Building Modular Terrain Boards 109

Before we move on to the fourth color (Bubonic Brown), I thought maybe a brief note on drybrushing was in order for anyone who is a beginner and maybe is unfamiliar with the technique. To start with, I try not to dip more than a third of my brush into the paint (that goes for all of my painting). Then wipe the brush across a paper towel a few times until most of the paint appears to be off of the brush. Then lightly draw the brush across the textured road and you'll notice that only the highest points of the texture catches the paint. This really will bring out the texture we applied earlier with these last two steps. As I mentioned earlier, it is always better to put down too little paint and go over an area several times than blob on too much!

Again, this is the fourth stage and I used Bubonic Brown. I actually lightly drybrushed a lot of areas of the grass with this color too to add some variation in the grass tone and help blend the different areas together even more.

Here is a detailed view of how I blended the earth tones and grass together. These spots are merely paint brushed on the grass (i.e. no rubble added in this spot) and starts off with the three stages we applied in the last article.

I lightly drybrush on the Bubonic Brown, blending it out across the grass. Then I stipple some heavier color in the center of the areas. Make sure to vary the direction of your paint strokes to avoid creating patterns with the brush, both when drybrushing and stippling.

Ok! One more color and we are finished! Well, sort of. The last coat is Bleached Bone and is applied as lightly as possible. Once again, I draw the brush out across the grass areas as well. I left the lower part of the banks a little darker to increase the contrast.

Looking pretty good! In the next article, we will be painting the rocks and rubble that we so cunningly added earlier and painting the river! A couple more installments and these boards will be ready to use! Besides the river article, there will be an article on adding extra details that really finish off the boards.