Back to Basics: Demon pt. 4 - Drybrushing

What I wouldn't give for a good lightbox, today.  None of my pictures seem to be showing what I did.

I was able to pick up a drybrush from a local ceramics shop, Sue's Ceramics in Layton, UT, today, which has allowed me to get back to the demon.  First off, I'm kind of excited to have a ceramics shop fairly close, because I've wanted to get back into that and finish a Christmas village for myself (would any of you have any interest in seeing that?  Leave a comment), but it also means I know a good place to get dedicated drybrushes.

So I'm back in business!


I started by drybrushing all the red on the model, as well as the scorpion tail, with Liquitex Basics Alizarin Crimson Hue Permanet, which turned out being too similar in color, and didn't show much of anything on the model.  So, I followed up with hitting the same places with Liquitex Basics Cadmium Red Light Hue, which was quite a bit better, but still not great.

At this point, I was convinced my memory of drybrushing was leading me to believe I'd have much more visible results.  Last time I had drybrushed anything, it was something ceramic, and I believe I was drybrushing grey over black primer (which is a technique I've read about doing on minis for deeper seeming crevices -- drybrush as a basecoat).

So I opted to turn to the horns.  I used Liquitex Basics Naples Yellow Hue on the horns, finger and toenails, and all the bones protruding from the demon's wings and knees.  THAT was the result I was hoping for -- a much more noticeable contrast to the depths.

Then I made a mistake -- I went back over the demon's wings (the edges), his stomach and chest, and face with the yellow.  That turned out looking like garbage, so I went back over it with the second red.  I think doing that hid the brightness of the yellow, but I still feel like I'm missing a good contrast.

I'm going to ask Eric later today what he suggests doing for contrast, and after that, I'll finish this guy's base (I honestly don't care to, but I shouldn't call a model finished until I'm happy enough to play with it) and move onto something else.