Personally, I love them on some parts of miniatures and hate them on other parts. But what I really hate about them, is having to paint edge highlights. It is one of the most fiddly, time consuming parts of painting a model. Your brush tip must be near perfect, your paint should be diluted to get a nice flow but not too thin and some area's are really, really hard to reach and not paint on other parts!
That is why, dear readers, in this article I will tell you how I cheat my edge highlights.
In historical scale model you see people using graphite pencils to create metallic welds and edges. This gave me an idea and I set out to my art store to buy artists watercolor pencils.
I used a pencil sharpener to get rid of the protective coating on the tip. Now, as you would with a brush, run the side of the tip over all your edges. Its really quick and easy! You can even erase errors using an eraser or a wet brush. You won't have to mind paint drying in the tip of your brush or paint drying on your palette.
** Make sure to varnish after applying the edge highlights. The watercolor pencil is not very durable!**
Some examples of my first trial run:
Overall I think this is about four times faster then using paint. I bought a bunch of different colors so I can have several stages of edge highlights.
The watercolor pencils could also be used to draw a sketch for if you want to freehand. You can blend out the pencil drawing with a wet brush or just paint over it.
I hope this quick article helped some of you.
If it did, feel free to share your experience in the comments!
As always, thank you for reading and hobby on!
Hey,
ReplyDeletegreat idea there. How long do they last? Do they wear off easily?
Best,
Tom
Yes they do, I just edited the article with an extra line stating you should varnish after applying the edge highlights.
DeleteThank you for reading and replying :)
Do they fade at all when you use a varnish?
Deletepresumably you'll want to spray the varnish? I'm guessing if you brush it on you'll take off the pencil? still a great idea that I'll be stealing! :-) Thanks for documenting and providing the tutorial!
DeleteYeah spraying the varnish on is recommended but brush on varnish could work if you only go over it once. But better be safe than sorry so I used airbrush varnish
DeleteCan I use normal colour pencils? Or is there something special about watercolour pencils?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I don't know. I used watercolor pencils because they are softer and it would be easier to correct mistakes. But if you try it out and it works, i would love to hear it!
DeleteRegular color pencils are just crayon inside of wood, I wouldn't advise using regular color pencils. Nobody wants to add wax to their paint job.
DeleteHave you tried using a small wet brush to do a quick fade effect after? Looks great!
ReplyDeleteI have not tried that yet but I guess that will work brilliantly!
DeleteWhoa, guess I am going to art store today! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ben!
DeleteHave you tried using a small wet brush to do a quick fade effect after? Looks great!
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting! I've linked your idea in my article about painting - https://alkony.enerla.net/english/the-nexus/miniatures-nexus/miniature-hobby/miniatures-painting-miniatures-basics
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking! I've read through your article and it's a good collection of different techniques
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