I walked into GW back in the 90's when washes were first a thing, asked for some guidance and regretted it immediately. Head Ork just took one of my minis, daubed it in brown wash and declared it all finished...and had made it into a largely brown mini. Detail lost amidst murky tones, heavy pooling etc. I went home and stared at the mini for a while then set off on my own journey of working out how to best use them. First off - realising inks, washes and diluted darker paints can do the same thing but can all have different behaviour and their naming in itself is confusing.

Realise that while daubing a mini in "soft tone" might deepen the recesses, what you actually achieved was to shade the mini in a unifying tone. Washes function like a tone balance when applied all over surfaces. Have you used 3 browns? A brown shade will make all of them now look more similar. More consistent with each other. Have you used 3 greys? A brown shade will now make them look like a similar shade of watery brown. Probably not what you wanted. Want to unify the greys? Use a tone that is black. Brown washes should be used on brown material. Sandy material. Or to mute bolder colours. Painted a unit of footmen in green and red and they look gaudy? Brown tone will bring all their colours down and merge them together.

You can also make a wash "better" by mixing a little colour with it. Brown too obvious? Mix in a little of the red you were using before painting over the flesh of a demon. Those greys? Mix in a little black. Got large flat surfaces and few indentations? Water it down a little (or use Medium to avoid the chalkiness) which will leave the pigment in the recesses but reduce down the impact on the surface. Not got a wash of the right colour? Just thin down a darker shade of paint and

Want insane deep detail? Use Inks. Washes by their nature spread the tone, they soften the focus and more often than not look best on skin and fabrics. Inks focus it. By their nature they are unforgiving so should be applied relatively early in the process - they function much like a Contrast paint.

I would like to add that the wash layer can be very fragile, even after letting it dry. So if you're using this technique, use gentle strokes when going over the wash layer or risk "cracking" it or brushing it off entirely. At times I've found it helpful to spray a matte finish over the wash layer to protect it.

So as someone that does most of my minis with washs, something to keep in mind is that you can use ANY color you want or have and give it an amazing look by using one color and using a wash that compliments it. A good example is a person's skin. By simply using a skin tone, washing with a flesh shade and then coming back with the same skin tone over the areas the wash didn't pool, you end up with a model that looks amazing and didn't really take hours to do and you used only two things of paint.

There was a time that the technique was to dip the mini on wood stain. Yes I am a bit old

Another trick to do is to Gloss coat the model before using the wash … it will force the wash to pool in the recessed areas and keep it from drying on those areas you want to highlight… also mix the wash with 25-50% medium to thin it out and help it flow… that will reduce tide marks or that uneven effect on large areas… also you can use a liner brush to dab or dot areas to fine control the area you want to wash into cracks or crevices… like a panel lining effect

I tend to use washes differently these days, I don't cover the models with a wash, but push wash into the recesses and edges.  I always use darker base colour's then build the layers up, the wash is the second step for me after the base colour coat.

I would recommend using a bit thinner consistency of paint to your layering than you do with basecoating.  It's a little easier to control and it has a slight translucency that makes the transition look a bit less stark (think of it as a very heavy/dense glaze if you like).

Good info.  As a related option, old fashion dry brushing the original color after the wash will give a softer transition.

Pro tip: dilute the wash with some wash mixing medium or plain old water. This way the wash won't pool so much and cut down on time needed to bring the white back up in the highlight stage.

Base, wash then use your original colour to bring vibrancy back for a quick job. You can go above and beyond that very easily if you want more then table ready.

This is great. I’m just starting to paint again after thirty years away (and I wasn’t very good when I was ten!), and the wash technique has left me frustrated. I’ll give this a go on my minis. Thank you 🙏🏻

This is totally new to me and never done this before, but this is nice. Was randomly in my algo

Matthew white😂  I'm so upset with myself for not thinking of that first! Yes, I've played out the thumbnail scenario with some white mechs from Scythe, early in my painting journey. Cool video!

Yup when i first started out I was the same, it never occurred to me to go back over and clean up leaving the washes just in the darker\recessed areas. Great video to share

You have no idea how much this helped me

great tutorial on highlighting over washes to show contrast.  such a simple technique.  how did i not think of this.

I want grim dark but not grim wet.  I think I over did it last nigh before watching this video with a WW2 tank - but ended up going back over it as you suggested with a dry brush of the base coat and it actually made the base of rivets stand out better.  Thankfully it was a single color vehicle.  This actually worked out ok in the end.

Ty as a new painter this helps me out

Coming back to the table after some time away. I needed this refresher. Hell yeah brother

I am a bird carver and afterward, I paint them. I used washes all the time, but never thought to go back and punch up the highlights. Thank you.