How to create a wash???

[IronKobra]

I have picked up my brushes again after a couple of years out and have been using the new citadel washes which i quite like. But I am still trying new things and one thing that I would like some advice on is how to make my own wash of \'normal\' paints.

I am painting Blood Angels and I am mainly thinking of washes to use to deepen the red. So far i haven\'t had terrible results with the normal washes of baal red and devlan mud etc but I think would be useful to know how to create one when the mood strikes.

So I guess my question would be to what ratio roughly should I add water to thin the paint and are there any other tricks to make the wash really wash effectively (like I have read the term glaze mediums and such many times on this forum).

Any ideas, tips or info would be most appreciated.

Muchas gracias

 

[Sand Rat]

I tend to thin the paint by eye - add water until the wash flows freely inside my pallette, then test it on the mini and see if I am getting the desired effect - if no then add water or paint until I reach the point I am looking for.

 

[gohkm]

One way to test the consistency of your wash is simply to make your wash, then swab a blast of your wash across some newspaper with writing. If you can read the writing, it\'s around the right consistency. Depending on paint brand, your mileage is going to vary using this test. I\'ve found it to be fairly accurate for GW paints. Vallejo\'s a bit more uncertain.

And the test most certainly doesn\'t work for metallic paints.

Mind, I didn\'t come up with this myself. I read about it somewhere, can\'t remember if it\'s on Lazlo\'s website, or maybe on Dr. Faust\'s Painting Clinic.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by IronKobra
So I guess my question would be to what ratio roughly should I add water to thin the paint...

Until it\'s thin enough.

Doing exactly as steelcult says is the way to go, that way you learn how to get the effect you want rather than trying to remember exact ratios (there aren\'t any).

Originally posted by IronKobra
...are there any other tricks to make the wash really wash effectively (like I have read the term glaze mediums and such many times on this forum).

Lots of previous threads with tips.

Einion

 

[tallxiii]

For some of the washes I made for my dwarfs, I usually went at least 2-3 parts water and 9 times out of 10 it got the desired effect.

 

[Amazon warrior]

I recently started adding a bit of Liquitex ultra matte medium to my paint, and I think it helps a bit. But you\'ll probably notice a difference with pretty much any additive over plain water. At least my minis look less shiny tho! lol

A tip for painting with your wash, once you have one: Try not to let the paint pool too much on the mini - as it dries it\'ll leave horrible tide-marks that can be really hard to remove or cover over. A light, quick-drying application is better. Takes a bit longer to build up the colour, but looks a hell of a lot better.