On the topic of painting, I have been recently working on improving my painting techniques. In general, I use Citadel Contrast Paints for most (or even all) the basic colors on my miniatures – they work well and make the process quick. They are not necessarily competition level, but certainly very good for tabletop games, and certainly beats the generic grey plastic.
Once the contrast is applied though, in occasion I still want to apply a drybrush to the highlights. This has been particularly useful in the Legion game, with the Empire forces, which otherwise have a lot of simple colors. To that end, I have been looking at options, never having been truly satisfied with the “use an old brush” method. Each time I do that, I end up with either inconsistent paint, inaccurate application, or (because of other issues) chalky paint.
I recently found a video by Ninjon (Is SLAPCHOP the Future of Speed Painting Warhammer?! – YouTube), in which he references his own branded option, sold by Artis Opus. Although this particular set is very nice (comes in a dedicated box with high quality parts), I honestly can’t justify spending $100+ on the very nice set, and individually the brushes come in at about $15, plus shipping from Europe. So, I have been on the lookout for alternatives.
The other common suggestion is to use make-up brushes, easily obtainable for a couple dollars. I have tried a couple of these options, but generally found them unsatisfactory. The brushes are certainly cheap, but then the brush ends are definitely cheap. Each time, I would find bristles breaking off and being lodged on the figure – I ended up spending more time cleaning off the figure than I saved by drybrushing.
Over the weekend, we travelled to Columbus Ohio for various marching band activities, and we used the opportunity to visit Blick (https://www.dickblick.com/), a specialist art supplies store (and something we are missing locally). After a bit of searching, I found the pictured brushes, a pair of options from Princeton, with their VelvetTouch and Select lines. The blue one is significantly stiffer in the tip, but also a bit more pointed, while the red one is more even but softer. With the bundled discounts, these came out at a more reasonable $6, and I am very confident no bristles will fall out soon.
My other challenge, which the brush itself won’t fix, is the chalky texture. Apparently, this is caused by a misnomer in the technique. Although it is called “dry-brushing”, the trick is not to actually apply “dry” paint. Instead, the paint has to have some moisture, and it is more about applying it to the highlights. In particular, if you wipe the paint off on a paper towel or similar (which I have done), then it also dries the brush and paint, wicking away all the moisture. This results in the chalky texture. Instead, using a brush which has some moisture, and a non-absorbent palet is supposed to be a lot better and cleaner for the application. My intent is to use a glass mat, but I will have to experiment a bit.
