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I have been watching the "how to paint" videos from GW and I am learning a lot from them. One of the things I don't like is because I am a cheapskate it seems a lot of paint is being wasted. Why is Duncan using so much paint on the pallet to paint so little? My cynic side of me is GW wants you to do this so we use more paint and waste it. I have tried this but stopped because the paint dries so fast and all goes to waste. Thing is my painting skills are not improving so I am wondering if I should be trying this method again.

So I come here to ask how you do it. I have started using a wet pallet and it seems to help but still not getting the results like Duncan is doing. Is this the proper way of doing things like Duncan does on the videos o his GW just wanting use to use more paint, waste it so we buy more. How is the proper way of putting paint on a dry pallet? I have looked at a lot of Youtube videos, but again, I see lots of paint being wasted for little bit of work.

So if I am doing one mini at a time and just a bit of work like a belter or just a jacket or what not, how much paint should be put on a dry pallet and used? Since searching Youtube is a hit and miss, does anyone know of any great tutorials on youtube that I can learn how much paint should be used on a dry pallet?

Thanks for any help or tips you can give me.

I'd say personally unless I'm mixing paint then I see no point whatsoever in using a dry pallet. Use it from the pot, if you don't need to add anything.

To be honest I have more experience of paint 'going bad' rather than pots running out of paint. Based on this I think you are being a little cynical to suggest GW is trying to get you to waste paint to aid their bottom line.

I think there might actually be technical reasons for using so much.

1) by using generous quantities it is easier for the viewer to see what is happening (these are tutorials after all)

2) by using bigger mixes it is easier to achieve the consistency you want.

3) bigger mixes take longer to dry / use up so can be used for longer

4) lighting for the video may increase the rate the paints evaporate at

5) having sufficient paint mixed on the palette will allow for a couple of takes to be done with the same palette instead of having to mix again wasting more time and paint.

I'm sure there are even further reasons.

Anyway, if you want thinned paints with less wastage, you could try thinning the paint while it is still in the pot. I guess this risks wasting an entire pot though!

I wouldn't worry about wasting paint. I rarely ever run out of a paint, if I do it's usually the base colour of my army or a primer, in which case I'm applying lots of it so it doesn't make a huge difference if I take a bit too much out here and there.

I have a mate who says he doesn't like wasting paint so paints straight from the bottle, I feel like whacking him over the head because I KNOW he's had about 50 times more paint pots dry out than he has actually had them run out

How much to pull out of a pot just depends on how long you'll be painting with that colour. If it's only for a few seconds to do a certain detail, don't need to take much out. If you're going to be using it for a few minutes, then you need to take out a bit more otherwise it'll dry out almost immediately.

One area Duncan irks me is how he coats the brush in paint, coating it way too far up. Coat your brushes like that and they won't last anywhere near as long, and you're more likely to feel that in your wallet than wasting a drop of paint here and there.

Well, after all, Duncan is working at GW and is making painting tutorials, so I don't think that they are too stressed out with the amount of paint it used.

I think you are forgetting that he making tutorial videos and putting more paint on the palette makes it easier to see for the viewer (the colour and what he's doing).

That aside, for smaller areas I just use one size 1 or 2 brush (like the regular GW brush), dip it in the pot (just the belly, not up to the ferrule (the metal bit)), transfer to palette, thin about 1:2 or 1:1 (more water), and use that as needed. If you mix two paints then using more (like one brush dip of each) helps because your mixed paint won't dry up as quickly (and mixing again even with exact ratios can be inaccurate).

If you need bigger amounts of mixed paint (like for an army) then pre-mix whole pots, and if you need thinner paints (for washes or glazes) then I would also start with one dip of paint and add more water.

If the problem is that you are unsure about what paint thickness to use while painting then I would recommend something from roughly 1:1 to 1:2 (one dip paint to two dips water) for base layers (use two or three layers for a flat coverage that doesn't muddy details), depending on the paint (these can vary even in the same product lineup). Then you can can add highlight and shadows with a similar consistency (or a bit thinner, like 1:3), highlight a bit lighter than you need, and use a wash/glaze (1 paint to 5 or more water) over the affected areas to draw your layers together.

That being said, if you have problems with paint drying on your palette then it could either be that you are using way too much (and you get a big pool of dried paint) or not enough (it dries too quickly before you even had the chance to use it). You could try using drying retarder. Put a few drops into the pot and see if the paint stays wet long enough, if it doesn't add a few more. Try that out with one new/full pot to see what ratio you need (you don't want all your paints to take a half an hour to dry on the miniature every time). But overall (for paint usage, not about retarder) it's simpler to err on the side of putting too much paint on the palette because it's less work and you also need to open the pot less often (that will spoil the GW pot more than just using a bit more paint).

If you're cheap, start with eyedropper paints. As a beginner, it won't really matter which hobby paint line you use. A wet palette is good to keep those paints from getting dry.

BTW, Reaper Miniatures has its first Learn to Paint Kit available. FRPGames has it at a discount plus shipping. Reaper has it at MSRP and add a penny of bases, and you get some free paints and a miniature during their Halloween promotion.

And for gosh sakes, don't give up on the wet palette yet. It is probably the single greatest tool that I use to paint. Take a look at the Painting Buddah videos on YouTube. Just like with Rhodes, don't expect immediate results just by watching them though.

All I know is that using a tile for mixing w/ water etc. and the dreaded Vallejo dropper bottles (where people insist you're wasting paint) ---- I've done around 300-400 miniatures with my paints and have only come close to needing to replace two or three paints.

"Wasting" paint is not as tragic as people seem to think. I get an incredible amount of paint out of a simple $2.65 bottle of Vallejo. That being said I don't paint whole space marines armies out of pots.

Man, I think if most people ever saw how I paint, I'd probably get defenestrated. I've never used a dry palette, and I only rarely use a wet palette.

The lids of my paint pots, however, are coated in paint from where I test the consistency of the paint on the brush after dipping it in the pot before laying brush to model. After a good painting session, my left thumbnail is also usually quite colourful.

Never NEVER NEVER paint from the pot. The paint is thicker in the pot so you wantto poor it out or use an old brush to put it on a pallete. mix it with thinner(Never thin with water, bad idea) and paint from there.
Pciture painters dont worry about wasting paint and neither should you.

Thinning with water is absolutely okay, I have no clue what the bad idea is supposed to be. But you have to thin your paints if you want more than below-average results.

You get thinning medium from whatever the paints you are using.
Vallejo uses their Thinner Medium
GW uses lahmian medium
P3 uses their Mixing medium
If you MUST use water. get purified filtered water from the store, never use from the tap because particles and other impurities can get into the paint and onto the model.

It's usually fine to thin with water. I probably use tap water 95% of the time to thin.

The times I don't use tap water...

1. Airbrushing.

2. Painting extremely fine details (use a mixture of Vallejo Flow Improver, Drying Retarder and water).

3. Thinning washes/glazes (use a mixture of Vallejo Flow improver, Lahmian Medium and water).

4. Thinning paint which is very thick because it's dried out (use a mixture of Vallejo Airbrush Thinner and Lahmian Medium and water).

Everything else I just use tap water.

Also, GW's Lahmian Medium isn't really a "thinning medium", it adds body to a paint without really lowering the viscosity. So it's more a glaze medium (or just a medium) rather than a "thinning" medium.

Lahmian medium is just plain ole acrylic matte medium. Liquitex brand matte medium is the same thing.

I make a pre mix of matte medium, water, and flow aid in a 20:20:1 ratio then thin my paints with it as needed.

Thinning with water is 100% fine. Medium is not needed in the slightest.

I've painted hundreds, if not thousands of models over the last 20 years and have used a medium to thin maybe twice.

Does it have its use? Sure, but not something that's needed at all.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Never NEVER NEVER paint from the pot. The paint is thicker in the pot so you wantto poor it out or use an old brush to put it on a pallete. mix it with thinner(Never thin with water, bad idea) and paint from there.
Pciture painters dont worry about wasting paint and neither should you.

Never say never. Painting directly from the pot is fine for a lot of things if you know what you're doing. Ditto on the "old brush" and thinner vs water points.

 Azazelx wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Never NEVER NEVER paint from the pot. The paint is thicker in the pot so you wantto poor it out or use an old brush to put it on a pallete. mix it with thinner(Never thin with water, bad idea) and paint from there.
Pciture painters dont worry about wasting paint and neither should you.

Never say never. Painting directly from the pot is fine for a lot of things if you know what you're doing. Ditto on the "old brush" and thinner vs water points.

pretty much
most of my painting is done straight from the pot, but a moist brush, and a drop of water on my tile, ensure that my paint gets thinned on the brush using the back of my thumb...
i also don't use any additives, just water to make my washes and glazes...

when i mix a custom color on my tile, i use the back of the brush to pull paint from the pots...
this keeps my bristles in good condition (i don't bother with brush soap), and ensures that i can pull the same size drops every time, to keep my ratios consistent...

while i would not teach my method to beginners, it works for me, as it is all second nature...
never is a word that really bothers me when it comes to painting...
i am not a fan of hard and fast rules

cheers
jah