Drippy Brushes? Try This!

I've been painting so much terrain recently, I figured I would take a moment to talk about some of the tools I use and a few solutions I've found to make life easier.

My painting technique consists of mainly drybrushing and washing. I'll brush up a color, then apply a wash to soften the tones, and repeat until I'm satisfied with the result. It's an organic process. The brushes I use are pretty cheap. You can get these from Home Depot for a buck or two a piece.

I don't spend a lot of mony on my scenery brushes because I treat them like crap. They'll sit in my water cup for hours before being washed in the sink.

The ferrules on these brushes have a large gap at the top that lets water inside the ferrule. So after I wash the brushes and dry them, they are often still waterlogged inside, and it will drip out of the top of the ferrule at the most inopportune times (usually on the carpet as I carry my "cleaned and dried" brushes back from the sink).

This has plagued me for longer than I can remember, and I finally did something about it. By applying a bead of hot glue along the ferrule seam I was able to seal it and keep the water out. No more drippy brushes!

Another essential tool is a drop cloth. Rather than spend real money on an actual drop cloth or tarp, I picked up a few plastic tablecloths at the dollar store. They're dirt cheap and completely disposable, but they keep those drybrushing speckles off the furniture.

This is just from painting the black on the sides of one small display board:

That's it for this week. In the meantime, check out the new detail shots of the Wild West Exodus buildings that I've added to the terrain gallery.

'Til next time!