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First started? Decade plus later and I still suck!

Yes because a, I was using enamels (mostly gloss), b, I'd never seen a WD magazine & c, it was about 28 years ago so no internet!

....nope.
but bein a perfectionist and having an artistic filled life probably helped towards being able to paint.
Taking ya time is the best, and lots and lots of practice.
I stick with a fine detail brush and a standard brush which i keep in good condition so it has an amazing point for detail, also have an 'eavy metal brush for those special models (...none are special enough to have used it yet)

MorbidManda wrote:....nope.
but bein a perfectionist and having an artistic filled life probably helped towards being able to paint.
Taking ya time is the best, and lots and lots of practice.

I like that confidence. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for your finished work threads.

Remeber the quote "Fear denies Faith" ?

Apply it to your models and don't be fearful of thinking your stuff is a failure, it WILL get better.....I've improved even in six months, so those with years under their belt, I'm sure are leagues ahead of their first models.

And remember dude, only ever use your own models as a yardstick, if your comparing yourself to golden demon winners, you've acquiesed to failure, if you compare yourself to the last model you painted, you'll feel far better about that 1 or 2% extra you put into it.

Yep I sucked starting.

Waethion wrote:..because I do.

Just bought a couple of Space Marines and some paint. The online tutorials made it look so easy - I figured I could pull off an okay result.

So far: Wrong.

The black foundation/primer went on easily enough, but after that it all went downhill. Three coats of color so far (a rather light color, perhaps a bad idea on top of black?) and it's still a mess of see-through brush lines. Paint doesn't go where I want it to (tried leaving the aquila black, but the edge turned out plain ugly), there are bubbles in the paint (from the water I mixed with the paint, I hope..(?)), and a voice in the back of my head is telling me I simply don't have the skills for this and should just forget the whole thing...

Any advice?

What kind of paint are you using? There are several good brands of paint that give good coverage.

From what your saying. I think you may be using to much water to water down your paint. Paint should be wet, but not watery. Seems like if your paint doesn't go where you want it, you have to much water in it. Or a very low pigment count in it. You shouldn't have bubbles in the paint. This also may be from to much water.

For a beginner the best advice you can give is take your time and practice. Paint a small section, then rinse your brush. Don't try to paint to much at one time, as to allow the paint to start to dry on the brush. As you paint you will start to get a good timing on when to rinse your brush and how much of an area you can paint at one time before rinsing. Don't make your paint to watery. The pigment should be strong. Depending on the base coat even a strong pigment may take a few coats to cover the color underneath.

Chime in with some questions. I am sure there are many here that can put advice into words better then I. We have discussed just about everything in these forums at one time or another.
Paintbrushes, wet pallets, paints, techniques, etc.

Oh My God yes I sucked Don't feel bad.

My first models were awful!

You know those cheap models off eBay that look like they were literally dipped into extra thick emulation ceiling paint? That's how bad my first efforts were.

But practise practise practise!

Try new things, experiment and learn from your own mistakes.

Yes. I recently stripped all my old models to being them up to my current lvl of painting.

I don't think I'll ever do that hotsauce, I'm more of a timeline painter lol, like to see progression.

Well i thought that...Until i realized they didnt match on the table top.

See OP? You aren't alone. We can all suck together!
...
...
...
Uh phrasing? >.<

But yeah what everyone here has said. Chillax, practice, and absorb in as much painting advice as you can like a sponge.

And in the end, even if you don't get better then painting may just not be your forte. You may have another. For all you know you could be some sort of TACTICAL GENIUS. So always double check what you are trying to paint is what you are trying to paint. So you don't accidentally try to paint up a Space Marine when in reality it is a Baneblade.

Yes Yes I did. Now Im only really bad.

After 15 years it has improved a bit but I zm still not happy with 50℅ of what I paint,

I suck, I sucked for 2 years, then I discovered washed and that made me better

I definitely sucked when I first started. In the 6 months that I've been doing this (still a newb, I know), I've gone through learning phases when it comes to painting. Here's how they went:

Phase 1: Marines & Orks

When I started, all I did was glob the paint on and did very little detailing. Everything looked horrible, and I wasn't using washes or foundations at all. Multiple people at my FLGS laughed at how "cartoony" everything looked.

Phase 2: Daemons

With my Daemons, I learned that the foundations and washes are your friend. Putting down a foundation over an undercoat, then following it up with a quick wash actually looks pretty decent (for most of them anyway).

Phase 3: Grey Knights and Fantasy

For this phase, I learned that dry-brushing is an amazing thing. Most of the people I recommend it to think it is a waste of paint, but it's actually not too bad. combining it with everything I've learned since I started has drastically improved how my minis look, with people at my FLGS now eating their words.

I still despise painting marines though.

Here was my first model... a Nurgle Berserker


But yeah, painting skills do get better slowly, but surely.

I could make a thin layer of paint smooth. That was the extent of my skill when I first started out. I couldn't blend, and I could not keep paint where it was supposed to stay at first. I couldn't keep it "between the lines."

Practice makes perfect and there are subtle ways to instantly improve. Thinking of your brush as more like a pencil helped me. Hold it at 45 degrees when painting normally and nearly flat when painting raised edges helped me tremendously learn to "stay between the lines" for example.

I sucked too when I first stated only 2 years ago... My painting has improved, but I still make mistakes and ruin figures most of the time. >.<

I really need to get some Dettol and clean off my older IG...

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and excellent advice! I haven't had much time these last couple of days, but now I feel motivated to give it another shot I'm working on a "custom" chapter, using GW paint.. Even considering posting some pictures of my first attempts

My first army, i wasn't sure what paint scheme i wanted and i didn't have enough money to keep adding to the army so i kept repainting the same marines over and over and over again. I ended up with blobs and ended up selling a 2k army for 30 bucks. Sad times. Don't words to live by, stick to a theme, and don't paint heavy coats. If the paint is to thick thin it out. If it takes more coats so be it. Its better than having no detail on a model. Also, Let the base coat work for you. If you are planning on painting dark colors, start with a black or dark grey. and build up layers, and learn to dry brush and use washes. The worst paint job ever looks so much better with some washes on it. Keep going till you get good, and Don't forget there are about 2 million articles on dakka about how to strip paint from plastic models. Keep up with it, Shoot for the stars and be happy if you hit the moon.

I think most of us did. And most of us got better with practice. Do not fear to experiment with your models is my personal motto.

We all sucked when we started give or take a few notable exceptions... practice and learning will imporve your skills.

My first models gave literal meaning to the term dipping/dunking. Except it wasn't with ink, it literally looked like I just plopped the model head first into a pot of un-thinned paint.

Hell in my last few weeks of scouring youtube tutorials and advice on daka I've improved vastly from the likes of....


this

to this


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Arm.chair.general wrote:Here was my first model... a Nurgle Berserker


But yeah, painting skills do get better slowly, but surely.

flocked model <3 I did that on mine a little too much when I had nurgle xD looked like furry marines.

I keep the first model I ever painted as a reminder to NEVER do that again. I was using The cheapest of Cheap Art store paints (that I was so proud of....), no control, had no idea how to paint flesh (Still my biggest weakness), and all around sloppy work

Orki wrote:

MorbidManda wrote:....nope.
but bein a perfectionist and having an artistic filled life probably helped towards being able to paint.
Taking ya time is the best, and lots and lots of practice.

I like that confidence. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for your finished work threads.

Well hopefully I won't disapoint ^_^

White Ninja wrote:Yes Yes I did. Now Im only really bad.

If you're not sucking your not learning. Stay in there op.

I am one of the crummy painters and I will say it does get better and better as time goes on.
I have found myself stripping down a bunch of orks to get them from laughable to something I can be happy with.
Funny thing is I find my self eyeballing those now and thinking I might can do a little bit better.
Just never give up and it will get better.

I got a gold demon for the first model i ever painted! Kidding, i'd be very suprised if your first model was beautiful. We all start somewhere. Just keep practicing and learning and you'll be painting some impressive stuff in no time.