Taking it to the next level...

[TaurenMoo]

Currently I paint for table top and have only ever painted a few models for someone else to enjoy. I want to spend time learning how to up my skill, this means wet blending, smooth blending and the skills associated with it as well as doing metallics well. Where do I start?

What mindset should I take with this?

I don\'t wish to spend lots of money on new brushes if I don\'t have too and the ones I use are pretty good for their current purposes, so the question is where can I find the techniques? I kinda thought about looking into some of the painting tutorial videos but boy are they expensive.

Any thoughts would be awesome...

 

[ScottRadom]

You\'re in exactly the spot I was when I found this place about 6 months ago. Here\'s what I have found most valuable....

-Surf the gallery. Find out first what you want your models to look like. PM the submitters. I\'ve found everyone to be EXTREMELY helpful

-The articles. Lot\'s and lot\'s of great advice.

-Start a Work in Progress (WIP) thread. Let people knopw what you\'re working on, take pictures and get great advice

-Submit stuff for voting. You\'ll here lots of talk about how subjective the voting procedure is around here but truthfully, no matter how harsh the score, it\'s usually pretty close in how it\'s percieved by others (I\'ve found). Post a link in the \"Discuss Submissions\" forum and get more feedback on your finished work.

-I\'ve bought the Kraken editions DvD and at the price I\'ve found it invaluable.

Brushes. If you\'re not using kolinsky sable brushes I heartily reccomend biting the bullet and getting some. True there are those on this site that can produce poetic models with probably their pinky and some fingerpaint but when I upgraded it was genuinely like having a blindfold I didn\'t know I was wearing taken off. Vs. synthetic brushes they distribute paint in such a superior fashion it made me regret only that I hadn\'t started using them sooner.

But for me the best help has been Ask, ask, and ask some more.

Good luck!

 

[Ritual]

I\'d recommend to start slowly by simply spending a bit more time on each mini you do, trying to do things neater, more carefully etc. There\'s no rush with raising your level if you\'re only painting for fun. Try new things, but go slowly and don\'t try to learn everything at once.

Try to read articles on painting (there\'s plenty here, but there\'s other good places too, like www.brushthralls.com etc.) to get new ideas about techniques, where to go etc., but try to always keep a relaxed attitude towards the whole thing. Don\'t get too eager and impatient to master everything you read about and all the fancy things you see others do, because it takes time and lots of practice to get there. It\'s much better to let things take the time they need and enjoy the process than getting obsessed.

Also, I wouldn\'t rush out and buy lots of new things! Start by using what you already have, and as you make progress you\'ll find out what you might need to add to your \"tool kit\".

Hope this helps!

 

[TaurenMoo]

This is where I am currently at with my table-top stuff... I know highlights and use if inks and washes relatively. I could use a bit more work on using them to achieve astounding results. Additionally my sculpting skills are improving. Conversions are becoming a bit easier although all out sculpts of areas besides fur are not happening yet.

One thing to note, the striped appearance of the skin is a pattern I have going army wide...

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
-Start a Work in Progress (WIP) thread. Let people knopw what you\'re working on, take pictures and get great advice

This may seem like good advice, and for some it probably is too. But, there are a few things that you should have in mind.

First of all, this requires you to photograph your miniature while you paint it, and also that you do so in a fairly organised way in order to get the most out of a WIP thread. If the photos aren\'t good you will not get any useful feedback. Furthermore, photos will NEVER show the mini exactly as it looks in real life, so the people giving advice won\'t know exactly how your mini actually looks.

Another thing that strikes me when I look at other people\'s WIP threads (I never do this myself) is that it is very often a standard set of advice that is being given. After a while you recognise every piece of advice you see.

Another thing is, that much of the advice you will get and the opinions you\'re offered are based on some sort of generic \"this-is-what-is-cool-at-the-moment\" aesthetics and this will not help you develop a personal style of painting.

Now, I don\'t mean to miscredit ScottRadom\'s suggestion here. Try doing a WIP thread at some point and see if that works well for you. But keep the things I mentioned in mind.

Something that I personally think is a lot more helpful, though, is to have regular painting sessions with one or a couple of friends. It doesn\'t matter if you\'re all on the same level, you can still help each other out by discussing what you do, give each other advice and opinions, talk about new techniques etc. The advantages with this is that you can look at the minis in real life, and you\'ll inspire each other by the progress that each of you make.

 

[demonherald]

I echo ritual there with the biggest Key factor to it all to keep enjoyng it.. I have tried several techniques that just don\'t work for me.. sure the end results weren\'t too bad but I just didn\'t enjoy doing them and the one thing I will not compromise on is my enjoyment of what I d.. there are enough stressful hard things in the real world without getting eaten up over achieving a perfect replication of a style others are doing with a hobby that is all about enjoyment ..

Give any painter on this site a model they don\'t like or a technique they hate and they simply won\'t produce their usual quality. So the key thing is enjoy what your doing..

techniques styles skills all come with time and practse and the best improvements are those you don\'t realise until one day your looking at your own work and think.. wow I never be able to do that.

be prepared for many many bits of advise some directly contradicting the other again settle on what works for you.

If there is a specific look or style you are loking for either ask openly here on the forums or Private message the person who painted what your like .. I think I have an almost 10% success rate for replies from people who I have asked.

whatever you do (just in case you didn\'t hear me ) enjoy it and don\'t try and find that holy grail single thing that will instantly change everything you do and turn ou into a god among painters .. It simply doesn\'t exist...

good luck

 

[TaurenMoo]

Any thoughts on what I posted picture wise?

Right now I am working on converting a modular beastmen warband for mordheim which I think is a prime opportunity to sit down and take time with the miniatures, even though I am already slow with my painting due to school.

Currently I use a line of \"miniature\" painting brushes, I forget the exact name that uses a blend of synthetic and actual hair I believe. They seem to work alright for what I am doing so far... I water my paints down with a blend of future floor wax and water and add water as necessary and use a wet pallete to avoid my paints going hard... I use a separate brush to mix my paints as well.

While I have played with blending I have never taken the time to try using a separate brush to feather paint and avoid some of the harsh borders you can get if you don\'t. I guess its just a matter of time before I decide too.

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by Ritual

Now, I don\'t mean to miscredit ScottRadom\'s suggestion here.

Yeah!

Ritual and DemonHerald are two of the dudes I was reffering to when I said some can use their fingers and finger paint to get results.

Why I like WIP\'s- The advice certainly may seem generic in the whole, but it\'s often new to the poster. I love WIP\'s, and I love the feedback I get. Even if it is often the same feedback I recieve, that tends to tell me I am not pushing my efforts far enough in the direction I want to go.

No advice is bad advice. The way the masters of the trade get better boils down to a few universal things, regardless of techniques I think...

-Practice
-Patience
-Enthusiasm
-Practice

Now this advice is from my point of view, and may result in slight flamage.

The hardest thing for me to do was to improve my painting in the middle of a warhammer project. As you\'ve already indicated you\'re in a project with an existing style, and it might look goofy to have half your army painted in one style to one standard and the rest a hodge podge of steadily improved models using a variety of techniques. I found I started to improve the most when I set the army aside and began to work on one piece at a time with total freedom from any pre-set color choices or thematic elements. If you\'ve got a project half in NMM and half in metal it would look goofy as an example.

Also if you\'re primarily a GW guy, I would reccomend picking up a non-GW model. Reason being, and again I am a super pro GW guy and not looking to start any fights, is that if you\'re into the warhammer world fluff, theme, etc. each warhammer model you pick up and look at probably comes with a ton of preconceptiuons about what would look right or wrong on the model. I picked up a few models from some generic ranges that had little to do with my current gaming projects that literally came with zero \"baggage\" and those models are the ones that I was able to experiment (and improve I hope) on the most.

So that\'s some advice from me. Ritual\'s suggestion about group painting events is a lot of fun too.

As for your pics I can\'t see them, and the work computer kicked me off before I could look at the links. You can post images in the body using IMG code as well.

That\'s my perspective on the wonderful world of gettin\' better at paintin\' stuff.

 

[TaurenMoo]

I have rackham models I am converting, I plan to use the wolfen as my minotaurs, since GW\'s are butt ugly, in my beastmen army... Converting symbols on them is in process right now though.

 

[Backstabbeth]

I pretty much echo all of the above and would put emphasis on tryign to take a look at a DvD to actually watch someone use these techniques... for this. the miniature mentor series is very good. the have a camera which gives amazing and unprecidented close ups to the mini being painted. it was fascinating to watch cause you can actually see the paint dry between seperate strokes. Anyway, I am not trying to advertise for a specific dvd, I also have seen the kraken additions one and have found it a great resources for information and techniques i had no clue about. I especially enjoyed the basing section of that dvd. Otherwise, I think Scott Ritual and the rest have pretty much nailed it.

Good luck and remember to make sure its fun!!!

Cheers:beer:
Tim

 

[mattsterbenz]

Yep they\'ve all nailed it pretty well.

I\'ll add a couple things, but they are a little obvious anyway

*Use every opportunity to get better. Try all kinds of new techniques and see what works best for you.

*Ask questions!!!

*Practice Practice Practice!!!



-Matt

 

[laurence]

Daily painting session.

Try to paint everyday. This way your skills will naturally improve to the point of basically mastering all the rudiment techniques. Blending with acrylic paints just takes practice and will come with regular painting sessions. Also, choose minis with a clear goal in mind for that mini. For example, you may choose a barbarian because you want to work on painting skin, or some kinda armoured knight to practice painting metals on etc, etc. Over time you\'ll have grasped all the general techniques needed to make your minis look c00l.