What does "well painted" mean to you?

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**Polonius**

Talizvar wrote:
Hehe, sorry when I read the title my brain inserted "Well, (it is) painted.", I think that pretty much sums it up.
I think I have struck "Pro-painted" from my language, I find that people I consider pros at painting would not even call their work pro-painted.
I hear "One of my better efforts.", "I took my time.", "I was pleased with the results.", "I was trying something.", all these say to me buy that model now.

I agree with the various levels defined of painting above, I think mine fall in around 8 levels.
My own spin on it especially after looking at a few painting services (and the painting efforts where they stop in order):

- "Primed with colour" is the too frequent definition where the model looks like a mono-colour injection molded playing piece, great for board games.

- "The Minimalist" If you are lucky, a couple details may see another colour.
- "The Shader" This person found their dip/shade/wash/high-contrast paints and are not afraid to use it as their first and last coat.
- "I has an Airbrush" Like the shader, they love a fine gradient and why break that look up with fussy details??

- "Block-Painted" The typical paint by numbers, the part I hate where all you are trying to do is get a "base" colour on each differing detail on the model. Sub-categories of neatly done or going outside of the lines...

- "Table-top quality" is when the block painting is neat (touched up) and at least a passing attempt is made to get all the bits to be the right colour. There is typically some shade, edge highlight or some decals applied to show some level of "doneness" here (not all of these, just some).

- "Table-top with Benefits" Where the person decides to give that extra bit of love for a Sgt or some model where a couple techniques are applied like shade, edge highlights, gradient to make it stand out from the table-top crowd.
- "I has Airbrush Glow", you know who they are. OSL done quickly: spray the general area or used as a rather rough raised area highlight. Looks really striking at first but a bit "gauche".

- "Fancy" Shading is a pretty much standard, panel lines are filled, gem/lens detail, writing on scrolls, glowing objects are made to look such. This is about the point where people actually drill out the barrels on the guns, this is showing a strong love for the look of things.

- "To a Good standard" This is when a painter is in no hurry, they get a 3 stage edge highlight happening, actually, pretty much any colour transition sees 3 or more shades of transition with bright glint in raised corners, This is when people play with NMM or Reverse Zenithal highlights and other more advanced techniques. I tend to see this from those where painting is their preferred part of the hobby. This would be considered "spot-on" in the awesome department.

- "I'm Just Learning" These are the words I hear from the most skilled people in the world in ANYTHING. They make the model look real in miniature, they have the eye such that you need something for scale to put next to the model since the detail is that good. Their painting borders on optical illusion because it almost defies your eye to analyse the techniques used. I love to "hate" seeing these models and it inspires me to get better at it, I may retire by the time I get (or is that if?) to this level.

All of the above I think is both a learning process and where you draw the line when you are fighting with your inner artist and the plain "git-er-dun" need to play with the models.

This is a pretty good break down!

**Andykp**

craggy wrote:
To be fair, if the person who painted it is making any money off it, they're a pro-painter. Doesn't necessarily mean they're a good painter.

That’s true, it’s why the term has become meaning,ess. I have made money from painting, it isn’t my profession, it’s very much a hobby. I don’t think any of my painting would win any completions but it is better than average table top standard and that’s what I sell it as.

**Talizvar**

Polonius wrote:
This is a pretty good break down!

Thanks so much!
I thought hard on this and many points are pokes at me.
I have a bunch of Ultramarine models I have stuck on the "I has an Airbrush" stage and I then have to "Block-Paint" now.
I have achieved on occasion the "To a good standard" but that seems to be reserved for one model every once and a while.

"I'm Just Learning" stage to be achieved I have to look at more smart ways to paint well and fast.
This is the stage commissioned painters need to get at so they spend the least time possible getting good results.

I know some really nice insanely skilled guy here on Dakka was airbrushing a Nurgle Dreadnaught and we posted back and forth he setup a watch beside it and he had this thing looking bloody perfect in literally minutes (about 40 minutes) he was posting to me in real time.
He enjoyed it, I felt honored to get his attention and he answered a lot of questions.

"Well painted" what it truly means to me is when I see the painted piece and I smile because you can see the obvious effort put into it.
I have seen very skilled block painted stuff that had colour borders you could cut yourself on.
Proper camouflage where the owner promised to "highlight" them because we kept forgetting them in the terrain.
I was shocked when I picked up a 40k model and could see distinct tiny individual teeth (painted on!), I "demanded" to know how they did that.
There is always something.

**Andykp**

Talizvar wrote:
Polonius wrote:
This is a pretty good break down!
Thanks so much!
I thought hard on this and many points are pokes at me.
I have a bunch of Ultramarine models I have stuck on the "I has an Airbrush" stage and I then have to "Block-Paint" now.
I have achieved on occasion the "To a good standard" but that seems to be reserved for one model every once and a while.

"I'm Just Learning" stage to be achieved I have to look at more smart ways to paint well and fast.
This is the stage commissioned painters need to get at so they spend the least time possible getting good results.

I know some really nice insanely skilled guy here on Dakka was airbrushing a Nurgle Dreadnaught and we posted back and forth he setup a watch beside it and he had this thing looking bloody perfect in literally minutes (about 40 minutes) he was posting to me in real time.
He enjoyed it, I felt honored to get his attention and he answered a lot of questions.

"Well painted" what it truly means to me is when I see the painted piece and I smile because you can see the obvious effort put into it.
I have seen very skilled block painted stuff that had colour borders you could cut yourself on.
Proper camouflage where the owner promised to "highlight" them because we kept forgetting them in the terrain.
I was shocked when I picked up a 40k model and could see distinct tiny individual teeth (painted on!), I "demanded" to know how they did that.
There is always something.

Well said.

**nareik**

For me 'well painted' is more about how expertly the paint has been applied, rather than which advanced techniques have been used.

So a model with all its colours neatly blocked in - without 'going over the lines', obscuring details or being patchy - can be considered well painted. Whereas a model with badly placed highlights with inconsistent gradients and blotchy shading would not be well painted.

**HunterEste**

Well painted to me means:

Base colors + simple shading + Some basic Highlights
All done somewhat neatly too.

**Dukeofstuff**

I think everyone can agree on unpainted, on primered, on 3 colors per model standard met minimally (which I believe people call "table ready" or "gt minimum".
I believe "well painted" to be "better than that" and figure if you must cut fine grades in that, you could simply give it a grade score like.
A+ This won the competition last year, and some schlub without a life spent 1000 hours on it. Any mistakes it has are a matter for debate from people who do similar works, and are not sure if it was intentinal wapisabi.
A. All those things promodel people talk about and claim to do, but probably not the first place winner at the model painting competition.
B This has all the techniques in it, and someone learning them probably won't quite do it that way again even though its not wrong. But when you look at the huge numbers of horde units closely, mistakes are apparent even to those of us who don't do it for a living, but they are minimal. My scions will probably never rise above this level in part because I painted them with slightly different forms of armor paint schemes, reflecting the odd psychodynamics of Freedonia's equipment supply chain. A purist would be angry about that, since, of course, a purist wants them to look whatever a purist considers pure.
C Someone didn't pay the artist enough for them to care a lot. Or they didn't know what they were doing. Or maybe its their first time experimenting with an airbrush so every single gaurdsman is a one-off, albeit a functional one.
D Someone took a bad three color job and added like, 2 rapid details a model. Sure, its not actually a bad thing from 2 feet, but if you look close, you go "hey, you did a nice job of hiding your painting with your painting!"
F. Fail. Someone painted a bucnh of models that even they look at and probably say "meh, table ready, I guess, but I wasted resources doing THAT."

**DV8**

For me, well-painted is always considered in two contexts: the painter, and what they were trying to achieve (their goal).

For my own models, I consider what is well-painted for tabletop play very differently from what would be well-painted for competition (like Crystal Brush, Resin Beast, or Golden Demon, San Marino, etc.).

I also take into consideration the painter. Someone who doesn't have my experience or skill (for what it's worth, I consider myself decidedly average in terms of international competition) might paint something to the best of their ability, and for that I would consider it well-painted by their standards.

Similarly, some of my best pieces that I consider well-painted probably wouldn't hold a candle to painters like Alphonso Giraldes, Sergio Calvo, Francesco Farabi, Ruben Arribas, etc.

Which makes terms like pro-painted, well-painted, even what I used to use 'masterclass' painted highly variable, and largely just buzzwords to attract attention.

**wuestenfux**

Well, its ''pro-painted'' for an amateur like me - several layers: base, layer, shade, dry, ink.
No contrast colours for me as they are purely for amateurs.

**CragHack**

Pro painted: -+ Giraldez level painting.
Well painted: anything you see on Advanced GW tutorials or close to that.

**captain collius**

Easy answer better than me.

I've been in a couple tourneys even managed a few extra paint points here and there. However I am not and never will be a great painter. I paint so that I can play no more no less.

**JNAProductions**

It looks nice.

See, I'm not a big artsy guy, and a worse painter, but I love to see well-painted models. And I don't have high standards. No specific techniques, no minimum amount of colors, just cool to look at.

Which, of course, means that pretty much all of the time when I game against painted models, I'll say "Dang, that looks great!" and then find something specific to compliment if I can.

**Steelmage99**

Neat block colours, shading and details picked out is enough for me to classify as "Well Painted".

**Da Boss**

For me well painted is to do with the overall visual impact of the force. Is it cohesive, does it "wow" me or make me happy when I look at the force arranged.
You could achieve this through any number of methods, clever colour choices, airbrushing, shading, whatever. The point is when I look at it, I think "That looks cool!" I know people get hung up on methods sometimes, but to me the final result is the most important thing.

You can also be technically proficient but make colour choices that look wrong to me, or have a force that is not cohesive because you don't feel like painting them that way. Sometimes people have really beautifully painted minis in an "official" scheme that I think just looks kinda fugly, like the Ultramarines.

**DalekCheese**

Brilliantly painted- Golden Demon, but no airbrush except for lighting effects.

Very well painted- somewhere between Golden Demon and Duncan Rhodes. A lot of models around here use a load of airbrush, which is annoying. EVERYTHING GLOWS!!!1!1!1!!!1!

Great painting- Duncan Rhodes’ tutorials etc. (I tend to use his work as a benchmark haha)

Well painted- a little above my level. Shaded, edge highlights, maybe a dry brush. Possibly some NMM if feeling fancy.

Good painting- me. Neat base colours, shading, some degree of scrollwork etc. Not brilliant, but quite good.

“Hmmmmmmm” levels of painting- base coated fairly neatly. Maybe a shade.

“The budgie painted it”-levels. Thick paint, splodged on with no regard for the models. No shade. Almost painful to look at.

**Talizvar**

Ha, we all have differing levels of that "image in your head" of what to expect, largely based on what you are used to seeing.

I find the artist's skill is constantly at war with the image in their head vs the amount of time they are willing to spend to get there.
Typically a compromise is reached where you have to draw the line and say "good enough".

I think I am not the only one who can see that you could potentially spend an infinite amount of time to get that model "perfect".
Every once and a while a piece of me gets fed-up and wants to throw the model across the room... that is when I spend time on other hobbies until that feeling passes...

For those who are selling the model I think they have to be very clear on the definition on the level of completeness.

Best I could see of the actual industry is about 4 levels:
- Basic tabletop standard - my basic definition of "block painted" and possibly a wash and one edge highlight.
- "Good" standard - Used for squad leaders or vehicles: a bit more detail, picking out smaller details like rivets, shade and highlights get a bit more attention.
- Character models - Every colour would see at least 3 shades used, strong attempts at a gradient or wash, all this even applied to small details. A reasonable item to have out on display.
- Display / museum quality - I find those who chose being an artist as a career do these. When you see a heroic scale model of 28mm with heads that are realistically toned, you are seeing this level.

Most of the product I think the OP was commenting on is stuff on ebay, kijiji and general hobbyists selling off their stuff.
So their descriptions would follow no known standard but their own.

I do not have a problem categorizing since the few times I was hired to work on models for others was to build, sand, magnetize and prime: no painting, they wanted to do it.