Blog Contrast paint vs. "Traditional" painting

[DenDamian]

Hi all,

Recently i have started dabbling with contrast paints. After painting several units, skinks, saurus warriors, a Carnosaur and a bastilladon i figured it would take me forever using the traditional way of painting.

However,

I feel contrast paints are not as consistent as one would like, losing some detail and subtle colour variant is no problem, yet i can't seem to manage to get a nice coat all over that lends itself for detail work and highlights. Also i' ve noticed some contrasts tend to "gloss". I get the sense i am losing control of the overal result and as someone who is more into painting and modelling this is a no go. Tho i do underline the added features of contrast paints, perhaps its just a matter of trial and error?

What are your reccomendations for as far as using contrast paints vs tradtional shading/highlighting etc?

Regards,
Damian

 

[Just A Skink]

Hi @DenDamian. I haven't painted nearly as many minis as you, so you can take anything I say with a grain of salt. Contrast can speed up you're process if you're willing to accept some of the issues you've noticed (pooling and glossiness). Check out this post here on these forums.
http://www.lustria-online.com/threads/contrast-challenge-1000-points-of-seraphon-in-a-week.23431/

Alternatively, depending on the look you desire, I've seen several videos showing that Contrast paints may not necessarily speed up the process. I don't know how you're using the Contrast paints, but it seems that the "one thick coat" may not be right for all situations; no more than "one thick coat" of traditional paint is always right. Depending on the Contrast color, it might be better to paint two thin coats, or even coats actually thinned by Contrast medium. That could help with the pooling. I've read several people say that you will probably have to spray a matte coat over the final mini to knock down the "Contrast shine."

Personally, I think the videos of @Itepixcauh (from this site) are a great resource for using Contrast. Check the tutorial section of the "Painting" forums. He has done a whole series of painting space marines with Contrast. Even though, I haven't put his techniques into practice, it's helpful to see what Contrast can look like with highlighting. However, you'll see that his skink teal skin is totally traditional and looks great. Here is the YouTube link.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8TNMA9iSSRgfpuML04SUg