As humans, we are naturally attracted to the things that pops out the most.
(HIGHLIGHTS AND DRY BRUSHING)
For this course we are going to be teaching you how to make your miniature pop out even more.
Your miniature may still look a bit too bland for now, but we can fix that almost instantly.
For this lesson grab a thin brush and a lighter shade of the main color that you used. To make this method work you’re going to need those two things only for this. If you look at references of other artworks online and you ask yourself what makes them stand out? It’s the highlights. Highlights are a specific technique used in painting in order to make your painting look more dynamic. The highlights are what draw your attention to the piece because it helps us see the contrasting of the colors.
Simply add a few strokes using the thin brush that you are using and apply a few clean strokes. For my example is Bruce Lee’s hair part. Notice how I only added the white lines on the middle section of his surrounding hair. That’s because they’re supposed to be representing the figurative light bouncing off the hair of your character.
Now if you look at your mini from a far you’ll see the effect working. You get to see the colors pop even more. The same can be applied towards other parts as well and you can use different colored highlights to match the color you have. If you the color purple for example on your mini, just use a lighter shade of that color.
Just make sure to only add the parts where you think the figurative light would bounce the most. Most of the time it’s on the top parts of our bodies, the parts that shine the most are your shoulders or your head.
If you want to add a bit more style to your miniature like let’s say dirty wardrobe effects. You can use the drybrushing technique.
Drybrushing is a method wherein instead of wetting your brush before painting you paint with the bristles dry. Allowing to scatter the paint less precisely and messy to add a way more dirtier texture to your mini.
You simply use your regular small flat brush for this method, or if you have one, a standard dry brush and use that instead. Just apply paint on the brush first and before applying it to your mini. Using a towel or a regular paper towel, dab the brush on it while the paint is still on it. You will see a bit more paint residue on the brush itself and gently apply it on your miniature.
Once done, you can move on to the next lesson.