burnt hull
I am trying to get into contrast paints to get used to the painting style, this is the first mini I’ve done. I primed black did a highlight in grey and dry brushed white to give a lot of contrast before the paints went on, I didn’t do any edge highlights or anything yet just some dry brushing on the gun, but was wanting to get any advice or constructive criticism. Thanks!
nova snow
First off, congrats on your first mini! You're off to a great start with this bad boy. You've kept your contrast application very clean and "inside the lines", so to speak.
One thing I noticed is that your dry brushing is pretty heavy. On the gun, you can see where a lot of the paint has ended up in little pools on the flat surfaces. Dry brushing works best when it's used to pick out the edges of the model, and you want very little paint on your brush. Make sure you're working out all the excess paint on a paper towel or cardboard before you hit your model with it. The "right" amount of paint is often far less than you'd think for drybrushing.
Also, always remember to move your brush across the details when drybrushing, not along them. On the back of the cape, you can see your drybrush highlights running along the vertical folds in the fabric, where horizontal brush strokes would give a more believable result.
All in all though, great progress on your first model! If you keep working on this guy, edge highlighting would be a great next step to boost contrast and visually separate the different components of the model. You'll learn a little with every model, so make sure you apply any lessons you've learned to the next one!