Contrast Paint? Make Your Own Custom Washes Instead!

After almost 30 years in the hobby, I might very well have a bigger selection of paints than anyone else, and it probably didn't cost me much more than 100 bucks. I did use Citadel paints back in the 90's, when I first got into the hobby and didn't know any better, but have long since given them up for cheaper and better alternatives. Just like you, I like mixing my own paints, either from thickening inks, or by thinning down professional soft body acrylics. With all the attention these new Citadel contrast paints have been given, my old frustration with the GW price point have returned. The way they take advantage of hobbyists in general, and beginners in particular, is appalling. I have even been thinking about making a video similar to yours, explaining how easy they are to make. The main point I would wish to get across though is not how easy it is to make contrast paints or washes specifically, but rather how silly it is buying large selections of paint of any kind. In theory, you only need three good primary colors (plus black and white), and you can mix whatever you want from them. When working with real pigments though, it's hard to find ones with perfect mixing properties, so I normally use 6 primaries in practice. But once you've learnt how to mix paint properly, that is truly all you need. No color in the world will require you to mix more than two of those primaries to get the right hue, and then you break it with black and white to find your desired shade, tone or tint. This is how traditional painters have done it for centuries. They find the handful of pigments that best suit their taste, and then mix whatever else they need. And if you ever doubt the validity of this approach, remember that pretty much every single color image you have ever seen in print media (including GW box art, magazines and posters) have all been made using only cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks. Together with the white of the paper it's printed on, those 4 inks can recreate every colour you see. So save yourself a lot of money. Buy a small selection of professional acrylics that are high in pigment, and complement them with some acrylic media and a couple of mixing agents. I would say that the most enjoyable part of any painting session is to sit down and premix the colors you plan on using for your figures. Just store the finished paints and washes in plastic dropper bottles (which you can buy in bulk from Amazon) and they will keep forever. You even get to name them yourself, which is a surprising amount of fun :-)

"There's no substitute for experience" 👏👏👏

Goobertown is like.... the Bob Ross of mini war game painting. Also, fun fact: That Liquitex brand of products you've used so often was one of, if not THE first company to take the recent invention of acrylic paints and market them specifically to artists. They've been doing it since at least the 1950s.

Came to hear the voice of an angel, stayed for the content!

Goobertown Hobbies isn't the place for rants, but Midwinter Minis is, haha. Awesome video matey, I knew you'd nail the Contrast blend, you chemical genius.

"Goobertown Hobbies just isn't the place for rants." I love that. That's why I keep watching your videos. :)

Your cat channel has way too much hobby content. There isn’t enough cat videos on the internet

I tried this last night, being able to mix any color I want in 15 seconds was amazing. 9 drops medium, 12 drops ink, 2 drops flow, and 2 drops water. Worked perfectly.

I like how this is laced out like a scientific essay. Intro:say what you are gonna talk about Main part: make your point Conclusion: summarize your point into something that is easy to remember

Happy Goobertown Tuesday! Have a great day everyone :-)

Oh I LIKE this. It looks like my afternoon is booked.

GW: "Can we just drone strike this guy?!"

Another great video, Brent. Your content has a certain 'Bob Ross' quality that is quite pleasant.

I think this is the third time I’ve watched this video since getting involved in miniature painting several months ago. Watching it today, I think I understand the issue I recently had with an Army Painter Speed Paint, I’m not applying it thick enough for the desired effect. For the record, I have been using mostly Craftsmart paint on my miniatures and gotten some pretty solid results, it can definitely be done if you thin your paints. Thanks for the video!

Lord in heaven. So glad I found this, was about to go spend a small fortune on the contrast paints tomorrow, but I'm way more interested in tinkering. Great video! Thanks man!

Hey Brent, your videos, painting philosophy and general outlook are everything that is great about the hobby!

Some years later, I finally bought a bunch of liquitex inks and some medium, and I'm ready to try these techniques. They look fun!

I'm go glad I found this video! I'm still quite new to the hobby and expensive paints is one of the reasons I haven't gotten into it as much as I'd like. Knowing there are other options and I CAN experiment with paints really reawakened my excitement!

I'm very lucky. I recently gotten into miniature painting. And due to the current situation going on in the world I was able to get over 100 citadel paints including washes contrast paints tech dry glaze and others for less than 3 dollars a pot. Also got a army painter set for 10 bucks. My local shop was liquidating his paints and minis due to having to move his shop and didn't want them to go to waste. I got a great start up to my new hobby for very affordable prices. And it was my birthday recently so some were also presents from friends and gf. I must say I really enjoy the new community I've stepped into and finding these very talented people and learning along the way. I must say I have a new addiction and I love it. I love learning more and more about this hobby

I just had a pretty bad day at work and came back to this video to check up on the receipt. And I have to say, you really calmed me down. Your videos are genuinely nice and easing. A quality thats underrated I guess. So thanks for making this. You substantially improved my mood today.