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Hello,

As i am wanting to become a better painter, I am starting to think about painting in more theoretical ways.
A question i ask myself right now is, what is the goal of the painter when painting a miniature so it looks as good as possible?
I am not talking about table top painting right now. I am talking about becoming a skilled painter.

Here are some of my ideas:
The goal is:
- to add depth to the miniature (shadows and highlights)
- to add material definition (metals to look shiny, wood to have grain texture etc)
- to come up with a pleasing color scheme
- to add something extra that grabs the attention for example some freehand patterns or icons.
- to be as neat as possible and smooth with color application.
- to keep blends smooth and minimize visible brush strokes.

Can you come up with something more? What makes a miniature look good?
And what more to keep in mind to become a better painter?

Hmmm as a painter my 1 and only goal is to get things done till i can no longer get them to look better with my skills until i improve upon them.

as it is im failing miserably as i cant get anything done

 DanceOfSlaanesh wrote:
Hello,

As i am wanting to become a better painter, I am starting to think about painting in more theoretical ways.
A question i ask myself right now is, what is the goal of the painter when painting a miniature so it looks as good as possible?
I am not talking about table top painting right now. I am talking about becoming a skilled painter.

Here are some of my ideas:
The goal is:
- to add depth to the miniature (shadows and highlights)
- to add material definition (metals to look shiny, wood to have grain texture etc)
- to come up with a pleasing color scheme
- to add something extra that grabs the attention for example some freehand patterns or icons.
- to be as neat as possible and smooth with color application.
- to keep blends smooth and minimize visible brush strokes.

Can you come up with something more? What makes a miniature look good?
And what more to keep in mind to become a better painter?

Good thread.

I agree with much of what you've put in your list, but I think I can add some others. They're not so much "the goal of the painter" but things to keep in mind and try to improve on, for me at least.

- To think about how to use colour, balancing warm and cold colours, complementary colours, etc. Many of the top painters use some unexpected colours as shade and highlights. It's not always just a case of using a darker and lighter shade of the base colour.
- To try to represent the way light falls in a natural, or interesting way. This could be special effects like OSL, or NMM, or it could be just using light to add realism, dynamism, narrative, or interest to a model. Light can be used to direct the eye.
- To create narrative and character. A miniature which captures the imagination is always more interesting than one that just looks nicely painted.

When I paint, the only thing that really matters is the end result, and the impressions, feelings and stories that evokes. In my book, all the technical brilliance and exceptional precision is of little value if the model doesn't 'say' anything, and conversely, a model can be 'messy' or not really show off any great technical skill, but still be particularly impressive just on the merits of the end result.

Obviously, there's a lot of overlap and the technical and artistic sides do feed into each other. But to me, the difference comes in the 'why'. If you're using NMM to prove you can do NMM, then that's a lot less impressive to me than if you're using it to tell me something about the model and its place in a wider setting and narrative. Maybe the NMM is particularly dull and lacks contrast to show me that the model, or rather, the character, is unable or unwilling to clean their armour. Alternatively, if it's very high-contrast piece NMM, that says the character is someone who should be seen as resplendent and noticeable.

You can say the same for OSL; a strong but small area of OSL shows me the model is meant to represent someone in a dark area, emphasising a single point of light (think a thief working by candlelight). On the other hand, bright, widespread OSL tells me the model is a focal point of a larger imagined scene (think Gandalf, with his robes reflecting the Balrog's flames). Context beats application in my book any day.

John Blanche's work is probably one of the pinnacles of this; often, the techniques and methods he uses don't appear all that involved or technical, but because he's such a master of colour usage, knowing exactly when and where to use the flashier techniques and getting the composition of his paintjobs just right, his work is always inspirational.

I can always admire a well-painted piece, and for gaming purposes that's all you need, but the work that really inspires me, and that I strive to emulate, is the stuff that understands the artistic whys and whens of painting as much as the technical whats and hows.