New Painter Question

[Dark Moon Dragyn]

I\'m new to painting, and just started with a bunch of skeletons, I\'m not exactly happy on how they are coming along, but they don\'t look horrible especially since they are my first minis. Anywho, I was wondering if anyone could suggest a line or certain models for a beginner painter to start with, something easy, but also something that will teach me the basics.

And one other question as well, was wondering what colors y\'all would suggest I pick up. I\'ve got skull white, bleached bone, chainmail, and flesh wash, oh yeah and black primer as well.

Once I pick up a few more paints, I\'m going to attempt to repaint my plastic prepainted minis from Wiz-O.

Anywho, any help you guys can give me is most appreciated.

Thanks,
DMD

 

[Wolf_Fang]

theres no specific mini to buy for starting out.. altho around here they used to give out space marines to start teaching people...now their giving out the VERY old chaos warriors for fantasy battle.. as for your skellies simply try this if you have one you havnt started yet... drybrush a dark brown.. drybrush a lighter brown... a even lighter brown... then bleached bone...

 

[Dark Moon Dragyn]

Well the owner of the local game shop is teaching me how to paint, he\'s a really cool guy. First, I primed em black, then I paint them with the bleached bone, wash it with the flesh wash, and that\'s as far as I\'ve gotten, I still haven\'t mastered the whole washing process yet, I guess it will have to take me a few more tries. They don\'t look bad right now, but I think I had too much wash on my brush and I didn\'t dilute it enough. I have some pool marks on the skellies and also some of them are darker than others

 

[wiccanpony]

First......Welcome to the Forum \"DMD\" new blood is always needed

may I suggest going to the CMON Store and looking at the Spyglass Miniatures..many are excellent for starting out with.

 

[Wolf_Fang]

for ink washes 1 part paint 1 part water.. so for every drop of ink on the pallet add one drop of water.. then after you apply the ink you drybrush overtop of it! thats how the skin on that gaunt was done. i primed it black painted it with elf flesh (looks fairly ugly on black but hey) then inked it with flesh wash after the ink dried. then i drybrushed elf flesh ontop of the ink (just a quik gaming standard altho was best i could do at the time lol)

 

[Dark Moon Dragyn]

Cool thanks, but I\'m not really sure if I have an ink or not, all i know is it says flesh wash on it. It\'s a thinner paint, looks like its already watered down but it\'s still pretty dark.

What do y\'all suggest I mix in it/on, so I know how much I\'m mixing??

 

[Wolf_Fang]

flesh wash is ink wash its the same thing as for what to mix it on mix it on what ever you please... just make sure its not something it will sink into and juss keep track of how many \"splats\" of ink you tossed on the pallet and add that same ammoun of water

 

[Dark Moon Dragyn]

Cool thanks, once I get further with them, I\'ll start posting pics so everyone can let me know where I went wrong or how I can improve them.

I must say that I really like this sight, everyone seems friendly and the articles on here are informative.

Anywho, I\'m thinking of starting on people and monsters soon, and not really how many colors I should start out with. I know I need a flesh color, I\'ll need black, probably a green, a red...can anyone else suggest either particular colors or ones that they think I\'ll need, especially if I\'m doing armor and what not.

Thanks

 

[Astonia]

And you can always make you own ink by just diluting ordinatry paint...and it won\'t be as glossy as ink is either

 

[Wolf_Fang]

darkmoon choose what ever colours you want after all.. it is.. YOUR MINI

 

[Klute]

for skin
tanned flesh,elf flesh,skull white

you will want chaos black,scorched brown,,,,,,a blue ,green,yellow,red,,,, chose the brighter of these ones( you can always add black or brown to darken them)

Basically though you should only need the primary colours cos you can mix anything from them,thats a pain though innit.


Its a long time since I painted a skelly but out of the top of my head I would basecoat with brown(probably graveyard earth) then layer up to bleached bone.THEN I would wash it with a very thin brown to blend in the layers.This would blend in your drybrushing as well if you chose that over layering.
Some little dabs of green wash here and there would also add some variety.

 

[Wolf_Fang]

green wash eh? never heard \\ thought of \\ saw that before on a skellie got a pic?

 

[Klute]

Not personally.
If you think about how one of these guys would really look they are hardly gona wash themselves every day so I reckon a bit green and brown staining and dirt here and there would look good.
Probably the Rackham skellies will look like this,I will see if I can dig up a pic.
Hmm the Rackhams are pretty clean.Its certainly what I would do any way.

 

[Wolf_Fang]

i guesse it all depends on the skellie your doing? mayb for GW skellies (the ones other then tombkings) do it? but its its tombking like youd want it more sun schorched and pale?

 

[Valander]

Welcome, Dark Moon Dragyn, both to the forums and to the hobby!

I think you\'ll find most of us here are generally pretty helpful.

As for the question of \"what colors?\" you should get, you most likely want to start out with a few basics, depending on your budget:

1. White
2. Black
3. A red
4. A yellow
5. A green
6. A medium brown
7. A flesh tone, probably of medium hue
8. A metallic, probably like Boltgun metal or so.

By mixing these colors, you can get pretty far. As you buy up your models, though, you\'ll start having ideas of exactly what colors you want, and those are your next choices.

Washes are a little tricky to use, but the dreaded \"tide marks\" can be avoided in one of two very simple ways (both very common here on CMONers). First, you can add just a drop of dish detergent (washing up liquid) to the water that you use to thin your paints/inks. Second, you can make a batch of \"Magic Wash\"; this is basically 25% or so Future Floor Finish (yes, floor wax) and 75% distilled water. What both of these solutions do is break down the water\'s surface tension, allowing washes to settle better without leaving tide marks.

Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your work!

(Oh yeah, I now take a shot of Capt. Morgan... )

 

[Dark Moon Dragyn]

I have another question now. The set that I bought came with a buch of skellies, a necromancer, and a vampire. Was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions on how to go about painting the bigger more detailed minis. I really wanna try my hand at it, but am scared to attempt it. There\'s too much detail and I\'m not really sure where to start.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
DMD

 

[Klute]

Bigger more detailed.

Best advice would be to start from the inside of the figure.By that I mean the hardest to reach places first.This usually ends up as skin,under clothing,outer clothing,boots gloves hats,weapons.
This way you are less likely to bugger up something you have already done.
Thin your paints to a milky consistancy,I know many painters here swear by magic mixes etc but to be honest this will just complicate things for you.I only use straight tap water with a drop of fairy liquid in it to thin paint.
Dont get daunted by the mini.I f you get frustrated put it down.Practice on the skellies,did they have shields,they are good to practice on,browse cmon for some inspiration,that usually does the trick.
Another tip,,,,unless you are really gifted like a few of the guys here (albert font,allan c,,,,who are wee kids(no offence) then when you upload your first mini here............please dont throw the brushes away when you get a 5-6.
I know it can be dis heartening but it takes a lot of practice and experience to reach even a half decent level.So stick at it and listen to what us nosey buggers have to say and you should be ok.

Another thing with more detailed minis is not to look as it as a whole area.Say to yourself right I will do the skin today.Set yourself decent goals you know you can achieve without pushing yourself to far.

 

[Dark Moon Dragyn]

Thanks...I have another newbie question. What is fairy liquid??

 

[Klute]

Sorry Im assuming you are from England.
Its washing up liquid over here.Get the cheapest nastiest stuff you can with no added crap like alloa vera and such,that will make things ugly.
I do have some windsor and newton flow enhancer I use sometimes when Im feeling a bit funny.Does the same thing but better.
Stick your location in your profile too,it always helps to know what country people are from.

 

[Trevor]

Dish washing liquid.

Here is a good way of painting skeletons.

Undercoat white.
Mix up a wash using brown and yellow inks with a tiny amount of green ink in it.
Dilute the ink mix with water.
Cover the mini liberally.

Instant skeleton.

You can vary the proprtions to get different effects.

here is one example Skeletons