This aspect of my character has been a driving factor in my painting. It took me from my first painted model to starting a business - that drive to learn and grow is what keeps me going and ensures I'll never settle for "good enough." On a bad day, all I can say is "what I know is good enough... for now."
I say that because I'm very excited about the new knowledge I've been putting in to practice. Those of you who follow miniatures painting probably Lester Bursley, aka AwesomePaintJob on YouTube. While he may not be the number one painter, he's probably the most well known, and for good reason. His custom wash recipe is the greatest thing to happen to me as a painter. But before we get there, I'd like to gush about how much I love washes.
Until now, I thought the only washes out there were Badab Black and Devlan mud. It turned a model painted like a McDonald's toy and gave it some shadows, fake highlights, and made it look less pristine. And on the tabletop (which is the level I like to paint), it looks great on the eye. So surely there is nothing else I'd need, right? Fortunately for me, my curious side didn't let me rest on that idea too long.
One day I was inspired to try use regular GW washes to paint my Orks, and I discovered how powerful the effect of washes can be. My Ork Warboss is currently my favorite figure I've painted, and it's all due to careful applications of Thraka Green to give his skin natural shades and highlights. There was plenty of detail work left for me to paint, but the effect on his skin was perfect!
When he was finished, I was officially sold on washes. They are a bit trickier to use than just slapping Devlan Mud on a base coat, but the results are so much better! It's unfortunate that everything can't be painted this way, but I suppose too much fun would spoil me.
That brings us to Les's wash recipe. When I first got serious about painting, I was able to get some amazing paint supplies from a friend, and part of that included the artist inks Les recommends for his recipe. I'm painting up a copy of Super Dungeon Explore, and I decided to try his recipe to paint them (almost) entirely with washes. I could immediately see the different. The wash flows exactly where I want it to go (with minimal coaxing from my brush), and doesn't leave those annoying "rings" where the pigment groups up and dries.
I'll have a WIP post soon so I can really show it off, but so far I'm really excited to experiment with all the different inks I have and see what washes I can come up with. And since I know this won't be my last stop as a painter, I'm equally excited to see where this takes my painting skills!
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