Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I used to think that my models were painted to a decent standard but after getting on this site and seeing so many other people's miniatures, I feel horrible. I constantly think that I should start a new army just because I think I could paint it better. What do you guys do to feel better about your paint jobs?

Dip it in quickshade

I always thought my painting was terrible.

Then I received a single vote for painting at the last tournament I went to. I was completely dumbfounded.

Getting good at painting requires a lot of trial and error, and thus patience. There aren't too many naturals. Pick an army with models you love, research techniques, and execute them to the best of your ability. You will get better if you keep it up!

I just keep trying until I feel better about it. Then I see how far I can go from there.

Don't feel bad if you don't think they look so great, use it to motivate to try harder and improve. See a fully painted unit and be proud you poured more life into it.

I feel better knowing I went from pretty much crap. To table top quality.

...Still can't do fething eyes beyond dots on Daemonically possessed cultists or Space Marine lenses though.

It all hinges on how YOU feel, if you collect an army you want and do the research on how some of your favorite artists paint the models you can paint them to a level you feel proud of! it doesn't matter if you're not Golden Daemon level (god knows few of us painters are!) but if you see models you wish to replicate then I can't stress enough to ask the people who paint them for tips and tricks, it's what i did and now I'm quite happy with my style I paint, it's not super professional but I can happily show anyone and know there will be a nod and smile of a good clean job!

good luck!

I frequently get put off, but then I just shrug and get back to it. I paint my stuff to a quality I'm happy with. If others find it good, then hey, that's nice. If I'm happy with what they look like on the table, that's the most important thing.

After all, I'm not painting this stuff for other people to appreciate it, I'm painting it because I want to paint it.

You need to figure out why you're painting your stuff if you're being put off by other people painting better. If you feel you absolutely have to get better to match them, learn the techniques they're using. If you feel what you're doing is good enough for you and that's just plain good enough, then keep on painting.

I walk into my local FLGS.

Just having paint on my miniatures AT ALL qualifies me for being better than half the people at the store. Having more than one color on them further bumps my relative standing.

Yes, there are other people who put in real effort where I play, but we're in the minority.

I'm not the best painter in the world (or the fastest!!) But I am proud of the painting quality of my army. My preferred technique of extreme highlighting my da makes them look like something from tron, but I spend a lot of time on them and enjoy the painting. And yes I do agree there are some awesome painters on here and it is a little daunting. This is a quick pic of my ravenwing sgt.

Depends on the army.

My Orks are my babies. I paint each one with tender love and care to the best of my abilities. I think it'll take me about 10 years to finish them.

My Eldar are painted to be on the table asap. They look good (better than a good deal of local players imho).

I paint for my friends and roommate as well. Since they pay me I guess I'm pretty good. Though sometimes they tell me to "just get it done" and I know I could do better but they don't care.

I got a lot of confidence when I was younger from Dakka Dakka when they used to have the Saturday painting contests.

I also have a RT Best Appearance and a Best Overall (the old Kev Walker trophy).

Ailaros has it right, just having a painted army at all is better than most other people to start with.

I'm a terrible painter - not only am I no good at it, I also don't like it and so lack motivation. However, when I started my White Scars force I made a decision that I would only ever field painted models. I've also been battle-reporting the games here on Dakka - and to my surprise people have commented on how nicely painted my models are! I certainly wasn't expecting this at all.

The reason is simple. There are a fair number of people out there who can paint a miniature to an incredible standard. However, you marvel at their paint jobs from a foot or so away, or in incredible close-up on the internet. but from three foot above a gaming table, all of that details disappears - just having paint at all is virtually as effective as being a GD-level artist!

swagmasteryolo wrote:
I used to think that my models were painted to a decent standard but after getting on this site and seeing so many other people's miniatures, I feel horrible. I constantly think that I should start a new army just because I think I could paint it better. What do you guys do to feel better about your paint jobs?

It can be a little disheartening comparing your paint job to some of the works of art you will find here on Dakka but don't fret. Practice makes perfect & if its something you are truly passionate about you will succeed. I often look online to find Steel Legion references & have come across a handful that blow me away & get a little disappointed in my work. I've come a long way though from how poorly I use to paint. I've even gone as far as taken a completely finished model, stripping the paint off of it with Acetone & starting from scratch out of my obsession to make my army the best it can possibly be. It generally takes me about 6-8 hours per Guardsmen. Usually paint 1-2 hours a day. This hobby is as expensive as some drug additions, so remember that when painting your models. If you take the time to paint your models well, you can actually come out ahead if you decided to sell your army for another down the road.

Dakka is both a boon an a curse; most people, especially the talented ones, will break down the tips and tricks that went into making their models look good; the whole painting subsection is quite civil, supportive and pleasant. I'm no master painter, but I feel I can do a lot better after dredging through the P&M blogs for different bits and pieces I like.

It's also a fact that different armies are not all made the same in painting difficulty. Good looking necrons is not particularly difficult, whereas good looking Eldar or Chaos comes a touch slower, to say the least.

Ultimately, the key is not judging yourself by the standards of the web; the web can help you improve, but ultimately, how your army looks on the table next to everything else is where you're going to find satisfaction.

On the internet only the very best usually gets the spotlight, and all others look 'bad'. Look at gaming culture, you're either the best player in the game, or you're 'terrible'.

I find a trip to the FLGS pretty good for morale, it's a more realistic view of the general gamer/painter.

By realizing that mine are actually painted, whereas my opponent's are often not.

I mostly ask people how I can improve and then try to do what they suggested. I'm not a great painter, but I can make decent, sometimes good table-top quality models. If I spend an absurd amount of time on a model, I can even make it good in the general sense, though I'm talking like a week worth of cleaning up all my slop.

I mostly just try to progress each time and feel that I've consistently done so. That's enough for me. I'm pretty ecstatic with the way my army looks now, though I imagine its far worse than what most people in these forums do in half the time.

I KNOW my painting is terrible.

I keep my standards low and stopped caring about the outcome.

Mandollies get a basic paintjob and a wash. If that doesn't work, then I picked the wrong hobby. It generally works for me.

I don't care if other people don't like my models. They aren't there for them to like.

I would like to get better but I guess I have some limitations. I'm unco-ordinated, lack time and space to paint in, and I have shaky hands. I prefer to get miniatures ready to game with, so if they look good enough at tabletop distance I am happy. The most disheartening thing on Dakka is not the talented painters, who are inspirational, but rather those who put down a very well done paintjob as "tabletop". I think this is mostly stemming from commission culture, but I am not sure.

Actually, the conversions depress me more than anything, because I suck at those!

Over the years I have gotten better, though my technique is still essentially base, wash, drybrush, detail!

I don't. I just accept that my painting is only ever going to be "good enough" and is always going to suck.

by comparing my latest model to my first (shudder)

I'm generally pretty pleased with my paintjobs. I know many are a decent tabletop standard - at least according to what
I've seen others do. I know also where I take time they can be a bit better. I really need to hurry up and put them in the P&M section.

Frankly, I'm just thrilled that I'm painting the eyes okay, so my standards aren't that high to begin with.

Overall they're satisfactory and good enough for the tabletop, so I don't get too worked up about it. But there's vast room for improvement. Faces especially are something I need to work on.

I just look at them and feel better. I'm an awesome painter. When I started, I sucked. I won't lie. But you get better by doing and watching videos of pros doing, and then try to emulate their techniques that you can and move on. Also, GW makes amazing washes.

Also, I look in the mirror. I'm freaking handsome. That always cheers me up.

 -Loki- wrote:
You need to figure out why you're painting your stuff if you're being put off by other people painting better.

I think this is key. Why are you painting?

Most people (it seems) paint for themselves. I certainly do. I have a standard I'd like to achieve, and over time that standard has gone up. I'm guessing that standard will be different in 5 years, or 10, or 20.

But if you're painting for public appreciation, or to be the best ... that's a longer, more difficult road, and I don't envy you. The level of skill and effort that goes into some of the showcased minis is amazing - and the amount of time it (usually) takes to acquire those levels of skill is equally amazing, and daunting. If you want to be that level, cool - but just know, like any art, its going to take a long time to get that good.

My army is painted to look good En-Masse.

Single one out and.... eh.

 DarkNecro wrote:
by comparing my latest model to my first (shudder)

^This. I can draw and write and doother creative things well, but painting is not a strength of mine. I painted my first SW GH about 11 years ago and it looked terrible, but I loved it. Now I can look at my latest creation that looks way way better but still nowhere near as good as the minis you see on here. The way I look at it, it's your creation. Take pride in it, regardless of how it looks to others. And what others have said about playing against unpainted armies helps, too. It bugs me when I face an army that has just a base coat on and makes me feel better about my SM with big blobby eye lenses because hey, it's more work than a lot of guys put in.

I prefer my averagely painted models, to if I had pro-painted models I had not done myself

Thokt wrote:
Getting good at painting requires a lot of trial and error, and thus patience. There aren't too many naturals. Pick an army with models you love, research techniques, and execute them to the best of your ability. You will get better if you keep it up!

This. Also, if you like someone's paint job locally (i say local, because text tutoring just plain doesn't work), ask them their technique. I find most painters, if plied with a compliment or two, will totally share tips.

I'm a pretty good painter, but i know i could get better. I didn't start that way - the first minis i ever painted were holy-gak-awful. Trial and error got me pretty far, but a handful of techniques from some guys i know, and a couple people i bumped into at cons with awesome paintjobs took me strides past where i was.

Generally, i'm happy with my painting skills. My color pallette selection sometimes needs help, but that's when i enlist my girlfriend who's a graphic designer - i pick a primary color i like, and then she arrays out a selection of complimentary (or contrasting if that's what i'm going for) colors and i go from there (with a "sanity check" from her).

Lacking a graphic designer significant other, get a color wheel. Will take a lot of the pain out of color selection.


There's things i think i will always struggle with - eyes are just a bear, period, and i find extreme layering / blending tedious.

I'm getting better.