Some basic paint selection questions

[shponglefan]

Hi, I'm relatively new to all of this, getting back into the hobby after 20+ year absence. I didn't really have a good method for color selection at the time, so I'm trying to come up with something better this second time around.

1) How to go about buying colors? I've started picking up some paints from some of the major paint co's (Reaper, Vallejo, PP). But I'm not really sure which colors to get. I've been picking partially at random and partially based on colors I've seen artists use in specific painting examples. I guess it doesn't really matter in the end, but was wondering if there's any good rule-of-thumb when putting together a basic paint kit.

2) How to pick colors for specific miniatures? Do people generally pick their colors before painting or during the process? I imagine experience is probably the best guide, but as I am just starting out any advice? Should I try to get everything figured out beforehand or just wing it?

3) Paint swatches? As I'm new I don't really know how all of these colors will end up looking on a model. Do people create swatches? I was thinking of taking some basic canvas, priming it (maybe doing a couple w/ different color primers), then painting colors to see what they look like painted. Good idea or no? I'm wondering if they would look much different on canvas compared to a real miniature...

 

[Wyrmypops]

I'd say, wing it. Paints are cheap enough not to worry about. I buy paints based on reviews, whimsy, and the names of them. The online swatches are only semi-helpful what with the photography/monitor futzing with the reality.

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Similarly making your own swatches, one of the joys of getting to grips with the paints is finding how they react to the variety of other paints. A darkbrown mixed with yellowbrown#1 can go quite differently to when mixed with yellowbrown#2. Though I s'pose doing your own swatches could serve in that experimental process and help install the experience and confidence while learning ones paints.

 

[MAXXxxx]

1. the best advice is that you should get some basic colors that are useful (about: black, white, red, blue, yellow, green, purple, brown, skintone) and then those colors that will be useful for the figure you are painting or colors that you generally like.
That said, there are 3-4 colors I can really recomment: VGC-SepiaInk (dark brown), VAC-DarkSeaBlue (dark blue with a bit of green in it) both are great colors for shading. On the other side VGC-BleachedBone / VMC-Ivory are really great colors to highlight with.

2. I have a plan/idea on colors used, so basically I pick the colors before I start, but I don't always stick to them, changing them during the painting.

3. nope, never done them. Sometimes for later use I write down the used colors/mixes, but other than that no formulas/swatches/whatever used.

 

[Dragonsreach]

The problem you (we) have is too many sweeties in the shop.
Cherry picking the items you need will eventually be down to you own personal preference, but some of us have a "Key Items" list we use for the core paints.
For me most of my paints are now Vallejo Model Colour (VMC) so
VMC Ivory - this must get used more than any other paint I own
VMC Brown Sand - MY primary skin tone colour (It's as close to my own skin tone as I've found)
VMC Neutral Grey
VMC Burnt Umber
VMC German Camouflage Black Brown

After those and the Vallejo Airbrush Colours Mettalics (VAC) the rest is personal choice dependent on your painting genre (Fantasy tends to be more Organic colours to my way of thinking).

I will recommend the Reaper Painting Triads as I've recently obtained The Dark ELF Skin tone set and they definitely get a two thumbs up from me.

 

[Tommie Soule]

I like the simplicity of wyrmypops advice. Wing it.
I think you have put too much thought into it already.
if you need a blue buy a blue and use it.

T

 

[ozymandias]

I have elevated buying paints into a hobby of its own. But I have to agree with the sentiments above. Go with what you have got and add to them as you think fit. I use mainly Vallejo model colour and GW. But I also have reaper, VMC, rackham, coate d'arms, army painter etc. All of have colours in the region that are great. The vallego model air metalics are very useful. Oh, and I couldn't live without the Tamiya clear red (brilliant for blood when a little black / purple ink added).

I'd strongly recommend buying a matt medium, glaze medium and slow dry (retarder). They assist in the flow of paint and the blending process.

I tend to have a view of what the main colours of the miniature will be before I get started. But I do have a real tendancy to wing it as I go. If I'm painting more than one of pieces (a big if in my case), I paint a test model. There are loads of articles on colour theory on CMON that are usual. But while you are gettingback into it, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm a big believer that part of the enjoyment is just slapping paint on and learning from what works. If you get something wrong just remember that you can always take paint off / repaint a miniature.

Swatches are not a bad idea at all. It sounds obvious, but remember to prime the canvas in the same colour as you will prime the miniature first.

 

[shponglefan]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree that I probably am overthinking this, but at the same time the sheer selection of colors available is quite daunting! I've made a note of people's specific recommendations and will be looking for those to add to my small but growing paint collection.

Thanks again!

 

[Bailey03]

I'll add in my two cents. It's hard to say these are the colors you need as that is pretty project specific. If you're painting ultramarines or orcs or empire figures you're going to be relying on different colors. I tend to buy paints for my couple current projects and then grow my paint collection over time. I'm a big fan of Reaper and think it's good for new people as most of their colors are organized into shadow, midtone, and highlight sets. But I also mix and match with Valljo, GW, Andrea, and others... so go with whatever you like to use.

For me, I might start with a plan but it always seems to change once begin painting. One tip is to avoid black and white for shading and highlighting. Using white can make highlights look chalky and black can make colors look very dirty. If you're painting blue, for example, a light blue will be a much better highlight than just mixing your midtone with white. And for the shadows you can use a dark blue or even try a dark purple. That can make the shadows a little warmer and more interesting. For greens what happens if you highlight with a light green or mix your midtone with a yellow instead? You can get a lot of different feels to your colors by mixing up your shadow and highlights. Only for very light colors or very dark ones do I mix in white or black. I use a lot of dark browns, reds, purples, and blues for shadows and off whites, skin tones, and other light colors for highlights.

I don't use paint swatches, but it's certainly not a bad idea. I've seen others do it. If you think it will help you, go for it. As for me, I've got a file saved on my computer where I write down the mixes I use on my figures. So if I like how a skin mix turned out or a cape color I can go back to it later. Swatches are nice to show what a color looks like, but when you start combining colors, layering them, it's going to be hard to create a swatch for all those situations.

 

[Chrispy]

1) I stick to vallejo and any dropper bottle brands. It's much more efficient than flip tops and they have a very large selection
2)I only buy colors for minis if I know I need specific colors for specific things.. Okay, that sounded less complicated in my head. It's like this- If I know I'm going to paint Space Wolves, they have a specific color scheme and an obvious blue-grey, so I get that color equivalent. If I'm doing orcs, there's no set formula for their skin or clothes, so i do whateva I want. But in general, I like to have my primaries and browns covered- this also includes light beiges and such. The less you have to mix, the less you have to think about it, which leads me to:
3)In all my uses of the various paints out there for models, I have yet to come across any major discernible changes in paint from wet to dry. I have some cheap gouches I use for art and when I'm mixing them and they are wet, they are 3-4 shades lighter than when they are dry. This is a headache you don't really have with the better quality model pants (or any QUALITY paint for that matter). I do know several people on CMON keep a "swatch notebook" just in case they find an interesting mix or something works out really well so they can duplicate it in the future. Me- I have better color memory than the average person, so I don't rely on a set recipe but rather the hue itself for mixing.
Welcome to the hobby and hope this helps!

 

[shponglefan]

Thanks Bailey and Chrispy for the tips and advice! Esp. good to know re: the highlighting and shading. :claply:

So far I've been building my collection with a mix of Vallejo and Reaper paints. I really do like those dropper bottles. I ended up buying a few P3's and Citadel paints but have yet to try them (even though I've decided to not buy GW stuff from now on; too expensive).

 

[shponglefan]

One more question: How many paints do people typically accumulate? I'm looking to build some sort of storage system for my paints, so a rough idea of how many to plan for would be nice.

edited to add: Decided to just make a poll for this.