Jump to content

Washes or Highlights First?


00branchow

Recommended Posts

Depends what you are painting and how many stages you paint in. Also depends on the finish you are looking for.

 

There is also glazes which are basically thinned washed (which are essentially thinned paints). Those are good for softening any steps between highlights.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it's totally dependent on your goal/style.  But in the vaguest sense, if you like sharp highlights, you'll probably want to do washes first, while more matte/smooth styles would suggest a wash after highlighting.  Again, this is in the very vaguest sense, without knowing what colors are involved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is also glazes which are basically thinned washed (which are essentially thinned paints).

 

A more accurate description would be that washes are formulated to run into depressions, whereas a glaze is formulated to cover the surface evenly. The key to a wash is breaking the surface tension, and it may or may not be transparent. A glaze is intended to modify the underlying colour, so it has to be at least translucent to work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

There is also glazes which are basically thinned washed (which are essentially thinned paints).

A more accurate description would be that washes are formulated to run into depressions, whereas a glaze is formulated to cover the surface evenly. The key to a wash is breaking the surface tension, and it may or may not be transparent. A glaze is intended to modify the underlying colour, so it has to be at least translucent to work.

But if washes broke surface tension they wouldn't pool. Best way to break surface tension is washing detergent ;)

 

Also, I said "essentially" not "are". Because you can create a wash from any paint and thinning it further effectively changes it to a glaze as the colour pigment is far less in the carrying solution.

 

But...that doesn't help with the OP in the slightest.

 

One thing I will recommend to the OP if you're looking to improve on painting skills it to look into wet blending and glazing/juicing. Both are very different to the typical GW base/wash/highlight layering style of painting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since Glazes and Washes are close to my heart (I've been mixing my own for years, until purpose-made products started to appear) I think I'll take a few minutes to ramble about them. Now that they can be store bought I don't mix as often, I generally use what's offered as a base and then alter it if I want a custom wash today; the consistency of commercial products saves a lot of trial-and-error when you're going for something unique.

 

When I was making my own they were always referred to as Glazes; taken from the term used for Glazing in traditional panting and ceramics. A glaze is a translucent coating (ranging from almost opaque to virtually transparent) that coats a surface. Letting the base colour/material show through gives all sorts of creative options.

 

The term Wash became popular (from what I can tell) when GW came out with their line of Wash paints. I never used the term before then personally, but I think there's merit to it. From what I can tell, when miniature painting, a Glaze could be referred to as a more subtle staining of the surface with a thin coat (good for blending and unifying transitions) and a Wash is more liberally used product that is meant to pool more and create more depth. In my mind they are for the most part one-and-the-same; put a Glaze on heavy-handed and you have a Wash effect, and put a Wash on lightly and you'll get a Glaze effect.

 

The key to the bottled wonderful that is a good Wash/Glaze in general has more to do with Pigment and Viscosity; Surface Tension is there, but it's an extension of Viscosity. Unlike paints (that are trying to cover as much as they can, so have lots of pigment) Washes have most or all of the opaque pigments removed to make them translucent. This combined with the Viscosity make a product that wants to gather in nooks-and-crannies, but tapers out gradually from these deep pools of pigment. Since the colour is weak and translucent you get a very convincing shading effect with reasonable effort; taking time to layer up and back-blend the effect can take it to the next level if you choose.

 

Now, if you lower the surface tension of the Wash, it's going to want pull in tighter and cling closer to the nooks-and-crannies, and thus reduce the blending out effect that Washes are so good for. This will push it toward a Glaze, but just reducing the Wash layer will do the same. It's simple to get this effect if you add just a touch of Future Floor Wax to your Wash or Ink; it will drastically reduce the surface tension and cause the pigment to tightly cling to details. I don't find it that useful, and prefer the fade that you get from a thicker pigment, but it can be useful in some places.

 

And finally, to the actual subject, I think it is most common for the order to be; Paint > Wash > Highlight. Lay down a smooth base colour, add some depth with wash, and pick out the raised areas with highlights to make it pop. As mentioned, there are times where you might wash over highlights to mute them down, but many times when you do that you will return to carefully re-highlight with a lighter touch. If you do this process several times you can get remarkably good fades and blends, but it is very labour intensive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you Subtle for your great post ! I've never used glazes but now I understand why thin washes produced a different effect !

 

In my personal experience, washing before highlights tends to add a lot of contrast and depth to the model, while highlighting before washing will tone down the highlight a bit. On infantry models I wash before I highlight to bring out the model (especially because my main colour is black !), but I've found what worked best for me on my vehicles with lots of flat surfaces and angles was to highlight first, then wash with a very thin layer.

Because the details are so much bigger than on infantry (and so the highlights will be a lot more visible), I found that highliting angles after washing would make the model very cartoony and very colourful, while washing after still showed the difference clearly but made the highlights blend better with the rest of the model.

 

It's just my 0.02€ though and I'm not a great painter :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say wash then highlight, bu in truth it's an eyeballing thing.  I wash, then I highlight, and see if the contrast is fine.  If not, I wash again, possibly watered down, and do the final highlights one more time.  Usually by the second time I'm happy with the result.  If not, rinse and repeat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.