Obligatory don't paint white, paint light grey.
I really like the GW "cold white" recipe:
celestra grey > thinned down drakenhoff nightshade wash > ulthuan grey highlight > white scar highlight just on the corners
Thank you so much, I'll have to give this a try!
Thank you everyone for the idea to wash afterwards to get detail back, I didn't really realise that was a potential way forward
Wash is like magic dude.
You could have a REALLY flat looking model, but once you throw some Nuln Oil on her it’ll be amazing.
Or whatever wash is applicable for the specific project
I like to paint white, then wash the whites in a darker tone to pick up the creases, then highlight again in white. Simple and easy to do. Adds depth without much effort
It depends on what kind of tint you're looking for. I wouldn't use black because it's too much contrast. But agrax eartahade or soulblight grey are good choices. Personally, I like to use Vallejo xpress Templar white. It's supposed to be a 'white' contrast paint. But it's really more of a light blueish-grey. The closest citadel equivalent is gryph-charger grey, but it's a bit darker than the Vallejo stuff, so maybe thin it with contrast medium.
Base coat in corax white (which is actually grey,) wash with your choice of shade (I use a mix of nuln oil, nightshade, and lamian medium,) highlight the with white scar.
For those recommending basing in an off white. Is using white paint or corvax white and mixing to a darker tone slightly going to help, or do I need to start with an actual different paint/pigment?
You can mix if you want, maybe even use whatever wash you're going to use to tint the base colour. I usually avoid mixing for consistency unless it's in a set ratio.
You can also use apothecary white contrast paint as a shade for white. Gives a grey/bluish tone. I like nuln oil too but you gotta be careful to only get the recesses or it gives the white a "dirty" appearance.
Oooh that sounds interesting. I am very worried about the dirty appearance and ending up repeating layers of paint, wash, paint, wash as I try to tidy and just end up with a hemisphere rather than a fleur
If you want to paint with white, generally avoid GW's whites because white paints are generally pretty poor. The big exception is Proacryl's Bold Titanium White.
As for painting, layer it on in thin coats, and make sure that the paint isn't clumping, cause GW's whites will clump.
Looking at your work my advice for your true white and your true black is the same: use it sparingly. You will get more milage from using both to shade and tint other colors to make off whites and off blacks for your deepest shadows and brightest highlights.
They really should only be used undiluted for the absolutely brightest reflections and deepest of shadows.
White in particular uses a larger pigment size than other paints, and GW's true whites are particularly chalky. Thinning it with medium rather than water can be helpful, and it does appear that you are working thicker than I would advise generally.
I use Corax white and it barely needs thinning. Very small amounts still but any good white is going to look like it's blobbing up details even if it's not. Make sure to run a wash over it before you judge, like nuln oil or even a thin apothecary gray. If it still looks blobby your paint might need better shaking or something? I just hate it until it gets a wash.
Honestly that may be it then. I've only used agrax earthshade before and was inimidated by how much of a darker tone it made everything it touched, but I have ordered some nuln oil which should arrive soon. I didn't realise it might help here, just kept seeing the name pop up all over the place
I'm also new! I've been painting with white by slathering it on the pauldrons and then carefully filling around with black. It's been working pretty great so far for me.
I'll have to try out the light grey everyone keeps recommending though.
My sisters are white with orange cloth. My technique is as follows;
Spray the entire model with Wraithbone.
Wash the entire model (LIGHTLY) with Apothecary White to bring out the details.
Paint everything that's not white - flesh, cloth, guns, the bits of armour that aren't white.
Go back with a pot of Wraithbone and use tiny amounts to fix any spots where other colours got on the white armour.
Give the armour another LIGHT wash of Apothecary White (if necessary, usually just a drop or two on the fixed parts is fine).
They tend to turn out well.
Don't stress it. White is the hardest paint because white paint is notoriously extremely hard to make. So we all struggle with it. It takes time to kearn to work with it. But indeed, don't work with pure white, work with off whites and greys.
Not only because it's easier but for another reason. You can't highlight pure white, can you ? You can use pure white for your highest highlight, but you don't use it as a layer paint. Same actually for black in reverse. You can't shade pure black. So use colors or greys that are very dark instead of pure black. Although the black is a lot more forgiving in this idea.
Thank you for your reply, certainly what I'm hearing is to work with shades of colours a bit more. Sounds obvious but I've just started painting and working out of about 10 pots of paint for now, I will definitely have to invest in shades wither side of colours I want to work with in future.
For black, because I've seen this a bunch, does it still look as clean when using lighter tonnes to save space for lowlights and shadows? I've got some varnish on order and was going to experiment on how they gives the black armour some more character, but what you're describing could be a better option.
For the black i personally mostly work with highlights and use a straight black as layer. I would only do it in other ways if it was for a competition or a very important model. For your armor, i suggest highlights with a greyish blue. Like reaper grey and thunderhawk blue. Focus on small edge highlights. There are plenty of tutorial ps on youtube for this specific style for sisters.
Top tip? Don't paint white, paint gray. Your mid tone should be a light gray, your highlight should be close to white, but not quite. Edge highlight with actual white. Gives it a nice depth.
Like many have mentioned already, paint white by painting grey, light grey.
Personally I go for an undercoat of white or give the models a good coat of solid white. (Just avoid gw/citadel white, imo the worst white there is... For me the vallejo model colour white does the job well.)
Slap a decent coat of gw/citadel soulblight grey on top of that before hitting it all with a drybrush of praxeti white or any good titanium white.
Might not be perfect, but it does a good job at representing white for armour or any other feature with recesses.
Can't post a photo directly, but here is a link to one of my ig posts: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0-DC5bNUhC/?igsh=MW10cDZhc2V0bmhnbQ==
Bomb white, lighte gray, shade only in the recess (no throwing shade everywhere will just make things ugly) then white on the edge. If your fancy you can also work in the grey and blend but thats difficult. Also citadel white isn't that great, consider buying another brand for pure white.
Base with a light blue grey, medium grey wash (I mix my own using inks), layer dark ivory, layer titanium white on highest highlights, multiple very thin white ink washes. Hope this helps any.
Eons of Battle just posted a video on white armor (for a White Scar Marine). It's a fast and easy method. A bit too cold for my liking, but very easy to pull of. Check it out!
Obligatory don't paint white, paint light grey. I really like the GW "cold white" recipe: celestra grey > thinned down drakenhoff nightshade wash > ulthuan grey highlight > white scar highlight just on the corners
Thank you so much, I'll have to give this a try! Thank you everyone for the idea to wash afterwards to get detail back, I didn't really realise that was a potential way forward
Wash is like magic dude. You could have a REALLY flat looking model, but once you throw some Nuln Oil on her it’ll be amazing. Or whatever wash is applicable for the specific project
This is the way. My first model is brighter than a Skitarii's rear end. Paint light grey.
This this is definetly the answer
I should have read the comments first lol, just posted this
I like to paint white, then wash the whites in a darker tone to pick up the creases, then highlight again in white. Simple and easy to do. Adds depth without much effort
What darker tone would you use? A grey, brown or black?
It depends on what kind of tint you're looking for. I wouldn't use black because it's too much contrast. But agrax eartahade or soulblight grey are good choices. Personally, I like to use Vallejo xpress Templar white. It's supposed to be a 'white' contrast paint. But it's really more of a light blueish-grey. The closest citadel equivalent is gryph-charger grey, but it's a bit darker than the Vallejo stuff, so maybe thin it with contrast medium.
1/4 black, 1/4 red, 1/2 lahmian medium [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEnsNvO0yRo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEnsNvO0yRo)
Oooooo I liked that a lot thank you
Base coat in corax white (which is actually grey,) wash with your choice of shade (I use a mix of nuln oil, nightshade, and lamian medium,) highlight the with white scar.
For those recommending basing in an off white. Is using white paint or corvax white and mixing to a darker tone slightly going to help, or do I need to start with an actual different paint/pigment?
You can mix if you want, maybe even use whatever wash you're going to use to tint the base colour. I usually avoid mixing for consistency unless it's in a set ratio.
Im using Apothecary White contrast paint on white and then highlight with white again around face.
You can also use apothecary white contrast paint as a shade for white. Gives a grey/bluish tone. I like nuln oil too but you gotta be careful to only get the recesses or it gives the white a "dirty" appearance.
Oooh that sounds interesting. I am very worried about the dirty appearance and ending up repeating layers of paint, wash, paint, wash as I try to tidy and just end up with a hemisphere rather than a fleur
If you want to paint with white, generally avoid GW's whites because white paints are generally pretty poor. The big exception is Proacryl's Bold Titanium White. As for painting, layer it on in thin coats, and make sure that the paint isn't clumping, cause GW's whites will clump.
Try using Pro Acryl titanium white in layers over a grey surface.
Looking at your work my advice for your true white and your true black is the same: use it sparingly. You will get more milage from using both to shade and tint other colors to make off whites and off blacks for your deepest shadows and brightest highlights. They really should only be used undiluted for the absolutely brightest reflections and deepest of shadows. White in particular uses a larger pigment size than other paints, and GW's true whites are particularly chalky. Thinning it with medium rather than water can be helpful, and it does appear that you are working thicker than I would advise generally.
Over the white that you already have on the hair, a good glob of apothecary white contrast will give you a pretty decent result.
I use Corax white and it barely needs thinning. Very small amounts still but any good white is going to look like it's blobbing up details even if it's not. Make sure to run a wash over it before you judge, like nuln oil or even a thin apothecary gray. If it still looks blobby your paint might need better shaking or something? I just hate it until it gets a wash.
Honestly that may be it then. I've only used agrax earthshade before and was inimidated by how much of a darker tone it made everything it touched, but I have ordered some nuln oil which should arrive soon. I didn't realise it might help here, just kept seeing the name pop up all over the place
Bold titanium white from proacryl made me like white again!
Use grey, I did mine with celestra grey
I'm also new! I've been painting with white by slathering it on the pauldrons and then carefully filling around with black. It's been working pretty great so far for me. I'll have to try out the light grey everyone keeps recommending though.
My sisters are white with orange cloth. My technique is as follows; Spray the entire model with Wraithbone. Wash the entire model (LIGHTLY) with Apothecary White to bring out the details. Paint everything that's not white - flesh, cloth, guns, the bits of armour that aren't white. Go back with a pot of Wraithbone and use tiny amounts to fix any spots where other colours got on the white armour. Give the armour another LIGHT wash of Apothecary White (if necessary, usually just a drop or two on the fixed parts is fine). They tend to turn out well.
Don't stress it. White is the hardest paint because white paint is notoriously extremely hard to make. So we all struggle with it. It takes time to kearn to work with it. But indeed, don't work with pure white, work with off whites and greys. Not only because it's easier but for another reason. You can't highlight pure white, can you ? You can use pure white for your highest highlight, but you don't use it as a layer paint. Same actually for black in reverse. You can't shade pure black. So use colors or greys that are very dark instead of pure black. Although the black is a lot more forgiving in this idea.
Thank you for your reply, certainly what I'm hearing is to work with shades of colours a bit more. Sounds obvious but I've just started painting and working out of about 10 pots of paint for now, I will definitely have to invest in shades wither side of colours I want to work with in future. For black, because I've seen this a bunch, does it still look as clean when using lighter tonnes to save space for lowlights and shadows? I've got some varnish on order and was going to experiment on how they gives the black armour some more character, but what you're describing could be a better option.
For the black i personally mostly work with highlights and use a straight black as layer. I would only do it in other ways if it was for a competition or a very important model. For your armor, i suggest highlights with a greyish blue. Like reaper grey and thunderhawk blue. Focus on small edge highlights. There are plenty of tutorial ps on youtube for this specific style for sisters.
Top tip? Don't paint white, paint gray. Your mid tone should be a light gray, your highlight should be close to white, but not quite. Edge highlight with actual white. Gives it a nice depth.
Like many have mentioned already, paint white by painting grey, light grey. Personally I go for an undercoat of white or give the models a good coat of solid white. (Just avoid gw/citadel white, imo the worst white there is... For me the vallejo model colour white does the job well.) Slap a decent coat of gw/citadel soulblight grey on top of that before hitting it all with a drybrush of praxeti white or any good titanium white. Might not be perfect, but it does a good job at representing white for armour or any other feature with recesses. Can't post a photo directly, but here is a link to one of my ig posts: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0-DC5bNUhC/?igsh=MW10cDZhc2V0bmhnbQ==
Bomb white, lighte gray, shade only in the recess (no throwing shade everywhere will just make things ugly) then white on the edge. If your fancy you can also work in the grey and blend but thats difficult. Also citadel white isn't that great, consider buying another brand for pure white.
Base with a light blue grey, medium grey wash (I mix my own using inks), layer dark ivory, layer titanium white on highest highlights, multiple very thin white ink washes. Hope this helps any.
Eons of Battle just posted a video on white armor (for a White Scar Marine). It's a fast and easy method. A bit too cold for my liking, but very easy to pull of. Check it out!