Priming drow - black vs. white

[fieldarchy]

I like both saturated colors and more muted colors but I will always prime white. And i was one of those people who believed in black primer when I started. All you have to do is look through my battle hive to see! I switched when I started "serious" painting to white.

[MikeD]

I would generally use black primer for a drow. I find black supperior for a model dominated by areas of armor or dark colors. I only use white primer when I have a mini that I want to paint predominantly white or brightly colored.

[Madog Barfog]

Black primer is best for speed painting as you can miss or even purposely skip some deep parts of the mini and no one cares. White is considered best for higher-quality paint jobs and is important for brighter figures, but even Drow have bright spots and I find it much easier to darken white than to lighten black.

 

I used grey for a long time as well, but I find it lacks the brightness of white and does not hide mistakes like black - the worst of both worlds. Now I get the best compromise by priming white and using a dark wash to line the model, picking out detail and effectively giving me dark primer where it works best. Plus, I get the advantage that dark does not have to equal black, meaning I can work with the color pallette more.

 

It's all a matter of personal style, though.

 

Edit: Here is the first mini I primed with Krylon Gray and then darklined with black wash. I'm very happy with it, and will use this technique on other monsters in the future, although with white primer.

 

http://hacklopedia.c..._beholder.shtml

[Qwyksilver]

And then there is me:

 

Black brush on primer for the body and equipment.

White brush on primer for the face, hair, and any other parts you want to be brighter.

 

- Or -

 

Prime it with black or a darkgrey primer.

Give it a quick, light directional spray of white. It will not only give those higher points a lighter base to start for highlighting, but if you snap a picture of it, it gives you an artifical directional source for your lighting.