot of other youtubers talk about dry brushing like its a rea really awful way to paint and that you're a bad painter if you do I use it because I have ASD and have never been able to have steady hands, even my handwriting suffers because of it Ty for doing a good job showing off how to use it p.s using cardboard is a bit better since it doesn't absorb paint like a paper towel

[@halciber]

This video was fantastic. Thank you very much for showing us this painting technique.

[@justinkotrba2197]

Excellent overview of many ways to use drybrushing. Really appreciated the transition blending use of it too, gave me some ideas of where to use it.

[@Mr_Waffle.]

This was absolutely fantastic, well done. Will probably be sharing this on a near daily basis on reddit to new painters freaked out about painting vehicles

[@dnawolf8789]

thanks for the tutorial will defenetly try to drybrush correct now ... watched some other toturials but never in so much detail and i think this will improve the quality of my minis

[@TheBoomshaker10]

All these amazing hobby products on display, all I can focus on is the giant shampoo with the pump! I need it! 😂

[@SgtStudder1]

I really liked that you put stuff about "over brushing" which i figured out on my own its better in a lot of situations. Everyone only says. "Rub most of it off until almost all paint is off." Which i thought was cheeky at the start of the video. Because thats literally every other dry brush video ive seen in 5 years painting.

[@joshuatheillustrator3672]

I am so happy you made this video. I always worried that I was doing this wrong some how. Glad to see if I’m doing it right and seeing the other skills I can do.

[@MidwinterMinis]

I mean, there's no "right" really, just do whatever works for you matey :)

[@joshuatheillustrator3672]

@@MidwinterMinis fair point. I forget about that lol ^_^’

[@enriclibert545]

Is my favorite technique , thanks for this video, full of tips👍🏻👌🏻

[@mudawott]

Drybrushing is so good i barely do miniature painting anymore because gunpla hAs taken over my life but it works so well for getting nice raised metallic details looking gorgeous for no effort

[@ChaseDaOrk3767]

Nice to see a more an in-depth video on drybrushing! Also do you plan on doing another video on converting and painting the other first founding Loyalist Legions like you did for the Salamanders?

[@MidwinterMinis]

Glad you enjoyed it! I am planning on making more of that series, yes! I'm going to try to finish some of the other series I've half-cooked already though ;)

[@ChaseDaOrk3767]

@@MidwinterMinis Nice! I can't wait!!

[@frostee6162]

Great detailed guide! Thank you!

[@Isteak80]

Very useful video! This is going to be a vid I reference many times in the future for sure.

[@BerathorPainting]

Fantastic guide. Really well done.

[@harald2101]

cool guide. thanks for all the tips and cheers to the algorithm!

[@MidwinterMinis]

Cheers buddy! :)

[@T_3rR4h]

Those mould lines break my heart. Thanks for the tips!

[@Stormtrooper990]

Im only 1 year in with my dedicated painting. And I have learned SO much from drybrushing. All your videos with finding out where the sun or shadow falls, and figure out which part i should or shouldn't highlight was so difficult for me to understand. But drybrushing showed me, by my own hand where to look and what makes most sense. I have become a generally better painter because it gave me such a good understanding on highlights in general. So I can only recommend drybrushing for new painters :)

[@timmoggeridge3122]

Great video, and love those Ravaged Star minis!

[@MikChaos]

great video Guy, many thanks. Those Ravaged Star models look super cool - would be good to see them side by side with their nearest GW comparison.

[@MidwinterMinis]

Yeah! That's a great idea. Maybe one day :)

[@maxbrandt6]

It has been suggested to me when dry-brushing, *never* use a paper towel or actual towel to remove extra paint from the brush, acrylic paint consists mostly of water and a paper towel will wick away the moisture rather than getting rid of the pigment. Use a paper bag instead.

[@sitasama]

Moist the tip of the brush and use a dry brush palet. Like this you will avoid sand effect

[@user-is6xp9sk9z]

I cannot believe how much I learned from this video. Thanks so much! I "discovered" over painting by accident and thought it was a mistake. :D

[@rrl4245]

Excellent video and narration - great info, well presented.

[@rDunfee]

I've been drybrushing a good chunk of my terrain lately. Has saved me a ton of time and using AK paints it has been super smooth too

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Very helpful video. Keep up the good work.

[@KateHolden]

Perfectly timed for everyone getting the Skaventide box at the weekend. Drybrushing is great for painting all the feathery gryph-creatures the Stormcast love!

[@magicmitch5000]

Very, very useful information. Thanks so much, dude!

[@mitchelsmith7782]

the nightgaunt section was very informative !!

[@oddsparten13]

My favorite thing to use when wiping the paint off is the backside of my hand

[@MidwinterMinis]

That's a good tip, but you get funny looks when you go out into the big ol' outside world, haha

[@wodenpwn]

I use a drybrush technique that I don't hear a lot of people talk about - I don't wipe as much paint off the brush, and brush more with the "flat" of the brush. It smothly paints the raised surfaces and look less scratchy than drybrushing. I would say its different than the "overbrushing" mentioned.

[@brisou.wargame]

Next sponsor : Head & Shoulders 😂 More seriously, this is the most complete video I've seen on this technique ! Thanks 🙏

[@Rasmus.Elnegaard]

This was amazing!

[@iain.sm.c]

I have a pretty bad hand tremor. It makes mini painting extremely frustrating sometimes, especially when trying edge highlight and get fine details. Dry brushing is pretty much a lifesaver, and even though I've been doing it for a while now this video has taught me a lot more. Thanks Guy!

[@lanterns_glow]

Thanks i needed this

[@MidwinterMinis]

No problem matey!

[@TheBuildingSite]

Thanks for this very throrough and helpful video! 🤗🤗

[@thomashutchinson1]

Straight into my warhammer playlist so I can reference this video when I'm next drybrushing

[@SilimSavertin]

I'm still pretty new to drybrushing, but the metal highlights that its given my Ballistus Dread to simulate damaged and worn armor makes it one of my best looking minis. Wonderful technique.

[@simonandresbonilla]

Very useful video. I'm basecoating my Yaegir Kill Team to make "slap-chop", and without know it is called "overpainting", I made that with the first darker base colour. The resoult is very smouth, fast, and has grest coverage. I've used Zandri Dust for this step. Tomorrow I'm going to drybrush a 50/50 mix of Zandri and White Scar for the first lights, and for the last drybrush layer will use pure White Scar with my smoller brush. I'm using 3 make-up brush for this process, the biger has the size of a fingertip, another is like a half of it, and the smaller is like a half of the medium. And, because I love to build my own stuff, Sunday I made a texture palette with a few almost free material I had in my house. And I'm loving to unload my brush in it and see exactly the load and coverage I'm going to have over my model.

[@reddogterrain]

This is a very thorough tutorial.

[@Grimangell135]

I really needed a video like this. I am currently dry brushing Votann models and I couldn't figure out a good way to transition with the chosen color. Thank you for reminding me of meshing colors together to create the shade Im looking for.

[@OmegaLittleBob]

Great video. There are other great videos on dry brushing but I think this one will be a bit easier for newer people to understand.

[@Sandmann1193]

I use Make up brushes specifically for drybrushing really large surfaces. For example the first few colors on bases. Or my Chaos knight skeletons that I drybrushed with a dark silver for the metallic look. Usually the make up brushes are relatively big and it basically takes not even a minute laying the groundpainting with it. For everything that needs more "fine tuning" i use those flat drybrushes You showed here. Also thanks, as always really helpful even for people that paint for a longer time

[@TofuLP]

I've used a really dark brown as base paint, glazed it with a reddish brown that I watered way down. Then let it dry and drybrushed it lightly with a dark and finally even more lightly with a light silver. Boom, super old, rusted metal. Took me just a few minutes plus drying :)

[@Gomorragh]

i use overbrushing to lay down a base colour of drybrushed colour down before shading with a wash, then i will redo the same colour with the proper drybrushing method, i will then shade again with same wash but with a little extra water added, this was easier to me to get more subtle shading that the harsh lined shading seemingly preferred by a lot of painters. Cleaning drybrushes, always have 3 or 4 of similar type, every 10 minutes swap to the next brush and wash the brush in water, use clean paper towel to check if its free of pigment if it isnt, roll the brush in the corner of the water pot you are using, this will remove the remaining paint, having 3 brushes means you can have 20 minutes drying time between uses

[@elromcohen6751]

this is so amazing. thank you so much

[@dragonscales4377]

That was a pretty funny intro. Nice job. It got my attention and made me laugh.

[@blackfalcon53]

Great video! Dry brushing is my favourite techniques. I find it can replace airbrushing a lot of the time - especially for someone who doesn’t have time to setup and clean an airbrush in my short nightly painting session. The idea dry brushing is for beginners has always been funny to me - if painting competitions were about pure technical skill with a brush they would ban airbrushes which give you insanely smooth blends relatively easily - but aren’t they are about the skill using any technique to achieve the ‘best’ paint job.

[@MikeJones-mj6qp]

Best tutorial ive seen ...u need to do tutorials on everything

[@tompriestley8221]

That vehicle looks amazing

[@brmski1]

Cracking video as usual Guy. 👍

[@MidwinterMinis]

Thanks buddy!

[@CactusGuy77]

I love MWM! So happy to watch every video and I am so sorry for all the worrying you have been doing.

[@Certawin]

Nice video. Like how you explained everything you do. Smirks, can't wait to see that big bum of the great unclean one. Getting a thorough dry brushing. Thanks doe the video.

[@traylor2502]

Great advice on not to let the isopropyl alcohol seep up into the glue part of the brush! Now I know why my brushes fall apart so early...

[@nesnduma]

Great tutorial! Thank you!

[@nixxy1983]

I adore this video so much, thank you for making it, I am trying to find a dry brush to use to upgrade from the citadel ones

[@timothyyoung2962]

Great guide to dry brushing. Got turned on to cheap makeup brushes for dry brushing from Sonic Sledgehammer and Tabletop Minions. Use them along with my beat-up brushes for my core dry brush tools.