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Just what it says in the title, what would you suggest as some basic things to improve your painting skills? Preferably of course something that doesn't require me to get tons of "training-modells".

Also, do you think that experience from sketching/drawing/painting on a 2d surface carries over to miniature painting?

The best way to improve your painting is to paint something out of your comfort range. For instance, if you normally paint 40K space marines, paint a fantasy-themed miniature from another company.

I'll second the idea for painting something different, just so you keep practising different skills and don't get bored (you can only paint so many tactical marines before quality starts to slip).

The other thing I'd suggest is to pick some stuff up and paint it purely for display, and take the chance to try something new, like NMM or OSL, That way, I find myself worrying less about getting it game-ready or rushing it. The more it contrasts with what you've just been doing. For example, having painted close to 100 warzone/IG figures in a couple of days, I then spent a week just painting DV chaos marines, allowing me to try out some entirely different techniques without being daunted by needing to get them to just a table-top standard. As a result, I turned painting back from a chore to a hobby, and produced some great looking minis. For something like this, there's no need to buy loads of test figures, just pick one or two that you always wanted but had no use for, and paint them just for fun.

As for drawing and painting having a crossover, I can't speak for drawing helping painting, but when I started painting marines, my SM drawing also got better as I gained a better understanding of the details and anatomy, so I can't see why it wouldn't got the other way.

My advice, is get out of your comfort zone. Experiment with different undercoats, primers, or overall palette schemes you have used in the past on your earlier models. Don't be afraid to make a giant mess of things 99 times, if you find something brilliant even once! A basic understanding of color theory and what clashes/contrasts/compliments will help you pick out some really dazzling and bold results.

I was thinking, more basic. xD

Experimenting happens once you got a decent grip on the basics, but what would be a few good exercises to nail those down?

DrunkPhilisoph wrote:
I was thinking, more basic. xD

Experimenting happens once you got a decent grip on the basics, but what would be a few good exercises to nail those down?

Paint more. Find one aspect of a miniature that you want to practice on. Like, "Hey I don't really paint folds of cloth really well." Grab a cheap miniature with lots of cloth and get to work. Cloth is fantastic because you can easily do blending, shading, highlighting, play with washes, dry brushing, etc...

There's not really "exercises" other than find things you want to work on and then work on it. Brush control comes with practice, as do the other parts of painting.

If we're being super basic:
-Thin your paints with water (it makes hem flow better and last longer)
-Early on, focus on getting a nice, even coat (multiple thin coats are better then a thick coat)
-Use paints that have good coverage/opacity
-Integrating a few basic techniques like using washes or drybrushing is not that hard, and it opens the door for more experimentation

I know you want to avoid "training" models, but they are a great way to try the basics and to practice on so you don't botch your army.

Training models don't have to be expensive GW kits. Get some Reaper BONES, or find some cheap historical kit. When you are comfortable with your painting skills, you can move on to the models from your army, and models that you just feel like painting up.

You could pop into your local GW store and book a painting session and ask them to help with your painting. You can normally use one of their stock models (high elves or space marines).

I do most of my painting in my local GW store, so I only paint twice a week, booking a table helps, then you have a dedicated area to paint (obviously you have to supply your own paints and brushes).

Blending techniques from painting on paper and what not will transfer over, getting used to making shapes and steadying your hand will probably cross over too so if you enjoy painting and drawing then keep it up

Oh the technique side it really is a lot of practice, maybe watching YouTube vids to get tips. If you can get a hold of the old "How to paint miniatures" from GW you'll find some good tips in there. The new one is hella expensive but does have video tutorials I think? The only one you can pick up on day for a decent price. There's plenty of other miniature painting books if you're interested too, but I've only ever used the GW one.

If you want free there's so many tutorials on the Internet, just google it! Then get some of your painted models up for C&C from people here.

I'm going on a bit here so ill stop, but practice is important.

Sketching and drawing don't have any directly translatable skills, mostly just a vague training of your "artistic eye" and basic hand-eye coordination. 2-D painting experience, however, can help. Miniature painting is somewhat unique, though (in terms of the paints we use, the sculptural nature of our "canvas," and the tiny scale, etc.), so canvas/paper skills won't always carry over perfectly.

Experience with watercolor painting seems like it might actually be more useful than acrylics or oils, since we tend to avoid impasto like the plague, working with thin paints of varying translucency instead of pushing heavy bodied paints around (artfully, of course ). James Wappel's "shaded basecoat" method relies heavily on washes and glazes - watching his paintjobs shape up on his blog, you can see a strong watercolor influence.

The whole "artistic eye" development experienced by a painter of any sort will also have more direct benefits in miniature painting, since they're still working with paint. Regardless of the exact medium, experience with mixing and color theory will prove quite useful. I see a lot of miniature painters with great mechanical skills that seem to lack any sense thereof, which is severely limiting (everything requires a recipe/tutorial or ends up disjointed). Early on, it gives you greater flexibility in your color choices, as you aren't limited to exactly what paints you own. As you progress, it will help you design more coherent and attractive schemes, harmonize colors, manipulate temperature for evocative lighting effects, etc.

If you don't want to use practice models (which you'll need to do at some point, at least, but they needn't be the whole of your training), 2-D art isn't a waste of time, by any means. If you can paint a reasonably convincing figure or feature on a flat surface, you've done two important things: First, you've worked out the requisite paints/colors. Second, you've considered how light would fall on the 3-D object. Mechanical mini painting skills have to be honed, if not developed from the ground up, painting minis (although mini painting can include 2-D painting, shrunk down - i.e. the infamous "freehand"), but there is definite merit to broadening your training regimen.