Washing & Shading

Flowing a heavily thinned, ink-like paint (i.e. a “wash”) over a base-coated model and letting capillary action pull it into recesses, folds, and crevices, where it dries darker and deepens the shadows automatically. I almost exclusively use Citadel Shade paints for this since it’s quick and easy, but you can do this with most paints by thinning them down and adding glaze medium and flow improver.

This is likely one of the first techniques a beginner will learn and it nets amazing results, seeming to make details materialize out of nowhere! As you get experience, you’ll likely apply washes in more targeted ways to achieve specific effects.