Painting Miniature Figures 101

Part 1: Dry Brushing and Ink Washing

Note: It is good to have two different vessels of water, one for metallics and one for normal paints.
Note: Make sure to thin your paints for a 1:3 Paint to Water
Brushes: #1 and/or #2, small 10 ought, or flat
Step 1: Basecoat the model in a flat paint. Don’t worry about staying in the lines too much and paint the
surface that covers the most area first.
Step 2: For highlights, use dry brushing with light colors that make the raised edges pop. Use a flat brush
and scrub the model.
Note: If dry brushing with metallics, do this first before painting the rest of the model as the
metallic flakes can get thrown to unwanted parts of the model.
Note: You can add up on dry brushing, doing darker highlights first and lighter ones second (ie.
Gunmetal; Steel)
Note: When painting textured surfaces be careful with using too much water
Note: To highlight gold, use silver SPARINGLY
Step 3: Go back over the major details with a thinned highlight paint and a small tipped brush on the trim
Step 4: For shades, use ink washes with dark colors to contrast the mini.
Note: Use a 5:1 Water to Paint ratio for ink washes. Do not flood the model and apply 1 coat.
Note: Use browns for a dirty wash and blues for cleaner washes
Note: When doing skin tones, it is best to do the wash first and then the highlights
Step 5: Finally, go back over the edges of the mini in a dark wash black to pop the edges

Part 2: Layering
Layering is good when working with gradients or clothing. To layer, apply very watered-down
colors to the mini, using multiple coats and adding highlights and shades this way by increasing
the hue of the color until you hit a point of diminishing return. Keep the undercoats in the
deepest recesses.
Note: This is a good way to hide brush strokes and when you want to wash a spot that has
less texture
Note: A good way to do highlights is to do a deep color first, then add the light to the deep,
and finally the light (ie. Black, Black-Violet, Violet, Violet-Red, Red) going over multiple
times.
Glazing is good when you want an overall hue to a portion. Its similar to an ink wash but much
more watered down. Good for tinting. Slightly alters the color.
Part 3: Black Paint
Black works as a basecoat AND shade. Highlight using grey that is thinned and keep it subtle.
Note: Keep highlights on sharp edges to avoid mudding the colors to grey.
Add lighter greys to previous grey to add highlights
Add black again to hide where highlights were too much or to deeper contrast the basecoat. Also
use a glaze in the recesses of the model.
Note: For a more faded black, basecoat black first and then wash with a black-grey. Then
add more grey or white to build highlights. Then finish with a light black wash.
Note: For a “cool” black (Truer black) add blue to the highlights.
Note: For a “warm” black add brown to the highlight. This is good for black leather parts. For
weathering add shades of brown together without black.

Part 4: Reflective Objects

Important when painting gems, bottles, glass, or translucent objects.
Highlight the edges more and shade the centers more. For liquids highlight more where the liquid is and
shade where it is absent. Highlight the corners more with a whiter color. Finish with a gloss varnish.

Part 5: White Paint

White works as a basecoat AND highlight.
Start with greys and duller colors and work up to white using lots of thin layers.
Note: For a “clean” white add hues of blue. Good for robes and ethereal figures.
Note: For a “dirty” white add hues of brown. Good for dirty white clothes.
Note: For painting lips only, paint bottom lip.

Part 6: Skin Tones

Work the same way with skins with a base, highlight, and shade. Use brown for shades and whites or
pales for highlights.
Work from darker colors to lighter as shades and use the layering method.
You can add colors to the recess to add warmth (ie. Red glazes, max 2)
Part 7: Metals
Basecoat wit the color you want. Glaze with brown shade surfaces that point to the ground. Glaze with
blue shade surfaces that point to the sky. 2 coats each. Then add 2-3 coats of black wash in the recesses.
End with highlights.
Dry brush and wash also works but the above is more advanced