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well, the title pretty much says it all. I am new. I like painting. and i want to get better at it. can someone help me?
i would put some pics of already painted stuff but i think they are terrible. My army is high elves so tips on painting those would be good.

Thanks

don't put too much paint on your brush. its bad for the brush and you don't need "too much paint" on a model either

Washes are your friend.
Thin down your paints.
The only way you can get better is with practice.

Coolyo294 wrote:Washes are your friend.
Thin down your paints.
The only way you can get better is with practice.

That pretty much covers the basics. I'd add that one of the most important things you can do as a starting painter is to follow the old coloring book rule of staying between the lines. If you're painting an imperial eagle and some of the paint on the tip of the brush goes over the edge, do a touch up at the end of the model. If you're thinning your paints, correcting the mistake with a dab of the original color won't leave a big bump.

To extrapolate a bit on the above,

1) washes are your friend: You can buy washes from GW or make your own but I'd recommend the former for a new painter. They're actually quite good and can add depth to a model that would otherwise take multiple shading steps and an advanced technique. Just don't make the mistake of OVER washing the model. The wash shouldn't accumulate in globs or puddles, just as wet areas in recesses and around the edges of raised details. If you've got a drop on a flat surface, dab it up with a corner of a tissue.

2) Thin your paints: some people actually add water to the bottle from the get go but I personally take a different approach. I just touch the tip of the brush into the paint and then dab it in water till it leaves a small paint circle grease spot to thin it down. If I need ultra thin paint, then I leave it longer; thicker coverage = less time.

Doing the above (thinning your paints, painting between the lines and correcting it when you go over, and using washes in moderation) will give you a decent tabletop quality look, even as a beginner.

Hello there.

Here would be my advices :
- Thin your paint (with a 3:1 ratio at least, except for the basecoat ofc) : better put 10 thin payers than a thick and not regular one (and ugly)
- Learn to control your flow : train to control how much paint you put on your model with your brush, and how to put the paint where you want it.
- Take your time and don't take too much paint on your brush
- Learn the basic technics first: drybrush, washes, highlight

All in all i takes a lot of time to improve your painting skill, and in my case, it's pretty slow :]

Paint when you feel like it, dont think "darn I MUST get these 5 guys done", it'll become like a job, not a fun hobby which imo its supposed to be.
Some relaxing music in the background always helps too.

Ratius wrote:Paint when you feel like it, dont think "darn I MUST get these 5 guys done", it'll become like a job, not a fun hobby which imo its supposed to be.
Some relaxing music in the background always helps too.

I'm a big fan of assembly line painting when doing units. It doesn't feel monotonous to me personally and setting goals for the unit makes me feel like I accomplished something. I'll sit down and set a goal for a squad of 5 like "I'll paint and highlight/edge all their armor tonight" or "today, that squad is getting their bases painted and flocked". When you're painting a unit at once instead of individual figs separately, you can feel like you're in a rut because they're all either not finished until the very end as opposed to having a single fig completely done every once in a while. Setting a discrete goal for a painting session alleviates that issue for me.

Wow you guys didnt expect such a response. Thanks it rly helped a lot.

My 2 cents:
-Practice. If you mess it up, try again. (search "paint stripping" and you'll find loads of articles on "Simple Green"). Don't lose faith in yourself too quickly, because all of these excellent paint jobs originally started out similar to a 4 year old with finger-paints.

-Take care of your brushes. Don't overload them with paint, always clean them when you're finished, and your tools of the trade will last.

Best of luck to you. Post some work-in-progress pictures if and when you can, I'd like to see your progress Never be afraid to ask for pointers, tips, tricks, or suggestions. Most people are quite polite about it.

Don't try to run before you can walk.

It's great to look through galleries, either here or on other sites (Coolminiornot), and take inspiration from other peoples' work. Don't try and emulate the very best models you see though, you won't be able to and this will knock your confidence.

Putting down a nice clean coat of paint, and getting the paint to go exactly where you want it is a great way to start. Pay no attention to other techniques until you have this mastered. Washes are great for quickly shading your mini's but will still look a bit rubbish if the paint underneath is patchy or otherwise badly applied.

Take your time and practise: I generally put on some sport commentary when i'm painting as it makes me keep going until the game is finished! The best paint jobs you see will have had maybe 100+ hours of work put into them..... Patience is a virtue.

Coolyo294 wrote:Washes are your friend.
Thin down your paints.
The only way you can get better is with practice.

Any elaberation to washes are your friend? I have never figured out how to use a wash, it ends up just looking like I painted it with whatever color the wash is. I don't even bother trying to do it anymore.

tilarium wrote:

Coolyo294 wrote:Washes are your friend.
Thin down your paints.
The only way you can get better is with practice.

Any elaberation to washes are your friend? I have never figured out how to use a wash, it ends up just looking like I painted it with whatever color the wash is. I don't even bother trying to do it anymore.

What wash are you using and on what color?

Ratius wrote:Paint when you feel like it, dont think "darn I MUST get these 5 guys done", it'll become like a job, not a fun hobby which imo its supposed to be.
Some relaxing music in the background always helps too.

This is the best advice! I'll go days or weeks without painting because I don't want to and then one day I decide I want to paint. My advice is to do a little at a time. I'll usally be painting several like models at a time. I'll do one part that uses color A and then walk away for an hour or so then come back and do another part and color before walking away, rinse and repeat until you're done. Some people can sit down and paint for hours and hours and hours on end, I can't.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

tilarium wrote:

Ratius wrote:Paint when you feel like it, dont think "darn I MUST get these 5 guys done", it'll become like a job, not a fun hobby which imo its supposed to be.
Some relaxing music in the background always helps too.

This is the best advice! I'll go days or weeks without painting because I don't want to and then one day I decide I want to paint. My advice is to do a little at a time. I'll usally be painting several like models at a time. I'll do one part that uses color A and then walk away for an hour or so then come back and do another part and color before walking away, rinse and repeat until you're done. Some people can sit down and paint for hours and hours and hours on end, I can't.

There was a couple of instances. The last time was a black wash on a face, elf flesh over dwarf flesh.

same as above with the added bit of advise keep the paint scheme simple easy schemes save lots of hassle early on

Welsh_Furey wrote:same as above with the added bit of advise keep the paint scheme simple easy schemes save lots of hassle early on

Yep, I thought of that: K.I.S.S. (or) Keep It Simple Stupid.

Work on more basic schemes until you get a good grasp, then work your way up. Excellent example was my own: Leviathan (newb) paint scheme for Nids, now I'm doing some wonderful things with Luminescence.

Another example would be my Space Wolves. Taking my time, did some research, figured out my stuff, now my minis rock (imo )

are way easier to use and measure out of than





to have an army look the same you need to measure your paint, drops are easy to count, brush fulls are not

Just try setting yourself small goals at first: Finish one guy before you start another, always paint models you enjoy looking at, don't overdo it - nice and easy wins out in the end.

Also, limit your expectations at first. Your first models will have their share of flaws. Just think positive and for heavens sake, don't compare them to minis you saw over at CMON. You will get there someday, but you'll need practice.

Cheers,


IK-Painter

Don't paint by your computer.
Find a place where you sit comfortably, can rest your elbows and keep the model in eye height.

Your pinky is your friend.
When painting something small keep your hands touching, so they don't move independently. This can easily be done by extending your pinky of the brush-hand (like at a posh tea-party).

The model is small, you are big.
Keep your brush-hand in a natural position. It is a hell of a lot easier to turn the model up-side-down, than you turning your head sideways trying to paint something on the bottom of the model.

Finally, you need a lot less paint of your brush when drybrushing than you think.
When you have wiped the brush on the tissue and think; "Now I am ready to drybrush", you need to wipe it again.....and then one more time for good measure.

Always paint your models as best as you can.
Be very patient.
Always take the hard way (unless you use washes).
Read all the comments above.

Good luck on your HE

Read the ariticle on my blog entitled the "30 Minute Rule"

http://redmodeling.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-update.html

When it comes to units of troops cleanliness wins out over coolness in most cases.

Ashton

When judging your work, don't get right up on it. Here's how I judge if a model looks good. Hold it straight out to the side, at arm's length, while looking in the opposite direction. Now look at the model, then look away. Did it look good? Because that's the closest and the longest most people are ever going to see it.

I'm not trying to be mean, but most folks just don't care. Since I'm going to be looking at them from a distance of a yard or so, I might as well only paint them to look good from that distance. I find it saves me a lot of time and heartache.