Short answer: The zenithal underpainting + glazing workflow means you first paint a zenithal (top-down light) greyscale undercoat, then layer transparent colour (glaze / Contrast) over it so value and colour are handled separately. So whenever you want a bridge between speed and display quality, this is the method to reach for.
To get the idea, think of it as Slapchop grown up: more controlled and more display-friendly. The zenithal hands you a finished light-and-shadow map, and all you do is colour it in. The undercoat does the value work while the transparent paint does the colour, so you never juggle both at once. Better still, it scales from a single character to a forty-model army.
What is it and what is it for?
Every miniature painter eventually hits the same dilemma: speed or quality? Zenithal underpainting + glazing is one of the cleanest answers to that question. The logic is simple: before you put any colour down, you decide where the light comes from (from above, hence zenithal) and paint that light-to-shadow transition in black, grey and white. That greyscale base is the underpainting.
So why does this base work? Because the colour on top is transparent, it does not smother the value underneath; instead it inherits it. White areas become light-colour, black areas become dark-colour. As a result, even a single brown glaze makes a piece of cloth look shaded and lit on its own. For army painters that is a real time saver; for character painters it is a solid starting base.
How does it work?
The heart of it is this: a zenithal (black to grey to white, from the top) is really a greyscale light map. Before any colour exists, it already decides which parts of the model catch light and which sit in shadow. The transparent paint you then lay over it preserves that value and rides on top. In practice the result breaks down like this:
- White / light zenithal areas become light-colour (your highlights).
- Black / dark areas become dark-colour (your shadows).
- The transition zones become graduated mid-tones.
In short, the zenithal does your value work and the glaze (transparent transition layer) does your colour work. Managing both on the brush at once is hard, so this method splits them apart, which is exactly why it comes out both fast and smooth. The only real difference from Slapchop is that the base is usually built with an airbrush or spray (so it is smoother) and the colouring can be done not just with Contrast but with graduated transparent layers.
How do you do it, step by step?
Here is the full sequence, so this section stands on its own. The flow has six steps, and most of the final quality is decided in the first two.
- Build the zenithal: First prime black, then spray grey from a 45-degree angle, then white straight from the top. Airbrush or spray is ideal because it gives the smoothest gradient; if you have neither, drybrush works. Aim for a clean greyscale light map.
- Check the value: Before any colour goes on, stop and look: is the contrast strong enough, are the transitions smooth? This step decides the bulk of the result, so do not rush it. If you do not like it, fix it while there is still no colour to undo.
- Apply colour glazes: Now for the colour. Lay transparent colour (Contrast / Speedpaint / thinned acrylic or a glaze medium) on each area and let the value underneath supply the shadow and light. One coat for speed, graduated multiple coats for quality.
- Saturation and temperature: Once the base colour has settled, enrich it with localised glazes. Cool the shadows slightly (toward blue/purple) and warm the lights (toward yellow/orange). This small touch brings the model to life.
- Highlights and detail: Now for the fine work: edge highlights, the brightest light point, the deepest shadow, eyes, metallic details. Even a few crisp highlights rescue the result from looking flat.
- Finish: Finally, do the base and seal it with varnish.
Which paints and brushes?
The good news is that this method does not demand expensive gear. Even so, the right materials make it much easier. Here is what you need:
- For the zenithal: black, grey and white primer or paint. Airbrush or spray gives the smoothest result; on a budget, a white drybrush builds a perfectly usable zenithal.
- For colouring: transparent paints — Citadel Contrast, Army Painter Speedpaint, Vallejo Xpress, or normal acrylic thinned with a glaze medium. The key word is transparency.
- Brushes: a soft, water-holding synthetic or sable for glazing; a medium brush to cover larger areas and a fine-tipped brush for detail and highlights.
- Helpers: a wet palette (keeps paint open), clean water and paper towel.
There is also a practical hack shared by Tale of Painters: instead of pure black-to-white, build the zenithal from a warm dark grey up to a light ivory. It gives Contrast and glazes a more natural, less ghostly base to colour over.
What are the most common mistakes?
The method is usually forgiving, but it does have a few classic traps. Most of them come down to rushing the first step.
- A sloppy zenithal value. All the quality rests on this. Whatever you glaze over a patchy, uneven grey base stays patchy.
- Spraying white too broadly. When everything is light, contrast dies and the model looks flat. So keep the white to the topmost surfaces and edges only.
- Smothering the value with opaque colour. If the paint is not transparent you lose the whole benefit of the zenithal and end up with a flat basecoat. That is why you should not skip the thinning or the Contrast-style paint.
- One coat and no highlights. Glazing and stopping there gives a flat result. A few edge highlights and a couple of deepened shadows, on the other hand, make a big difference.
Pro tips
If you want to use the method efficiently at the table, here are a few principles that actually pay off:
- The same zenithal base serves both a single coat of Contrast (fast army) and multi-layered glazing (display character). One base, scalable quality.
- Build the zenithal with an airbrush and your transitions become smoother than you could ever do by hand. This is the method's biggest quality multiplier.
- Solve the hard part first: do not move to colour until you love the value, because colour cannot save bad value.
- Cooling the shadows and warming the lights (that is, warm-cool contrast) is the cheapest "professional look" trick there is.
As Vince Venturella often repeats, value comes before colour: what locks the viewer's eye onto the form is the right distribution of light and shadow, not the right hue. That is exactly why zenithal underpainting works, because it settles the value first, at the most controllable moment.
It helps to think of this method alongside its neighbours: Zenithal Priming is the backbone of the workflow; Glazing is the main colouring tool; Slapchop is its faster, drybrush-based cousin; and Grisaille Underpainting is the slower, hand-built advanced version. For fast colouring, see Contrast & Speedpaint Systems and the broader Underpainting Methods.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is zenithal underpainting the same as slapchop?
They are close cousins, but not identical. Slapchop is usually built quickly with a black-and-white drybrush and then hit with Contrast. Zenithal underpainting + glazing, by contrast, usually lays a smoother base with airbrush or spray, and the colouring can be graduated glazes rather than a single Contrast coat. In short, Slapchop is essentially the fast version of this method.
Can I do this without an airbrush?
Yes, you certainly can. Prime black and drybrush white from the top to build the zenithal. The transitions will not be as smooth as an airbrush gives, but the method still works. A white spray-can primer is a good middle ground too. So the airbrush only adds smoothness; it is not required.
Which paints are best for the glazes?
The most transparent ones. Ready-made transparent systems like Citadel Contrast, Army Painter Speedpaint and Vallejo Xpress are the easiest place to start. For more control, use normal acrylic thinned with a glaze medium. The one rule is this: the paint must be transparent enough to see the grey value beneath, or the zenithal's benefit is lost.
Is one coat of Contrast enough, or should I layer?
Both are valid; it simply depends on your goal. If you are painting an army, a single Contrast coat is fast and good enough. If you want display quality, glaze graduated layers over the same base to enrich saturation and transitions. The beauty of it is that the base stays the same; you just choose how much effort to add on top.
My zenithal came out too contrasty, what now?
You probably sprayed the white too broadly. Before colouring, you can knock the brightest areas back slightly with a thin grey glaze; or, if the contrast is high, lean into it and keep it as a punchy lighting effect. Next time, simply restrict the white to the topmost surfaces only.
Which miniatures is this method good for?
Nearly all of them, really. It shines on models with clean surfaces and clear volumes — armour, cloaks, large cloth areas — because the zenithal reads those forms so clearly. On very small, flat details the benefit shrinks. In short, it is safe for armies, characters and as a display starting point.
Key takeaway: Let the zenithal do the value and the transparent glaze do the colour; give the first two steps (a clean zenithal and a value check) the care they deserve, and the rest almost paints itself. When you are ready to try it, the paints, brushes & hobby supplies you need are waiting in one place.