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Can someone explain to me what it's all about?  Glazing, Dipping, etc...  what are they, and why are some considered better then others?

Those are two very similar techniques.

Dipping is really just a simple version of glazing in that you dip the model into some varnish (glaze), shake the excess off and let the pigment settle into the crevices of the model.

Glazing is the process of applying a glaze (ink) to a painted area (via a brush) to alter the color of the paint below. The ink tends to settle in the crevices of the model naturally creating a form of highlighting on the model. The ink also tends to dry with a 'wet' look that makes the model look a bit shiny.

I'm probably being ridiculously pedantic here, but it's in my editorial blood!

Washing is using a thinned paint or ink to create shading as it settles in the recesses; while glazing is using a thinned paint or ink to reinforce a colour and/or help to integrate blending.

As Yakface says, both alter the hue of the colour underneath; so while they are very similar, there are differences between the two. They do get conflated – and GW (and a lot of the miniature painting fraternity/sorority)seem to use them interchangably.

As to why some techniques are thought of as 'better' than others, it's generally down to a sense of 'fair play'. For example, when creating shading, dipping creates results that are comparable to traditional painting methods (like blending)– and is far easier.

At the top level of painting, other techniques blow the effects that are possible with dipping out of the water.

In regards to your question, which techniques do you want to know about? There's almost as many techniques as there are painters!

Well, my issue is I know NOTHING about painting. What are the ways to do it, how do you do them, etc... I love the work Blue Table does for me, but I'd like to be able to sit down and do a decent job on one of my own models for once.

Just like Cpl Saint had mentioned, miniatures painters and miniatures painting companies use terminology wildly incorrectly. The only miniatures company that I have ever seen use correct terminology in painting is Rackham. Miniatures painting also has it's own lingo and slang. A thinned down colour meant to seep into recesses is a wash. Glazing is the process of building up an area through multiple layers of paint. When these layers are thinned and semi-transparent it is called indirect painting. Minis painters tend to simply refer to this as 'layering', and use the word 'glaze' when they are actually referring to a wash.

Dipping is just what it sounds like. You prepare a medium which you literally dip your mini it. It's the fastest way to get colour onto a mini. A good dip will leave more pigment in a miniature's recesses, so it colours the mini and applies darkening washes to the recesses in the same step, basically.

What's better in terms of techniques? Well none is better. An accomplish painter will use almost every technique, applying the right technique in the right place to get the desired effect on a miniature. You might *wash* the armour with a rusty colour to weather it, and then *drybrush* the highlights of your figure's hair to pick them out, and so on. A mini painter might even dip the mini to start with just to speed up the process of blocking in the colours, and then work on it using other techniques to bring it to it's final stage.

Posted By djones520 on 01/31/2007 1:15 AM
Well, my issue is I know NOTHING about painting. What are the ways to do it, how do you do them, etc... I love the work Blue Table does for me, but I'd like to be able to sit down and do a decent job on one of my own models for once.

A fellow on the Confrontation forums was feeling bewildered about how to paint Mid-Nor, Rackham-style, so I made up a really short demonstration that answers those very questions, since I noticed there wasn't really anything out there to explain some quick n' easy painting techniques to total beginners.

If you go here you'll see it at the top of the posts http://en-forum.confrontation.fr/viewtopic.php?t=27064&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20
This is the result of the mini after the demonstration. http://www.mts.net/~mach460/musician.JPG  That was quite some time ago, he's since been completed.

A finished mini that started with a big wash (almost a dip, really, except no actual dipping occured), has glazing, washing, drybrushing, etc and took about three hours. http://www.mts.net/~mach460/Mid%20Nor%20037.jpg