Layering

One of the most common techniques used in painting miniatures is called layering. Most painters use this technique, even if they don’t realize it.

The goal of layering is to apply shading and highlighting to your miniature by applying your paint in thin, almost transparent layers. This result is a smooth transition from shadows to highlights.




There are four basic steps for layering.

1) Apply Basecoat

2) Apply Shadows

3) Apply Highlights

4) Apply Glaze



Apply Basecoat

A basecoat is the first layer of paint that will be applied over your primed miniature. The color selected for this basecoat should be a good mid-tone color, somewhere between the range that you would like to use for your darkest shadow and brightest highlight.

Once you have chosen your basecoat, or mid-tone, you will need to apply it to your miniature. This stage is very important, as you are laying the foundation for your shadows and highlights.

The most important thing to remember when applying your basecoat is to use several thin layers of paint opposed to one or two thicker layers. You can use plain old tap water (some painters prefer distilled water), or you can use a mixture of water and another solution. I use a solution that is about eight parts water to two parts Flow Improver. (Flow Improver helps your paint flow more freely from the brush tip to your miniature).

Your first couple of thin coats will appear very thin and won’t give good coverage, but don’t get discouraged. Allow the previous coat to dry and then apply as many coats as it takes. You will know when the basecoat is done when you achieved a very smooth application of paint that does not obscure the finer details of the miniature or leave visible brush strokes behind.







Apply Shadows

The next step will be to apply shadows to your miniature. How far and how deep you want your shadows is a matter of personal taste, but the more gradual layers of color that you choose, the more smooth your transitions will be.

The first step in applying shadows to your miniature will be to mix your first shadow. Choose a color that will help darken your mid-tone gradually to achieve a slightly darker color than before.

Sometimes black paint can be used to facilitate this change, but it should be used sparingly, as a little bit will go a long way. If you believe that adding black will drastically change your color, you may want to find a darker tone of the same color you chose.

Once you have your color and you are ready to proceed, you will once again need to thin your paint before application. The paint does not need to be as thin it was when you were applying your basecoat, but it should have at least enough water so that it flows smoothly off of your brush and provides transparency to your pigment.

Applying thin paint like this can be a time-consuming process, sometimes adding paint to the same area several times before you get the transition and depth that you desire.

When applying your shadows, you start near the top of the area, and work the paint down to the lowest recess, depositing the most pigment where your brush stroke ends. This will leave more transparent water and pigment where your stroke began, creating a gradual transition from mid-tone to shadow.



Once you are satisfied with your initial shading, you will need to darken the paint again. Make sure it is the right consistency, and begin again, always moving your brush away from the highest area, to the area that is deeper, and in a shadow.




Since you will be working with very thin and watery paint, it can help to blow on the area to which you just applied the paint to so that it dries faster. You should see the water evaporate, leaving behind the paint that you applied.

Continue this until you have a deep shadow and you are happy with the look that you have achieved.




Apply Highlights

Applying highlights to your miniature is very similar to applying shadows. In essence, you are attempting to add lighter variations of your mid-tone color to areas that would naturally catch more light.

Like before, you want to work with a thin mix of paint and water so that you can concentrate the highlight exactly where you want it. If you feel like your mix is too thin and is running off the brush into the cracks, use a paper towel to draw paint off the brush before application or you can add more paint to get a thicker consistency.

To begin painting highlights, you will need to begin with your mid-tone color and add a lighter color for each layer of highlighting that you want to achieve. How many layers and how bright you wish your highlights to be depends both on your personal preference and the type of material that you are painting. Cloth, for example has subtle highlights and shadows, while metal can contain many gradients, often contrasting starkly with one another. The pictures that I took for this article show the painting of red cloth but the techniques can be used for painting anything.



To complete your highlights, keep lightening your mid-tone until you reach the brightest color. As you paint these highlights onto the miniature, make sure that you are applying the highlights to increasingly smaller areas that are more exposed to light. As with shadows, imagine that the light is coming from directly above the miniature. This is a common practice that most painters utilize and is referred to as Zenithal Lighting.




Apply Glazes

When painting layers, you will inevitably encounter areas of the miniature where the transition between mid-tone, shadow or highlight was not smooth. If you prefer stark highlights and shadows you can end the process now and skip the glazing process. If you prefer a smooth transition where the various tones of color flow smoothly between layers, you can apply a glaze.

In this instance, a glaze is nothing more than your original mid-tone watered down to about eight parts water to two parts paint. The paint should be nearly transparent, as shown in the image below.




Once you have created your glaze, apply it the area you have been painting. Allow the glaze to dry, and you will notice that any stark transitions between highlight, mid-tone, and shadow will have disappeared. If you still find noticeable transitions, you can apply glazes to that area until you have achieved a desirable result.