Tips on drybrushing for beginners

In this section I will attempt too explain the basics of dry-brushing for beginners. The techniques explained here work brilliantly on a small scale model or figure as it is enough to fool the eye (and the brain) into believing there is true feathered highlights on areas that are exposed to light. Sorry, but until finances improve I cannot show any images of my own works as I have no access to a digital camera or a scanner. Anyone willing to help??!!!

To start with ensure the the base paint and overall washes are completely dry. A common problem beginners experience with bad finshes is that they don't allow enough time for caots to dry. Usually on a good coat of paint this will take 12-24hrs depending on paint and weather (eg humidity).
When this is dry, I find the best thing to do is mix the base colour with a fair amount of white so that the paint has turned an almost dirty white (but not quite).
Now, get your brush, preferably a size 1 or 0, and get some paint on it. On a sheet of old newspaper, rub the paint off the brush as if your were roughly painting it. When almost no more paint comes off the brush, start lightly painting the areas you wish to highlight. This might include the legs, arms, body and helmet. Basically anywhere you have previously painted in the base colour.
You should notice that some areas appear lighter than others, hopefully areas that are raised will look like they are being viewed in the sun. Don't worry if it doesn't look right, practise will refine how you apply the paint and how to fix it.

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