Trying to paint seriously.

[Equaltocody]

http://www.coolminiornot.com/181084


So, I\'m trying to start painting more than a 5 point job. I wanted to post this in the forum so people could more easily give me pointers, as usually people are afraid to offend. I don\'t care critisism will help me.

I don\'t know how to do skin when it is smooth, I can paint muscles, but smooth skin is hard.
The face is way hard. I try to mimic vikinglodge (He\'s my fav). Any suggestuions would be nice on faces.

I\'ve read allot abou nnm, and I tried this here, I dunno how it went, kinda okay.

Anyways thanks for your time.
(Oh, this is a WIP so any comments will be used and I\'ll re-post
)

 

[Antnol]

Brush control is one of the most important things to learn when painting miniatures. Learn to put the paint down exactly where you want it. Then I would suggest learning how to layer very well. There are plenty of articles here on CMON that helped me out greatly and I am sure they would help in your case too. It doesnt hurt to do just what you are doing by asking for help but maybe take it a step further. Ask Viking himself or any other artist that might catch your eye. Most people here are very nice and are very willing to help out a fellow painter. Keep practicing and you can never go wrong.

 

[airhead]

Here is a great article to get started on the eye. The face is the make it or break it part of humans.

http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/12

Couple of questions:
How old are you?
What paints and brushes are you using?

 

[No Such Agency]

I think it\'s funny that despite your obvious room for improvement, you put a real effort into using NMM on the metal weapons. It\'s a real testament to how many great techniques and ideas are accessible to painters now. I didn\'t have any idea about that kind of stuff when I was first learning (not that I\'m amazing now or anything). IIRC my great technique for my first few dozen minis was to simply not paint the metal parts at all.

 

[foosgoalie1]

You gotta walk before you can run. Practice more brush control, try a black primer and washes then go from there. And keep painting!

 

[miniDrake]

Time is your friend if it takes a hole night to get a single piece of a mini to look good take the time to do it don\'t rush anything.

From what I can see you need to thin your paints down work with a 1 part paint to one part water gives good coverage should only take 2 or so coats to get a nice looking coat.

Work on painting each part of a miniature with what ever color your using keep it neat and tidy and when your happy with the look more onto the next part. Always try to make sure you don\'t hit parts you have already painted.

I would leave nmm laying and things like that till you get good brush control its the most important first step to master.

 

[Amazon warrior]

I agree with miniDrake. Thinning your paints will make a surprising amount of difference. It might take a couple of coats to cover an area, but that\'s a lot better than one blobby one. Also try and make sure, if you can, that your brush isn\'t too overloaded. It can help to dab it on a bit of kitchen roll before you apply it to the figure, just to remove any excess paint. Otherwise, the stuff has a nasty habit of escaping the brush and getting all over the bit you just spent ages on!

Further to the link airhead posted, I would highly recommend checking out the rest of the Reaper painting guides. They\'re where I started to learn, and I think they\'re very helpfully written for less experienced painters. There\'s an excellent article in there about thinning paint. *hint, hint!*

Lastly, keep trying. This sort of thing only comes with practice.

 

[daemon boy]

i gotta congratulate you on your attempt!
as most people said, you must water down your paints!, not immensley bot enough to cover well in two or three thin coats. also if you have thinner layers of paint your shades, and highlights wont be so splotchy
keep it up, and im glad you are trying to paint more seriously
-tim

 

[Equaltocody]

Thanks for the advice. I just started to use GW paints (I used to use the acrylic tubes you get at wal mart.)

I think thinning out paints and blending (I read a great article on feathering) should help me out.

I\'m going to strip this mini and try again. Practice makes perfect I guess. I\'ll post it when I\'m done.

Thanks again.

 

[Recoil889]

practice dosent make anything, perfect practice makes perfect, dont be afraid to paint a few minis over and over, like for example. plaint the skin first, and really, focus and take your time on it, then move to the clothing ,or how ever you prefer.Don\'t get too ahead of your self, and walk before you run. And most importantly, dont get too disgouraged by low scores. I would post a WIP journal in the WIP section, so people can critique and help you on each section of the mini. good luck