Painting "Sketch Style" or Why Contrast, washes and drybrushing are not the enemy

Some painters look down on the use of contrast, washes and drybrushing. To them, it's the unholy trinity of miniature painting. They're wrong, though.

Yes, you can do without these tools/techniques and that's perfectly fine. Yes, if used incorrectly, they will not look nice. But that's true for any tool/technique. Contrast, washes and drybrushing are just another tool in your toolbox, another arrow in your quiver. And that's how you need to view them.

In a previous post I laid out the concept of artist versus craftsman. I have little artistic talent and have learned painting purely from a craftsmanship perspective. For someone coming from that angle or learning painting, they're great tools/techniques - if applied correctly.

Contrast paints work best with a technique called "Sketch Style" and this is the technique I would like to present to you here: In its basic form, it does not require artistic talent, anyone can work with it and achieve stunning results very quickly. Moreover, you can build on what you learned and can take it much further. One of the most prominent "Sketch Style" painters is Matt DiPietro - an exceptionally talented artist.

This article will cover the fundamentals of Contrast, Drybrushing and Washes in a way everyone can understand. Please read it first, then have a look at Malifaux Bayou Gremlins with Sketch Style: Mah Tucket and Rooster Riders, where these tools/methods are combined for some "Sketch Style" painting.

Games Workshop's Contrast paints

Contrary to what Games Workshop says in their marketing, you need to have models prepped with zenithal underpainting and washes to get the most out of Contrast paints. Using them on purely white undercoat works in some cases, but it's always better to have the right undercoating preparation. Also, that undercoating prep work does not take long, which means it's always worth the time investment.

What you need to know

• Each layer of contrast paint after the first one changes the colour tone. There is no "two thin coats", there is only an "apply one layer as evenly and cleanly as possible". This is so extreme that you will need to fan out the colour while it is still wet to have it cover the entire area that should have that particular colour. Whenever a part of the colour dries and you then paint next to it, there will be a visible border between the two areas.
• This means that you always should prefer to use large brushes, at least size 2. Only go to size 1 for details.
  
• Once the colour has dried, make sure not to to touch it with your fingers. Contrast layers are very thin and you will unintentionally rub off paint by merely touching the model.
• Contrast paint does not work well on large flat areas. It's designed to flow into crevices.
• When preparing the undercoating, it can make sense to apply a different shadow colour than black, even for parts of the model. In other words: Black as the shadow colour of the undercoating does not work well for faces.
• One would assume that the darker colours in the Contrast line work best. That's true in general, but some of the brighter colours work surprisingly well. I even like Apothecary White for some purposes.
• Once you have painted your model with Contrast, it's a good idea to add more extreme highlights with regular paint. It takes very little time but has a huge effect on the overall look.
  
• Matt varnish is highly recommended.
  

Drybrushing

Drybrushing is a very simple technique that yields decent results. A drybrushing session can be the foundation for a great paintjob. What you do is to put paint on a brush, then wipe it on a piece of paper towel until there is no more paint left in the brush. Next, you swipe the brush over the model. The result will be that elevated areas will catch paint (even if you thought there was no paint left in the brush). 

What you need to know

• It's a highlighting technique. You will almost never want to drybrush with a dark colour.
• Make sure the brush is really dry. If it isn't, you run the risk of ruining your existing paintjob.
  
• Swipe from top to bottom  to mimick zenithal highlights. Don't do it absent-mindedly, think about where the light would not reach and leave those areas as they are or apply fewer strokes.
  
• Drybrushing destroys your brush. Never use expensive brushes for this.
• Using a cheap, small makeup brush will elevate your drybrushing results massively. Always use such a makeup brush.
  
• Make sure to clean your brush after drybrushing.
• Drybrushing will sprinkle very small amounts of paint on areas you did not even touch. After a lot of drybrushing, it's a good idea to quickly rinse your models under the sink. This will remove a lot of these sprinkles of colour. Afterwards, dry the models a bit with a paper towel and let the rest of the water on them evaporate. If you are drybrushing with metal colours, this is highly recommended.
  

Washes

Washes have a lower surface tension than regular colours. This is because their purpose is different: They are used to paint small crevices and gaps such as the gap between a glove and an arm. You can also use them for shading in general. You can even go as far as applying a wash over everything and have the lower surface tension do the job for you: While the entire area will be tinted in the colour of the wash, the crevices will be much darker, creating the impression of depth.

What you need to know

• If you find your wash to be pooling because you put too much of it on the model, use a dry brush to suck up the excess paint immediately. Pools of wash look very bad once they dry up - the look is similar to a stain.
  
• When you mix washes with water to dilute them, you will neutralize a part of their flow behaviour because you are reintroducing normal surface tension. This can be okay, depending on what you want to do with the paint or how diluted you want it to be. But if you want to retain its flow properties, try using medium or flow improver to dilute the wash, whatever works best for you.
• The entire Games Workshop line of washes are a good product, they are easy to use and do what they are supposed to.
• Diluted washes can be used for creating gradients. Apply the wash and pull most of it towards the darker side. You will need several layers and need to wait until it has dried before applying the next layer. For this purpose, diluting with water can make sense.
  
• Matt varnish will deal with the sheen that some washes create. Don't worry about it.