Which Color of Primer is Best Suited for Beginners?

[Kalkris]

Hey all,

I have acquired a can of white spray primer and already own black spray primer. I have been using black for a long time but want to experiment with white. i am just wondering if white is more or less forgiving as a basecoat than black is?

Thanks!

~Lil Kalki

[nagash13]

it really depends on what your color scheme is.

black primer lend itself towards dark schemes. black primer also makes shading in the recesses easier.

white primers area really good for bright colors that pop. they are also great if you want to use a colored ink or wash right over the white as a simple fast skin. (think young nephilem primed white and washed with purple) I tend to stay away from white primer as it is too easy to miss a spot in the recesses while painting and the white jumps out real bad. a black spot in the cracks of a model just looks like a shadow. inks ans washes will mitigate this issues though

personally i dont live in an area conducive to spray can primers, so i switched to an airbrush primer that happens to be grey. so far i really like it.

[Mako]

I still almost exclusively use black, unless I'm doing something very pale. I'd say black is more forgiving in most cases, except where the majority of the model is yellow, red or very light colours as those don't cover black so well.

That said, a nice 50% grey can be a good middle ground. I've used that a few times.

[WookieeGunner]

Another trick some people use that you might want to try on a test model is to prime white and then do a heavy black wash. This will help start your shading as you build your colors.

[brib4169]

I also mostly use white and then put down a wash guide cost . I have a hard time picking out details when I use a black primer. Army painter has colored primers that I have had pretty good luck with, but they are expensive. Just bought the leather brown one, but haven't had a chance to use it yet.

Edited December 19, 2013 by brib4169

[SpiralngCadavr]

I used to like black better, but it just takes so much less effort to get a good midtone starting with white.

Black is more forgiving, white I think looks better. Use white for everything but the darkest of models.

[dgraz]

That said, a nice 50% grey can be a good middle ground. I've used that a few times.

Been using grey for years. Tried black, tried white......they're both too much......grey is my friend.

And, Krylon Indoor/Outdoor grey primer is cheap as hell and works great.

[thedarkknight]

What color is easier depends on your painting style. If you start with a dark color & highlight up or drybrush, black is easier to work with. If you like starting with a mid-tone & then shade or use washes, white or grey is easier.

I use an airbrush to prime. I normally prime grey & then give a white "dusting" from above to start the shadows to make painting easier.

[crohn]

As most people said, it mainly depends on your painting style. However, you can experiment with different styles if you're interested to do so.

I use almost always white primer because black darkens tints and I usually prefer laying down very very thin layers of paint. Doing so, 90% of times I build up my highlights, midtones and shades from light to dark, which is not so straightforward in the beginning. The advantage of black is that recesses are already dark, while when you prime with light colors, this is not true and you have to keep attention to this aspect otherwise the model could appear 'messy' in how it is illuminated.

Another aspect to consider when basecoating on a white primer is that dark colors need more thin layers to appear uniform and smooth. If you don't thin, the final result will appear ragged (and ugly). If you don't lay down enough layers, you won't obtain an uniform coat and you will see white throuh it.

For this reasons I think white is less forgiving than black.

[Math Mathonwy]

I used to like black better, but it just takes so much less effort to get a good midtone starting with white.

Black is more forgiving, white I think looks better. Use white for everything but the darkest of models.

This.

I also feel that white is a better teacher in that it shows you you need to thin your paints and all in all keeps you forming bad habits better than black. With white your first mini will likely look worse than with black but your tenth one will look better.

[ehren37]

Another trick some people use that you might want to try on a test model is to prime white and then do a heavy black wash. This will help start your shading as you build your colors.

This is what I would suggest for beginners as well. Since parts are pre-shaded, you can basically do a solid wash with your color and then highlight.

I personally have a harder time picking out detail on black primer, and you need more coats of paint to cover it up, which can lead to blobby/thick paint jobs if you aren't used to thinning your paints appropriately.

Ultimately I would move towards a zenithal highlighting, which is a pretty easy priming technique that can do a lot of your work for you. You start with a dark base primer, then go over it in increasingly shorter arcs with increasingly lighter highlights. A gogogle search will turn up a number of useful videos and guides. Its easiest with an airbrush, but can be done with spray primer if you are judicious. Given the deals I see on Amazon, you can get a decent airbrush setup for a little over $100.

[ShaneC]

I tend to favor 'darker' colors for priming, but I find that I rarely use black.

I like to use either the ultra flat camo spray paints. So, brown, usually, which is almost a black, but it's easier to see the details than pure black. Or green if I'm doing, Orcs, Goblins, Gremlins, etc.

My most recent batch of painting, I primed with Liquatex gesso and tinted it (green for bad juju, grey for most everything else).

All that said, I think a flat grey might be my new favorite. Depending on how you go about painting, a 'shadowy/darker' primer followed by a quick drybrush to bring out some details can be helpful too.

[daddy4count]

I almost always use black, unless I'm painting all white. Other than white I always try to start with darker colors and blend / highlight up to the brighter shades.

Even white can be done over the black if you work up from black to grey to white...

[Kalkris]

I ended up using white on my plastic Sonnia crew, and i really like how the crew came out.

Links to images are attached because for some reason the upload manager is being mean.

Sonnia and non-Witchlings: http://oi44.tinypic.com/abqih3.jpg

Witchlings: http://oi43.tinypic.com/w20yz6.jpg

For the record I consider Sonnia and Sam a wip. The other 4 look splendid to me...

~Lil Kalki

[Pierowmaniac]

Got to say Like Mako and Daddy4count I always use black now.

But unlike them I even do light colours with a black base coat.

I used to do light colours with white, but found it didn't work with my paint style, which I like to 'POP'.

If you want to get black to work have a read of Mako's articles in the Chronicles and I also describe my painting style in my blog (link in sig), though I'll confess Im no Mako

[Mako]

I love threads like this (and not because people say I'm good at painting, though I like that too!). It really shows that painting is such a personal thing for people, everyone does it the way that works for them.

Course, everyone has to find the way that works for them, which can be a right pain in the whatnots.

I did misaki in yellow over a black undercoat. That took a ton of time to get a smooth coverage. Can be sped up by adding white into the first few coats of your main colour if you're painting pale stuff over black, as white covers pretty well - you can use that to get rid of the black, then stop adding white to get the colour laid on properly.

[RagingRodian]

It seems like beginners often find black primer to be more forgiving, and quicker for cranking out paint jobs, but as painters develop they often learn how to use both black and white primers very well. Each one is great for something.

When in doubt, I stick by a simple rule- it is easier to paint parts of models primed white black than it is to paint parts of black primed models white.

Years ago, during the days of the original flip top Citadel paints, Armory paints, and Polly S paints we simply did not have many good quality yellows and reds, so the answer was usually white primer. Now that we have better paints available you can do a lot more with black primed models.

That being said, way back when (a time when lead models still walked the Earth) I started to seriously collect and paint miniatures, and I started with old school Skaven. I primed all of them black because you could use this new "drybrushing" technique to paint in their fur and much of their equipment, relying on the black primer to add natural black lining to bring out details. When I started using white primer I had to start learning how to use washes properly, and had to start blending my paints more. It was a bit of a learning curve, but in the end I think it made me a better painter.

[edonil]

Just wanted to share this as throwing something onto the fire. This is from a professional painter, Angel Giraldez, who is Corvus Belli's new resident painter (they make Infinity). For me, this is a great example of your final intentions are a lot to think about when you're looking at a primer... and that ultimately, this comes down to personal preference. This model has a lot of very bright colors, and a lot of very dark colors. Here you can see what he started with for primer, and the finished product.

[brib4169]

Another black undercoat to bright colors tutorial

http://www.paintingclinic.com/operations/guestarticles/mechdummies.htm

[Math Mathonwy]

Eh, naturally you can get good results from black undercoat (Mako is living proof of this) but the question was "Which Color of Primer is Best Suited for Beginners?" And I very honestly think that starting with white leads to better practices for beginners. It isn't as forgiving as black but teaches you more and faster and allows for far easier bright colours.

[Mako]

One other thing to consider (since it comes down to preference and style as to which is more use to a beginner it seems) is that if everyone local that will be helping them learn uses one colour of primer, they'll probably get better advice if they use it too.

But I definitely suggest encouraging people who are progressing to try black, grey and white - they'll learn different things from each and in time will find which one suits them best.

I think my final setup would be to start a total beginner with black (since it's forgiving), then move them to white once they've got the brush control and basics sorted out a bit (since it's good for learning some of the finer aspects of control and the difficult colours), then have them try grey too so they see which works for them in what circumstances.

[harbinger]

Been using grey for years. Tried black, tried white......they're both too much......grey is my friend.

And, Krylon Indoor/Outdoor grey primer is cheap as hell and works great.

Im with dgraz 100%. I learned with white (not knowing better, used the way over priced primer from game stores,) using black only for furred animals. Few years latter I was visiting family in the outbacks of West Virginia and since had no access to a game store I gave krylon grey a try. NEVER turned back. Wonderful quality, cheap price, and you can shift from sober to vibrant colors with little effort. Personally I think those alone would make it a good starter primer till person finds their own painting style.

Biggest issue Ive seen with any color primer is using too much. When first started I thought you had to have 100% coverage and first few minis I literally had the primer crack from being so think (not to mention loss of detail.) At a convention I got the chance to watch one the gold daemon painters (you know.. those despicable creatures that could wet blend with a freaking tooth brush and still get a eye popping result) and noticed she almost just misted with the primer. When asked her about it; she gave me a long drawn out answer how paint molecules don't need much to grip and that even the vapors can leave enough coverage despite you not being able to see it with the eye blahblahblah. Ok I didn't totally follow all she said but tried using less primer from then on and allowed me a smoother result with less layers.

[Phototoxin]

A thing I've done is prime black then 'dust' (light bursts from further away) on the top/front of the model. So you have it sort of 'pre highlighted' - gives that extra level of highlight/shading when applying colours. I do tend to use black w/grey or grey w/white and rarely use white alone.

[tinfish]

It all boils down to preference, imho anything that is not a tanks track should be white, or medium grey.

Black is dreadfull, I can't make out the details if I undercoat in black.

[tollboothmusic]

as a noob painter as well as player, I'm trying as many different approaches as I can at the mo just see how things turn out differently, heck I even bought a cheap box of those noisy space marine types just so I'd got a few models I could do compare and contrast on.

I started with a white spray primer (humbrol I think) and the results were ok and I found it really useful for seeing where I was consistently missing parts of models and also where I was 'reading' the sculpts wrong. Something I'm struggling to improve on. I got taught washes really early on so all my models looked neatish if a little 'swampy'

For cost I then moved to a Vallejo white primer which also worked ok but didn't seem to give as forgiving a surface as the spray primer as when I was thinning my paints down like a good student, they were just pooling up and not adhering at all which got me back into the bad habits of using a thicker colour and not trusting my layering which led to a couple of very crappy finishes.

Thawing read that black primer often hid the areas you'd ,missed (which I agree totally it does) it has proved much more difficult to see detail and has made reading the sculpts even more difficult at my stage of painting. It has also made building up stringer colours trickier, but if you've got a figure where it has say, cloth under armour it can work really well as a fabric colour in itself (imaging painting SW storm troopers and you'll get what I mean)

Everything I'm trying is different at the mo, I love my stumbling first results on my Sonia crew, but am less convinced by my recent Lilith paint which just looks a little ragged and patchy and not accurate enough which is a brush control issue I know.