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I just picked up two dark imperium started sets worth of Primaris, and was considering doing my own DIY chapter. I'm new at painting, and was wondering what the easiest color for a new painter to paint is? I had a few colors I'd like, but ultimately want the best look I can get.

If you are new to painting, in my opinion there isn't any colour that is going to be easier to work with than another when you first start out. The problem isn't really the colours, but the inexperience.

Painting can be tedious, so better that you pick a colour scheme that you like. Finishing a model and admiring your work is part of the miniature 'highs' that provide the motivation to keep working.

However you can definitely make things easier for yourself by following the following method for each part of the model:

Base -> Wash -> Highlight/Drybrush.

You can make this method even easier if you pick a base colour from the GW/Army Painter spray range and use the GW Paint Scheme chart (found on the Warhammer Community site) to select your complimenting colours.

You will get reasonable results fast and when you first start out this is essential to motivation as well.

Be sure to check out some YouTube videos on applying washes and dry brushing/highlighting, but remember that ultimately the only way you will ever improve is to put brush to model and learn the hard way.

If you can, start by using a wet palette. You can make your own or buy one, incoming dependant. It is the single best thing you can do to improve your painting.

Good luck. Be sure to post your project in the forums. Will be good to see how you get on!

Necronartum wrote:
If you are new to painting, in my opinion there isn't any colour that is going to be easier to work with than another when you first start out. The problem isn't really the colours, but the inexperience.

I don't really agree. Blue is easier (or at least more forgiving) than red because blue has better coverage so you're less likely to fall in to the newbie trap of not getting proper coverage, and it's easier to learn how to thin down a paint when it covers better because it can feel "wrong" to thin a red when it's already barely covering the model. Also blue has a lot of flexibility with what colour you use for your shade and highlight, red it's easy to make it look too orange or too pink of you don't pick your highlight colours carefully.

Green's difficulty can vary depending on which green, in general duller greens (ones that have a slightly brownish tone) tend to be easier than the more pure greens for the same reason: coverage.

Metals can potentially be easier to paint because they take better to a base -> wash -> drybrush method, which can be hard to pull off on Marines with non-metallics as a newbie because Marines are made up of gently curving smooth panels which are harder to drybrush/wash. And of the metallics, silver/leadbelcher tends to be easier than gold or bronze because leadbelcher has really good coverage.

Half and half schemes are naturally a bit difficult because you have to learn to paint a smooth straight line when as a newbie you might already be struggling just to get good coverage without it looking messy. Even for an experienced person they're much more time consuming.

All that said, I think you probably should go with what you think looks best and then specifically ask us how you paint that colour rather than asking which colour is easiest. Even though I said blue is one of the easier colours you can make it hard on yourself if you don't know what you're doing.

Paint is like a deli sandwich. A lot of thin is better than a little thick. As long at you do two or three light coats even red is not bad. Keep your paint thin, and if it looks bad, let it dry and do another coat or two.

Any of those colours can be applied in a spray primer...making them all quite easy.

In general painting white or yellow over something is a nightmare.

I would say there's a huge difference between colors. From my experience yellow, white and to some extend orange and bright red are the toughest
colors to paint.

I would never suggest yellow or white to a beginer painter. These two colors cover badly expecially yellow. Another problem with them is that
if you thin them too much they can leave a chalky finish.
Bright red is also problematic. It covers poorly and there's an issue with highlighting the red. If you highlight it incorrectly it becomes pinkish.

Usually darker colors are easier to do. Like blues, greys, greens and browns.

Metalics are generally easier. Just prime black and then drybrush depending on how rich you want the color (heavy if you want it to be really rich and bright, light if you want a grimey look).

Following that, darker cooler colors are slightly harder but not by much. They go over black and white basecoats equally good (as dark covers light stuff easily). The only reason they're harder than metalics is because you need to do some shading and highlighting (whereas metal, if you wanna be lazy, can look decent with just one coat).

Rich hues and light colors (Yellow, light blue and Red especially) are hard to do because it's relatively harder to achieve an even coat without globing on the paint, while they also require some tact when shading and highlighting, or else it can end up looking dirty or the wrong shade (respectively).

Primary colors give you really easy ranges to work with, so I would go with blue or red. Slap a base pat on, follow with a wash in the recesses and edge highlights Ms you shouldn't be left wanting from colors to choose from and work with in that spectrum.

Dark colors generally are the easiest, although the citadel layer paints are pretty good even for red. Mechandrite red (I don't know what its called now) worked fantastic for my blood ravens when I did them. I use Vallejo now, and it really depends on which color you're using for how well it takes.

If you've got a model shop near your house, you can get nearly any color you want in a spray can from Tamiya. I use them for a lot of different models since they're easy to get locally, but I know you can order them off amazon as well.