⚠️How to Make a *BETTER* Black Wash for Terrain - RECIPE

Les' recipe actually called for distilled water, not deionized water like I mispoke in the video.....either way, distilled water is an option, but for terrain I really don't think you need it, tap water should do fine....unless you have terrible tap water.

MY RECIPE

Ingredients

Water (Use distilled if you wish)

Flow Aid (Liquitex or Jet Dry)
Liquitex (USA) amzn.to/2ofiLC0 (Canada) amzn.to/2LqHCw1
Jet Dry (USA) amzn.to/2PHzP04 (Canada) amzn.to/2BSRXkS

Matte Medium
(USA) amzn.to/2N0aVtY (Canada) amzn.to/2N0aVtY

Acrylic Ink
Carbon Black (USA) amzn.to/2LvfiZs (Canada) amzn.to/2wlFmkV
Burnt Umber (USA) amzn.to/2LviQLj (Canada) amzn.to/2wj9Sfj


^(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Mix flow aid into water at approximately 10 (water) to 1 (flow aid). Then mix water and matte medium at apox. 60/40 water to medium. Add ink until you achieve the desired results.

Please tell me you're making your kitchen out of XPS foam and Modpodge 😆

For those curious/interested, here's an explanation/look at the mechanics of these washes:
- The reason why distilled water is recommended is because it won't stagnate on you. This is important if you plan on either mixing up a big batch of wash or you plan on storing it for long periods of time; eventually tap water will go stagnant on you, though how long that takes depends on the quality of your tap water and the environment its being stored in. That being said, if you know you're going to be using the wash immediately and you know it won't last long then distilled water isn't necessary.
- The flow aid is used to break surface tension, i.e. its a surfactant; this is so you don't get tide marks (a.k.a coffee rings). If you only use water, it will tend to pool a lot more and, as a result, you'll find rings of color around the recesses but little to none in the recesses themselves. The surface tension of water prevents the pigment from settling in the recesses, and as the water evaporates the surface area shrinks, pulling the pigment out to the sides and forming those rings.
- If you just mix water, flow aid and matte medium and leave it this way, you know have the equivalent of Games Workshops Lahmian Medium, i.e. acrylic medium with no pigment (if you look closely, you can see that Lahmian Medium isn't actually clear, but is slightly milky), which is great for thinning paints without diluting them, meaning you can turn pretty much any color into a wash/glaze whenever you want, or just thin your paints for more translucent layers.
- I would actually recommend putting glass beads in the bottles (I also recommend this for paint bottles) as agitators. In this case, if you used the Jet Dry, it will allow you to mix up the wash without getting as much foam/soap bubbles, but even if you use flow aid instead putting agitators in is never a bad idea. When it comes to paints, this will make mixing them a good deal easier and less stressful on your hands and wrists when it comes to shaking your paints.

The black wash should really make the details pop in your kitchen.

I just made a trio set of washes using your method—black, brown, and green. All inks are Liquitex Professional Acrylic Inks. Here are my recipes:

Wash Base
• 1 oz distilled water
• 10 drops rinse aid
• 3/4 oz matte medium

Black Wash
• 40 drops Carbon Black ink
• 10 drops Transparent Burnt Umber ink

Brown Wash
• 40 drops Transparent Burnt Umber ink
• 10 drops Carbon Black ink

Green Wash
• 30 drops Vivid Lime Green ink
• 15 drops Transparent Burnt Umber ink
• 5 drops Carbon Black ink

I do measure so I can reproduce the washes accurately each time I make them.

With a dropper bottle, you don’t really have to worry much about bubbles. Just give the wash a good shake and turn it upside down. Wait a few seconds and the bubbles will rise to the bottom of the bottle. What comes out of the dropper should be bubble free. Also, if you use Liquitex flow improver you will indeed get less bubbles.

Folkart Makes a medium called floating medium and it does the same thing as Liquitex flow aid but cheaper. 8 oz is around $5 usd.

A quick tip: put a glass marble in the bottom of the squeeze bottle. It will help you "swirl" the wash to mix it evenly without shaking and making foam.

I picked up the ingredients I needed at Hobby Lobby yesterday, 10-5-22. FYI, here's what I spent: Liquitex Matte Medium - 16 Ounce $18.99, Master's Touch flow medium (don't recall the price but they didn't have Liquitex brand), Acrylic Inks - 2 @ $6.99 each and plastic bottles 3-pack - $3.50. Total: approximately $47.

Hey Black Magic. I just wanted you too know that I was watching this video late at night before i fell asleep. I dozed off for a moment. My iPad slipped my grip just for a moment...it cracked my nose. Your video is so good I took my nosebleed and finished it...Congratulations, you are worth powering through.

I've been uses Les' recipe for years. It's so good for terrain. I like the idea of mixing in a bit of brown too

I've walked past all these ingredients in Michaels many times. I thought "meh" Nuln Oil works fine. Then I started painting the Ruins of Osgilliath and went through almost an entire bottle on just 3 of the bits of terrain. Time to make my own black wash! Great vid :)

This is going to save me so much money on washes for terrain....thanks for this handy recipe!

Love videos like this - very useful. Keep us updated on the kitchen remodel too - would enjoy seeing the progress.

I dig it! Looks better than what I have been mixing for myself for sure. Thanks!

i know you posted this four years ago, but I really appreciate you taking the time to make it! It was super helpful for me as i'm just getting into figure painting and miniatures! I hope you're having a great day wherever you are now!

just getting started in making terrain and i am loving your videos. thanking my fellow gamers are enjoying the new additions to the table

This is a really nice wash! Used it on the repaint of my tiles and stuff.

I finally got round to watching this video. I've been thinking of making washes. Got a pretty good idea on the how to now, only need to get my hands on some inks.

Yaaaas liquitex is wonderful! 😍 I actually have all of these!