Improve Your Painting By Brush Priming
Vallejo is my preferred primer. Image ©Acrylicos Vallejo
I started using a brush to prime and varnish my miniatures years ago because my small apartment made it extremely inconvenient to spray.
This, and the sensitivity of spray cans to environmental conditions are the obvious reasons why you should put down the can and pick up the brush. After six years of brush priming I’ve discovered some additional benefits that never occurred to me before and I thought I’d write an article on it.
This is not an article on how to prime, it’s an article on why to use a brush. If you’re looking for some advice on the how you may want to check this video:
Some time ago I started brush-priming myself, partly because of an old article I saw displaying black gesso’s amazing shrinking qualities, and partly, like you say, because it’s irritating waiting for good weather to coincide with actually being bothered to balance my minis on a box, cart them outside, shake the can ’til my fingers are too numb to press the trigger, still get a load of gritty texture, and still have to touch up loads of areas with the brush…
I still use spray cans if I do have a lot of minis to prime or basecoat, and also because I’ve got a few cans that haven’t been used up yet. I’ve stopped buying and put the money towards a small airbrush (waiting for my local model shop to get in some small, convenient compressors atm), mostly because I also have quite a few cans that are rejected contenders for a good basecoating brand. (I haven’t found one. What I have is far too many cans of Montana Gold when that first one should’ve told me it was rubbish for minis) But I digress. I wonder how well gesso goes through an airbrush, or how it reacts with airbrush thinner…
In the meantime, I stick with brush priming when I have just one or a handful of minis to prime, which is most of the time. I just use cheap, no-brand artist’s black primer, which does shrink nicely around the miniature details, but I don’t slop it on as much as that old article suggested. Rather, more like your example in the video, only not quite as carefully! I’ve tried white gesso too – it doesn’t seem to have the same property, but I have a handy snow-hormagaunt for any winter terrain I build.
I’m starting to watch more videos for hobby advice and inspiration, and I can think of many worse blogs to get it from, so if you post ’em up I’ll watch ’em!
(Also, there’s something seriously messed up about trying to comment here with a google+ account. Anyway.)