Drybrushing is the most accessible advanced technique in miniature painting — and one of the most effective. With nothing more than a stiff brush and a paint a shade or two lighter than your base colour, you can add convincing highlights, texture, and depth to any surface in minutes. This guide covers everything you need to know about drybrushing miniatures: how the technique works, when to use it, what brushes and paints work best, and how to get clean results every time.
What is Drybrushing?
Drybrushing is a painting technique where you load a brush with paint, wipe almost all of it off on a dry surface, and then lightly drag the near-dry bristles across a textured model surface. The tiny amount of paint remaining on the bristles catches only the raised surfaces and texture — edges, ribbing, fur, stone, fabric weave, scale patterns — leaving the recesses untouched. The result is a fast, convincing highlight effect that works especially well on textured surfaces that would take hours to highlight individually with a fine brush.
When to Use Drybrushing
Drybrushing is most effective on:
- Fur and hair — animal models, beastmen, werewolves; the bristle texture perfectly mimics individual fur strands catching light
- Stone and rock — dungeon terrain, rocky bases, undead miniatures with bone and stone elements
- Bone and skeleton models — the texture of bone surfaces is ideal for drybrushing
- Rough cloth and robes — raised fabric folds respond well to drybrushing
- Basing texture — sand, grit, and modelling paste bases benefit enormously from drybrushing; it is the fastest way to make basing look three-dimensional
- Large armies quickly — drybrushing entire squads of infantry in a single pass is significantly faster than edge highlighting each model individually
Drybrushing is less suitable for smooth surfaces (power armour, vehicle panels, flat skin) where you want seamless gradients rather than visible texture. On these surfaces, layering and blending produce better results.
How to Drybrush Miniatures: Step by Step
- Choose your brush. Use a stiff-bristled brush rather than your good Kolinsky sable — drybrushing degrades fine brush tips quickly. A dedicated drybrush (most brush sets include one), a flat synthetic brush, or an old worn brush all work. The bristles should be somewhat stiff and fan out slightly when pressed.
- Choose your highlight colour. Pick a colour 1–2 shades lighter than your base coat. For a mid-brown fur, drybrush with a tan or light brown. For grey stone, drybrush with off-white or light grey. Successive lighter colours — called layered drybrushing — add more depth.
- Load the brush. Dip the tip of the brush lightly into the paint. The amount of paint you pick up will feel like too little — this is correct.
- Wipe the brush. Wipe the brush back and forth on a dry piece of paper towel or cardboard until you can barely see paint coming off when you stroke it. You should feel resistance but see almost no paint transfer. If you can still see clear wet paint on the paper, keep wiping.
- Apply to the model. Drag the brush lightly across the textured surface in quick, sweeping strokes. Use a light touch — the brush should graze the surface rather than press into it. After a few passes you will see highlights appearing on the raised surfaces.
- Build gradually. Apply several light passes rather than one heavy pass. The technique is cumulative — subtle results from each stroke add up to a convincing final highlight.
- Final edge drybrush (optional). For a sharper final highlight, pick up an even lighter colour (near-white or pure white for most schemes) and do a very light final pass focusing only on the sharpest edges and most raised points. This “directional drybrush” adds a bright edge highlight without a fine brush.
Drybrushing Basing Texture
Drybrushing is one of the most important techniques for realistic bases. After applying and drying your textured paste, sand, or grit, apply a dark brown or black basecoat. Then drybrush successively lighter shades of brown and tan — three to four colours — working from dark to light. Each drybrush layer catches slightly more of the texture, building up a realistic earth or stone appearance in minutes. Finish with a very light drybrush of off-white or bone on the sharpest grit points for an excellent final base in under 10 minutes of work per model. This is the technique used by most professional painters for batch-basing entire armies.
Drybrushing Tips
- Keep a dedicated drybrush. Use a specific brush only for drybrushing — the technique spreads and splits bristles over time, which is fine for a drybrush but would ruin a detail brush.
- Wipe more than you think you need to. The most common beginner mistake is not wiping enough paint off. When in doubt, wipe more.
- Use slightly thick paint. Thinned paint does not work well for drybrushing — the watery consistency does not catch texture the same way. Use paint at near-pot consistency or slightly thicker.
- Citadel Dry paints are specifically formulated for drybrushing — they have a thicker, chalky consistency that makes the technique more forgiving and produces very clean results.
- Protect your detail work. Drybrush before applying washes and fine detail work — drybrushing after washing can deposit unwanted colour in recesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What brush should I use for drybrushing?
Use a stiff-bristled synthetic brush rather than your good sable brushes. Most brush sets include a dedicated drybrush — the Army Painter Mega Brush Set includes one, as does almost every beginner brush kit. Old worn brushes that have lost their point are ideal drybrushes rather than being discarded.
What paints work best for drybrushing?
Thicker, less thinned paint works best. Citadel Dry paints are specifically formulated for drybrushing and are the easiest to use. Standard paints used at near-pot consistency also work well. Avoid heavily thinned paint — it does not catch texture reliably.
Can I drybrush over a wash?
Yes — drybrushing after washing is one of the standard three-step techniques: basecoat, wash, drybrush. Let the wash dry completely before drybrushing, and use a light touch to avoid disturbing the dried wash in recesses. This order (base → wash → drybrush) is the foundational technique for tabletop-quality results quickly.
For the full painting workflow, see our guides on using washes, priming, and choosing the right brush.