Competing Painting Philosophies

There are basically two different ways you can paint skeletons.  One is what I term the “black base” method and the other the “brown wash” or “brown dip” method.

Back when my friends and I started war-gaming, way back when Communists walked the earth, it was difficult to get information on how to paint, and we learned by a lot of trial and error.  You must remember, not only was the Soviet Union still in existence and Milli Vanilli were respected Grammy-winning artists, there was also no internet.  (Ok, there was internet, but no World Wide Web, and if you wanted to get a picture from USENET you had to download 5 files – which took 4 to 6 months.) 

So for a very long time, I really had no concept about inks or washes, much less how to use them.  I hit upon the “black base” method very early on.  Basically, you paint a basecoat of black onto the skeleton.  (Soon I graduated to black spray primer.)  After the base coat dries, you paint the ivory/bone color directly onto the bone sections of the figure.  If you wanted to save time, or certain parts were teeny-tiny, you could dry brush the ivory/bone onto the figure.  (Oh happy day when I found out about “dry brushing”).

The second method, which I started trying after I learned about washes, was the “brown wash” method.  Essentially, you do the reverse.  You undercoat the skeleton with an ivory/bone color, then apply a thin brown wash.  If the wash is the perfect consistency (not too thick to make the bones brown, but not too thin so enough brown remains in the cracks) you have a nice, natural looking decaying skeleton.

Although I learned how to use both, I have kept with the black base method for the most part through my painting career.  The reason is this; the direct bone to black contrast makes for a more “cartoony” looking figure.  It’s like the effect of a Halloween costume where you have a black shirt with white bones printed on it.  The brown wash gives a much more natural appearance that looks better overall, but here’s the catch; it only looks better up close.  Yes, skeletons painted with the brown wash look more real when you hold them up to your eyes.  But most of the time, when your figures are on the table top, they are not close.  They are 6 or 7 feet away.  It’s here that the black base method shines.  The high contrast that makes the model look cartoony up close allows for a better look (to my eyes) when they are on the table-top.  The naturalistic look of the brown wash method gets lost and just doesn’t look as good.

It’s a taste thing.  In any case, as I will show, I’ve recently been experimenting again with the brown wash method – both for reasons of speed (it’s faster) and maybe because I’m not actively playing anymore.  It’s fun to try everything!