I've painted a few minis and I feel I'm just not getting any better, my washes are super messy, my edge highlighting isn't popping and they just generally aren't very good. What can I do to improve?
#Why am I so bad at painting?
upper geyser
olive willow
I've painted a few minis and I feel I'm just not getting any better, my washes a...
Let me ask, how many minis have you painted?
upper geyser
those are my second and third space marines, but my fourth and fith minis painted
the first and second images are of one that i did in the warhammer shop, with help
and i know the bases arent good, ill probably come back to them
olive willow
Alright, so you are at the beginning of your journey! Best advice honestly: just keep painting. You're going to need to paint quite a few models to get your fine motor skills, understanding of the materials and process, etc developed a bit.
This looks pretty dang clean for such an early model, so take heart in that, and keep at it
upper geyser
thank you!
another thing ive been struggling with is paint thinning, when i add water its either too much and the paint separates on the model, or its too little and it leaves brush marks
olive willow
That's easily the biggest initial hurdle
Great watch that will help your understanding of exactly what you're looking for in paint consistency
upper geyser
ah awesome, thanks!
olive willow
Biggest initial advice for people: take your time, be intentional with where you are putting the paint, and do your best to "stay in the lines" with the different elements of the model
working on your foundational skills like this will pay off bigtime in terms of bumping up the quality down the road!
upper geyser
one more thing, ive been trying to do good brush care, but my brushes never hold a good point, either its bent over a little at the end or its too flat. and its also difficult to get the right amount of paint on the brush, either having a madsive blob or not enough to do anything
heavy pawn
Sometimes the tips of synthetic brushes bend, but you should be able to maintain a good brush with some brush soap. The most important thing is not to get paint all the way in the ferrule.
You can always check if the paint you have on your brush is what you want by painting slightly on your thumb first.
upper geyser
is brush soap something specific i should get? and i am using synthetic brushes, so that helps a lot to know
severe kayak
You probably have synthetic hair brushes, which are common cheap brushes. They are good workhorses but the points don't last and they get a 'hook tip' easily. The upgrade to this is a natural hair brush, but they are super spendy and I personally would recommend you make sure it's something you want to invest in. I went through synthetics for years and it was fine.
heavy pawn
I'm not sure you really need specific brush soap. It does exist, but unless you're using expensive brushes, I expect some gentle soap will be ok too.
severe kayak
Damn I'm late lol
olive willow
Yeah for synthetic brushes you could just use dish soap
upper geyser
ah cool, ill use that
olive willow
It really only matters when you're looking at natural hair brushes
versed citrus
Do you use a Pallet? You can just use a bit of paper or your thumb nail or a spare bit of plastic too. Helps to wipe the excess paint off so you have exactly as much paint as you need
upper geyser
what should i use when i get natural hair brushes?
upper geyser
Do you use a Pallet? You can just use a bit of paper or your thumb nail or a spa...
ive just been using high gsm paper as a palette, but ive heard that tiles make decent cheap palettes so i might get something like that
upper geyser
Many different manufacturers sell some
ill take a look online for some
heavy pawn
ive just been using high gsm paper as a palette, but ive heard that tiles make d...
definitely switch to a wet palette, even home made at your earliest convenience.
upper geyser
ill take a look online for some
or maybe a stationary shop would have it
severe kayak
For paint consistency testing, I paint on my thumb. You can wear a glove if you don't like that. Also make sure you use a paper towel to unload excess moisture and thin paint from the brush.
versed citrus
I think paper tends to absorb paint and make it dry a lot more quickly
upper geyser
For paint consistency testing, I paint on my thumb. You can wear a glove if you ...
ive been using a small kitchen cloth which i can wash up for that
olive willow
Good cheap palette = silicone fidget popper
versed citrus
Paint stays wet and usable for a lot longer on a tile or something,yeah
upper geyser
definitely switch to a wet palette, even home made at your earliest convenience.
what is a wet palette, ive heard thag term but im not sure what it is
upper geyser
Good cheap palette = silicone fidget popper
ooh, we probably have one of those somewhere. ill look in some drawers for one
olive willow
what is a wet palette, ive heard thag term but im not sure what it is
A wet sponge and silicone paper in a box, basically
severe kayak
ive been using a small kitchen cloth which i can wash up for that
Oh ok. That's a common thing that is overlooked, and you mentioned watery paint separating on the model. IME that means brush is overloaded
upper geyser
ah alright, ill try getting something like that
heavy pawn
Some kind of shallow box, with a sponge big enough to cover the bottom, and no-wax baking paper on top. You put the paper on the sponge, soak the sponge, and put the paint on the paper.
Water seeps through the paper, keeping your paint hydrated. It won't dry as easily.
olive willow
The silicone paper allows some moisture through, keeping the paint wet longer
heavy pawn
You can look it up online and you'll definitely find tons of pictures, and ways to make one.
severe kayak
Cheap and easy to make. I use a sandwich Tupperware
the fidget popper are very useable as well.
The bubble are the right size so the paint doesn't lose moisture as fast as spreading it out on a tile or other dry pallet
olive willow
severe kayak
My travel wet pallet I use parchment paper muffin cups
calm matrix
https://www.amazon.com/The-Army-Painter-Wet-Palette/dp/B07Y25DK3J?th=1 i bought this and it works well enough
prob dont need it tho
I will say i've left the paint out overnight on it sometimes and apart from the paint needing a mix on the palette it still was wet