Painting order styles

[Firestryke31]

Hey all, long time no post. I've been kind of off and on about painting, but have been getting back into the swing a bit more lately.

My question is this: Do you finish a color from shading to highlighting before moving on to the next or do you usually do a single stage for all of the colors (i.e. all of the base colors, then all of the shading, etc.)?

I've been doing a mini where I am trying the first method and I'm not sure what advantages, if any, there are to doing it this way. It is kind of nice seeing a (mostly) finalized area, which helps keep the dreaded 'ugh, now for the next step' feeling away.

Also, what order do you tend to go in? I tend to go inside out (i.e. skin, cloth, armor, other stuff) but it's only a guideline, especially if there's something easier to paint first that's unlikely to get paint on it during later stages.

 

[gohkm]

I very much prefer finishing up a single area completely first - it's sort of a 'quick wins' situation. Sure, I get the 'now the next step' feeling, but one can sort of mitigate that by planning ahead. I like to map out which colours go where on a mini before setting paint to brush. Problem I have is once this is all done, I'm loath to do effects like battle damage, OSL, freehand, etc.

But yes, I also go inside out. I love painting flesh, so I tend to do that first.

 

[freakinacage]

I very much prefer finishing up a single area completely first - it's sort of a 'quick wins' situation. Sure, I get the 'now the next step' feeling, but one can sort of mitigate that by planning ahead. I like to map out which colours go where on a mini before setting paint to brush. Problem I have is once this is all done, I'm loath to do effects like battle damage, OSL, freehand, etc.

But yes, I also go inside out. I love painting flesh, so I tend to do that first.

aye that. and i still never finish anything!

 

[goldones]

I prefer a mix of the two styles, actually-- I base coat the entire model then finish the shading, highlighting and detail work on a single section after the base is done.
I also prefer to work inside out, focusing on faces and the like first.

 

[Wyrmypops]

I basecoat the lot before progressing. One upside is that I can see right then if the colours are going to work with each other before invested a load of time and effort shading and highlighting.

Then I too tend to go from inside out. But more really, I go for the largest areas of colour first and progress down through the areas in order of size, or importance - as in, doing the BIG coat first, but then doing the face before the weapons even if the weapons are bigger, the face can set the tone of the mini.

The inside out process used to be more useful for me, as I used to hold the mini by the finger and thumb upon base and another extremity of the mini (head/weapon), so I'd invariably need to reinforce the primer on those extremeties before painting. Don't need to bother now I stick the mini's to a cork, I don't have to touch the mini at all with a "handle" like that to clutch instead.

Even then, I still leave off any fancy freehand until later. Only once all the shading and highlight is done overall am I comfortable enough to do the frippery.

 

[Hasdrubal]

I like to start with airbrushing the dominant color and doing their intial shadows and highlights with the AB as well. Mind you, I'm an army painter, so I've found it to be the best time to quality process for me. I then do the remaining basecoats before starting the true shading and highlight process, which I tend to do by zone.

I'm not yet confident enough in my painting skills to do freehand, so I won't comment on that ^^

 

[Dragonsreach]

One area at a time, starting with eyes, then skin, working my way outward.

 

[Countersunk81]

Yep, same as above.

However, if there is a coulour that would be difficult to correct if I made a slip-up, like white, next to a dark area, I may make an exception and do the dark area first. That way I'm not in as much danger of messing with that hard to cover area. Another advantage is that if I then slip with the lighter colour on to the dark, it won't be nearly as difficult to correct!

Or maybe my combination of paranoia and OCD just makes me think like that

 

[Einion]

Do you finish a color from shading to highlighting before moving on to the next or do you usually do a single stage for all of the colors (i.e. all of the base colors, then all of the shading, etc.)?

Usually the former, although there'll be some tweaks and adjustments later on when things are seen in relation to other finished areas.

Also, what order do you tend to go in? I tend to go inside out (i.e. skin, cloth, armor, other stuff) but it's only a guideline, especially if there's something easier to paint first that's unlikely to get paint on it during later stages.

Usually inside out for me too.

Einion

 

[Firestryke31]

Rawr, sorry for taking so long to get back to this, I have been away from painting for the week

So it sounds like the way I'm painting my current mini is pretty normal. I am mostly doing light parts first, then dark, but that's mainly because this mini is more light than dark (and also the fact that I'm not sure how I'm going to go about doing the dark parts anyway so I'm putting them off ).

Thanks for your input everyone!

 

[Wouter]

I like to basecoat all my units first. This way, I don't have to worry about touching other areas of the miniature, you can easily retouch them when mistakes are made. From here on I don't think it really matters how you continue painting.

 

[supervike]

One area at a time, starting with eyes, then skin, working my way outward.

Just like this, except not quite as spiffy...


Oh but actually, I do the base coat of the face, then the eyes, then back to the shading and highlighting.

 

[Ordo Septenarius]

While it's largely contingent on the mini, I tend to basecoat the colors in the respective areas first, and then generally finish things part-by-part.

For example, if I have a mini with lots of hair, or that would otherwise require a lot of drybrushing, I will do that first as it can be pretty messy, and I don't want to have to do that step last and worry about having to touch up hours of blending.

 

[funnymouth]

unlike most, it seems, i tend to work on the entire mini all at once, gradually pushing the whole thing towards completion. typically i go color by color, so i only have to mix once. and it minimizes the number of paint pot switches i do . the only exception would be metallic areas, which i must paint apart from the normal color palate to eliminate possible contamination.