The difference adding a wash can make

What the model looked like to begin with
As always, when I go to my FLGS (Game Vault), I end up sitting around talking about how I painted this or that or what I would do for a particular result. I could sit around all day and talk shop. This is one of those cases.

One of the guys a few weeks ago asked me about painting. I forget the exact question, but it came down to this, I told him to let me borrow his mini and I would do a couple of real quick things with washes to make it come "alive." I wanted to show him just how easy it is to add a few washes to a model and really make it come together.

Now I limited myself to using just GW washes and the original base colors he used so that when I gave the model back, he could reproduce the same results on his other models with little to no extra work on his part. I didn't "clean up" any painting or make any "corrections" to the model. All I did was add a series of quick washes and highlights.


What it looked like when I was done
So what did I do?
Simple, he had all of the base colors there. All I did was add a wash or two to individual areas and then go back with the base color to add depth.
For example, the metal areas. Already based with Silver, all I did was wash with Badab Black and then go back and drybrush the original Silver back over that.

Same for the cape, already based, I went in and added two washes of Thraka Green and then went back and added the original color to the tops of the folds of the cape. And it was like this for the whole model. Each area got a wash or two with a highlight.

In short, using washes can be a great way to add some depth and life to your models. It doesn't have to be difficult or some crazy formula either. I didn't thin them or use and crazy combination of colors or add any painting mediums or anything like that.

I think sometimes people look at models and think it's too hard to get the result the see or think they just can't do it. You don't need to be an 'Eavy Metal Painter or a Golden Daemon winner to have good looking models.