Help a new painter out.

[RedMagesHat]

Hey everyone i just started painting mini...well i just started taking the paint jobs seriosly, before i\'de just paint the figure black and call it done. anyway i\'m having a hard time making my colors really come out vibrant and smooth. Can anyone help me out?

 

[Godlikebuthumble]

Hi and welcome to our funny farm! This is one of the #1 advices ever: thin your paints! Water will do (at least for acrylics). About 25%Water is a fine ratio for me. You will need several coats to fully cover the basecoat, but the result will look the better for it. Smooth and even. I also suggest you have a look at the articles section of the site to find looooots of other hints. And you\'re always welcome to the forums! Have fun!
MirzA

 

[airhead]

GLBH you beat me to it...

thin your paints. If it covers in one layer, it is too thick.

 

[Levdir]

I\'m a hero of redundancy:

Thin down your paint. 1 water to 4 paint has been mentioned, but I find that 50/50 works just as well and is easier to figure. Also, since thinned paints run into folds and creases, do your main colour first, then run a not-quite-3 water to 4 paint mix (of your shade colour) into the folds to shade (this works wonders with cloaks if you do it right) and your highlight colour with about 10% water added to make it spread better along the tops of the folds. Something not already mentioned: while doing really complex detailing and freehanding is fairly difficult, I\'ve found that you can make a model look really good with some very simple lines and colour swaps in the right places in the right places. I\'ll use a Tau Etheral I painted for my army as an example: his cloak was neat and tidily painted, but look bare and rather dull. I simply painted a thick line of my highlight colour (which happened to be Blazing Orange, not that it matters) along the edge and it added so much to the model. Little stuff like that makes all the difference. Have fun painting and I hope all that math didn\'t put you off.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

For areas with vibrant colors, under coat it in white. It really makes the colors \'pop\'.

 

[Levdir]

Addendum to what Shawn R.L. has said: or build up layers of progessively lighter shades to your main colour. I was doing an Eldar Warlock and started with a black basecoat as usual, then added a layer of Red Gore, the topped off with Blood Red. This made for a vibrant main colour as well, while retaining dark areas of shade in the folds and whatnot.

 

[tidoco2222]

It may help to post pics of where you are at the moment say in the Work in Progress thread of the forums or even start up your own thread on a particular mini.
Once we can see you level of painting ability then it will be easier to give more detailed advice on how best for you to proceed, but the main thing is practice and don\'t be discouraged.

 

[EricJ]

Like Tidoco said, it\'s hard to give advice when we can\'t see where you are in your painting ability, we don\'t want to talk under your skill level or over your head either.

Although if you say you\'re just getting started taking painting seriously I think probably the best advice is to paint a lot, and try new things. This gives you a feel for your paints, your brushes and helps you learn better brush control. Try new techniques, try new paint-water ratios, try new basecoats, color combinations, etc... Even if something doesn\'t work out, you\'re better for knowing it doesn\'t

I\'d love to see some of your work, perhaps we could give more specific feedback.

-Eric

 

[frenchkid]

Well the number one most important advice has already been done soo I\'ll give you number 2 When you go out start looking at things, the way the light falls on object, on cloths. If you want to paint somthing black try to see how black t-shirts look in daylight what color are the lightest parts and such. This is kinda hard to do, not only because you don;t always think aobut it ( or never in my case ) or because it is hard to see the \'different\' colors on an object.
And practise is also key, as soon as you\'ll practice a lot you\'ll see some improvments. I think for each technique you want to master you have to practice untill you really have the hang of it, or at least untill you get honorable results, then there is a good chance it\'ll stay. I found that if I only practice somthing for a week and then stop for a month, all that I learned in that week is gone.
And show us some of your work !!

 

[Drake Farstrider]

Practice, read the articles, practice, read the articles some more, and some more practice. As already stated post pictures in the WIP thread and you will get some good feedback. Most everybody here is nice and helpful.