Hate Edge Highlighting? Try These 5 Alternatives!
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- Are you tired of spending hours upon hours meticulously highlighting every raised edge on your model? The good news is GW style edge highlighting isn't the only way to paint a model, hell it's not even the best way to paint a model! Let me take you through 5 alternatives to highlighting your Warhammer models like the box art.
The Space Marine I painted in this video is in the color scheme of the Wardens of the Fang, a homebrew chapter thought up by Longfang whom is a VA, streamer, and mod for @SnipeandWib . You can find them at @longfang91 on both Twitch and Twitter. There is an upcoming video that will be published on Snipe and Wib's channel showcasing community renditions of this chapter if you want to know more!
P.S. Apologies for any audio wonkiness in this video. It was simply too hot to turn off my AC when recording over the weekend so I had to mess around quite a bit with noise reduction. Hopefully it isn't too much of a nuisance.
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Indeed, drybrushing is nothing to be frowned upon. If done right, you can achieve smooth gradients and crisp edge highlights just as good as you would with layering.
Idk if I would go as far as to say "just as good", nothing will ever replace the precision of a good sable brush for me, but dry brushing is definitely more capable than a lot of people give it credit for.
I wouldn't say just as good, but I would say the average 40k fan could massively elevate their paint game with a drybrush after priming black.
Who the hell is insulting dry brushing? Ok so I am a newbie and I really have no idea what I’m doing. But I’ve been watching tons of videos and reading tutorials and I’ve not seen one person (comments included) insulting dry brushing. I’ve only seen the opposite, people suggesting, recommending, and even praising dry brushing. So I’m real confused by that opening comment in the video.
@@cobracommander6606dry brushing is your best best friend, painting my first WHFB orcs & goblins hordes just dry brushing
I started a Night Lords army last week. My therapist quit.
*Laughs in Thousand Sons
@@ttoo1830thousands sons 😢
@@ttoo1830 *GOOOOOLLLDDDDD*
Painting my first army which is night lords too
@@nikolasplares6016 I have nightmares about painting trim now.
You should have thousands more subscribers. The information you just gave it is so much more in depth than a lot of the creators
other channels in the community out there with 50 to 100,000 subs. Much appreciated. Thank you. Oh yea, subbed.
Appreciate the kind words and the new sub. I'm a little late to the party in terms of mini painting youtubers so hopefully it's just a matter of time and effort before I get there.
Dude, how are you not at the same amount of followers as NinJon and Miniac and others like them?!! Your painting technique is phenomenal and the way you teach/describe things is by far the easiest I have come across here on RUclips. Great job man!! I hope you can keep up the drive to put out more useful content as I will be eagerly waiting for the next installment!!
Well here's hoping the algorithm agrees with you
Great video, you are a good teacher. Skilled painters are a lot more common than skilled painters who can explain a technique well.
Glad to hear that. I am always concerned about whether I'm making my points well since I have to balance information with brevity.
I expected “edge highlight, but less” to be on the list, but i was more thinking “don’t go crazy with 3 full layers” as opposed to “selective highlights w/ other methods,” but i guess i was fairly close.
My go to is one edge highlight to make the model pop, with some light weathering- usually in the form of dry brushing with a very small brush, or sponge stippling. Works a charm on larger surfaces like panels/shoulder pads, and i enjoy making a sort of vignette effect. Looks great without feeling overly tedious
Sometimes less is more. Though I've never been a huge fan of the sponge, the patterns tend to be a bit to predictable
damn, dude, I hope your channel blows up after this vid. great presentation and explanation!
So do I lol!
That's a style I haven't seen before. I respect that!
I’ve been painting for about a year and a half now just eyeballing stuff but this has legitimately helped so much!
Very good to hear
Dude thank you for confirming that dry brushing is a good option for highlighting edges. I've been painting an army for a week and all the details are cumbersome. I eventually (I hope) go back and add all the detail. But right now I just want to paint and play. Lol. Instant sub.
man, thats one of the best looking miniatures ive ever seen. I feel so inspired by this video, its intimidating to deviate from the eavy metal style and techniques but i think it's 100% worth trying id love to have an army painted like this
Thank you! I'm very happy that you've been inspired but I should definitely warn you it's a time intensive process. Would be very hard to do a whole army to this standard. Maybe try going all out for the characters, but you'll almost certainly have to figure out where to cut corners for the rank and file.
Finally a video that suited me and what i like know. The painting theory you explained made it easier for me to understand on how to apply the colour to get the effect i want. Now its just practice. Thanks.
This video was incredibly informative AND explained in a way that works for multiple learning styles. Thank you for this. Subscribed and about to dive into more of your videos!
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful!
Wow, just wow. I really loved the end result. Subscribed
Welcome aboard!
Just came across this video and glad I did. Some amazing techniques thank you, what I love the most is that this method makes each model unique instead of the dullness of copy/paste edge highlighting everything….which I hate. Just getting back into 40K after many years, so will be applying this to my new Eldar army 🤘🏼🍻
Glad to be of service
Absolutely brilliant upload sir. Broke everything down really well and covered great points.
Excellent video. It was very inspiring. The result looked spot on. I've always admired the box art for the Warhammer models but they don't have the same vibe your piece has. In the 41st millennium I'm pretty sure it only war and your model definitely shows that. Thanks for the advice!!
Amazing tips ! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience here :)
Nice camera work, instantly makes the video great.
Your brush control is really impressive!
This is insanely amazing! Bro, that's a really useful tutorial and a really high quality video.
And I'm not even speaking about the model that you get in the end - it's spectacularly wonderful!
Keep doing what you're doing, man, this is the best. You gave me a huge motivation, thank you a lot! :)
Super glad to hear it inspired you!
Seriously badass looking armour there, great work!
Could always do what I do; don't highlight at all.
I play necrons, space marines, and chaos space marines. For what I have and the style I like, I spray the model on the sprue with lead belcher and I paint with contrasts to allow the metal paint to shine or hide depending where it's supposed to be. I've never liked how there's a "golden angle" on a model. I approach with the method of every angle will look correct so that wherever natural light hits the model on the tabletop it looks natural as opposed to specific areas looking brighter/highlighted.
I'll spray and then glue the body together and will then paint the armor/body up. I'll leave the arms, head, and accessories off and paint them individually and then glue them on. Once they're glued, the whole model gets hit with a wash and it looks amazing.
What kind of wash do you use? I only play TTRPG's but I love painting and have some multi part models. I'll have to try painting before assembly.
@JacopoSkydweller depends on what the model is but it's usually either nuln oil or agrax earthshade. Dip the brush into the pot, dip it into some water, then apply
I like the stipple with the domed brush idea.. i have used that rarely, mainly because I dont do a lot of GW models. DnD forever!
I'd say give it a try, it should work on any kind of model. Also, got any recommendations on where to get good DnD minis? Doing some DnD content has been on my radar for a while; I was thinking of maybe mixing the two worlds together a little bit and do a video where I try to kitbash a Critical Role character out of Warhammer minis.
A nice drybrushing is always better than a bad lining.
Just discovered your channel thanks to this video. Compliments, you are really great in both painting and teaching!
Thanks!
That's an incredible looking model.
I appreciate that! While I can't deny I enjoy a little bit of showing off hopefully the rest of the video was informative too.
Dammm you can really paint ❤😮 well done. Thank you for the tips.
In the miniature context this technique has evolved so much that I dont even feel that "dry"brushing is a fitting term anymore. Roundbrushing? Widebrushing?
I have called it damp brushing for years.
That scratched up armour looks fantastic!
Thanks!
This is another level man. I need to take some art classes. The college is so expensive. Even if you just observe.
My Patreon is only 7 dollars and I'll teach you ;)
Very good explanation on forms and light. Going to try some of it. Thanks. And cool music too!
Absolutely awesome video! Your camera presents is engaging and your ability to articulate techniques is top notch looking forward to more videos !
Thank you so much! Make sure to check out the channel page there are plenty more videos there!
Love your explanation and demonstration of weathering!!
Thanks! If you're interested I have an earlier video about painting vehicles where I talk about weathering in even more detail!
Exceptional video! Thank you for this, you’ve got a sub and I’m headed to binge watch your videos. I’m glad to be here early before your channel gets so much larger, and makes me want to start mine (though I can’t paint like this, just starting!)
Glad to have you aboard! And no reason not to start making videos if you find it fun!
Painstakingly, masterfully done.
Nothing painful about it ;)
Thanks, great video to sum up and inspire new ways to reach the goal! Cheers mate
You are an incredible painter, got a sub from me. Tutorials are always good for people like me who are a bit intimidated to trying new things and new techniques. Having videos where you can follow along are really the best ever, and far beyond useful for new painters. I look forward to looking at your other stuff.
I learned a ton of what I know from YT tutorials as well, however there is no substitute for just going out and trying it. Once I learned how easy it is to strip paint and just try again I lost a little bit of that fear.
@@HereticsHeroes That's a very good point. It's like where do you start though. If I had a check list of things to try and master then I could sit down and do each technique over and over again until I master them, I do have an ultrasonic cleaner after all. Maybe an idea for a video for you if you had all of them collated into one video. That would be pretty cool. This video will help me out greatly anyway, I look forward to sitting down and getting stuck in this month, I'll just have to print a few space marines and practice on them until I get better.
@reddragon4482 imo best thing to try to master ASAP is paint control. Learn how to lay down a buttery smooth basecoat, a clean recess shade, and some crisp highlights first an foremost. It'll look great for tabletop and is really really good practice for the fundamentals. Look up sonic sledgehammer, the way he paints is a great way to practice fundamentals
@@HereticsHeroes Thank you very much dude. I appreciate you taking the time to give advice.
I use a variety of painting methods when painting the colour schemes for my armies, yet all of them make use of directional edge highlighting. The most common method I use is basecoats and washes followed by directional edge highlighting using the basecoat. I find that limiting my colour pallete to between 5 to 10 paints makes batch painting a lot easier.
Another method I use is to remove what I call "unnecessary detail" from models during the assembly process. In the case of marines, I modify them so that their armour matches the simpler and smooth designs of their 2nd ed counterparts. I even go so far as to remove the "black ribbing" from between the armour joins of the knees, elbows and groin. Having less physical detail on a model makes it easier and quicker to paint as well.
Beautifully painted sir!
Thank you for this, you've hit on just some of the problems I've been encountering with a project I'm working on. While I'm familiar with Trovarion's videos on the matter, this did show me a few new things to consider.
From my "professional art training", drybrushing was taught as being not literally a DRY brush, it just indicates how much pigment is kept on the brush while painting. The brush is always wet, either with water or (with oils) some other medium in the brush. I'm guessing the "hobby version" developed on its own from people without technique training in canvas/mediums?
I've gotten really good success from thinning the paint with water first, usually like 2:1, and then picking up pigment with a dry brush. Then stipple on over the top. This creates a thin transparency glaze, but with the speckling you'd get from say sponge painting. As the pigment is thinned, it will be very transparent, but sort of acts as a glaze allowing you to build up lighter and lighter tones.
If you're army painting 10-20 figures at a time for Horus Heresy, this is really the only way you can sanely knock them out without a mental breakdown.
I think you're exactly right here about the common mini painting application of dry brushing evolving largely independently from its use in other fine arts. This is actually a broader problem I see in the mini painting community where we so often see ourselves and our painting techniques as separate from traditional painters. It was such a huge breakthrough for me when I realized that actually its all the same, and art theory is applicable across all mediums.
It's understandable why there is this disconnect though, since I think mini painters (especially if they are wargamers as well) consider themselves as hobbyists in a way that's much different from someone who has decided to take up drawing or painting as a hobby. For the letter two there's an implicit understanding that they are going to be engaging in capital A "Art", but for many mini painters they most likely start out just thinking "hey I need to color in my little plastic dudes so I can play a game".
@@HereticsHeroes Seriously right along the lines of what I was thinking. Even classically trained, I have a hard time connecting the two mentally, it really feels like I have to make conscious effort to cross the skills over.
Love to see your take on things like the Zorn Palette; I'll hit you up sometime on your Patreon to see where I can improve things - I've definitely hit a plateau and am having trouble getting to a higher level from where I'm at.
@@Lanessar8008 looking forward to hearing from you. Though tbh you probably have more knowledge in terms of the theory, I'm self taught and definitely still learning along the way. I just had to look up what the Zorn Palette was, but it seems very interesting, I'll definitely be reading more.
@@HereticsHeroes I'll sign up on Patreon after the first. I think your input would be extremely helpful - Art theory versus practical application is a HUGE gap.
Awesome! And just in case you're waiting till the 1st so as not to get double billed, I've set mine up so it rebills on sign up date not the 1st of the month.
i absolutely despise edge highlighting because my hands shake and the only thing i can really do that would be hard is freehand, thanks man
really like these alternatives, hate edge highlighting
Brotherman, this was incredible! subbed
Thanks so much!
G'Day, great work...I seldom edge highlight, I have found that less is often more, if you edge highlight everything the effect just gets lost ...subbed and hope to see more of your work
Yep, "sparingly and targeted" I think I said in the video, or at least something close to that lol. Thanks for subbing, I'll do my best to continue to make interesting videos.
Am I the only one who like never does edge highlights? I’ve never like either the look of it or the process, I’ve always loved dry brush compared to it, but everyone at my local Warhammer store gives me crap
Edge highlights have their place, but I definitely think the GW box art style has overvalued them in a sense.
F'em do you!
subbed. result is amazing!
Recently i began drybrushing for slapchop, but even befor i added my contrasts or alternatives, the models look great, drybrushing as long as your careful can allow for a realy good look
Great channel. Absolutely underrated.
And hopefully soon to be overrated! Wait that didn't come out right...
I find the Artist Opus method of using a sponge to dampen the bristles before wiping away the pigment on a texture pallet just completely eliminates the dusty look. I paint white by painting light grey then brushing with white and I'll tell you my marines have never looked better.
I tried that method and was unimpressed with the results unfortunately.
thats an ultramarine black templar space wolf :D
Kinda, they're a Space wolf successor that leans little further into knightly aesthetics
I always thought about drybrushing as a poor man's airbrush, because both do the same job. 20 years ago, I've started painting minis by drybrushing, because it was fast and easy and did the job, after getting to know more techniques along the way, I'm coming back to drybrushing again. It's effective, and with a good brush you can make edge highlighting with it quicker, and making them to stand out less. Recently in last 2 years slapchop techniques were very popular on the internet, the effects look fantastic, and it's basically the almost same thing as drybrushing.
Really appreciated this video, I’ve never particularly liked the ‘eavy metal style and am trying to go more realistic with my new Space Wolves.
Hopefully you'll be able to try some new things going forward!
Great video, keep up the good work
I actually got so good with edge highlighting on space marines specifically that this is the fastest step that I tend to enjoy the most and always look forward to.
But the other problem - standard style with EH is pretty limited - dramatic dark tone and overall cartoon almost fortnite-esque style lol
So exploring other options ia very helpful for both EH-lovers and EH-sceptics
Great video mate. Subbed.
These alternatives combined are like thrice the work than edge highlighting :D
It may seem that way at first, but once you are comfortable with them it can actually be pretty quick
Hey man absolutely fantastic video, really gives a good spin how to do things differently also compared to most other Tutorials out there. Im really new to miniature painting and really learned a lot. I think i kinda got the basics of lighting down, i just dont understand how to smooth the color transitions and gradients out once i "sketched" the differently lit areas out. How do you get these so smooth? Did you do off screen glazing or what? 😅 A in depth video on the volumetric highlighting and the techniques concerning this would be super awesome. Thank you for the great content!
Yeah there was definitely some off screen blending going on that I skipped over since I don't really consider that an alternative highlighting technique, but rather a paint/brush technique. I do cover how to glaze a bit more in depth in a more recent video "Go From AMATUER to EXPERT by Mastering One Skill."
1 minute in and I like this guy. Liked and subscribed
30 years in and I also like this guy! Thanks for the support!
amazing work and instructions. Subscribed!
Glad you liked it
The model is lovely once it's done, but if I'm painting 40+ of these guys for an army I cannot fathom taking so much time on each mini.
Neither would I. I mostly paint display models which is why I spend so much time on them. But you could absolutely adapt the theory behind some of these techniques into a speedier army painting process
I think doing a full "every edge" highlight actually looks weird and fake when you hold a model in your hand. Looks great in a photo but not in real life. That said, a limited edge highlight on the tops of things, places where light would catch, you can do some strong work with that.
Lovely work
Thank you!
I do like using a makeup or ratty old brush for stippling, as you showed.
Makeup brushes are the best! (the brush I was using in the vid was definitely not ratty and old its an Artis Opus series D I got in a set so kind of expensive, but tbh I think my makeup brushes are better)
really dig the colour scheme, is it a specific chapter or your own ?
It's a homebrew chapter, but not my own. If you look up Wardens of the Fang you should find the video that explains the story.
Great video, can't wait for more
Thanks! I'll get right to work!
Thanks youtube algorithm, you found me a good one today!
Sometimes it does it's job
very helpful, thankyou!
Fantastic!
Your section on volumetric highlighting was brilliant for explaining the importance of it. As soon as you blurred those lines, the 2D shape looked 3D. What I’d love to understand is how we efficiently do that final blurring stage with our models. My transitions always look to harsh, even though I water-down paints. Is an airbrush required for this high-standard painting?
Not at all. I'm a 100% standard brush guy. Check out my paint thinning video I published like 2 weeks ago. It'll cover that exact topic.
@@HereticsHeroes thanks! I’ll give it a look!
Amazing video! Is this applicable to vehicles without an airbrush?
100%. Though for a vehicle I probably wouldn't go as hard on the directional lighting.
What do you mean? I LOVE EDGING!
People consider drybrushing a noob technique?! I'd never heard that, maybe that speaks to the group I've learned from.
Yeah lol. It one of those situations where it's taught to beginners as a bit of a shortcut, but one you learn a bit more and realise it's a bit of a bandaid people get snooty about it, and then as you really start to get good you realize every tool has it's purpose and there are definitely times where drybrushing is the right thing to do.
These are good. But I am thinking about painting tau and for all its tedium, nothing gets that clean sci-fi look soo well
This is NOT army painting advice
@@HereticsHeroes You are entirely right, but I got 1 thing that can save the project if I take it up: A(n Air) gun
Wow ! Great job, what brush do you use ?
Use a wide variety of brushes, but for detail work I have been using Winsor and Newton Series 7 brushes. But I've heard people complaining about QC with the brand lately. I also have a set of Artis Opus brushes which are very nice.
This is a great video.
Great video... thank you!
Drybrushed some SM and showed a friend who knows nothing about mini painting, he says "I like how it's dusty, like the armor is powder coated"
Lol yeah tottaly what I was going for😅
Its a struggle
woud love to see how you did that word bearer in the diorama in one of your last vids
Unfortunately I was so pressed for time trying to get it done before GD I didn't take any painting footage. I do have a fair few chaos models in the pile of shame though, so I could definitely be persuaded to do another word bearer
Thank you for this video! You are now my favorite painter, Samwise Gamgee! Very well spoken, easy to understand even as a foreigner, awesome music choice and the paintjob is "chef's kiss"! 🤌🏻
Consider me as a new fan!
Thank you! Glad to have you along for the ride!
Drybrushing gets a lot of bad press, but honestly? i've drybrushed the highlights on an entire series of Death Watch space marines, and the result is totally decent. Usually I'll go for a combination of both drybrushing and edge highlighting for some of the most exposed parts.
Great tips (except the last one, sorry to say). To be noted, do you know WHY edge highlighting was invented? GW use their models for the boxart and the thought is, the more details we can show the more sales, and thus edge highlighting was born. It's not because it looks particularly good (it doesn't) or is realistic (it most definitely is not), nope, it is all about the sales, which is why they can afford to spend so much time on it. So unless you are actually painting FOR boxart, I'd recommend staying away from the practice, even though I understand it is haute couture among mini painters - and I can't figure out why...
GW definitely invented the all over edge highlight style for box art purposes, but the idea they invented the technique itself is definitely not true. The reason so many mini painters, including the best of the best, use edge highlighting is because when used right it absolutely does look good and is very much realistic. Spend some time observing objects in real life and you will find that edges often do reflect more light than their surrounding surfaces, just not universally across the whole/every edge. Hence my advice to use it selectively and with your other highlighting in mind.
thanks for this edging tutorial
Listen here I am a firm edging opponent. I want as many finished models as possible.
It seems that edge highlights reflect what would be actually specular reflections. Specular reflections occur where the rays of a light source (e.g. sun) hit an object in such an angle that they bounce off (angle of incidence = angle of reflection) the object directly into the observer's eye . That's why specular highlights move around on the object when the observer moves their position vis-a-vis the object.
As edges on objects are never perfect but rather a bit rounded (on the micro level), specular highlights tend to appear on edges. As edges are actually round, they contain many different angles, one of which will trigger the specular reflection effect.
Therefore, applying specular reflections to just some part of the edges seems to be right. If the edge is not perfectly straight but a bit rounded or changing its angle vis-a-vis the light source, the reflection angle will not be appropriate to trigger specular reflections on every point along the edge.
The problem remains that we paint onto the model something that should change dynamically. We need to pick one fixed position for the observer and paint specular reflections on the model accordingly. Seen from a different angle, however, this positioning of specular reflections will be wrong.
100% correct, and the only way to way to really deal with this is to consider what the most likely viewing angles angles are on the model and paint accordingly.
Great clarify on your close ups. What camera do you use, if you don't mind me asking?
It's actually just my phone. Samsung S24 Ultra. It has a shockingly good camera for a phone.
@@HereticsHeroes Holy smokes lol. It's amazing.
The other thing I find hard is blending colour. How to get the darker or brighter tone when you build up gradient.
Try watching my paint control video, I give a good example there. The trick is to glaze a midtone over your color transitions to sort of erase the boundaries
Lieutenant is pronounced with an "f" sound!
Space Marines are British after all. :p
Nice vid. Thanks!
I will never concede an inch to the British
Your a legend
Is it just my modelkit background or there others always shocked of how big brushes miniature painters use to dry brushing and ending up doing dusting and not dry brushing 🤔
oh hey i recognize that sw primaris chapter. which greys did you use its a great base
I did the basecoat and initial drybrusing with skavenblight dinge and stromvermin fur. Washed it with incubi darkness mixed with contrast medium. And then built my highlights up by mixing the previously mentioned greys with proacryl bright warm grey in varying ratios depending how bright I wanted to go.
@@HereticsHeroes thank you kindly
A thing I miss in every painting video is a longer reveal of the finished product. Just show me the mini for 5 minutes 😅🙏
Noted, will make half the next video a showcase.
nice cowboy bebop reference
Finally, someone gets it
What's the recipe of the red? It would look awesome for some blood angels.
Think I based it in burnt Cadmium Red from Vallejo, washed it with a dark purple mixed with contrast medium and then highlighted it up through Mephiston red into vallejo scarlet with the very brightest bits being a mix of that scarlet and some sort of yellowish off-white.
i need a video explaining how to blend properly. i have tried and failed multiple times.
Try my paint control video. It's the one with the thumbnail that says don't fight your paints.
@@HereticsHeroes thanks I will check it out and come back if I got more questions haha
Whats the song that sound in the end ???
Fight to Win - Sven Karlsson
Clear info and good presentation appreciated, subadubdubbed
Awesome.....
Imho drybrushing gives better highlights than the thick smeary manual painted edges that people like to present.
That's because most people don't have their brush control down yet.
По факту получается ещё больше работы по сравнению с выделением граней.
Cube, sphere, cylinder... cone.
I didn't really feel the need to include cone for such a basic intro since it behaves essentially identically to a tapered cylinder.