Are Cheap Makeup Brushes Drybrushing Magic? 

Can't wait for Uncle Atom's spin off channel for makeup tutorials.

Maybe he's cloned with it, maybe it's Space Marine....

Those brushes are also great for brushing off dust from your miniatures without damaging them.

You should do an audiobook. that would be great to listen to honestly.

Makeup removal sponges are also great for applying rust and dirt effects.

I bought these the day I first watched this video when it came out. DRASTICALLY changed my dry brushing technique and time spent doing it. Highly recommend this method!

„It is hard to dry brush with wet.“ - 2019, Tabletop Minions 😂

I love that you didn’t edit out brushing the Blood Bowl ork off his base #keepinitreal 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

"Im not a make up guy" - neither am I uncle atom

And with that purchase, my Amazon, Facebook and Google recommendations are going to get just a little bit weirder I bet.

Vince Venturella mentioned in a recent video about 5 must-have brushes that he also uses a makeup brush for drybrushing, and old, worn-out brushes for dry pigment application. I think a big makeup brush would be useful for applying an initial zenithal drybrush over an entire model (in case you don't have an airbrush and don't want to mess around with spray cans), and smaller, old brushes can then be used to drybrush specific parts of the model such as chainmail or fur coats.

Makeup brushes are an aritists secret weapon. Many oil painters use them to soften edges and create smooth color transitions.

@10:37 in german we call this "Vorführeffekt" (engl: demonstration effect(?))... :)

You can get brushes super cheap one eBay. Some of the eye shadow brushes are my favourite to dry brush with. I love makeup and I love painting miniatures :)

Came here from your Necron tutorial and you mentioned this. I've gotten into the modeling after maybe 20-22 years away (but always read all the 40k books). Thank you for this technique. Its really helped me paint my necrons well and given me confidence to do other models.

The other nice thing is how well they work for highlighting power armor on a Space Marine. Because the bristles are softer and the head of the brush is round, the pigment goes on very smoothly and gradually. With a light touch, the effects can almost be as smooth as blending. It sped up my output incredibly, without compromising on results.

Man, i like your style and the very useful information you give. As a plus, your voice is relaxing. Thank you!

Love this. And yeah, was thinking about picking some up. Beautiful drybrushing is an art in itself and something I need to add to the list of stuff I want to get better at.

Vince Venturella did a similar video, he showed how you can get smooth highlights over smooth areas using this technique. His example was a space marine, it was pretty cool! No rough highlights for just dry brushing!

not just brushes, but the sanding cubes for acrylic nails are fantastic and great for polishing parts after you have filed off nubs, also the color mixing dropper some sell are awesome!.

I'm only just getting into the hobby but your channel has been beyond helpful, really great tips, thanks 👍

I'm just getting started in the hobby. Before seeing this today I happened to find some Elf brushes at a discount store and picked them up because I thought they might work as cheap dry brushes. Glad to see someone recommending this! Hopefully I get good results when I start painting with them.

I use these exact brushes and they work very well. I like to do a heavy dry brush of gray and white over black, and then use thin paints and inks to apply transparent color over the drybrush. It's a bit like that zenithal priming strategy.

Well, i now know how are gonna paint all the new terrain this summer. LOL gonna grab a bunch of them honking poof balls and set my friends to dry brushing for a couple beers and maybe some whiskey, it's important to motivate the help ;)

I can recommend cheap artists hogshair brushes too. I did use a makeup brush for years for dry brushing and loved it.

I've found these style of makeup brushes for sale in the clearance isle of my local Wal-Mart. They do work very well. The big one worked great for the terrain from the Kill Team boxed set and terrain from the Speed Freaks game. I always check that isle for items I can use for the hobby. I love the use of the improvised barricade set. I have a set of those for my terrain. They are very popular for games.

I bought 2 of these brushes when I started 2 years ago and still have them. They get a little beat up but both of mine have stood the test of time pretty well.

Yes, they are! And also do wonders for basecoating!

I had the exact same idea, but I didn't get to test it, because my woman didn't have any cheap or used up big make-up brushes like this, as she uses really expensive ones and takes good care of them. I'm surprised this gives such amazing results! Awesome, I need to get some of my own.

Great video got to be one of the best dry brush vid that I've seen.

Because of Teri’s videos I’ve bought various inexpensive makeup brushes for all kinds of purposes. They work like a charm for a lot of effects. And with them being so cheap if they get destroyed it doesn’t matter :-). As someone else mentioned, makeup sponges are great for textured effects especially rust. And small makeup sponges attached to a handle are great for getting interesting textures into tight spots. Some have heads that are 3-5mm which is great.

Amazing idea. I'll try that for my Killteam terrain to get it done fast 😁

Great tip! Thanks!

Awesome tips. Love your content

Man iv missed your videos and your butter smooth mini secret whispers.

Yup, they are! Been using them for years now and they are excellent

I had a massive fat one that winds up and down so it is perfect for doing vehicles to buildings and had it in my tool box for dry brushing for years

I tried a few elf brushes after you first mentioned them. I love them

Congratulations on the sponsor! Your videos have helped me a lot getting into the hobby

This combined with the new contrast range might be a good thing to finish army's quick and look amazing!

I only use soft, floffy makeup brushes to apply powders, pigments, pastels and tile grout. They work great for applying dry, very fine powders. I have various sizes (like you show in your video). I have the same sizes in flats (very small to very, very large) that I use as dry brushes.

I've been using makeup brushes for the past 6 months and one of my most secret weapons! I specifically use them for space marine power armor. Really gives the effect of blending on the curved edges without the dusty effect. Has sped up my making big time. Can't recommend them enough! I also bought a super cheap set on eBay. Compared to GW prices, they were practically free!

I'll try this out!! 👍🏻

you can buy sets from Aliexpress (or even Amazon) for super cheap. You also can get smaller brushes that you can use for dry brushing small details, just looks for brushes for eye makeup

I just tried it, and it indeed IS magic. It just works. I absolutely love it, its absolutely fantastic.

Mine arrived yesterday from Amazon!!

Great tips. Doing this asap.

Great tip!

I keep two older GW "Tank" brushes around for similar purposes! One older for drybrushing, and one a bit newer for general basecoating. These being even larger are probably even better!

Just tried your "pro tip". You sir are a mad genius. Just dry brushed my Necron Kill team as a test ahead of the army painting. Result spectacular.

I believe the term you were looking for is "overbrushing"; when you don't wipe off quite as much paint as you would for a drybrush, allowing more paint to stick to the higher points of your figure or model. I can definitely see how these would facilitate large scale drybrushing and overbrushing; I have a feeling I'll be looking for some next time we're at Wal-Mart.

The ELF eye blending brush is AMAZING as a manual priming brush, it holds a shit tonne of paint for a long time and the finish is great.

Hey it's a Cthulhu from the Bag o' Cthulhu! I have a bunch of those I am using for a D&D puzzle. They are an accessory from Fantasy Flight's Call of Cthulhu. They were super cheap years ago, but are pretty expensive now. Some people are trying to sell them as alternative minis for Cthulhu wars.

Thanks for this video! Can't wait to try these. I'm in the makeup aisle all the time LOL

Big Lots carries Elf makeup brushes, all in the dollar range

I recently got a set myself and they really are great for drybrushing. And a full set was like two bucks from Chinese web store...

Solid advice here

Okay, I'm convinced! Off to Dollar General when lunch break comes!!

06:56 'cheap as chips' yes, overseas...here! great video by the way, sounds silly but i never thought about getting 'cheap' make up brushes for this sort of thing..

Bought and used a make-up brush for the first time this week on the wings of my terrorgeist. Best dry brush I've ever used. Only cost 49p (62 US cents)!

Cool! Don't forget sponges make for good textures on floors & walls

I don't like dry brushing. Bcz it makes everything so "old & rusty".. and in my personal taste, i prefer more definite and "cartoonish" contrasts on the models. Of course this is just my personal taste. Very nice video +1 sub mate!

Brilliant!

The Horus Heresy books are good I am on the "Flight of the Eisenstein" I would highly suggest Hellsreach as well. I really enjoyed taht one as well.

I've been out of the hobby for centuries (painting minis, collecting is other story). But now, I've decided to mount them, and paint. I discovered that 90's paints are still live! And when I saw the brushes that I can buy from GW, or others... I found something that seemed for makeup, and other for Wall painting... well, one of those small brushes to finish the work in the wall, or for cooking... And now, those paintings from the 90's return, called Contrast... XD

Great tip, might pick up some brushes from the dollar store and give it a go.

I have been using makeup brushes for painting for years & I love how you brought this to attention here by demonstrating. Thanks so much for the awesome video & Audible trial.

Wow. The purpose built dry brushes I’ve bought wear out way too quickly. This looks like an awesome way for me to get some good highlights on my undead horde. Thank you so much. Unfortunately my wife’s Mary Kay brushes are about as pricey as anything Citadel puts out so I have to buy my own.

Thanks for this i am going to try them. Audiable on works for a new amazon shopper.

Did you make that terrain? It looks awesome, would love to know how that was made or where to get it.

In case anyone was curious, the makeup brand E.L.F. stands for Eyes Lips Face. I remember hearing about the brand in some other video and was connecting the same dots to Elves.

Anyone else notice that the wrecked bike in the rubble on the thumbnail is painted up as stone rubble? Lmao

Those big makeup brushes are really great to blend oilpaints.

Hey, for dry brushing what is the best way to move from one paint to another if I only have 1 brush or should I wash it each time and leave it to dry? Thanks and keep up the awesome work

James Wapple has been using these for 20 years. Its a great idea.

tiles are good for dry palettes. also I got a daley and rowney one of those make up style brushes today that would have been around 3.00 dollars I think after conversion. so I don't know if they always did these, or if they picked up on it because of the make up brushes. they come in white and black goat hair though. I got a black one just because I had no idea what the different was. it's around the size of your medium one, but they did have much bigger and even smaller ones. got a small sized regular dry brush from the same range though that is marketed as "natural bristle" hell of a lot cheaper than the GW ones though. I reckon the GW work horse brushes are pretty decent though. I always buy their big basing brushes and dry brushes for tanks normally. I do own 1 x 00 artificer brush as well, but I've barely used it yet. I just wanted a really small one for doing really small scratches on armour and stuff. and my usual brushes are Raphael 8404's which are great, but they do tend to be quite wide and wasn't sure weather I could easily get that ultra fine line with them. So that's where the 00 artificer comes in. I know artis opus do some really teeny brushes as well for ultra fine detail, but those brushes are incredibly expensive.

Thank you

I recently got really cheap brushes and they work really well for base coating

Audible is awesome. I listen to the Dresden books while I’m painting. Make up brushes are awesome for dry brushing and make a great substitute for a feather, just saying.

you can kinda get around the loose bristle problem by purposefully allowing some glue to dry at the base of the brush

There are also make up sponges (latex based?) that are also really useful

Thanks for sharing. One thing, try to get more light on the area where you wave you hands around and where you work. 😁

I love audible too.

Tanks!

I'm sat here painting listening to you painting whilst talking about listening to people whilst painting

That shirt is amazing

I'm here after the referral from the how to clean the makeup brushes. It's 2020. "Just go to the store" god I miss life before the pandemic before I'd have to adjust my life to avoid dealing with people who just won't wear a damn mask during a pandemic.

I've been listening to audible for years. The Horus Heresy novels are great. A great series is a series called "the Event Group" by David L Golemon. First 15 books or so in the series are narrated by an actor named Richard Poe. He brings those characters to life.

Btw: do you have some good podcasts references to listen to all about wargaming, painting etc?

I do audible books a lot now! Did you check out the dollar stores for the brushes?

Any recommendations on cleaning makeup brushes after use. I'm wondering how they fair in water being as fragile as they seem.

Best thing I learned from Teri, I think. Felt weird buying my first one, but after that? Oh yeah...

can you wash the paint off of these after? or will that just destroy them

I have been use $1 make up brushes for about a year now. They are soooo good and last soo much longer than GW's

For terrain, I just use craft paints. Shake, then unscrew the lid. Use that to dip the brush in, and wipe on a paper towel. Cheap! (:

They can, in fact, be bought at dollar stores. I picked up a set of three from the dollar store just yesterday, specifically because I wanted a more efficient tool for dry brushing. I've got a project I've been meaning to finish for weeks.

I have used make up brushes for many years to apply weathering powder. I saw the idea in a scale modelling magazine and immediately stole the appropriate sized brush from my wife.

Do you clean the big brush after use? Any specific way?

Great! By the way, I know they are cheap but how do you clean these brushes? Just water?

What a great idea, thanks for the tip.