Clean Up Your Style by Doing Blacklining

I wanted to do something simple, yet with significant effect on your miniature. I immediately thought about blacklining.

If your miniatures aren’t looking “clean” and all parts looks like pulp of different colors, this is first step to change that. 🙂

Idea is very simple. You just need to paint black line between all elements. 

Sounds simple but i’s very manual skill and it requires practice. However even “not so great” blacklining is better than no blacklining at all. Don’t be discourage after first try.

It’s really essential skill and it will improve overall looks of your army.

You’ll need:

• Your favorite brush, size 0 or 1
• Black paint (f.e Vallejo Model Color Black)
• Pre-painted miniature

You can use one of your already painted miniatures or prepare something just for the occasion.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1 – No blacklining
All parts are properly painted, metal is washed, helmet has some shades and highlights.
Looks decent, but something is missing.

Step 2 – Blacklining!
It’s mostly visible at his face, but I added lines between metal and bone parts as well.
I’m using it by default on all elements, but it works really well on color with bright base.

Be patient it’s manual skill and you won’t get it right the first time.
I wouldn’t use inks or washes, because you need really good paint opacity.
You want to create “deep shadow” and it is very hard to achieve with translucent paint.

Here you can see how to thin your paint for the process:

If you have freshly bought paint I would use it with just a little bit of water. Older paints may need more water.
You should have full control over your brush, so wipe your brush over some surface (I use my hand) to get of the excess paint before painting.

Step 3 – Highlights (optional)
After blacklining your miniature probably looks great.
Although there’s one more thing you can do to make it shine.
Use final color (f.e. silver for metal and white for everything else) to make final highlight and get even better contrast.

That’s all for now. Please let me know about your results.
You can send them via email or share on social media with #paintcademy.

If you have questions please let me know.

Cheers

Mateusz