Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Where do I go from here? I know with more practice, a lot more things will get better. However I wanted to see if I could get some feedback and see if there was something that needs to be addressed. So that I have a direction for the start of my painting journey. Don't go easy on me if it looks like I didn't thin my paints go ahead and yell at me! Look forward to seeing what you think.

P.S. the eyes are not done are on purpose I'm a bit nervous to tackle those still.

I think the standard "thin your paints" reply should be an auto-reply on every feedback thread ever

It is great advice and although it means coverage takes longer, you avoid obscuring details and you get a smoother finish.

I would try to smooth out the shadows on the skin and add some more highlights to add depth.

Same goes for rhe armour, a few highlights would go a long way.

It's a great start, so just keep going

As a new painter it's pretty damn good. As mentioned, learn to thin paints down (easy to do with water and a tile if you paint from a palette).

Skip eyes if you want, no worries - not noticeable at 28mm normally (and often, when painted, are done so poorly they become TOO noticeable).

The dipper in me thinks the whole thing could be taken up a notch with dip or some washes (helping accentuate features in the muscle ton on the orc, etc.)

Overall, damn good - keep it up.

Hey there Elbows thanks for the feedback! I have tried to do some washes before but it always seemed to tone back the colors way too far at least for my taste. I don't mind a gritty and dark painting style but I always feel like sometimes the few washes that I have done ended up taking away from the model. I'm thinking it may go back to not enough thinning again maybe or maybe a different color wash.

Also to D41VDO I know thinning varies for paint from brand to brand what is a paint to water ratio that you like to work with for most of your paints?

I'd say for me personally I just add water until the painting is more like milk that kind paint, if that makes sense!

It depends on what you're painting and what colours, but that's usually a good starting point.

If you paint and notice you're seeing brush strokes in the paint on the mini, water it down a touch

Hey, I think that's looking pretty good for a beginner! In regards to the comment about washes, I was once like you, I was using a wash on zombies and didn't like the dirty look it was giving them. I would recommend watching Sorastros videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMOTmOchKyQ&t=448s.

Everything became clear to me after this, basically apply the base layer back over the wash after you apply it.

Or use a significantly brighter color to begin with, so the wash brings it down to the desired 'final' color.

I agree - an excellent start. More ink.

Looks good for tabletop standard as is. A big mob of those from three feet away will look great on the table. Good work so far!

That's pretty good, LushWizard. Whether by accident or design, you've got an interesting leathery texture on the leather armour and shield, the chainmail looks good, and the colours are neatly applied.

In terms of technical improvement, advice on washes, dips, highlights, black lining, edge highlighting etc basically come down to adding light and shadow to your mini. There are a bunch of different ways of doing this of course, and many have been very well explained in the thread, and on the Sorastro videos Cryocat linked to (I very much second the advice of watching those videos, by the way.) Practice adding shade and highlights in whatever method or methods work for you. You've already got some shading going on on that mini anyway, and it looks good. It's a good idea to shade down and highlight up a shade or two further after it starts to look right. That extra layer tends to make a big positive difference.

The other things to think about are what sort of thing makes a miniature look good and eye-catching. Concentrating on the face area, making that a bit brighter, or with a bit more contrast, and try to get the face looking as neat as possible. It's a pain, because it's always quite a difficult area to paint, but it's always the thing people look at first. The other part of your orc that the eye would be drawn to is the sword, so a really bright highlight across the top of the blade would look cool.

As you mentioned in your post though, the only way to really improve is to keep painting. I wouldn't think of it as practicing, that makes it feel a bit like work. The more you paint, the better you'll get, most likely without even noticing. There's no shortcut or "hacks" to painting at Eavy Metal standard,but it isn't as hard as you might think it is. If you've got some spare miniatures, try a few new techniques on them, and you might find something that just works for you. Good start, though!