Contrast and speed paints: how to use them, and how the brands compare

On this page

• How they work
• How to use them
• Medium, and thinning
• The ranges on the site
• The brands side by side
• Common mistakes
• Questions

How they work

A contrast-style paint is somewhere between a wash and a basecoat. It flows like a wash, so gravity and surface tension pull it into the recesses, which come out dark. On the raised areas it stays thin, so the light primer shows through as a highlight. Because it is very transparent, the primer underneath matters a lot: over white the result is bright, over grey it is darker and duller, and over black most colours barely show.

That is also their weakness: they show every flaw and every brush mark on flat areas, they can pool and leave tide marks on big panels, and the result is never quite as smooth as layered paint. They are best on textured, detailed areas (cloth folds, fur, scales, skin, leather) and less good on big smooth panels.

How to use them

1. Prime white, a light grey or a bone colour, or zenithal prime (see priming). Wraithbone and Grey Seer are Citadel's two light undercoats for exactly this.
2. Shake the pot well; the pigment settles fast.
3. Load a medium or large brush fully. These paints need a lot on the brush to flow.
4. Flow it on in one coat, working from the top of an area down, and don't go back over areas that have started to dry. Use the brush to move it, not to scrub it in.
5. Watch for pooling: if a big puddle collects in a recess or on a flat area, wick a little away with a clean, damp brush.
6. Let it dry fully (the shine goes) before a second coat or an area next to it. Contrast paint stays soluble for a while, and wet paint next to it can lift it.
7. Finish with a few edge highlights in an opaque paint if you like. A light edge highlight or drybrush lifts a contrast model a lot.

Medium, and thinning

Thin contrast and speed paints with their own medium, not water. The medium is the same paint without the pigment, so it keeps the flow and the shading effect; water makes the paint bead up and leave blotchy edges. A mix of half paint and half medium gives a lighter, more even version of the colour, and mostly medium makes a tinted glaze.

You can mix colours from the same range together, and most ranges mix with each other too, but test first.

The ranges on the site

These are the contrast-style ranges on The Painters Desk, with how many colours each one has on the site. Swatches are the colour each paint gives over a white or light primer, so they are estimates; the real result depends on your primer and how much paint pools.

Every brand behaves a little differently: some are thinner and pool more, some are more opaque and cover more, some dry with a sheen. Brand descriptions are on each brand's page, and the comparison below shows the closest colour in each range.

The brands side by side

For each common colour, the nearest contrast-style paint in each range by swatch colour. Use it to find the equivalent of a paint you know, or to fill a gap in your collection from another range. Matches are by colour only, not by how the paint behaves.

Target colours along the top; under each, the closest paint in that brand by swatch colour (ΔE under 6 is close, under 12 fair). Swatch colours are estimates, so check against the real pots.

Target colours along the top; under each, the closest paint in that brand by swatch colour (ΔE under 6 is close, under 12 fair). Swatch colours are estimates, so check against the real pots.

Common mistakes

• Painting over a dark primer. Use white, light grey or bone, or zenithal prime.
• Too little paint on the brush. It drags, dries in streaks and won't flow into the recesses.
• Going back over a drying area. That leaves tide marks; let it dry and do a second coat instead.
• Thinning with water. Use the range's medium.
• Using it on big flat panels. Basecoat those in opaque paint, or thin the contrast heavily with medium and use several coats.