Quick Questions

[Potentia]

Hey all,
I\'m a beginning painter and I just wanted to ask you pros out there a question or two:

Did you have any watershed moments while painting?( Like a time you just took a step back and said \"This is amazing! I might actually be good at this!!) and about how long after you started did this occur?

Secondly, as a beginner should I learn/practice techniques in any order?

Thanks so much for you help!

 

[THuff]

Read...read...then try it

I\'ve only been painting for about 6 or 7 months, but I already notice a huge difference from when I started until now.

I spend a lot of time looking for new articles about techniques. The ones here are great to ge you started, then go out searching through some of the painting sites. I\'ve found that several painters on the Professional Mini Painters WebRing have good tutorials, and almost every site has links to another site that can help.

If you look at my posts, you\'ll notice that I always try to credit the person who wrote an article when I first try the technique.

Good Luck.:bouncy:

 

[Chrispy]

I have never had moments like that. I\'m never truly 100% satisfied with my work, even though I\'m putting out the effort. The only moments that I kinda have like that are when I realise I don\'t suck as much as I used to.

To a beginner, I can only tell what NOT to learn: Drybrushing is for smaller details like fur and hair. It may save a lot of time, but for true blending you must use the paint directly, especially when using a black base.

I\'ve made several articles here that detail intermediate techniques that may give you a bit of inspiration. Since I was trained as a 2-D artist for as long as I remember, I\'ve learned a lot of things that others seem to struggle with. Hope this\'ll help all!

 

[Errex]

I have been painting miniatures on and off for several years now. There is no set order to the techniques you need to pursue the hobby, but, a good place to start is to train yourself in the subtleties of shading and highlighting.

Once you have grasped the basics behind this two fairly simple principles, I\'d recommend you to try and duplicate the look of an already finished model. I have no shame to admit that my early models were painted to look as much as possible as the ones published in White Dwarf.

Funny thing, when I got to the point where I could duplicate what I saw in print, then I started to incorporate more techniques into my repertoire.

Even so, finding this great site has encouraged me to try my hand on techniques that I probably would have never found on my own, or would have dismissed offhand.

Just be pacient, and welcome to the hobby.

 

[Badaab]

Sure... I\'ll sit back and admire my work, after finishing it.

Then, the next day, or whatever, I\'ll look at it and somethi will bug me about what I thought was great the night before. So back to the table it goes (ugh).

This is especially prominent when I\'m converting things, I\'ll build the model, and love it, then a week later rip it apart and toss the bits back into my box.

But, aside from all those frustrations, I\'d like to stress painting in groups, especially with people who have more experience with different techniques than you do. I paint very slowly, and meticulously, and envy people who can speed paint an army and be satisfied with it, so I\'m constantly hounding those people for tips. Once a month, I travel the 30 minutes or so into Denver for the excuse to paint with a different group of people, and pick up some new ideas or tips (although sometimes it turns into a series of questions about my stuff, and I spend the whole afternoon answering them).

This site is also a wonderful source of info.

Joe

 

[kannan_fodder]

First, don\'t ever confuse me with a pro - I ain\'t that good!

My mini painting skills are almost entirely self-taught. What I\'ve learned is mostly through a process of experimentation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn\'t. The key thing is to never be afraid to try something new.

I have a few minis I\'m extremely proud of. However, one of them currently rates about a 5.8 here. I\'m still very proud of it, but it just goes to show that I haven\'t \"perfected\" the fine art of painting miniatures yet!

 

[Sturmhalo]

For years I painted in the ink wash and drybrush style as prescribed in White Dwarf (we are talking about 15 years ago here!). The results were really rather poor. Then I bought a book called Heroes for Wargames which described the basics of the layering technique. I was about 14 at the time and was on holiday. So, as soon as I got home I grabbed a plastic skaven figure (old fantasy regiments boxed set, remember?) and painted him according to the suggestions in this book. First figure painted using a totally new style, and he was amazing! In the space of 6 hours I\'d gone from utter crap to the kind of thing that might get a 5 here! That\'s gotta be my greatest watershed moment.

 

[Flashman14]

Ya . . . White Dwarf has improved in the painting articles immensely. And you get a few monthly tutorials as well complete with workable specific recipes. More than anything else that publication has really really improved my painting. I rarely own what they are painting up that month but the colors and techniques apply everywhere.

When you paint in a vacuum it\'s very cramped and the lighting is terrible lol

When you paint in a vacuum it\'s easy to lose yourself in your style and even easier to convince yourself that you \"know it all\" about painting. I was in that spot for ages - I\'d look at the painted stuff in the shops and mostly my stuff was better than all of it (I started in Historicals so most people were painting to a gaming standard) But then I picked up a White Dwarf about 2 years ago. And my epiphany was: Holy crap, I suck.
Lesson?: Expose yourself (not that -you perverts!) to quality painting. Surround yourself with painters and pictures and models that are better than yours. Observe and practice and you\'ll notice improvement.
Coolmini and WD together have been instrumental in my improvement - and until I had really embraced those resources I was kinda lost - wasn\'t trying many new techniques - was a neat and very clean painter but not capable of anything really dramatic. And those two sources gave me the extra edge . . .

 

[vincegamer]

I can\' t boast any high scores and have no mastered technique to share.
I have had a watershed moment or two. Not where I say \"this is good\" (I have so dang many minis unpainted I\'m more likely to say \"this is good enough\"), but where I realize a key to improvement.

The first was discovering acrylic paint.

The second was discovering quality sable brushes.

If you start with crappy equipment you can only go so far, but if you switch to quality materials you may realize you are better than you thought.

 

[Dragonsreach]

!st Watershed moment Getting a Finalist position in Golden Deamon even though the figure doesn\'t rate well on here.

Next watershed finding this site.

Next finishing a mini and thinking that\'s better!
As with all things practise makes perfect & I\'m still practising.

Steady hands and not too strong a cup of coffee when painting works wonders. Good Quality paints & Sable brushes (looking after them as well ) are the primary keys after that it\'s all up to you kiddo.
Good luck.

 

[kannan_fodder]

Actually, there is one key technique you absolutely should practice... Take care of your brushes! By that I mean keep them cleaned and conditioned. Treat them well. And don\'t ever use your favorite brush for mixing paint or spreading glue!

Pink Soap is wonderful for cleaning your brushes. Yeah, I know this has been said on a million posts already.... but it\'s worth mentioning again.

 

[Badaab]

Going back to that WD painting tutorial comment...

I actually think that the WD articles are past their prime, and they peaked with Mike McVey\'s old \"Painting Masterclass\" articles (and sometimes they were written by Neil Hodgson)...

The current ones simply list colors, and they really don\'t go into the amount of detail Mike used to offer. When I have problems with ideas for certain models, I\'ll peruse back through my old WDs (issues 180-200 or thereabouts), for some advice on particular things.

Also, the current standard of the studio\'s armies has dropped since their heyday, so its to be expected as GW lowers their salaries for the \'Eavy Metal Team, and the amount of models they are required to paint.

Joe