Glazing
Apply very thin, translucent layers of color to tint surfaces and smooth transitions.
A glaze is paint thinned so far it becomes tinted water, and we use it not to cover a surface but to shift it — warming a cheek, cooling a shadow, melting a hard layer line into a smooth blend. Unlike a wash, which we let run where it wants, a glaze is placed deliberately and coats evenly, each pass adding one whisper of colour. The discipline is patience: a single glaze coat looks like nothing happened, and that's exactly right — the effect lives in the fourth and fifth coat, built exactly where we chose to put it.
Best For
Recommended Paint Types
Step-by-Step
Thin the tinting colour (or your midtone, when smoothing a layer seam) to skim-milk or thinner — 1 part paint to 4–5 parts water or glaze medium — it should look like barely-tinted water on the palette.
Load your size 1 round and wick it on a paper towel until the bead at the tip is gone — a flooding glaze is just a wash you didn't ask for.
Pull the glaze across the transition or surface you're tinting in smooth, single-direction strokes, always toward the shadow, and stop before it puddles.
Let each coat dry fully, 2–3 minutes, then build: more coats over the heart of the transition, where you want the tint strongest, fewer as it fades out.
If It Goes Wrong
If a glaze pools or leaves a tide mark, wick it up immediately with a clean damp brush; if it dried uneven, one more even glaze coat over the whole area usually dissolves the mark into the tint.
Pro Tips
Glaze medium (like Citadel's Lahmian Medium) gives better results than plain water.
Always pull the brush in one direction — don't scrub back and forth.
Glazing yellow or red over a metallic basecoat creates convincing gold or copper.
If the glaze pools or looks uneven, wick it immediately with a clean damp brush.
Common Mistakes
Paint too thick — it should be almost water. If you can see the color going on, it's too thick.
Not wiping excess off the brush — this causes pooling and tide marks.
Being impatient — each glaze coat adds very little color. It takes 4-5+ coats.
Scrubbing back and forth instead of smooth single-direction strokes.