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Right guys i am new to painting but have discovered a real passion for it. I have set my self a target of becoming truly world class within 5 years and i think that this is achievable. Now my problem is this every time i take a photo of a model i have painted it looks much worse than it does in the flesh. A recent ultramarine terminator i painted being an example. I tried a few new shading techniques and initially i was was really happy with the improvement, i still have a really long way to go until i am at the standard i want to be but any step forward is a step in right direction . Then i took some photos to post up and they look awful all of my perceived improvements are shattered and i am left feeling a little dis-heartened as my steps forward now seem like a self delusion. Has any one else experienced this? What can one do to stop it? Am i really much worse at painting than i thought and my journey going to be that much harder. Sorry i really felt i had cracked it and made a massive advancement. Any help would be amazing. Cheers dreadful tom

This looks good but drill your barrels and remove mould lines first. I'm not a great painter but I find that I am always unhappy with most of he photos of my models. But the I'm portant thing is keep trying different ideas. I find I might do 5 average models then one where everything seems to come together perfectly. But also most of the people in this forum are painters with mental levels of talent.


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You will look back on your firs few pain jobs and see how far you come in a year

It's somewhat similar to the process of where an artist draws something and things it looks great so far as they're going along drawing the piece. Once they're done, it looks to be good to them but shown in a different perception, it may look entirely different and you notice all sorts of problems that you never noticed while you were drawing. One method that helps drawers to notice anything like wrong proportions is to flip the piece or look at it upside down. Flipping the work for a mirror view helps you see it differently and makes mistakes stand out far more. What happens is your perception is viewing something favorably that it sort of makes you blind to the mistakes that might have stood out.

Taking the picture is somewhat similar to that, you notice things otherwise now that you've gotten a different portrayal of your work. Sure, it sucks to take that good feeling away once you notice all kinds of things wrong with it, but take that as a way that you are able to find your mistakes and realize what you did wrong here or there. You can't get better unless you can identify what mistakes you've made that you can now correct. You're always going to want to improve and every step you make forward, you'll find more things you've missed. Progressing to being a good painter in your plan of five years is not going to be a rosy and clean progress of advancement. I've had days where I felt I did great on something, then there are days where I try something different and completely fudge up a piece of work.

If you see improvement in your painting then accept it and keep plugging at it. As a new painter it's hard to see miniatures posted on this site and feel like you have any skill, but you do obviously. The pic you posted is a great start, you just have to accept the fact that it will take time to get better and remember you have a 5 year goal, not a 5 month goal. Trust me I'm still reluctant to field my army due to the paint jobs and I've been painting for 6 months.

Yeah that was a terrible mole line in honesty i had just made 20 terminators models and must have missed some i didn't have a file and the sand paper boards i had form gw were pretty worn by the end. tough that one on the storm bolter is unforgivable!!!! I know it won't be an overnight project to become a top drawer painter however its a real downer to be proud one moment then have your confidence dashed a second later. And your right there is some draw dropping talent out there though i bet they had to put time and effort in to get there as well. I am fortunate that i can devote myself to painting near enough full time so improvements will come if i stick at it and don t get dis-heartened at the first setback . As for looking at it upside down i will have a go at there. Cheers guys i have some negative feedback on some other forums along the lines of 'run along newbie and leave it to the real pros' so its nice to get some decent comments back . cheers all the best. Dreadful tom

Not bad for someone just starting out. I was once where you are now. Keep at it, and keep practicing new technique's.



Oh and if your using a camera flash it'll do it to you every time. Try taking pictures with no flash.

Honestly, it's a good thing. You're off to a good start and you're right, photos tend to show off all the things you missed. Learn from them, fix on the next figure, and improve. Couple of comments.

Drill your barrels ... it does make a difference
Edge your base with black or brown. The while just makes it look unfinished.

Otherwise, I'd be happy to see those acrss the table from me.

Another thing to note is that photographing stuff is another skillset you need to learn in order to present your work. You can have the greatest paintjob in the world but if you don't know how to take the photo of your mini properly, you're gonna have a bad time. Thankfully, there are loads of tutorials out there on how to photograph your minis.

There's also the problem of magnification. Most works of art are meant to viewed from a certain distance: this is why if you look closely at most big canvas drawings, it looks uglier because you are not viewing the whole picture and just the individual strokes. Same with miniature photography: you are viewing your miniature on a much larger scale than how you see it in real life. It takes time, practice and patience (and a lot of blending and paint-thinning) for your miniatures to look good in photos, too.

Don't get discouraged. As others have said, photography is also a skill, and your miniature may look much better in person than it does in a photo, especially depending on the camera's white balance, color fidelity, and macro mode.

Also, this miniature looks like it could be radically improved with either a little blacklining (separating the crux terminatus from the armor plates with a thin black line) or some
'magic wash' (mix of black ink, water, and Future Floor polish, which has a similar effect). Blacklining is a skill and requires a lot of practice to master, but if you'd like to have some already painted minis look a lot better, but don't really feel up to going back and working on them more, a magic wash is very useful.

If you want to become a 'world class' painter, you will need a lot of practice (not you in particular, ANYBODY will need a lot of practice), but using some 'cheats' like a magic wash can get you a much more satisfactory table top paint job quickly.

Make/buy a lightbox and don't use flash, it ruins everything! I'm going to repeat what Itsacoyote said about the artist's view of their work. While doing it, it may look amazing, but when you finish you either want to throw it in the trash ater showing it to people. Usually when taking pictures of miniatures it'll do no justice until you learn how to take a better picture or paint better. From what I can see some of your colours look a little thick or they're just running over onto other parts. You should thin your paints (someone had to say it, I'm sorry!) and use a smaller brush. A tip for basing is to either prop the feet up on some plasticard/cut up sprue so it doesn't look like the model is sinking into it or make the base first and then pin/superglue and GS the model onto it (and don't get sand or flock onto the base edges, you might think it looks good but it's actually terrible).

Also, how much time do you have on your hands? 5 years to become a master painter is not a long time, especially if you have things to do during the day.

I've achieved my current level around 2.5 years. And I paint 5-8 hours on the average per day.

What if you only paint a couple hours each day, or have one of those moments where you don't want to paint but make some models?

I think you are in trouble, to say you will be a amazing painter in a short ammount of time instantly puts a really hard wall to climb right infront of you. If you are always trying to get better and keep working at it you will get it. If not well then you won't you can't hope to be amazing in 5 years when people paint 10+ years if not even longer to get as good as they are. Guess what I am trying to say is if everyone could do it then no one would bother doing it. But since not everyone can be amazing and put the time in barly anyone is. Keep working hard and who knows where you will be in 5 years with enough pratice.

Here's the thing, starting something from the very beginning and then giving yourself an artificial ceiling to reach in such a short time is setting yourself up for failure. The odds are that you will never be "world class" but that is okay, as there are only a handful of people in the world that deserve that lofty of a title. Unfortunately that comes off as a bit harsh, but that is the view of a realist and is not meant to discourage you in any way, because even the best start from somewhere.
I would recommend that instead of striving to be counted amongst the elite in the miniature painting world, work hard at it and always strive to improve on everything you do. I can honestly say that every model I finish is better than the one I did before because I have learned what works and what doesn't. The key to success is incremental steps; difficult, yet achievable goals (kind of like working out at the gym, you don't just walk in the first day and try to lift 300 lbs.). For instance: since you are just starting out, make a goal to enter a local painting contest or two. If you don't place, make your next goal to earn a top three place in a painting contest.

Start small, work hard, and don't give up.

It is a common problem. Photographs tend to be more critical than the eye. It isn't just with miniatures, it can be people too. it's one of the reasons everyone wears make up on TV.

The obvious solution is to just take photos while you are painting, then look at the photo to see what looks messy.

Personally I like your terminator, the highlighting on his back looks really pretty. But I think you need to spend more time on the face and eyes. Not because those bits are worse, but because people will naturally focus on them more. So they need to be your best work. You can fudge a gun or a foot or a backback and people will forgive you. But never a face.

 Deunstephe wrote:
What if you only paint a couple hours each day, or have one of those moments where you don't want to paint but make some models?

Then it'll take you much longer.

That's what I'm assuming is going on with the OP, since we don't know how much time he has.

Right first i can paint full time and usually spend 6 hours a day minimum. I know about bases and faces being important and its criminal not finishing them. As for the paint thinning, the terminator plate looks clumpy and i cannot fathom why as i made a real effort to thin the paint there ( there are about 7 or 8 layers there and at least two washes) I think that maybe the layers had not completely dried by the time i was putting the next layer on top of i? It also seems to have clumped together. There areas where i used 1 or 2 thick layers look better so cant explain that. I was thinning my paints to the consistency of milk? As for the crux i new that was bad from the outset as i think i lost a lot of detail with paint to thick, I have tried to rescue it with washes and highlights but it was a lost cause already might try a go at back lining to bring it back to life ( it can't really look much worse) Thanks guys some real good food for thought and helpful hints and tips, all sensible advice. Some levels of painting online is incredible and whilst inspirational its also sometimes very challenging to see how yours comperes to some of the best out there. I really feel i can do this though and am determined to have a right good go and even i don t make it in 5 years i will still be a damn sight better than i am now and that will be good enough for me. Cheers again dreadfultom

I'm not going to echo whats been said, but it dose take time. I've been painting for nigh on twenty years and in the group I play in I'm about the fourth best painter. the best has to be Ben Counter (yes that Ben Counter) and his work makes me feel like I've only been slopping the paint on
On a note about the cam work, its a well known fact that the cam well always pick up errors (uneven pigment, wash spots and the like). harsh white light is always a no no, shadow can be used just as well as soft light to make a model look its best.

so you must be from around portsmouth then? I live in bournemouth..

In deed I do. Chances we've met at some point maybe.

Your photos are very good.
Try a gradient backdrop sheet (curve it to form floor and back wall, don't fold it. I use a rattle can to keep the back up.
Heres a suitable sheet:
Http://www.winterdyne.co.uk/maz/images/comissions/backsheet_light.jpg

Even expert painters use photos to spot flaws, so don't worry about that. Time and practice are the next things....

Great cheers for that, spot on. Going to investigate this thank you again . Tomorrow I'm starting a dreadnought so we will see i what i can learn and incorporate into this. I feel its a great model to practice blending on as there are lots of wide armour areas. see what happens. I let you know how it progresses.all the best dreadful tom