Mixing Washes

When talking about painting a miniatures, we frequently reference washes for shading. But where do we get these washes?

For common colors, such as brown or black, I will often use purchased, pre-made washes. I use them so frequently that it saves me time not to have to mix up a wash for these all the time.

However, there are times when I need to shade a less commonly used color, say a green or a blue. In those cases I will often just mix up my own was on the fly.  To understand how to mix your own washes, we'll need to cover a little paint theory.

Paints have three key ingredients: pigment, medium and binder. The pigment gives it the color, the binder is what makes the paint stick to the miniature, and the medium is there to tie the pigment and binders together.  It is the ratio of medium that determines the paint’s consistency. When we thin our paints with water, we are adding water as a medium to get the consistency we desire.  The ability to use water as a medium, instead of some smelly toxic paint thinner, is a big part of what makes acrylic paints awesome!

Now, all this works fine to a certain point. However, if we add the amount of water required to get the paint to the consistency of a wash, it dilutes the pigment and binders to the point that they can no longer function. The paint, essentially, just falls apart.  So! What we need is a different medium that will thin the paint without diluting the components the paint needs to remain cohesive.

You will likely not be surprised to learn that such a product is available for sale!  It is called “matt medium.” Vallejo sells matt medium in dropper bottles, and it works fine. However you can also visit your local art supply super store and pay twice the price for a bottle that is around 15 times bigger.

Ok… That information is all fascinating and everything… But, so what? Well, it means that we can use the paints we already own to mix whatever color and consistency of wash we need.

Let's assume a want to wash over Vallejo Carmine Red. Looking at my reds, I think that my Reaper Bloodstain Red would make a good wash color.

The basic formula I use is three drops paint, nine drops water and nine drops matt medium.

Now, if you have the perfect shade color for your base coat color, because you purchased a Reaper triad or something, you can use three drops of the shade color.  But in my case, I’m just picking my best guess from what I have on hand.  My base coat paint and my shade paint are two completely different paints from different manufacturers.

No problem! As long as the colors are in the ballpark, you have good odds of making it work. The trick is to use two drops of the shade color and one drop of the base coat color. By including the base coat color in the shade, the colors will tie themselves together.

In my case, that is two drops of Bloodstain Red, one drop of Carmine Red, nine drops of water and nine drops of matt medium.

By the way, Reaper sells empty dropper bottles for use in dropping water and refilling matt medium from jugs bought at the art supply superstore.

Now, that is the base formula. It works pretty well, most of the time. However, it’ll take some practice and experience to learn what kind of wash consistency matches your painting style. Play around with adding a little more water, or a little less matt medium, or whatever, and see how it goes.

However, there is one rule that will almost always apply when making washes:

The bigger the difference between the color of the base coat and the color of the wash, the thinner the wash should be.

With a larger color difference, you will want a thinner wash so that more of the base coat color will show through, which will give a smoother gradient to your shades.  If the colors are close, it can be a bit thicker, because the base coat color and the wash color will make a nice gradient all on their own.

Pro-tip: Reaper uses their brush-on sealer as the medium for their washes. They claim that it works better than normal matt medium. I have tried it, and I can’t disagree. I prefer it moderately, as it seems to give a slightly more vibrant color and smoother flow. However the difference is too small to justify the increased cost, over a big jug of matt medium, for speed painting. But give it a try if you’re curious or doing something fancy.

That's really it! With this formula, you can make a wash for just about any situation.

This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society.