Painting amazing miniatures and figurines

For example, the clothing on a person will have some folds and wrinkles that are partially in shadow. When reproduced in miniature, those same clothing folds are so small they won't cast a visible shadow, making them look subtly 'wrong' to the eye.

Thus when painting miniatures, dolls, or figurines you need to add a final highlight and shadow layer to fake depth.

Paint your miniature as normal. When you have finished, you will add the highlight first. Take a fan brush that is bone dry. Get a tiny amount of white on it and just barely dust the whole miniature with it. Try it out on a hand first to make sure you are just barely touching. This will lighten all the raised surfaces that are closest to the viewer.

Let dry.

Now go make a wash of black paint diluted with water. Check how diluted the color is on a piece of paper. It should be roughly the same shade as a pencil mark. Wash the whole figure with the wash, starting from top to bottom. It will pool in the hollows and folds, adding fake shadows.

You may need to blot the figure slightly during the washing process if droplets are forming on the underside of arms, legs, etc. If they aren't blotted, they'll leave a sharp black line on the underside of the figure's arm.

If you are dealing with an item that has an extremely slick, shiny surface, you may want to go back and highlight again. This is recommended for getting a metal finish.

Black items deserve special attention because they cannot be washed. Instead, they should be dry brushed with white two or three times until they are almost a dark gray rather than black. The accompanying picture shows an example of one of my sculptures with black fur that has been heavily dry brushed.