How to Underpaint Miniatures: A Beginner's Guide to Sketch Style 

I really appreciate all the kind words and feedback on this first video! It's super encouraging and I've already started working on the next one! Thanks for watching and leaving such nice comments!!!!

Pale sand is to Dana Howl as Titanium White is to Bob Ross

I seriously love how well-preserved all of your old toys and cards and packaging are. Exquisite.

The way I do my nuln oil is just like you, except I also knock the pot over with my hand during the application phase and spill it all over the table and probably also the carpet... love your channel, only just found it!

how come I cant RELIKE this EVERY TIME I REWATCH IT?!? I mean, honestly...🤔🤗😅❤‍🔥❤‍🔥👌👌

Ms. Howl, when I first watched this video, I thought, "that looks cool". Today I tried it, and it really worked. I dry-brushed with my daughter's old make up brush, did a wash with nuln oil, and then dry-brushed again. Then I painted a thin layer of base colors and it really made things flow well. I still have a bit of work to do but with a very thin layer of base color , it really works. You have permanently changed my approach. Thanks.

"I am not actually looking at the picture right now so .." Legendary! :D

listen. this might be a more important painting tutorial video to me than anything Duncan has ever given me, which is about the highest praise I think I can give to anything.

I'm nearly ready to pull the trigger on miniature painting attempt #3. I have a restart every couple of years. I've been watching all the popular channels - miniac, ninjon, rob honest, the Czech guy etc... I rate you the BEST out of all them at explaining miniature painting techniques with the right amount of detail and clarity. You are a brilliant instructor Dana! Thank you

I've been working for years with other painting methods and this is a phenomenal introduction that has me excited to try out under-painting with glazing! Maybe even make the leap to airbrushing. Thank you so much!

After following this instructional video, my underpainting efficiency has skyrocketed. Thank you, Dana!

Great tutorial, quite informative and also entertaining! Congratulations on starting your RU-vid channel, I wish you all the best and I hope your channel grows fast.

This video rocks, thank you so much for making it! It's thorough, it explains 'why' as well as 'how', and the production values are great (although the background hum is a little distracting). The unscripted asides and little touches of humour in the edit are brilliant, too - I don't have an airbrush but I didn't wanna skip ahead in case I missed the next joke. Can't wait to see more, we talk about your painting a lot at Dicebreaker. Thanks again! (Johnny)

I've been a longtime fan of Vince Venturella's Hobby Cheating series since it was on like...episode 4. I have to say you're nailing it -- your instructions are clear and concise and your presentation is great. I love the smash cuts/transitions and the humor asides, almost like in-jokes with a wink and a nod. Good stuff! I look forward to your next one!

This is the first of your videos I've watched. Your cadence and side by side visual instruction are wonderful. Pair that with your humor and style of video making and I think you have a great combo.

"but I'm going to suggest" Gets me, every time.

Congrats on launching this channel Dana! Looking forward to more.

I follow a few Mini painters, but you’re the only one that makes me laugh out loud while I’m watching. Love your work, keep it up. Cheers from Oz.

I've been so happy painting since learning this. Thank you Dana. I've seen so many painting tutorials in my time but none have impacted me as much as you have! Yay

Great information! I'm returning to the hobby after 20 years and this was perfect for introducing me to the underpainting technique. Can't wait to check out your other videos.

Just started watching you. An eye opener when you see a master at work. Thank you. Like the sence of humor too.🙂

OMG. This is by far the best tutorial video i have come across. Cannot wait to watch the rest. You explain things so clearly, while being detailed, using basic terminology so us common folk understood what you were talking about without losing any credibility to your professionalism. Thank you. i feel like i learnt an extremely valuable technique in minutes.

I have to say thanks for linking Vince Venurella's channel. It has been immensely helpful to watch his hobby cheats vids. Going from that to your vids also adds another another layer of insight and appreciation for what you're doing.

Thank you for the video, Dana! I watched it and took notes...I’ve never picked up an airbrush before but this gives me hope! Wish me luck. I’m hoping to be able to paint my minis for our next Kickstarter!

This is a technique I really haven't considered, I really should stop struggling so much going from darkest to lightest. Happy painting!

Wow, freaking awesome. Looking at snagging an airbrush around the holidays and I'm going to be watching this a few more times. Thanks for putting this together and keep up the great videos

Hey, great job. This is the kind of thing I'm trying to work on... haven't found a better vid on this... your one on glazing is super helpful to 👍

I've been watching your work for a year now. I keep coming back for all of your how-to videos. I decided today to go ALL the way back and watch from the beginning. Thank you for all your hard work and contributions to our community! 😁🤗

That was cool, hope you had fun making it! Looking forward to the glazing tutorial

Thank you for the in depth tutorial, really informative and neat to see how the more experienced painters get their looks. Also, you are precious please never change 💚

Your seemingly ad hoc approach is great and serious intent not to take yourself too seriously style of humour is spot on.

Amazingly well put together video. I've just started back in the miniature hobby and have found this incredibly helpful to plan my painting and will be using this as a guide to my first miniature paintings coming back. Thank you!

Great video. It’s good to see a technique broken down into simple steps. I look forward to your video on adding colour.

I watched the glaze tutorial first, so I back-tracked to this vid. Very easy tutorial to follow. Music is EPIC!!!

Only just discovered your channel, I'm loving your paint jobs, and your tutorials are easy to follow. Thanks a ton!

I really enjoyed this! I have plateaued with miniature painting and think this technique will inspire me to push harder and improve even more. Thank you so much!

Thank you for this, Dana. The humor, the great info, the funky style of vid, the 8bit music. I think you might be my new favorite youtuber!

Excellent! Thanks for posting this. I'm trying to decide if it's right for me, and this really helps me get there!

Top tier video for a top tier strat. Thank you for helping me enjoy the hobby more!

Great stuff, time to drag out those old never gotten to miniatures and tag along with what you are demonstrating. Thank you so much for putting this up, looking forward to learning more from you!

This changed my life in real time. And the glazing video .. omg so good,

Dana, you rock! I've been working with underpainting for a little while now, and had been struggling with a smooth transition to my shadows. I had been using black ink for the shading over the zenithal, and the transition was WAY stark. I never thought to use nuln oil. I tried your nuln oil step, and then still drove my deepest shadows down with then inks. SOOO much easier and better effect. You are awesome! Looking forward to your next video.

Wow, this video and the one about glazing are great! Very inspiring. Thank you! I hope you'll keep making more.

I am so glad I found your channel at it's beginning, because I am right at the very beginning of my painting hobby and have yet to decide on which methodology to use. I have acquired, "off the back of a lorry" a full Citadel Ultimate Paint set and because the major costs to this hobby have actually cost me nothing I have bought a starter set of Primaris Astartes and Plague Marines to experiment with. I have also been gifted an airbrush and compressor. I look forward with great interest to your next videos.

I appreciate how informative you are. I also appreciate you holding back on details. I very much look forward to more of your videos. You got an immediate subscriber of me!

EXCELLENT tutorial!!! Great info provided! And a clear demonstration and explanation of the information provided. Really well done! I love your clear, no nonsense style!!!👍🙂

Literally never heard of this technique before, really, really interesting!! A very informative video.

Thankyou for this video, at that point in my painting that I want to push to the next level and this video and your glazing video were really useful. I’m looking forward to more.

Dana these are some incredible tutorials, kudos to you. I'm ordering my new airbrush now, thanks to these videos. Your results are exactly what I'm after. It'll take a lot of practice but I'll get there. Look forward to seeing many more!

Good job explaining and demonstrating your process. I found a referral to your channel from Midwinter Minis. And their "23 FREE ways to get better at painting models" video popped up in my random RU-vid referrals list.. So two new-to-me channels in less than an hour - what a great way to start the new year! Already subbed and looking forward to watching more of your videos. Keep up the good work!

Watching your videos through for a second time, and there are always more great tips to be found! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and skills!!

Fantastic video, very clear and concise. You explain paint / thinner ratios and the angles to paint them at, which almost no one else does. I bought an airbrush last week and have been eager to try it, but waiting on a few things arriving. Thanks for sharing, I feel much more confident and can't wait to get started!

Underpainting.... awesome technique! Thanks for all the great info. I never liked layering technique to highlight. But since I have changed to glazes and now this ... so satisfied.... thanks.

awesome video, I've been mini painting for a year and have never used zenit highlights or glazing, just layering and feathering trying to blend...can't wait to try out your techniques...i took like a whole page of notes :D

Keep making vidéos! You help me understand crystal clear lots of things i haven't yet realise while watching other tutorials on RU-vid ! Thank you

Midwinter minis sent me over here! And now I’m a fan! Great tips! Keep it up! Now I have to go thank Penny and Guy for sending me to you!

Thank you for the tutorial! Can’t wait to see more videos.

Great tutorial! Much appreciated! Very nice step by step explanations. Looking forward to the next ones. Cheers.

This video was so informative and fun to watch at the same time! Love your process of underpainting and I can’t wait to try it out myself :)

Great videos - informative and entertaining - especially the dry humour! More please!

What useful information, and so well presented. Clearly you have a lot of art education under your belt! As one of my best sculpture teachers said "Sculpture is about control of light"

I really dig your style! Looking forward to seeing more of your painting.

Your video has very thorough explanation on how to do these techniques. I loved it and I learned so much from it as I am preparing to paint an elf army. I am going to put all this into practice. Thank you.

These are great for getting back into the hobby of painting miniatures. Thanks so much!

Brilliant tuition tips and definitely going to be trying the techniques shown in the two videos. The minis look amazing.....

EXCELLENT TUTORIAL MA'AM!! What I *REALLY* appreciate is that you took the time and effort to explain certain minutiae that other tutorials would simply gloss over or miss why the detail is important for us to know. A perfect example is how you explained to add the thinner into your airbrush before you add the actual paint to “prevent clogging.” The fact is, I have not heard that mentioned by anyone before - you are literally the first one I have seen to have the consciousness to inform us of this detail. Additionally, your speech is methodical, precise, and yet not too monotone. First, I *HONESTLY* thank you for this tutorial. Second, I respectfully ask that you create more in the same style and narrative technique. Within 5 minutes of this video I am a subscriber and will be haunting your channel like a gaping mouthed toddler. I look VERY FORWARD to learning more from you ma’am. Thank you SO MUCH!

Fantastic tutorial. I like the extra step of edging before color. Will do that next time.Thanks!

This is great stuff. Thorough and deeply explained walkthrough. I love it, great work!

Thank you so much for posting this video, it is really a game-changing technique. I'm a real beginner with miniature painting and so far I used the method of giving miniatures a basecoat and then a wash and then doing a bit of highlights and tidying. This gave me results I was pretty happy with. Now I tried a few miniatures with this technique plus the glazing one from your other video and the difference is really night and day. Not only does the result look a lot nicer with a lot smoother blends between highlights and shadows but it actually also makes coloring a lot easier. I used to prime my minis black and always had trouble with light colors getting sufficient coverage over the black background. Now with this approach this is a total non-issue. Where there is dark background now there is supposed to be shadow and you don't need to do 5 or 6 coats to get an opaque cover - in fact you don't want an opaque cover. So you need to invest 30 minutes per model in the underpaint (I also batched them and did 5 in about 2.5 hours) but then the actual coloring step becomes much easier and overall the results are fantastic. Thanks again!

Midwinter minis sent me here,but subbed because of great content!👍

Fantastic! After hours of watching videos...this is the single biggest inspiration...thank you!

Super Video Dana. I want to see all of your technique.And hope to try them myself. Thank you

super informative and the neon samples are exactly what i was looking for! thank you!

Really great video. When I was taught something similar they called it discovery, because it helps you discover all the tiny details you can miss with a single color or even just a zenithal prime. The only difference was they did the order slightly different than you in that they zenithal prime, then wash, then drybrush; where you drybrush before washing.

This lady is just starting and already I'm really liking it! Subscribed!

Great video Dana! Can't wait to see what you do next.

Great video! I've been zenithal priming for awhile but never considered a follow-up dry brushing. Now this technique + Army Painter Speedpaints are my go-to for painting large groups. I've found your videos to be really helpful, thanks again!!

Wow, this was really helpful. I’ve been zenithal highlighting for a while but this method is a big improvement on that. Can’t wait to try it.

Wow . I have learnt so much watching this video. Can't wait to watch more and try it out on my painting.

Dana, what an awesome video! So useful and you have an excellent way of explaining what to a newbie like me are very complex techniques. Thank you!!

Just stumbled on your channel. These videos are extremely helpful an informative! Just getting back into the painting hobby and getting into airbrushing, your videos are truly very valuable! Thank you, and just keep ‘em comming..

Very informative and super witty in a dry way. The little subheader skits remind me of The life aquatic with steve zissou. Nice work & thanks.

Well this was unexpected. Another quality mini channel that I can add to my roster. Congratz and thank you :)

I’ve gone back to watch a lot of your videos and I’m learning a lot thanks for sharing

I have been watching painting videos since they started the Interwebs. You rock. Love the dry humor!

This is such a great video, so clear and you very very obviously know your stuff! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for us :D

Excellent instruction. Thank you for taking the time to make this.

Your sense of humor is absolutely the best. Count me in for more videos! I must master glazing if it kills me.

I really like your instructional style, looking forward to more videos in the future.

*googles nearest hobby shop and quietly thanks Dana for inspiring me to start something new I've been kinda wanting to do for years

Your explanations and presentation really connects well with the way I learn. Subbed and added to my youtube painting video collection. I am looking forward to further videos. PS I am also a fan of your colourful night haunt and squigs. I have been holding off on my night haunts for some time now because I wanted more colour ideas than green and blue; inspired to say the least. Thank you.

Love the dry humor, this is a great video! The minis look great too.

Your videos are amazing and I love the aesthetic! I think your videos are going to help out a lot of people starting off in the hobby and also veteran painters. Keep up the great work!!!:)

Great. Now I HAVE to commit to an airbrush. Thanks a lot! Also great videos, I love the neon aesthetic you have going on with your minis!

You are a treasure. Great idea with the dry brushing and nuln oil. Got yourself another fan. Keep up the great videos!

Please keep making videos. All three so far are useful, well done and easy to understand. Very confidence boosting as well, I feel like I really can work towards these effects, even as a semi beginner :) Thank you.

I saw your interview on Goonhammer recently, and was pleasantly surprised to see this pop up in my recommended videos. Love this technique!

Amazing work, Dana. Thank you for a very engaging, helpful and informative video. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Thanks for your video, I've just started zenethal highlighting, but your 5 methods give such a great looking outcome. Time to practice!

I keep coming back to this, thanks Dana.