hen it comes to miniatures, the real "wow" factor is all about visual interest. A quick and easy method to snap some of that interest into your figures is painting on stitches and patchwork.

The first thing that might come to mind is a lich or an orc wearing heavily stitched outfits. Certainly that can work well, but as with most elements of visual interest, patches and stitches work best as accents where appropriate. Still, many more figures than you would at first realize can make use of this technique. Imagine a Halfling with a knee patch, an Imperial Guardsman with a wound, or an Elf Druid with embroidery.

The technique is very straight forward: contrast of colour, black stitches, highlight those stitches. I'll walk you through the process of adding a painted-on patch to a cloak.

Remember that most of the time, you just want accents to enhance the miniature. Too many stitches can quickly get too cluttered.

One of the best things about patches is that you can use them in places where more complex patterns would simply be too much (or too difficult due to the figures shape, size, etc). A miniature needs to have an overall cohesiveness, so patches can be a perfect way of bringing in splashes of colour without being overwhelming. They can be any size, shape, or colour as needed.

Stitching is considerably more subtle, but can even be used to hide those annoying mold lines that everyone forgets when preparing a miniature.

The next step is to outline where you want the patches. Contrasting and complimentary colours work best, but there's no reason you couldn't use a similar shade to achieve a more subtle appearance. In such cases, it might be necessary to outline the patch with thinned down black or a deep brown such as Vallejo's SS Camo Black.