This technique has been around since LEONARDO DA-VINCI and is still useful in modeling . Why it has fallen out of favor( with some ) I do not know . I even dry brush chalks and dusts to achieve the look i want . It causes a good blending , or streaking and does it well . What with all the paints and stuff out there I think " Dry Brushing " rates up there with " Dot Filters " for completing a specific look .I even still use it on " N " and " H.O. " trains . I truly hope the use of this technique remains a staple of modeling long after I have gone to that big hobby shop in the other place . Model On ! Tanker - Builder
If it works for you and you’re happy with the results, keep doing it. It’s one way of getting quick highlights. I still dry brush fur or textured hair on my figures and just used dome of this technique in 1.48 seats for a commission The drawback is that it tends to bring the highlights to the bottom of a fold where careful application of highlights can keep the light exactly where you want it.
I read somewhere else that dry-brushing was falling out of favor, but I don’t know why.
My modeling skills are not great, but dry-brushing a black instrument panel with silver makes it pop right out. I have seen others that are somehow able to paint individual gauges, and do fantastic detail work, but that is beyond what I am capable of.
But I have fun even with my modest results, and no one but myself sees them anyway[:)]
I am a big fan of dry-brushing. It can do the same thing as the dot filter technique. One suggestion- it is hard on brushes, so I keep a brush just for dry brushing.
Dry-brushing is now “out of favor”? When did this happen and why wasn’t I told about it??? Not that I’d care. Dry-brushing is still my favorite way of making things pop. I can make it as subtle or as bold as I choose. Using it for applying pastels is still my #1 favorite way of doing things.
You know this country is going to you-know-where in a handbasket if dry-brushing is suddenly falling out of favor. [:(]
I had read an article in another modelers magazine , dedicated to ships and that is what was said by the author of the article . I personally don’t care . I use dry brushing on ships , planes and if I want them weathered , cars and trucks …I don’t like using the airbrush for this as I can’t compensate for my hands shaking as well . So I’ll continue to dry-brush ! Model On ! Tanker-Builder
I have always felt that dry-brushing is not truly a separate technique but merely the extreme point in brushing. The effect of brushing paint varies in an almost continuous manner from a brush completely saturated with paint, to a different look when lean of paint, to the extreme of an almost completely dry brush.
For instance, with either a brush or an airbrush, you can get gloss paint to look semi-gloss by putting it on in a light, dry coat, or flat paint to look semi-gloss by putting it on very heavy and wet.
And the original point by Tankerbuilder about artists using it is a good one. I tried both oil and acrylic painting many years ago as an attempt at art, and I know the skills that I learned in painting DO carry over to painting models. For instance, I learned to mix paint to get the colors I wanted, a nice skill when I don’t want to worry about searching all the hobby shops in the area to find a rare color.
I consider ships my specialty and I’m still a big user of the drybrushing technique.
I think the thing that has started people thinking this way is that a lot of folks go for “new” things. The filter technique is a new thing, so everyone I know in modeling except me is giving it a try, and consider any old ideas as passe’. That and pastels- lots more of them on market lately and everyone is spending bucks buying latest pastel set. 'Course, I consider pastels a material useful in dry brushing
Hey , you should , when you have the time , try the " Dot Filter " on that test model you hide away ! It is very useful . I knew about it , just never applied it to modeling ! Till now . Tanker - Builder
Gotta warn you about something that just happened to me .Maybe it has struck you too . It’s called the room wide sneeze ! Well , When I got done I opened my eyes to the prettiest cloud of multi colored pastel dust you ever saw . Even my Black cat was party colored . Just thought I would let you know of this strange malady . Tanker-Builder
