How to Dry Brush Minis: Tips and Tricks 

Also for individuals like myself for whom the standard edge highlighting technique is rendered unreasonably difficult due to nerve damage making their hands jerk spasmodically at random, Dry-brushing is a godsend as an alternative.

Very important tip I got over the time was: ... If you want a more "dirty/dusty" look on your mini, wash first and then drybrush. If you want to have a "clean" look, drybrush first and then wash. It's simple but helps a lot ;)

I remember when I was younger and had just moved to a new school. I made friends with some people who played 40k and played battles during lunch break. I bought my Space Wolves in one day to play and I had dry brushed them to add a snow/frost effect and I was hailed as the best painter in the school :) little did they know the effect can be achieved easily

Take less paint than you think you need, wipe off more paint than you think you should.

I know this is an old video, so thanks for keeping it available. This has taken the “chore” out of painting and has brought back some joy!! Thank you.

I started dry brushing for the first time 2 weeks ago. This whole hobby is very new to me. I learned quickly that less is better and doing 10 skelly boys at once really helped nail the technique quickly. Newb Tip: Took a cheap brush (that was too big for me) from a multi-pack and cut the end off so the bristles were even. Worked like a charm.

Webster’s dictionary defines dry brushing as... I don’t know hahahaha! Love the mix of “dry” (har har) humor and information:)

Dry brushing is my favorite technique. Definitely the easiest way to get table ready models super quickly. Plus if you're like me and you love Spehss wulfs, dry brushing white paint all over them can kind of sell the snow blown look.

Really key tip that I almost never ever see mentioned: If you use paper towel it will almost always give a more dusty appearance. If instead you just wipe the brush off on plastic (or other non-absorbent surface), it will tend to give a much smoother appearance to the brushing.

Thank you for making the hobby so approachable for new people. Really enjoyed your video, thankyou

Thanks! I was getting super frustrated with the results I got dry brushing, but watching this have realised I'm not making my brush anywhere near dry enough. Can't wait to try this out!

'It's got a waist, and it spins'...... that made me giggle a bit lol.

Learning dry brushing is the one skill that made me not completely suck at painting.

I like this guy, especially that end bit.

thanks, i needed a brick wall look and this really helped :)

This is the first video that I found that actually really goes into how to do dry brushing. Every video I've found so far skip straight to the actual dry brushing step and never mention how to actually prep the paint. Thanks!

I love drybrushing. To be fair, I’m not a good painter anymore (took a twenty year break!) but the thing that made it easier coming back to these hobbies is knowing that I had my old three stage technique - block it in, shade and then drybrush. As you say, it’s amazing for metals, but I love painting a mini with clothing like robes or a jacket like your guy there and drybrushing it. It’s a gamechanger when you start out painting, I think. Superb vid, mate - thank you!

Did my first drybrush this weeks, stumble upon this gem 2 days later. This channel is the best!!

What a fantastic video, very helpful and i just tried this for the first time using your method and it came out fantastically, i wish there were more tutorials like this out there. very clear, concise, well structured with a very good demonstration too and you can tell a lot of effort was put into this. thank you very much for the help!

Thanks for doing this video. When I got back into painting, this was the best video I found for dry brushing, you are very detailed with logical explanations. Appreciate the video

As I was watching this I was drybrushing a bunch of Chaos Cultists to get a new base colour on them; I had started with a gray primer and green wash, now adding a dark gray dry brush layer before doing details.

Thank you for knowledge on this. I have just followed along and dry brushed my warboss in mega armour and it’s made the model pop.

I just started learning how to paint miniatures. Thank you for making this video! It's incredibly helpful.

Thanks Atom, been trying to get my head around the technique this gives me some confidence to go ahead and try it.

Please don't take this as a criticism but it gets said too much that "pro" painters and competition entrants don't use drybrushing. They absolutely do! As you so clearly stated it is one of the best techniques. Never stop using it no matter what "level" you are painting at.

Dry brushing one of my favorite methods Learned something new regardless. Thank you

Such a great intro to dry brushing! Thank you!

Perfect explanation. Thank you. I have never done this before - your video was very well done and informative.

Thank you very much! This was super helpful. Guy on reddit told me about dry brushing so I searched it and this video explained it so perfectly.

Thanks for this video. I’m new to this tabletop gaming stuff and painting the way I’ve been painting is pure hell.

I dry brushed using some thinned down paint off my wet palette the other day, (just because the colour I needed was already on there) and it worked really well! It was a final highlight over the top of some genestealers and the fact the paint was thinned made it go on really smoothly and subtly.

I'm a huge fan of dry brushing! It makes my tyranids' armored carapace look really nice!

Watched this video and just tried it on my FoW miniatures. They came out great. Very relaxing and satisfying. Will have to try the elf brushes. Two thumbs up, thanks!

Uncle Atom is the best. Super calming discussions about gaming. I recently got back in and drybrushing certainly is a tool to use in many situations. I used it to get bwtter highlighting on a gun with which layering and edge highlighting was just noy working and it really worked for the model. Thanks for justifying that.

Great vid! Such a subtle yet effective technique

i love over brushing as well such a quick technique

Oh my god this is amazing. I’m literally doing a dark grey primer with a dark wash & light grey drybrushing for my 40k models lol. I’ve heard about drybrushing but this has been the best tutorial I’ve seen so far.

Thank you so much! i have been trying to learn this for weeks now but no one explained it in a way i understood until now!

I'm totally mesmerized by your voice... I'm now off to watch every videos youve ever uploaded... also very helpful explanations!

I just got into mini painting by buying the Reaper Core Skills kit. They went over dry brushing but you explained it much better. I struggle with dry brushing and you helped a lot. Thanks man!

I love drybrushing. It's just so useful and fun to do. I used drybrushing alot for the bases of my space marine dreadnoughts to paint the scenery bases they come with to make them look like they're all dusty over concrete like a bunch has settled from ongoing battle and, just recently, I was painting a pair of dreads I'm using for Grey Knights and put some of the ol' grey knight steel base paint on the armor panels with a drakenhof nightshade wash and then starting going over it heavily with Necron Compound drybrushing just all over the armor panels. Partially to highlight, but also just get that sort of bright silver color that Grey Knights have in all their artwork and box art while trying to kind of keep that feint blue under glow of the grey knight steel and drakenhof.

It honestly keeps baffling me how Citadel has a whole line of Dry Paints almost as large as that of their Base Paints, yet Warhammer TV treats drybrushing almost as if it doesn't even exist. And while edge-highlighting works for certain material effects, it utterly fails at realistically depicting lighting, so their obsession with it is beyond me - if I never see any edge-highlighted folds again, it will be too soon. Blending and/or drybrushing (depending on context) all the way!

Thank you! A great introduction to dry brushing.

Hi, Atom- I really appreciated this video. I started painting about 5 years ago, not counting the 3 or 4 RTB-01 Marines that a friend’s brother let me try out around 1988, that looked like I painted them with a roller. Drybrushing is something that I just never got very good at. After a while my edge highlighting was pretty precise, but I didn’t like how my Marines were starting to look like they were from Tron. I was okay at drybrushing things like chain mail and Deathwatch pauldrons, with all the little letters on them, but terrible at doing armor edges and the like. Your video really made me want to practice at it, and stick with it until I make it work. Just wanted to say thanks-

I am a 3d game artist, so also a digital sculptor , and this, is GOUUULD !!!! Thank you kind Sir! I salute you!

Thanks for this video. I did some dry brushing on my necrons and they look good.

thank you for this! this quick and easy lesson! It helped a lot and I was able to implement the dry brushing effect to look just like I wanted to!

your tips and tricks are very useful

You explain dry brushing very well thank you

just about to do my first drybrushing, will use your video as guide, simple and easy to understand, thank you :)

This guide was super helpful, thank you so much!

Thanks Atom. Going to be painting some spaceship and jet plane cockpits. I hope to bring out the details of the buttons, panels, displays etc. Great tip as always.

I hate painting and this is my fave technique to do as saves me loads of time and grumbling, I have 3 different types of brushes all from brushes that have has there day. First is a knackered brush cut right down so only about 2mm left and use that one on small areas, second is the standard brush for main areas and finally is my large area drybrush which is a blusher brush that can move (like a lipstick you can bring it down to about 5mm and up to stupidly large) and that blasts through large areas.

I am just starting and this was a great video!!! thank you

Awesome video as always, Uncle Atom! This is definitely one of my favorite techniques! ~ Wolfbrother Methos

Really handy video as I'm just trying to understand the dry brushing technique. Thank you

This is a great item, I will be using this for showing new painters how to dry brush. I use dry brushing all the time on my models (mostly 15mm scale) and armour. Thanks Uncle Atom!!!!

Thank You Tabletop Minions! Next time I paint my minis I will try dry brush. 😃🤟

Whoa you need to be on tv! Very well presented sub

I'm getting into making dioramas and things like that so this really helped!!

Having the right brush is key. My best work is the result of using a very soft $1 makeup brush! My other brushes were too stiff and would remove the base coat. The makeup brush also carries a lot of color even when dry.

Thanks for this! I just got Thanos for Marvel Crisis Protocol and my mind went "I could do that shade of purple on his chair by dry brushing purple over the steel..." Your vid was what I found to do it, so cheers!

Love these technique videos. Also the surprise discovery of the soldier's waist mobility was pretty endearing. Keep it up Uncle. You're the reason I got back into the hobby! Sorry, The Hobby.

Amazing tips and tricks atom smasher thank you so much your vids are very helpful to me as a starting tabletop gamer

Thank you from a beginner at DND. This was very informative.

Really useful guide, thank you.

9:00 Is right. Best drybrushes are soft and round. The square brushes from gw f.ex. will leave a very rough finish. while the softer your brush is, the smoother your result will be. You also have more control, as you can adjust the pressure you use when applying the paint. Due to the long bristles. Only way I've ever really painted.

Well done, and nice voice - easy on the ears. Subscribed :)

I found out that, for brushes, wide ones sizes 2-4 works best for me. Any cheap brands from Michaels or any other craft store. I usually put a very thin coat of ink(or nuil oil) directly on plastic and then drybrush with zink-based white over it. It creates a very thin "primer" and you can work with whatever color after that.

love this! thanks for a great video!

i started painting minis today and this is so helpful thanks ! and youre a very likeable guy :D

Super useful, thank you !

Looks pretty straightforward, thanks for the video..

Thank you very much, had a hard time getting the concept , now i got the idea, imma test them on my skittari

Do you know Bohun? World-class painter, absolutely top shelf. Not so long ago he did a tutorial on drybrushing on a display piece. Sure he doesn't use it on the whole figure, but drybrushing as such is a very valid technique even for the best display pieces that can easily win painting competitions. It's just goes to show that there is no technique too "basic" for advanced painting, and a good painter will train and utilise all of them :)

Excellent video as always! I too use those little makeup brushes, though they're such a pain to get really small ones without having to get an entire set!

Awesome tips. For beginner it changed my life ;) cheers

I need to start doing this. Great vid

Your micro and voice are amazing and your explenations too

I have to thank you this helped me out a ton

Thanks for the tips it really made my primaris captian really stand out beautifully

life changing video :) thanks for making it!

I love Teri's videos! I wish she made some more, if she has the time. ^.^

My brush life. Use for it base/layering. Then demoted (or promoted!) to dry brushing. Finally it is then added to the glue brush collecting.

Like any technique it is just one more to your arsenal in the hobby. Keep painting all. Peace!

A suggestion for the absolute noob buying their first bits of gear - make sure you get more than one brush for drybrushing. As the name suggests, the brush must be properly dry for the technique to work and if you're going to be drybrushing more than one completely different colour at a sitting, the paint on your model will be dry and ready for the next step in a handful of minutes, but your rinsed brush won't be.

I tried to do the highlight method for a long time (and I still use it when appropriate) but I just went back to dry-brushing a couple weeks ago and I couldn't be happier. I also find a wash and dry-brushing can really elevate the crackle paints from GW. One last tip. No matter what technique you're trying for the first time, green army men from the dollar store are great throw-away guinea pigs. I've used them to try color combinations, to learn how to decal, whatever. A bag of dudes you don't care about for $1 can't be beat. (lol, I paused the video to type this, and then 10 seconds later he said "army men...")

Fun technique. I base layer with a heavy drybrush. Unpopular opinion, but it genuinely is great. Zenathal prime then just dry with the darks and lights

just dry bushed my first mini watching this! :D

This video came in good timing. I'm gonna be working on dry brushing some black templar models

Thank you very much!

Super helpful!!

Just started drybrushing recently, and this gave me some good advice! BTW, have you done an episode on painting camo patterns? If not, would you consider doing one in the future?

Perfect Video for me. It tried drybrushing but i essentially put on another layer and wondered what i did wrong. Well, putting a wet paint on a wet palette was the first thing. Then leaving to much paint in the bristles and then doing the wrong motion. (Circular instead of up->down) Thanks. That will improve the next models tremendously.

i love using makeup brushes for drybrushing using a small domed tip and a large domed tip works treats on models

I usually dry brush my necrons. I find a lot of people make them look glossy, but to me they look better toned down and gritty.

Thank you so much this was really useful :)

Great video man

One of my favorite dry brushes is a citadel medium glaze brush that have been cut half-way down.

“So what is dry brushing Webster’s dictionary defines it as... I have no idea because I didnt actually look it up” 😂😂😂