Painting with White (Don Suratos method)

[Whiterook]

This is an awesome video for painting with White, both airbrushing and hand brushing, using Vallejo acrylics



On the hand brushing technique, this was the best explanation I’ve personally seen on the three White’s in the Model Color Range:

• 70.853 Glaze White - glaze medium is generally used to mix with acrylic colors; improves fluidity, increases transparency, and slows drying time. Ideal for shadows, shadings, glazes and working with pigments. 
• 70.951 Basic White - for base colors and is the chalkiest of them all, even if you thin or mix glaze medium. Used for less transparency.
• 70.842 Gloss White - extreme highlights is the easiest to use.

I learned a lot from this short video, and I hope you do, as well!

[mikeh]

I hate painting white! Yellow is another color that just bedevils me. Of course I'm not crazy about airbrushes and don't even have one at this time. Rattle cans and brushes for me now, I'm not out trying to win any contests these days.

[Whiterook]

Apr 26, 2022 11:17:39 GMT -5 mikeh said:

I hate painting white! Yellow is another color that just bedevils me. Of course I'm not crazy about airbrushes and don't even have one at this time. Rattle cans and brushes for me now, I'm not out trying to win any contests these days.

Well, I hear you there! White is one of the hardest colors to work with, in my opinion… rarely can it be used with straight opacity, as in bunnies butt white, but is more an accent color, oddly as that sounds. The video really gets that point across, I think. Because of that, airbrushing is about the only way to use that color effectively, and the results are amazing! The mini he painted looks great with just layers of white.. it kinda amazed me, really. Of course, that was on a 28mm figure… getting to 15mm and smaller would increase the difficulty.

As for an airbrush, I was was extremely nervous to give one a go, as I thought they must be a devil to use. Then my sister told me she used one for cake decorators — and no disrespect to my sister but, I figured if she could use one, I could (sibling rivalry be damned)! As it turned out, I could, and it wasn’t the rocket science I anticipated it to be… the hardest parts of using an airbrush is cleaning the needle afterwards, and figuring out what psi to use; the needle being quite easy actually, and staying between 15 and 20 psi and you’re generally fine!

My first airbrush was a single action Badger, bought at Michael’s Craft Store with a 50% off coupon… I still use it for topcoating. I then bought an Iwata Eclipse, which is a dual action beauty and joy to use. I’ve only used it on models, but I’ll be trying it out on miniatures soon.

I strongly advice a good spraybooth if you do delve into the world of airbrushing, and if you have the room for one. I bought a PACE and love it!