I have numerous DVDs (e.g., Jen Hailey's) that I have acquired from here and other sites. All really good and full of information. My stumbling block is how to best learn from these. I try and take notes but that gets tedious and time consuming and I still miss out on a lot of information. So I am wondering how you folks use instructional DVD's. My thinking is that I may try actually painting while I watch it being done on the screen. What are your thoughts and/or suggestions if I do go this route?
Learning from DVDs
- Thread starter godfather
- Start date
i have jens and natalyas from cmon. only way for me to learn is to actually paint while watching. what i´ve learned from them, i´ve learmed from looking at how they use the brush. inspiration and the possibility to look at their way of painting in a rather dynamic way is to me the most giving thing a dvd brings.
Hmmm, here's my take:
As a chemist, when i want to learn something new i read or attend lectures. I write notes, ask questions and then when i'm happy with what i've learned i can apply those concepts to my work. However, when learning an artistic thing like the guitar or a painting technique i find once you read about it or see it done, its then up to you to apply that knowledge and work with your hands actually doing that. For example, i wanted to learn blending. I read up on it. There was a cool article on the 40K forums. It got me started. I read up an 'Eavy Metal paint guide, then watched some youtube videos. Armed with all that, i sat and painted a plastic GW terminator. I then painted another then another. Each time getting the technique better and better. There's only so much you can read up on before you have to sit there and get s**t done
I often have Jeremie Bonamont's DVD playing in the back ground as i paint. I guess it can help if you want to try what's being shown on the screen. Though i like a little distraction to keep my mind happy. Either that or music, films or UFC.....though the latter is often detrimental to my painting if an exiting fight comes up
As a chemist, when i want to learn something new i read or attend lectures. I write notes, ask questions and then when i'm happy with what i've learned i can apply those concepts to my work. However, when learning an artistic thing like the guitar or a painting technique i find once you read about it or see it done, its then up to you to apply that knowledge and work with your hands actually doing that. For example, i wanted to learn blending. I read up on it. There was a cool article on the 40K forums. It got me started. I read up an 'Eavy Metal paint guide, then watched some youtube videos. Armed with all that, i sat and painted a plastic GW terminator. I then painted another then another. Each time getting the technique better and better. There's only so much you can read up on before you have to sit there and get s**t done
I often have Jeremie Bonamont's DVD playing in the back ground as i paint. I guess it can help if you want to try what's being shown on the screen. Though i like a little distraction to keep my mind happy. Either that or music, films or UFC.....though the latter is often detrimental to my painting if an exiting fight comes up
I find its not so much bored with painting, but for me i like a background noise for my brain to use. Its hard to explain. If i'm doing a complex calculation then i need full concentration and brain power, which requires silence. Though anything else i prefer to have background noise. I cant sleep properly unless i have a fan's whirring noise going on in the background for example.
kathrynloch
New member
With both the DVD's I have, Jen's and Lawrence's, I have my laptop sitting next to me at my painting table. Both vids, the first time I watched them, I pretty much devoted my attention to them and didn't try to paint. But then it was like, I gotta try that! So I'd get to the last chapters but couldn't quite finish them when just watching. I'd paint and have them going in the background like everyone else, but when it came to a particular technique or part of the mini that I was struggling with or didn't understand, I'd pause, re-start it and pay close attention. I'd review that second a couple of times then keep reviewing it as I tried to paint along. One thing I have to be careful of, when watching someone paint, I unconsciously try to mimic their brush strokes. Well, when artists have been doing these techniques for a lot longer than I, mimicking brushstrokes (speed and tempo I guess you could say), isn't such a great idea.
So you might want to keep an eye out for something like that. If you're an astute observer you can pick up the bad habits of someone else just as quickly as the good habits and not even realize you're doing it.
But like the others, I mostly sit and paint with the vid going right next to me. It does make me realize how much fun a painting buddy would be once in awhile.n
So you might want to keep an eye out for something like that. If you're an astute observer you can pick up the bad habits of someone else just as quickly as the good habits and not even realize you're doing it.
But like the others, I mostly sit and paint with the vid going right next to me. It does make me realize how much fun a painting buddy would be once in awhile.n
Stewsayer
New member
I have quite a collection of Tutorial DVD's. I like to watch when I can't paint (there are times esp. with four kids about). I think Ipersonally pick up more from seeing good painters paint than I do from listening. Natalya for instance doesn't do a lot of talking in her video but I got as much out of that as any of the others I have. I watch, think about what I have seen and then try it out. If it isn't working, I watch again and look for what I'm doing wrong. Watching while I work doesn't work for me. The videos are good reference but it still takes practice, practice, practice. The painters in the video know their paints, their process, their brushes and pallette. That takes time and experience.
RuneBrush
New member
I've got most of the Miniature Mentor videos and the new GW painting DVD, plus a number of YouTube tutorials book marked. I'm very much a visual learner so tend to watch them as an entity in their own right.
If I'm using one as a guide for painting something specific (e.g. the weathering on the MM Dreadnought) then I'll have it on a computer/laptop and play, pause and rewind as I need. However, if I'm only using it as a method of improving techniques then I'll generally print out screen shots (which I'll cover in jottings and notes in pencil) or create a word document that contains lots of screen shots.
I personally don't think writing down paragraphs of text is going to help much as our hobby is visual, which is why I'll create a reference document of some kind.
Don't forget that everybody has their own way's of learning. As I mentioned, I'm a visual learner so like to watch something, rip key screen shots from it and then scribble notes onto it. Somebody else might find this really distracting and prefer to just watch something on screen and pause as they go.
pete
If I'm using one as a guide for painting something specific (e.g. the weathering on the MM Dreadnought) then I'll have it on a computer/laptop and play, pause and rewind as I need. However, if I'm only using it as a method of improving techniques then I'll generally print out screen shots (which I'll cover in jottings and notes in pencil) or create a word document that contains lots of screen shots.
I personally don't think writing down paragraphs of text is going to help much as our hobby is visual, which is why I'll create a reference document of some kind.
Don't forget that everybody has their own way's of learning. As I mentioned, I'm a visual learner so like to watch something, rip key screen shots from it and then scribble notes onto it. Somebody else might find this really distracting and prefer to just watch something on screen and pause as they go.
pete
StillLifeMiniatures
New member
I'm also a very visual learner. I purchased Jen Haley's download from this site first and watched it intently, backing up whenever I missed something and then tried the techniques. Over the last couple of months I've downloaded most of the Miniature Mentor videos. Some I also watched carefully, even taking notes at points. After the fifth painter, I realized that, unless it's a particular technique for that painter, most of the basics are the same. I've lately gone to watching/ listening to them but not paying any real attention. Just letting my brain take it in and back the video up if something new and interesting comes up. We all take in information differently, but that's been my experience so far. When I watch the sculpting videos, I will have to pay more attention because I have no sculpting experience.
