stupid questin: what's "dry brushing"

In this forum and in some books we’ve bought, everyone mentions “dry brushing”, for scenicking, buildings, wether, etc…

what is this “technique”.

Sorry if we are being really dumb.

Take a decent quality brush.
Dip it in paint.
Wipe it on a paper towel or cloth until its almost dry.
Now when you bru***he object , only the highest spots and edges will get paint.

Dave H.

Dry brushing is a technique for applying very small ammounts of paint to a structure or piece of rolling stock. If for example, you wanted to get some highlights on raised details, dip a brush in the paint you want to use. Then on a scrap piece of paper, bru***he paint until virtually none is left on the brush. This creates the “dry brush” so to speak. If you then run the dry brush in strokes over the model, very small amounts of the residual paint will get picked up by the raised detail and provide subtle, but effective highlights. The technique can be used to apply grime and dirt colors for soot and weathering as well. Less is more in this technique. Try, it out, it can produce some great results.

Essentially, you get some paint on your brush, then remove most of it on a cloth or paper towel, then “dry brush” the remaining scant amount onto the subject being painted. It give very light touches of color, like highlights and such.

one thing I noticed is that someone said use a good brush… this is far from what you want to do because dry brushing can destroy a good brush if you do it propperly… everything else I have read is very good… I have been using this teqnique for several years and it works wonders for weathering objects.

you might have to do it 3 or 4 times before you notice any difference on the surface.