Make your own contrast paint

[Quixus]

I found this interesting video which compares GW's Contrast paints to some DIY heavy washes. It is not my cup of tea to make my own paints but the video is very interesting.

[Fajita Fan]

I played with some brown and black inks to make washes and unfortunately they came out really glossy and too "slippery" I guess is the word.  I really like the contrasts though for basecoating and making weapon glows but I wish they were more durable, they scratch easily.

[Arkhanist]

I do like the flow of Contrast paint, it suits my style of painting nicely. I already use matt medium and flow aid, as with normal washes, to thin out some of the really dark ones to make them more useful and do better graduations. He's absolutely right that a mid-point between layer paint and wash is achievable with your own mixes. That said, Contrast has a very finely balanced flow, so while the difference is not much when you're slopping it on as shown, if you're using it on small areas, the extra viscosity definitely makes it easier for brush control and is hard to precisely replicate yourself, so I also keep a bottle of Contrast medium for those use cases.

 

One thing he does skip past a bit quickly is contrast is pretty pigment dense; there's a reason he uses inks to make the alternatives. Inks also come in a fair variety of colours, but you will probably be some custom mixing.

 

So you do get far more paint when you invest in an artists bottle of matte medium, flow aid and the inks (the expensive bit at £6 a bottle) - but getting setup to do that mixing will set you back a fair bit, and of course need time to make it all. You'll save a huge amount of money eventually, but if you're only using small amounts of Contrast at a time, it may take a while! Plus there are some advantages to getting a fresh bottle when you need it, rather than trying to coax years-old paints to act like new...

 

I bought significantly cheaper Army Painter/vallejo for a good while when GW switched to the current base/layer/dry system, but I've acquired a lot of GW paints since, simply because being able to follow existing guides is so much easier when you're all using the same paints and not trying to find 'close enough' alternatives. I'm finding more and more opportunities to use Contrast instead of base paints, or using a different undercoat to get a different effect.

 

The irony is I've probably got the experience (and the base supplies) over the years so I could make my own relatively simply with more inks, but now I'm older my time is much more limited and I can afford to buy pre-mixed even at the hefty premium. I do have a handful of daler-rowney inks I use for airbrushing, might try replicate black templar which I am using at a fair rate!

 

He's dead right that playing around with paints and mediums is a lot of fun though, and you can really learn more about your tools to do new techniques, over and above what you can save in cash. I love that GW is promoting glazing over light primers as an alternative to the traditional base/wash/layer/edge approach. For someone who's always hated lots of edge highlighting, it's rather liberating! But I do agree with him that the Contrast paint prices are not welcoming to new painters, especially as it's promoted as for beginners and I think it's rather exploitative.

 

 

I played with some brown and black inks to make washes and unfortunately they came out really glossy and too "slippery" I guess is the word.  I really like the contrasts though for basecoating and making weapon glows but I wish they were more durable, they scratch easily.

Inks don't usually have much/any matting agent in, so you want matt medium to control the flow and reduce the glossiness, which also makes subsequent layers adhere easier. Contrast (or glazing in general) lays down a much thinner layer of paint than traditional layering; which helps preserve detail, but does mean it isn't as robust. Varnishing is considered pretty much mandatory, but at least that helps with with the variety of satin finishes with Contrast!

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Arkhanist