Blacklining

By Stan Olson

Black lining is a technique of detailing belts and cuffs, etc. by creating areas of shadow in black. Here are two basic methods:

Method One (Black Primer Method)

In this method you dont actually paint black lines; that is too difficult. Instead, you leave the black primer undercoat showing by not completely painting areas of the uniform or equipment up to their boundry contours.

Prime your figures completely in flat black. Apply midtone colours to coloured areas but, paint each area short of its boundry, if this part is where a shadow would be (e.g., under a belt more, on top of the belt less or no shadow line).

The figures will still look very dark, mix an off-white into your midtone colour for dry brushing. Hopefully the messy business of dry brushing will not get applied on the more obvious (under) shadow lines but may cover over the upper ones, which should be less prominent any way.

When painting chain mailed or armoured knights various gun metal silvers can be used (sometimes its best to do the armour through dry brushing Before carefully painting the other areas with colours, then you can paint over where the metal should not be (e.g., flesh, cloak, shield, belts, etc.).

The finished figures/army will look different from one done with white primer, coloured ink washes and/or drybrushing. Not worse, but different because the shadows are not deep colours, they are black . But due to the resoluton of our eyesight, our vision merges the colour with the black so it does not look so un-natural (except on Flesh and animal hides).

Method Two (The Ink Liner)

You can avoid having to create a shadow line with a brush by using drafting felt pens.

Prime your figures in grey or white and then do your basic paint job. My method is to paint initial colours in midtone shades mixed with similar colour ink (not black ink). The ink will help cover where the paint did not (molecules of ink-dyes fill the gaps between the paint globs). Then comes black-lining (described below). I then dry brush. Dry brush painted areas first with a midtone (the original paint with no ink), then with a premixed lighter tone or one you have mixed by adding an off (yellowy-creamy) white. I dont use more than 2 drybrush layers unless something is supposed to be really dusty or faded.

Black drafting felt pen(s) are sold in stationary or craft stores in various colors (including black) and in various tiny line or tip sizes. Choose a tip size that is appropriate to the scale of the miniature you are painting.

As an aside, blue ink pens can be used for drawing simple celtic tatoos or on light colour shields to draw designs or chequer boards. The other colours can be used to underline a cloak if the cloak is the same colour but paler. For example, blue could be part of a tartan provided the green or other cloak colour is not too dark . If you apply the inks over dark colours they will look black, or not even show.

Simply use your black drafting felt pens to underline belts and other features before dry brushing. Make sure you let the felt pen ink dry over night as the inks are "permanent" Their ink is designed to dry quickly and completely when applied to paper fibres, but not necessarily to coats of acrylic or enamel paints.

There is a Krylon art product called Spray Fixative, which is used to make charcoal sketches and oil pastels stick down so more paint can be applied over top without smudging. It will lock down the felt pen ink so it will not run or smudge when you use more paint or seal the figures later with a spray clear coat the figures later.

Touch ups of felt pen boo-boos are done with flat white paint or paint-on primer, followed by the colour of the area, then use the pen again.

Figures painted with this method will look brighter due to less black shadows.

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Last Updated: December 9, 2003

Questions, comments, suggestions welcome.
Send them to Chris Brantley, brant@erols.com.