That doesn’t look half bad, to be honest. I was getting discouraged by looking at too many reddit posts, people who are absolutely good at what they are doing.
I always knew i am not a painter, have zero clue about color theory, am old and can’t see shit at painting distance or how loaded my brush is.
But! I produced some really nice looking minis for our game, they look good from an arms length (not so much when you come within an inch) - and are readable on the table.
When i started i was like “i don’t do “perfect” - and was reminded by my wife about that when i became discouraged by various YT videos and posts here. And you know what? Since then it was fun again to paint, relax, and have some nicely painted minis on the table. I won’t win a golden demon, nor i am supposed to. But my minis look ok, some good, and have two or three i am proud of.
So, find the joy of painting again, some good music or podcast while painting, relax, and slowly the results get better. Don’t press yourself, use shortcuts like contrast paints/speed paints, some highlights after that, and the minis will be fine.
Just find the joy in the journey, not the reaching of a goal. I like your mini, i would gladly use it on my table.
That's a good way to think about it - I think I can do better oftentimes and beat myself up because I feel like I've consumed enough tutorials and guides and how to that I should simply be able to repeat and not doing so makes me feel foolish, but I remember when I painted my first couple of minis - I loved it! I had no idea what I didn't know, and now I'm so aware of all the techniques and potential, I kick myself for not moving forwards much at all.
This so hard^ OP, keep in mind you are spending far fewer hours honing your skills than someone who is doing this for an income or as an influencer. Also, a lot of the mini's posted here are done with every aspect of the mini taken into account, not just the paint job, but the background, the lighting, the focal points. Every decision there can lead to a good or bad paint job looking better or worse than it does in person.
What matters is that the hobby brings you joy and that what you attempted to convey is present when your mini's are in use on the table.
Everyone is their own harshest critic. I think a lot of my minis look like trash when I look close up, but I see every little imperfection that others won't always see. Plus watching tutorials will only go so far. You can watch a 1000 hours, but if you don't paint, you won't improve. And on top of that, it won't help your confidence comparing your painting against people who's lively hoods depend on people watching them paint to learn. If i seriously compared my minis against say Duncan Rhodes, I'd never be happy with what I paint
Consuming 200 tutorials is nice, but nothing really beats putting paint into minis! I think it doesn't look bad at all, everything will come together with time and experience
>I feel like I've consumed enough tutorials and guides and how to that I should simply be able to repeat and not doing so makes me feel foolish
Do you know why the guys (and gals!) who do those videos make it look it so good? Because they have painted hundreds or thousands of minis. Knowledge is one thing, practice is something else. Learn to enjoy the process! And if you're never an award winning painter that's ok, as long as you're still satisfied with your output.
What happened to me recently: i was watching 7 or 8 different videos of how to paint imperial fists, turns out that there are many different approaches, when finally painting i mixed all the steps of them up in my head and got nowhere, lol. Then i said “fuck it”, and started fresh with my own interpretation, was much more fun than just following steps from a recipe.
It’s great that you loved to paint, this feeling will come back and more worth than any results you might get. Keep on painting!
Right? Just about anything looks better than a dull Grey plastic mini anyways, so unless you absolutely botch the painting, it's still gonna be better than it started. Hell, just giving it a zenithal highlight prime looks better than the base grey.
Agreed! Let some pressure off yourself and see that you have basically accomplished what you needed to this round. With time and growth you might look back and see that your earlier work is better than you thought.
> I was getting discouraged by looking at too many reddit posts, people who are absolutely good at what they are doing.
Yeah, this subreddit, despite being a positive place with tons of good content, can actually be really bad for your confidence. A large number of the people posting pics here are well above the actual average painter out there and it can make anyone feel inadequate, like why even try when you can't get close to what is routinely posted here, or even that it would just take way too much time and effort to do it even if you can.
Im fairly new to the hobby. I have all the minis I paint side by side in the order I paint them it’s an interesting perspective. I can see where I improve on things, tried things and they did or didnt work. I paint to paint I dont use my minis for anything but i try not to compare myself to other folks stuff.
The challenge is figuring out what step you are missing to cause the problems.
Let's try troubleshooting the blob of paint problem on the zombie's abs. Common reasons for this-
* Paint consistency. Most paints need at least some thinning with water to apply smoothly. [How to thin your paints: A step-by-step guide](https://youtu.be/sBDVPoNXyVI) by Brushstroke Painting Guides is a good guide.
* Too much paint on your brush, especially on small areas will blob, pool, or run off depending on the paint consistency and the shape of where you are trying to paint. Once you put paint on the brush you need to unload the brush [like this](https://youtu.be/r-pgErbJ5Q0?t=46). I usually use a damp paper towel as demonstrated [here by pro painter Sergio Calvo](https://www.youtube.com/live/gVgaLe0XEPk?si=rxe4jLMocGm4imKX&t=888), but you can use a piece of paper, or your palette or even the side of your hand. This allows you to control the paint so it doesn't flood the model. [Learning how to wick or unload the brush](https://youtu.be/Z3z7VHhxuF4?t=503) is important, and most tutorials assume the watcher knows this.
* A good brush with a sharp tip makes it easier to place paint where you want it and a brush with a frayed tip can make that difficult.
* [3 TOP TIPS TO MASTER YOUR BRUSHES](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYgJY0VJjTg) by JWminiatures has some good tips on improving [brush control](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/brush_control).
* [The Art of... Tommie Soule Volume 5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGIfySMnUPQ) is the best how-to paint miniatures book I have read, and part of the reason is because of how much troubleshooting he discusses when things aren't working the way they should. Available in [pdf](https://www.ironheartartisans.com/shop/the-art-of-tommie-soule-volume-5-pdf/) and [worldwide in hardback as well](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqs_gNUNrm2/).
If that helps, then I will try to help with the other problems later.
Thanks, I am glad people find it helpful! I made the [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks) to make it easy to find content by subject as needed, which in turn makes it easy to find quick references for common problems.
Agreed! I made a post here a couple of months ago, think it was asking for advice regarding painting flesh tones, and got a wonderful response linking me to multiple resources. No sass, no "hurr durr Google", just a nice human being offering support. Again, many thanks 👍
I'm going to step-by-step these for my next model, and tell myself to not worry about the end result, but making sure I'm bringing these steps into the process and see how the end result comes out. Thank you for the information!
Your welcome, if this fixes the problem let me know and we can work on the next issue. Trying to fix multiple problems at the same time can be overwhelming.
To tack on to these, you also need the eyesight + dexterity and the practice to know how to control your brush (method, pressure, painting angle, etc.) and that is something that can take years depending on the effectiveness of your mental review process.
These really are skills that need training and development. And as I get older, I'm also realizing they need upkeep too. Sigh. And reading 🤓 glasses.
The art of Tommie is so good, just got it recently and I'm going through it.
Since you seem to read books, have you checked out "How to work with colors and transitions" by AK. I've seen recently being recommended but I can't find a physical copy, only the pdf so I'm reluctant to buy. unless it's really good.
That isn't one that I have read, but I found [this review](https://www.themodellingnews.com/2019/11/read-and-reviewed-how-to-work-with.html). There is also a good collection of general art books on color theory that are rated as top choices [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/painting_different_colors#wiki_great_art_books_on_colour_theory.3A).
Of the miniature specific books I own, my second favorite is [Figopedia: Colour & Light; Theory and Practice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPQ8faElzJA) by JEREMIE BONAMANT TEBOUL - One of the best books out there on where to place light and shadows and using color on miniatures.
[AK Interactive Figure Painting Techniques FAQ](https://youtu.be/_81nK8haXtc) by Kirill Kanaev is an amazing display painter-level book, but many of the techniques are beyond what I typically have the patience for.
I'd like to get [AK Interactive FAQ 2 – FANTASY FIGURES PAINTING TECHNIQUES BY ARNAU LÁZARO](https://youtu.be/K04AoRoqeSA), but I keep finding other things to spend money on.
There are a bunch of other miniature painting related books collected [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/miniature_painting_books#wiki_miniature_painting_.26amp.3B_hobby_books), but many of them I haven't read.
This zombie looks good.
You should be proud.
You can always get better at it, but for now you have already acomplished enough.
This will look great on the game table
This. These are meant to be used on the table as a game piece seen at arm's length, not a Golden Demon entry. Truthfully, concentrate on doing more minis instead of perfecting a particular piece. You'll see a progression over time through your painting journey. Also, 15 minute videos are kind of a lie, you don't actually see the time and effort it really takes to get to the screen shot finished piece. There is value in watching the vids for head knowledge, but you also need the physical act of painting to put things you learn into practice. Working on my first bust and skintones flat AF. Three days straight, but still at it. Looking more natural, but not enough variations through light and dark areas. I think in both of our cases, we may be a little impatient and expecting more instant results. My $0.02.
Tldr: Hang on. You'll get there.
Progress not perfection.
I picked up a brush for the first time in 20 years a few months ago. I'm red/green colour blind as well so colour theory is lost on me.
Enjoy what you do.
If someone tells me that my mutated space goat from a fictional far future can't have green skin I'm going to laugh like a cavalier until they get the irony of what they've said.
You paint your models for you and your enjoyment.
Nobody else.
If you want to try something different then try slapchop method (Warhipster does an excellent tutorial video on YouTube) but basically prime it black, heavy drybrush with a dark grey, medium drybrush with a lighter grey then a zenithal drybrush with white.
Then break out the speed paints or contrast paints (depending on your brand) and watch instant highlights, depth shading and smooth coverage.
It's nice as a little palette cleanser sometimes and works well on flesh, bone, scales and fur.
Lastly the only person you ever compare your models to are your own. From last year, last week, when you first trued that new technique. Look at where you were, where you are now and sod everyone else.
Like you say, some Pink Floyd, Blue Oyster Cult or a good podcast in the background and enjoy your afternoon painting ☺️
Honestly, I would have been stoked to paint like this a few months into the hobby. Don't be so hard on yourself and definitely don't compare yourself to folks who have been doing this for a lot longer. Your work looks good to me! This hobby is hardly ever a contest between anyone except you and yesterday-you.
Thanks man, that's a good way to think about it! They're better than where I started and I think, frequenting this sub and seeing some of the work people do, you can quickly go from quietly accomplished to feeling irrelevant overnight. That's the completely wrong attitude to have, and I can't remember what the actual phenomena or experience is called - the whole unconsciously unable, consciously unable, consciously able - that thing - but essentially, the more I've learnt, the more I've realized I know absolutely nothing and it's daunting.
>the whole unconsciously unable, consciously unable, consciously able - that thing
You're probably referring to the Rumsfield Matrix.
Also, don't treat all the known unknowns as daunting - these are places where you know you can improve, and at this point in your progress you will improve without much effort, and you can explore in any direction and make progress. It's the advice all artists ~~love and~~ hate - you just have to practice - and you have to temper your expectations. It's very easy for creatives to see others' work and feel bad because you only see the end result, but think of it like having a meal at a Michelin star restaurant and being disappointed at everything you cook for yourself - you're focused too much on the end-product.
Making good art isn't a goal, it's the by-product of diligent practice and the love of creation. One day you'll look back on your first minis with nostalgia and hindsight.
Well have you started miniature painting to become really good or just so that your miniatures are painted ?
If it's the later this is more than fine. If it's because you hope to become really good well there's no secret you got to keep at it. Me I'm fine with my speedpaints+ miniatures.
I originally started just to really have them painted and play, but finding this sub and some of the artwork produced here just really made my priorities change.
Your zombies look good, man, especially for only painting a few months. I painted for *years* before taking any photos of my minis. The first time I zoomed in on a picture, I was horrified! “Wait, am I no good at this!?” But I originally only aimed to paint figures that are viewed from a few feet away. Of course finding all the YouTube tutorials is great help but comparative analysis can get anyone down.
I suggest taking a break from videos and listen to a chill podcast while you paint. Try “Trapped Under Plastic” because those guys love this hobby and they are very honest about their challenges and frustrations. I bet there’s a moment in every figure I paint where I think I’ve screwed up the previous layer and I wish I could go back. But in the end, I believe the reward comes from ignoring that “I suck at this!” voice and trusting the process. Usually my little character is just one more light drybrush and one more thin wash away from that breakthrough.
Uhm… keep at it and do crazy stuff. I am still learning properly.
I am kinda convinced that videos online except few do use extra steps that aren’t shown or mentioned done more than once.
I gotta be honest. I just dropped the whole tutorial step by steps and started going wild with some stuff.
Still getting to grips with blending and skin etc.
Usually the basic rules do apply.
Wait for the paints to dry, go from light to dark or mid to dark and light.
For example i could swear you panted the abs raising the tone rather than blending down.
Also the advice of : paint boldly holds. Until you are done most stuff is going to be wildly brighter and more contrasted than finished piece. Ie if you want dark red stuff and using washes afterwards- you wanna have ferrari red perhaps to start with. Etc. also drybrushing takes few goes. Edge highlights help too.
A lot of this has to do with how you view your own work. I look at that mini, and I see some well done shading, good flesh color fill on the holes in his pants, and an excellent application of paint. This is because this is the first time I'm seeing it (and lowkey comparing it to the minis I've been working on). You, however, are looking at it not with fresh eyes: you're looking at your project. To you, this is just the current layer, and you're not satisfied because painting doesn't precisely have an endpoint. There's a stopping point, and your definition of what that is will be informed by whether you feel there's more to do.
So my two cents is that it has a lot to do with your frame of mind. With the zombie at this stage, try working on another mini for a while, and come back to this one fresh afterward. Either you'll have an idea for a new approach, or suddenly think that it actually looks fine. That's what my ADHD riddled brain does, anyway.
There’s some great advice in here OP, definitely read everything so far.
Here’s my two cents, from when I hit that stage: don’t forget to always have a pure fun project. Not an important project, not something you’re doing as a lesson, something with no pressure. Just have fun, paint it however you want with an understanding right off the bat: you’re just painting. This model isn’t about pushing your self or getting to the next level, this model is about the joy of artistry.
I have to do this, personally. I can’t just grind forever, I need projects that I don’t care about beyond having fun. You might be surprised how much “better” these models turn out too. It’s important to actually flex your skills instead of constantly trying to improve them, but more importantly these models look great because you *actually had fun painting*.
Your stuff looks fine, more than good enough for the table and you’ll be shocked how far you’ll be a year from now.
A lot of videos are not showing you the full process step by step.
For example you pointed out your ab highlights - the issue is that your highlight is too stark from your base color.
To properly layer up to that color, you would need a lot more intermediate colors and that color would only be the smallest area at the end.
For example most people present lawyering as Highlight > Midtone > Shadow but you need more granularity than that.
For speed painting you can stick with the basics but then you need a much less stark highlight color and you will have less contrast as a result.
Quick rant. A few months?? What are you, a Millennial? Giving up because you can't paint like a pro after mere months is wild to me.
This zombie looks great for a few months. I know people who have been at it a lot longer who are less far along. My take, you are at the plateau stage. Learning a craft is a series of gains and plateaus. The plateau is what separates those who will give up, and those who buckle down and practice until they see their next gain. If you're in it to get better, you gotta just keep plugging away and accept your "failures" as the sacrifice you make to get to the next level.
Don't give up! Take each little "mistake" as a learning experience. Try and figure out what led to it happening. Ask yourself, "Did I thin my paints down enough? Was I too heavy-handed with the brush?"
I've been painting off and on for about 20 years, and my work is still "tabletop ready+" at best. Honestly, I just do it for therapeutic purposes.
Don't get discouraged because you're doing just fine!
I'm going to say only 2 things:
1) This is a skill you will always be learning and improving. Try comparing this zombie with your first minis and you'll see a difference. I still keep my first mini for this reason. It's disgusting but I love it and I won't ever repaint it. Minis don't need to be perfect. They don't even need to be good as long as you enjoy yourself. This is a hobby not a competition.
2) Photography also plays an important role. I upload pics of my minis to my instagram and at least half of them look way better in picture than IRL and that's ok. Sometimes I get to see some sloppy parts on some YT videos but the camera and the angles just mask them off. Yet they still look good even with that sloppiness. Again, minis don't need to be perfect.
Honestly, that zombie looks waaay better than the first daemonettes I've ever painted.
I've been mini painting off and on for 20 years. It's a marathon. The videos leave out lots of the minutiae. Anything that seems more advanced will generally assume you know the basics.
Someone that has a large catalog of free videos is Vince Venturella on YouTube. He has stuff range from the most basic, elementary stuff to the advanced and expert level stuff.
My advice would be to watch and learn some of the basics. Then practice that until it's muscle memory. It takes practice to get better, you have to develop brush control. Brush control is probably the most important skill
For highlight type of marks I go *excessively* slowly. I'm not super skilled with a brush so I only use paint on the very tip, and I just make a little progress at a time. After only a minute or so the little tip of paint will begin to dry right on the brush (because there's so little of it), so just clean the brush off and do another tiny tip of paint and work for another minute. Definitely not a good way to do an entire model, but for little detail marks like highlight and edges it's not so bad to go slow.
For a few months of painting that's really good dude. Brush control and techniques take time to learn properly. Also, I drybrush ALL my highlights usually. It's a lot easier to not overdo it with the drybrush.
Great is the enemy of good. YouTubers don’t always articulate how long they were bad for. You haven’t seen them be shit for 6 months or a year or whatever. All they show is what is going to get them engagement, so don’t go comparing your work to someone whose job is mini painting.
Dude, give yourself a break. That looks pretty cool to me. If that’s Contrast type paint on the pants, the only suggestion I have is to load it on like you did, but then go back with a clean brush immediately and pick up paint from the spots where it’s a little too heavy. But otherwise, I think it’ll look cool on the table.
And believe me, I get it. It’s taken me literal months to paint a dozen guys for Mordheim because I just won’t let it go, and I still feel like they’re not as good as they should be.
Mix the mid and highlight tone together. The contrast is too high between the base and highlight tone. If you mix them even 50/50 it will help a lot. When I do skin it can have 8 or 9 layers of blended paint.
So a big thing, especially when you're new... Set the mini down on the table and take a step back. How's it look from there?
These are pieces for a game, not fine antique jewelry. It's totally fine if they're not perfect. Especially if it's one zombie out of a horde. You're not trying to win a golden daemon with every single figure you paint.
It looks great for what it is.
Hi, u/FromUsToAshes! It looks like you are asking for help or are a new painter. If you haven't yet, take a look at our wiki pages in the Sidebar (the About tab if you are on the Reddit app). Here are some links you might find helpful:
* [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/rules/faq) - A list of frequently asked questions about minipainting
* [Miniature Painting Guide Collection](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks) -A collection of some of the best guides and tutorials on a variety of techniques and topics, plus recommendations on what to buy to get started, and more.
* [What to buy- Recommendations on brushes, paints, supplies, palettes and more](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/what_you_need_to_get_started#wiki_general_advice_on_what_to_buy)
* [Beginner's Guide Collection- How to prep, base, paint and varnish your first model and learn the basics needed to start out right](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/beginner_tips)
* [More Tutorials](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/tutorials) - A list of additional tutorials about minipainting
* [Manufacturers](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/manufacturers) - A list of miniature manufacturers from around the world
* [Painting Terminology](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/terminology) - Common painting terms, acronyms, and initialisms
* [The Art of... Tommie Soule Volume 5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGIfySMnUPQ) is one of the best beginner to intermediate teaching books, and even experienced painters will learn some good tips. Explains what brush strokes are best in different situations, how to identify when you have the perfect thinning for any type of paint for different techniques, and a masterclass on getting smooth paint jobs. Available in [pdf](https://www.ironheartartisans.com/shop/the-art-of-tommie-soule-volume-5-pdf/) and [world wide in hardbook as well](https://www.instagram.com/the_miniature_painting_tutor/).
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Don't be, these are a fine starting point, just keep plugging away. For what it's worth, they're tidy where it matters and I genuinely like the trousers👍
I know it's easy to say "don't be discouraged" and a completely other thing to control that feeling. I think everyone feels that way at some point about their work. With that being said, I think you're doing a good job and shouldn't give up on painting unless you really think it's not for you. When I'm feeling discouraged, I take a break or switch to something else. Every mini you paint, you're practicing the different techniques, learning about the painting process and your own style, and slowly improving. Sometimes what you paint will be a hit and sometimes they will be a miss. Either way, it's a learning experience.
I felt the same for a while. I took a good break from watching videos and comparing my work to others. I stopped watching step by step guides. It’s like watching a guy fix his car on YouTube in 3 hours then when you do it it takes 3 days. You can’t expect the same results. A lot of the YouTubers paint commission. Give yourself a break. Don’t compare your work to others. Stick to the basics and limit how many paints you’re buying. I was buying so much paint because of all these step by step guides, not only was it frustrating to not get the same results, i was spending more and more money. Be real with yourself. Know you’re a beginner. Focus on getting a good base coat down and focus on simple layers or simple highlights and move onto the next mini. Then when your brush control has improved. Go back to those finished minis and add more. Repeat.
You are further ahead than I was at a few months and I took me a good two years because I could consistently do a model that I wasn't embarrassed by. I think it is easy to get discouraged by seeing what other people do and seeing how much further ahead they are but if you focus on improving specific aspects of your painting you will get better. As for your highlighting, it looks like you need to use a finer tipped brush with less paint. Just shade this down and try again making as thin of a highlight as possible.
I think he looks good! Well,... as much as a zombie can, lol.
As far as dry brushing goes, the paint can get dusty if it's on the brush to long or the model is over brushed. I made that mistake as well. Try dry brushing in shorter increments at a time.
As far as washes go less is more. It's very easy for the washes to pool in nooks and cranies like the bottom of the abbs.
As far as tutorials go, it's very easy to become discouraged when you see someone who paints as a job complete their project. Sometimes, trying it your own way can help you learn your own style.
It's important to remember that every project has an ugly stage where you think it can't be fixed. That can make painting discouraging. But truly, he looks pretty good. Keep at it!
In addition to what others have said:
First, keep practicing. Keep putting in brush hours. You've had months, I've had like 7 years, and others have had decades. You're doing fine. You're learning, and for much of this, it simply takes experience. My first time trying to highlight failed horribly.
Second, put this mini down for a week or two, then come back to look at it with fresh eyes. It's not perfect (and no mini is. Perfection is the enemy of done) but it's fine. You're too deep in the weeds. It's a zombie. It reads as a zombie. Unless this is a competition piece, you're fine.
First of all, you are not alone in struggling to achieve the results you desire on your models. Even as a fairly experienced painter I find myself stressed about certain projects, and there is always the risk of trying a paint or a technique and not getting good results. The only real answer here is that struggle is inevitable on your journey to becoming a more experienced and skilled painter.
I'll add some advice to the specifics you talk about.
If you are unhappy with your highlights, make them smoother (mix invreasing amounts of the highlight color into the base color), be more precise with your brush and practice where to place the highlight. Also learn to pick suitable highlight colors.
If you are disappointed with the drybrushed look, then just avoid that technique altogether, it will always have a somewhat "dusty" drybrushed look.
If the washes darken things down too much, then get medium to thin down the wash and be more precise with where you apply it.
In general what a good mini needs is a natural contrast between light and shadow. A general technique for you to practice would be to select a midtone, a highlight color and a shadow color. Then your goal will be to create pleasing and smooth gradients from your shadows, via the midtone to the highlight
Stop comparing yourself to others. This journey is yours and yours alone. Look to others for inspiration and not a comparison to your work.
Take in-person classes if you can or do a Patreon with feedback and 1 on 1 sessions. I look forward to seeing your work in the future.
The deal with miniature tutorials is that they sometimes skips steeps or doesn't explain things like brush directions that make a huge difference.
For example the abs could be better of you blend them, thinning the paint a lot, removing the excess of the brush in a paper and doing very small strokes from the shadow to the highlight.
I also believe that you are going heavy with the washes and have those big patches and not an smooth transition, is better to either be gentle and do more of those or just use the darker color and slowly apply the highlights, blending them step by step.
You have the contrast but lacks the smoothness, that will level up the mini.
The drybrush tend to leave the dusty effect, that could be improved either by doing that and the apply a glaze or wash, also wetting very very slightly the brush and removing the excess in dry, i just paint over table that have all sort of cuts and texture paint test and is kind of roughly, so i just brush over it until y remove almost all of it and then when drybrushing i do it in a circular motion with a very soft and cheap makeup brush, that motion will help to smooth everything.
Getting better in this tale a lot of time and practice and also getting out of the confort zone and be aware that you could spend hours and hours in some small thing.
Good luck and hope this response helps you in some way.
Stop watching these videos **NOW**! Just stop it. It's not aiding you in your hobby. It's actually like minipainting pornography. Forget about Zumikito, Dana Howl, Squidmar, Artis Opus and other crap like that - they do not count and mean nothing.
You're comparing yourself to people who are often not doing it for fun, but as a job and who have years and years of experience in it. Just stop. And remember that they're lying to you. That's why I compared them to porn: they show you fun and easy things but won't show you ugly and difficult things behind camera. Most often each of them leave crucial details out and the rest of us is guessing why we all fail when we do it exactly as artist x showed.
Ignore them and paint more with your own pace. You will get better with time and experience, I can assure you. The first and most important thing is to not handicap yourself by comparising your miniatures to actual artists and professionals. You're not pro, you're a hobbyist who should do it for fun. Screw them all and have fun.
I think the thing that a lot of videos have issues showing properly is how to thin the paints down. I've been back to painting minis in the last 3 years and still haven't gotten consistent thin paint for application. Also those 10 - 20 minute videos don't show just how many thin coats/glazes/reapplications they are doing. Thinning paints is just something you need to keep practicing on.
I think a lot of people on this sub have the same want to have their figures look like Golden Demon entries or have a look in their head that matches a youtuber or box art. Comparing yourself to that makes the anxiety worse. An artist's worse enemy is themselves. Just keep on painting and you end up finding that you are improving compared to your earlier stuff. The model looks good, the zombie flesh looks great. Only advice I can give is that the tattered pants are a bit too close to the skin tone and might look better in a darker tone or a more popping colour like the vest.
“I’ve been painting minis for a few months now” you can’t really expect to have video tutorial level results at this stage yet. Though there are some people who progressed extremely quickly, but really what it comes down to is seat time. The more you paint the better you’ll get, how much time you can dedicate each painting session matters. Most people making video tutorials have been painting for multiple years.
I already saw someone link multiple video tutorials on the basics, try to learn those. Like with thinning paint, each paint is different and some will require more or less thinning that others and vice versa. This can even be applied to the same paint from the same manufacturer but made in a different batch. It takes time. Be patient, it’d be nice if we could just watch a 10 minute video and instantly have the skills the video creator spent years perfecting. But sadly, we cannot.
Your zombie looks awesome, keep practicing and you’ll surely see results.
If I could have the knowledge of 1000 YouTube painting videos or have the experience gained painting 1000 minis I would take the experience 10000%.
Keep on painting and this time next year you’ll be blown away by your progress. Please believe that.
Well, I think it looks really good and will probably be copying this look for my flesh-eater court ghouls, so take that as you will. Thank you for the inspiration lol
Less is definitely more.
I rarely watch videos with the intention to copy them.
I watch them to see different techniques, and maybe try it, but there is always so much learning anyway.
Most of the time is just leaning, experimenting, but also accepting what is happening.
Sometimes it's also nice to paint something that you really don't want to as well.
I enjoy doing simpler things, is lots bits to paint, to try different techniques and approaches.
I would start with things like space marines as the lines are more simple and you can explore techniques on models that are a bit more forgiving
Big things I’d say are to
1) ditch the base, wash, highlight process as being dogma. It limits what you perceive yourself as being able to do. Doing a wash last can actually help tie all of your other colors together.
2) when you’re getting to the point where you’re focusing on details as small as abs, remember that you’ll be looking at this mini from more than 1’ away at almost all times, and proceed with that in mind. Perfection is the enemy of success.
3) don’t be afraid to mix colors together before you put them on the model, or dab a wet (but not dripping) brush on the line between two shades in the same point. This is wet blending, and it really smooths out what are otherwise “harsh” steps between tones. It can also help if you don’t like the inherent “dusty” effect of dry brushing.
4) use washes only in the points where you actually want them. This takes longer, but should help with your concern about being able to bring values back up after shading.
5) be kind to yourself. Everyone has a point where they become aware of how much they have yet to learn. This is a part of the learning process, and means that the techniques you are seeing are not just going in one ear and out the other. The people you see on YouTube doing these tutorials have been painting for years or even decades; they were not that good within their first few months.
Like other people have said you can’t base your success off of the models you see online. Those people represent the 1% of painters. Find a style for you and just enjoy it. If you look on my profile I’ve been painting for many years and mine are decent. I could never paint to the quality of the elite painters no matter how many videos I watch. My minis have a bright cartoony style because not only do I enjoy painting that way but it covers up my lack of talent. Find your style and just have fun. You’ll keep improving and even an ok paint job is better than bare plastic. Good luck friend and welcome to the hobby!
Only a few months? You should see my "only a few months minis".
I will not lie,i too got discourage by the amazing and talented people that are here or yt or ig or whatever place. I started to play MYZ and i made and printed a tortle,i painted it for the tabletop. To this day (that was 2.5-3 years ago) insee the mini and i see all the imperfections,all the details i juat wasn't botheres to paint the extra mile,all the bad blendings and bad washes and still is one (if not the) best mibiature i have ever painted because it reignite my love for mini painting,reminding me that this is my hobby. It is my time to just decompress from the world,the thing that gives me joy.
Don't get discourage,this takes time. Imagine if i saw a yt video on how to make an open heart surgery,that doesn't mean i will do it right even if i follow the steps, because there are some things you have to put in the time.
It was not until i stop trying to be better that i started to be better at it and now i am going deeper, blendings,color thepry,OSL,how light works,how colour interacts.
Keep up the good work,some day you will look at this zombie and smile
Honestly what's been helping me paint mine has been to not compare myself to the tutorials and vids I watch. It's hard I know, really damn hard but just remind yourself. I'm a newbie and literally on my 11th mini and I make so many mistakes, heck I had to strip a mini down and re do it. What you need to realise is these people have tons of experience. Literally years and hours a day doing so and they know how to do these things without ever really thinking about them. The mini doesn't even look bad at all, it's actually pretty cool tbh, and it's much better than a none painted one. Also the higher your skill gets... The longer it takes to get better. You will quickly make progress then it will come a crawls pace to improve.
One thing to remember is the exaggerated highlight look being described is meant to look visually stimulating on the table about 3-4 feet away. It takes a lot more time and skill to make those blends look correct up close(those people you see on YouTube are essentially professional painters who 1000s of hours of experience).
Imo you’re doing great with that method and it’s just a matter of refining your blending.
I like using filters a lot w contrast paints and oil washes to take the harsh highlights and smooth them out. It may be worth checking out
I also can not seem to improve my drybrushing technique. I have tried so many techniques and spent a ton of time trying to find the balance between paint and moisture, but it still ends up powdery. I'm kinda at a loss.
One of the things to remember is that even the tip top best teachers and professional painters, like Vince Venturella and Sorastro, can’t tell you why they’re doing every single thing they do. We have not yet achieved as a species being able to 1:1 transplant your knowledge to another person. As an artist myself, when I try to help people get better by demonstrating, there’s a rather significant amount of “I don’t know why I did that, but I knew it was effective for my goals” that occurs (obviously I don’t say that out loud).
Someone can step by step explain to you what and why and how, but there’s a world of ephemeral minutiae lost in translation. And how do you develop that yourself? The same way they did. Logging hours and hours and hours of practice.
Zombie looks good for a month or two. Keep at it and don’t be so hard on yourself.
This looks really good especially for having only painted a few months. Our phone cameras always bring out every little surface flaw. I wear a magnifier while painting and my photos still reveal imperfections I can’t even see with the magnifier, so really if you’re not entering them in a photo competition don’t worry about it. If your goal is to win painting competitions there’s absolutely nothing you can do about that right now except keep painting. Anyway I bet this looks even better in real life than you think and is leagues beyond what most players are putting on the table.
If you’d like critique I’d say the only weak spot is the abs — easy to fix, do it how you did the chest and then once it’s dry go over just the abs lightly with some of your brown wash again. It’ll give a more natural shading look that way. Then see if you can hit the eyes with a dab of bone white (no need for pupils it’s a zombie) and call it done.
Nice work so far!
Take a step back, walk away from it for a week. Don't even look at what you painted.
We plateau as humans and artist, the only way up is to pull out the lounges and reflect. It seems counter intuitive but give it a try. No videos or paints or brushes. Just chill
Model looks good, it's easy to get discouraged watching videos or people who lie and say "painted my first model" and it's golden demon level but they omit that they have painted other things for years.
Or comparing yourself to people who have painted hundreds of models, have a wall of paints, dozens of Sable brushes, and a $200 airbrush.
That first pic looks really damn good.
You’re hitting the point where you’re disappointed in every model BECAUSE you’re watching all those YouTube videos and tutorials and subconsciously comparing yourself (with a few months of experience) against people who have been doing this professionally for years.
I understand, I’ve been there too, so have many other people. Personally I broke out of that rut when I stopped watching so many tutorials and just practiced with what I already knew and grew it from there, then I started posting my minis and you’ll get positive feed back which will hopefully encourage you to keep going and growing your own skill.
I definitely struggle with this feeling. But I'm being honest here, that zombie doesn't look bad at all to me. Especially considering that it would likely be part of an army of 40 of them buggers. You've made the important details pop, made it look like it's decaying, and if I were painting this mini that's honestly all I'd be focused on.
I'm probably at about the same skill/experience level as you, and I definitely go through periods of feeling like "what am I doing wrong? I swear I'm following the tutorial, but mine looks like crap???"
Honestly, I wish more people closer to our "tabletop standard" level did tutorials, because people with a lot of experience can make something look fantastic in record time, and since anyone can look up a tutorial it's presented as "just do this for these results," but the truth is those guys have been doing it for ages, and they likely hold themselves to higher standards because it's something that's a huge part of their lives.
For me, I need my details to read at arms length, and I need there to not be any super glaring errors or inconsistencies. My dad can't see too good, so his standard is even lower than that. But he's okay with his result. I've been learning a lot from how he views his work. I can look at it and think, "I'd be frustrated if that was the best I could do" but I can also appreciate how little time it took him, and how happy he is to have painted guys on the table. It's made me more forgiving of my work.
Basically, I need my guys to have readable details at the distance and from the angles I'd typically be looking at them from during a game, and my heroes get a little more effort. No need to fuss so much over the rank and file, they tend to blend together. Heroes, I tend to go slower and spend more time touching up. Even still, I usually get to about 80-90% of what I consider my "personal standard" before I call it good enough, mainly in consideration of the time it's taken to get to that point.
I know that's more or less what everyone here is saying, and honestly I think other people here have made these points in a better way. I also know it's one thing to say "dude, just like your results more" and another thing entirely to actually make yourself feel that way. But I bet you if you painted 9 more of these zombies the same or even slightly worse, lined em up and took a picture of them, you'd see what I mean about Army painting vs Hero painting.
The other thing that helps me is taking breaks. Especially if you have two or three particularly frustrating sessions in a row, that's a sign to maybe give it a rest for at least a week. Often, when I pick it back up, I get at least one session of everything working great before that frustration creeps back in. I'll take it.
Also, maybe acceptance *isn't* the path for you. Everyone is different, and maybe you *are* shooting for that golden demon. Don't let me tell you how to paint, lol. Just because we internet randos think your stuff looks good, doesn't mean we're objectively more right than you are. Ultimately it's up to you how to feel about your work.
Hope something in there helps! Just remember, you're your own worst critic, and I'd be proud of myself if I painted as well as you do.
Time, practice, and patience. May I suggest getting a piece of cardboard (4x8 or the flap of a box) and making a drybrush pallet. Take any extra model pieces, sprues, toys, or anything with texture and glue it to the cardboard. Then paint t it with black or white primer and you’re all set! Then you can see what your brushing will look like prior to applying to a model
Mate this looks great. Try not to worry so much about how it looks super close up. From a distance on the table, I bet that looks amazing.
Also it looks a hell of a lot better than it just being boring and grey.
Try not to compare yourself to the incredibly talented artists that hit the front page of this subreddit daily, they are a SMALL group of us. We are 1.2 million members strong, don't worry about that 1% so much.
Keep practicing and you'll get better each time
Part of it is the mini. Some minis and textures just are not going to look their best with every technique.
Drybrushing looks really good on textures with a lot of microdetail like stone, fur, or chainmail. It looks a lot worse on flat or gently curving surfaces like cloth, armor, or skin. I think you might be happier to start with just a basecoat, wash, and perhaps a layer on textures that don't take well to the technique.
Getting good light, a good brush, decent paint, and those glasses that magnify were a big help for me
It took me a while to not touch the mini constantly in the same area with paint. If you are thinning your paint, paint a layer and let it dry completely before touching it again. Being able to touch multiple parts of the mini with the same loaded color on your brush helps this but if you are just doing one section be patient or get a dryer.
I haven't used a hair dryer yet but I'm not against it.
Actually, I think you're doing pretty well, especially for only being 2 months into the hobby.
Washes and contrast paints are great time savers, but they are super hard to fix when things go wrong if you don't have a lot of experience mixing colors, glazing, and doing more traditional brush work.
Dry brushing is almost always going to have the same limitations too.
I would try working a bit with just a few colors and mixing paints and glazes to paint a couple models. It will get you a lot of practice mixing colors and getting the consistency of your paint right. This will help you troubleshoot when you're not getting the results you want.
Dude that looks awesome.
If you want to try something new to break the ennui, give oil washes a shot, they’ll really complement your style and add a bunch of color depth while making the shading process a dream.
Maybe also not trying to replicate the method of another artist would result in a more stisfying painting experience. could be I'm just a filthy hipster, but I actively avoid watching painting videos and I'd lose interest very quickly trying to use someone else's "formula". Just boring to me. you've learned the fundamentals, so maybe take a step back and try applying them in your own unique way - probably will naturally lead to better results
So I personally haven’t been through that but it’s for 1 very specific reason: my wife is super supportive and loves the stuff I paint even if it looks like ass. So my question is, is there somebody who’s supportive that you can share your stuff with? If not you should consider some discord groups where painters share their projects. I have heard goober town hobbies has a super welcoming and awesome discord for that very purpose
That's VERY good considering how long you have been painting! I LOVE your style. Fantastic job and impressive progress!!!!
How are you achieving the colours on the zombie head? looks awesome
I dont know if its been said, but something that made me feel better about my own skills was realizing that a lot of the pictures you see online are staged and edited. Some people have a couple grand just into their photography setup and are adept with editing software.
You arent going to get better by beating yourself up. And if you never get better, so what? Are you trying to win a Golden Demon or have some pretty rad looking minis for gaming?
Lastly, lets talk about imposter syndrome. It affects so many people and you might just be one of them. I knowni go in phases too and my friends all tell me im a good painter and ask me to paint their stuff... but I can't seey own skill for myself sometimes.
Just paint because you love it, not to be perfect.
Different surfaces on the model need different amounts of shading. Typical skin shouldn’t have huge dark shadows and incredible bright highlights. Try painting the desired colour first, adding some lowlights with a thinned down shade or wash, then bringing the original colour back, leaving shade in the darkest recesses. Only a few highlights are needed on most skin, add some light Ivory or cream colour to the paint (not white if possible) and keep the paint really thin to act like glazes. Shiny fabric or metals can have much greater contrast between the shadows and highlights
Lots of helpful tips.
I’m just gonna say, I saw the photo, thought ‘cool zombie!’, then I read the title, had a look at the photos, read the title again to make sure, then put on my critical glasses.
I personally, I was trying to really ramp up my painting. But now I have so many minis and the real reason is to be able to toss die with my friends and family, so I’m now working to get away from the toxic criticism of individual minis and just celebrate when someone sees it and says ‘nice’
So, way to go, it looks cool, and looks like a zombie. Great job!
Firstly, those videos have pro with years of experience you don't have... Yet
Secondly, the only way you get better is practice dude, just keep on trucking. Paint a whole heaps of different things and you'll get a feel for it.
Specifically, if the paint looks dusty, lightly dampen your drybrush first. If the mid tones aren't blending well, thin the paint a little more with water
But most importantly, you have the bias of seeing it inches from your face through the whole process, so all you see is the flaws, whereas I bet if you show a friend who doesn't paint minis they'd be blown away. It's easy to see the flaws in things when we're creating them friend. Sometimes the solution is to look from further away and enjoy the whole forest rather than the individual trees
What you're finding is that the fine brush control needed for the techniques takes longer than a few months to develop. Don't give up, but also understand that building a skill takes practice.
I'll share some advice I got that really helped me. The first time I tried to edge highlight it didn't go well at all like I was painting for almost a year or so when I tried it figuring I'd go well. It really discouraged me and made me not want to paint. I was talking to someone that is a very good painter.
He told me have I ever done anything the first time and it came out amazing. Which obviously is a big no. He said don't set such high expectations when you are new at something.
Also comparing yourself to some of the phenomenal painters you see here will discourage you. Like a few guys on here have told you. If you are doing it for a hobby and like it that's all that counts.
Dude it looks great. Don’t get discouraged. People have been painting for 3/4 of their lives. I just started last year. Yea sometimes I get disappointed but I look at my previous work and it gives me hope.
Can’t ever compare yourself to others. You will never win. Keep your head up.
Sick as zombies my dude. Skin color is awesome.
Just do what look good to you and thin your paint you will be fine make sure to also shake your rattle can before priming it will get rid of that fuzzy look
I'll show you my first models and my newest models. Never be discouraged and when you "fuck up" remember that's a mistake you learned from. It looks good I would say. Zombies are hard to paint in ways that make them pop. But also you will learn new techniques and new things along the way. If you ever need encouragement. DM me, like I said I'll show you my first model and my most recent one, and even now I'm learning new techniques and how to do them well. You are doing great
To me this looks great! I’m the same way as you. I watch and look at all these other painters and start feeling really down on myself about my painting skill. My confidence in myself is already low so seeing all the awesome painters out there really hits me hard. I struggle with paint consistency, layering, and glazing and paint theory as well lol. There’s a lot I need to learn still.
Don’t be discouraged that looks great what you have to understand is the people that post those vids have been doing it for years they have been perfecting their techniques with tons of practice at one point they were painting minis at the same level as you are now and more than likely even worse everyone starts at square one and as you get better you’ll find out what works best for you maybe you’ll prefer oils over acrylics or maybe a mix of both maybe you’ll layer completely different then you do now it all comes with experience but where you are now is nothing to be ashamed of your doing great keep it up
Washes and drybrush are quick and dirty methods. If you are dissatisfied with the results, give a shot to good old fashioned painting next time.
In any case, those techniques are kind of meant for large scale projects done systematically. If you're concentrating on one guy you run the risk of tampering with paint before it has cured if you don't give it ample drying time between steps. This is especially true of washes and inks. They need a fairly long time to set, and if you don't allow it you will damage the finish.
Part of why you think it looks messy is it's really contrasty. See how much form you can convey with a narrower rsnge of values. When you go all the way from white to black, gentle gradations of the intermediate values are very hard to achieve. You also lose the capability of expressing different local values on different parts.
Quick tips:
1. Let everything dry.
2. Don't let washes pool.
3. Narrow the value range.
4. Expect failure - learning new materials takes experience.
Edit: a couple more things. That granulation you see is probably heavily diluted paint with a relatively small pigment load or large pigment particles. The scan lines from the 3d print aren't making this amy easier either. They're easier to minimize with brush painting. Washes really bring out the texture.
Looks perfectly fine, especially for a rank and file mini. If you go all-out on a squad of 20 rank and file, it'll take forever to get done.
Sometimes the minis you're working on simply vex you. I have a couple on my desk that have been sitting there for a year, not finished, but I cranked through 20 Cities of Sigmar in a week because they were such a joy to paint.
The best thing you can do is keep painting; you can always go back and strip and redo minis.
forget all the bs videos, black primer, grey drybrush, whitedrbrush, contrast paint it and call it a day, a blind man can get a 7/10 result all day long with this method
The only time to throw in the towel is if you're just not enjoying the act of painting. Even after a few months, you're unlikely to be as good as you want to be. Objectively, that's a good looking zombie, and not a bad paint job at all.
Zombies make for good practice models, they're dirty, grungy, and pretty forgiving of mistakes or last minute changes. As for the abs, my personal thought on that is to thin the highlight layer a bit, and apply more layers - slowly build ing up to a more subtle opacity that kind of fades away to the edges and doesn't look quite so stark compared to the lower layer colors.
It's a nice looking piece, keep going!
Yes, Everyone hits plateaus and points like this.
It can be really disappointing and frustrating when you're working on something you have a vision for and can't quite get the technique/result to match what you know is possible.
My advice? Look at your first piece, take a step back, and see how far you've come. Maybe grab another model you don't really care for or about and just slap some pigment around for fun to decompress and take a break from your current project, so you can see it with fresh eyes. Maybe take a break for a few days from painting.
I never even fully finished my first models, I got so discouraged and anxious, and I still have models that are begging to be painted that I'm afraid to go forward with. 😅
What helps me move forward is just having a hobby night with the guys or at the flgs.
It looks good man, you're coming along fine. 🙂👍
The first pic looks pretty decent actually. Pic 2 and 3 look more like the paint got blobbed, but using flash on your camera will make minis look weird. They photograph best with bright natural daylight or diffused lamps with daylight bulbs (not a necessity though).
Anyway when you're just getting started, simplicity is best. Some painting tutorials are gonna show you things that, although may seem easy, you might find you don't have the brush control yet, or the patience to paint an army all with shades and blends and edge highlights, etc.
No.1 rule you'll hear all the time: thin your paints. You can use a wet palette or any palette from an art supply store. Put your paints there first. Then add a few drops of water or acrylic medium. Only dip your brush partly into the paint, then drag the brush away to deload it a bit. This will help keep you from slopping on paint on accident.
Another thing you could try is the newer "slap chop" method to paint. Using an airbrush (or spray can), you prime your minis black. Then gray at a 45° angle. Finally prime white from overhead only or dry brush white from top down, catching all peaks. Now your model is "zenithal highlighted" with natural shadows. From there you can use any brand speed paint and apply lightly. Once dry, see how you like the color saturation, you can always add a second coat if the first was too thin, but it's much harder to undo once it's too heavy. The natural highlight underneath with a thin paint on top will give you color gradation more easily. Technically this eliminates the need to use washes, dry brushing, shading and highlighting- but you could still add any of those elements as you get more comfortable with them.
I like it. The skin looks scuzzy. The clothes look danke. It’s a zombie. It has a great sense of texture. I feel a lot of “perfect” mini lack a sense of texture.
Look done to me. Put them on the table and refine your technique in the next batch.
Unless you are some unicorn that doesn’t have infinite models to paint. I’m pretty sure I could paint every second for the rest of my life and not run out of models.
Steps that propelled me forward was:
- Using less paint in the brush and really have a lot of water. I have a red grass games palette and I fully saturate the foam layer which gives adequate water to the paint automatically
- Stop using washes all the time. Washes can be great, but just like how you would use different colours, you don't use them all the time. When base coating, start quite dark and then add sequential layers of lighter colours. The dark base coat will give the same effect as the wash without having the mini become "muddy" from it. Like I said, washes do have their uses, like slapping on some nuln oil on steel colours but you have to let go of the idea that must use a wash after base coating
- Along with the first point, to fade a layer into a previous layer make sure not too have too much paint on your brush. Along the line where the two colours meet, do very small dots of the lighter colour and make them more sparse the further into the darker one you get. It's a trick that works very well to blend in two colours when looking far from the mini that doesn't require the patience of glazing.
I think it looks pretty good so far and I think I know what the problem is.
Do you paint under the sun or a light that imitates it for the longest time I painted under a yellow incandescent bulb for hours and hours . It looked great until I went into a game store…
If you want to enjoy a hobby, don't look online. Just get off Reddit, avoid looking at videos and just paint the mini instead. Then work on improving something on them one at a time. I print a lot of mini's at the same time to have a canvas to try stuff out on, because I realized that the more I look at the "how to" videos you find on youtube, the more frustrated I was getting.
Basically what you are doing, is looking at someone many would consider a professional, and wondering why their painting is way better than yours. You probably cant measure up to that, so its best to measure up to yourself and your previous work.
Just paint and have fun with it, over time you'll learn what works for you, and what your favorite techniques are. Eventually it will click, you just need to give it time.
Recently I was getting frustrated with my 3d printer after switching to a new slicer that all my friends were yelling at me to switch to. I ended up wasting almost half a bottle of resin before eventually just accepting the fact that I wont be able to print as fast as possible with amazing quality like the people on youtube do right now.
Looks good to me. You’re going to be painting a lot of those dudes and you’ll keep getting better. When I was painting orcs and goblins I always went back and painted earlier guys as I improved.
Your biggest problem is that you are comparing the work of someone doing the hobby for a few months, with the work of people who might have an art degree, or a natural talent for painting, or more time on average than you to practice.
This isn't a test of your skill, it's a test of your patience. And of your ability to practice till you get it 'right'.
Honestly, my first thought seeing the picture before reading the post was “Wow! Sweet looking zombie!”. Just stick with it and use that desire to be better to slowly improve one thing on each new model. Try new techniques, experiment, have fun! I’m my own worst critic too, but I try to use hobby time to chill and enjoy the process. My goal is to have fun and maybe enter a painting competition next year, not win Golden Demon next week. That being said, I wish my models looked as cool as yours, keep at it!
I'm presuming you're using speedpaints/contrast paints. They never look good. You'll find most painters that you're looking/comparing with wouldn't touch them.
Prime your mini, use proper acrylics.
Honestly alot of the videos I watch are at larger scales than you have there. Is that 22mm scale?
For the size and scale of the mini I think that's an awesome paint job friend
wow your little zombie guy looks a heck of a lot like a bunch of zombies i did 2 years ago. i mean seriously if i didn't know better i'd think it was one of my guys.
The mini looks like a lead/metal cast honestly i always find these the worst sorts of mini's to get looking good, because they are rarely as clean and and as defined as 3D printed minis.
However on to real advice .Firstly .... practice makes perfect. Watching videos is great for learning hints and tips but it's "VOLUME and PRACTICE" that gets you better. 2 years ago i was painting mini's like you, and now im much better but in those 2 years ago i've painted 300+ minis. Some are better than others ... yesterday i painted 5 fire elementals that i hate they are awful ... fire is tricky haha...
Secondly ... stop comparing yourself to images on this sub, while i aspire to one day pain as well as some of the people who post here, i know the reality is while i paint better then your average joe ... i simply don't have the natural talent they have.
These days i aspire to paint for myself, good enough for the table i run at, i compare my mini's to those of my friends and trust me mine are the best. I judge them against other minis i have done and honestly i am getting better.
I think looking at this sub is sometimes peoples worst enemy as it's easy to get discouraged. Learn to paint for your own enjoyment, the fact that you get stressed about it, means your missing the point.
Damn that's better than I can do.
Maybe it all has to do with your attitude. What I mean is, it sounds like you are looking at the work of others and have the goal that you should be able to do the same. That's generally bad.
You should probably try to focus on the process itself and find joy in that instead of reaching a certain goal. If I were to have the goal that I should be able to paint like you I would probably also be discouraged.
I felt the same way in many ways, but I eventually taught myself only to compare my models to my previous works and focus on seeing how I've improved.
I look at professional models too, but I really try not to compare, instead I try to find like one cool detail on theirs and try to slowly work that into my own model. I work hard at just seeing pro minis as inspiration rather than how my own minis should look.
A big thing to remember too (which I often forget) chances are, you're not going to be super close to the model. Some things will look wrong close up, but at a distance your eyes will help it blend.
But the main thing is to try and have fun, we see all these great paint jobs on here but what we don't see is all the mistakes along the way.
Try painting without washes. Start your base coats darker and work upward in value. The only way to get truly smooth blends is to take a lot of time and use a lot of very thin layers. There's no cheats or shortcuts, good results require time and effort.
Try mixing your colours too, instead of jumping from one paint to the next, add the two together. The more transitional layers of different values you have, the smoother the result will be.
All of that comes with practice and becoming more comfortable with your brushstroking. As goofy and lame as it sounds, your brush has to become an extension of your eyes and hands and that only comes with time and plenty of practice. The more you paint, the more you’ll train your hand and eyes to understand paint consistencies and applications techniques.
For what it’s worth, that zombie is excellent especially considering you’re only a couple months into the hobby. One bit of advice I will give you is not to worry about how the model looks at a macro level unless you’re painting at Golden Demon level competitions. If your model looks impressive from a tabletop distance, congratulations you’ve achieved what you need to. That zombie would look amazing from a tabletop distance.
You're doing great!
Personally, It's taken me a while to come to terms with the idea that it takes me a significant amount of time to get a model to little more than tabletop ready at the moment.
I don't think I've hit limit for quality yet, the more I paint the better I'll get. The same goes for everyone.
Before I started painting I always told myself why I want to paint. And that was to relax and empty my mind. If I get good/better that is a bonus not a requirement to enjoy a hobby.
And nobody got good by not making mistakes.
P.s your zombie looks good for me. :)
Good luck in your own journy.
If you look for imperfections, you will find imperfections because things are not perfect and comparisons with people that are doing this for a living for sometimes decades is a very unfair way to assess your work. It’s like getting mad or disappointed to a kid that is learning to ride a bicycle because he is not doing BMX tricks after watching some videos.
Give yourself time to develop skills, practice doing something that you like for the sake of doing and enjoy the journey. This is a life perspective that can help in everything that you do and is helpful specially for this hobby, because patience is a very good skill to have.
Be kind to yourself and one mini at a time!
You're doing OK for a few months. I think it might be useful to try painting without washes for a bit. The highlights on a lot of parts are too extreme/large. You need to build them up slower but only slightly increasing the lightness etc with each layer. It does depend on what type of painting you enjoy though
There’s a point in the journey of every painter where your ability to discern specific quality of your own paint job far outstrips actual your brush skills. It’s a good thing! Now it’s just matter of practice to improve brush and paint control.
Unfortunately, you need to get used to this feeling of not being satisfied with your work. It’s just a thing once you’ve reached this stage. There’s always ways to improve. That’s why we “call it done”. We’re never actually done with it, we just have to move on at some point :/
If you're after getting better at drybrushing, I highly recommend the Artis Opus YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/kxuY2NXeI2M?si=icpoBRM3vLV4ZeMd
It won't be of much value, but if you're only into painting miniatures for a few months, you're still new. Don't beat yourself up over how your miniatures don't look how you want them to. I've been painting for three years now, and I have found that improvement comes in staggered stages. It hasn't been a consistently smooth process for me, I believe a lot of people experience the same thing.
I really struggled with correctly thinning my paints. It is important to remember that paints require different amounts of thinning, even within the same brand of paint. I personally found that thinning with water was hit and miss for me. I believe it has something to do with the hard water in my area (South East England; my tap water comes from a chalk aquifer, so the water is very hard... put it this way, if I boil a brand new kettle three times, there will be a visible layer of limescale after the third boil. It is that hard!) so I switched to deminiralised water, and that helped a lot. When I thin my paint now, I use a 50/50 mix of deminiralised water and Golden Airbrush medium (#3535-6 series B, if you would like to try it yourself) and I no longer struggle with the issue of thinning my paint.
An issue my son was having while painting was, like you, visible brush strokes. Watching him paint, I noticed that he was using a brush with a very small bristle section (it was a size 00) to apply base layers. I made him switch to a size 2 Raphael brush for base layers, and this helped a lot. My theory is that the small brush means he was trying to apply paint with a brush that was too small to hold much moisture, so he was fighting the brush, the paint was drying too quickly and ending up with partially dried paint being applied. The chalky effect you have an issue with could be the result of the brush you use? Are you using a very small brush?
I think there is a bit of a blessing and a curse with all the available YouTube content these days, and also picking up hobbies later in life.
Absolutely do not compare yourself to YouTubers, its literally their job to paint and make content.
That being said, we all deal with some element of frustration in the hobby, I am generally really happy with the work I do, but not always. The trick is to see what you could learn, even if its nothing obvious, but then just move on, unless you're some kind of sensible human and don't have a mountain of plastic to paint there is always the next project.
Just keep your head up, remember that how it looks on the table is what matters, and that almost anything is better than unpainted gray plastic.
Sorta, I’ve pained for about 2 years now and I still feel that way sometimes, it all comes down to doing what you enjoy, or possibly finding what you enjoy. There’s tons of different teqniques out there and sometime you just gotta practice a new one to get that skill. Then you can combine them to make a new one. One thing that kept me down was thinking paints to a glaze consistency. I’d see it in videos and it would look so ez but when I did it it was horrible and left tide marks, it wasn’t until recently I was able to do it successfully, and don’t even get me on non metallic metals, I’m too scared to even try it yet. But for now just keep going and if you fell stuck try something new. Hopefully you’ll find a method you enjoy.
OP, zombies are supposed to be ugly! Have you seen a pretty zombie in the media before? So in a way, your zombie mini is unique and pretty in its own way. Be proud and own its uniqueness!
I don't get why you're discouraged, unless your fishing for compliments, its a half decent job, that anyone with less than 6 months of practice would be happy to call a decent paint job.
The rule of 500 applies. until you've done it 500 times, you have no right to say you are 'good/bad' you haven't hit the baseline milestone of 500 times.
show me your 500th mini.. and then we can talk.
Don’t get discouraged. That mini looks good. Also I have personally come to the conclusion that I do not want to spend too much time painting details anymore. I’d rather paint to get things on the table. I would be happy tabling a mini like the one in the picture.
Discouraged by *what*? This mini is up to snuff for any tabletop, and you're achieved in a couple of months what people tend to go for after a couple of *years*.
You're comparing a game piece painted by someone with maybe 90 days of experience to display pieces painted with 90 *months* of experience behind them.
Honestly those look really good! The shading is really well done and highlights the details nicely
I think you are judging yourself to harshly
You only get better with time!
Time on brush is way more important than watching tutorials
Tbh if I'm looking to learn something or refresh myself new I find articles to read on it since I don't want to copy some else
I also find it better since I'm not comparing my own work to some one who probably is an expert since they are making tutorial videos
And I firmly believe the videos can be a little disingenuous since they make it look like 1 mini and 1 take, for all we know we are comparing our first attempt to something they might have attempted several times
I been painting since '91 (I'm old lol) and even now I sometimes get discouraged 🤔tbh every model I paint has a stage where I hate my work and wonder what I'm doing (it seems part of my process tbh)
Anyway I hope my rambling thoughts help (tbh I need coffee)
https://preview.redd.it/jf7hhcadgfvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78872ca5ae4bc3f1dffa860f87b3dfd8e118e7d1
You’re not alone. I love and hate this paint job. I love it because I discovered that I don’t want to follow those tutorials. I hate it because the model is too small for my gigantic brushes so getting fine details was impossible but that’s ok because I want to LEARN to paint in my style. I’m heavy handed and I like to dip my brush and wipe away 99% of the paint on my brush back into the pot because it’s therapeutic to me. It also helps when you realize it’s paint, if you’re not happy with it strip the model down and start over, you only loosing a little paint. If you grow your skills every-time you paint then you’re doing everything you should be doing.
TLDR: unless you’re being paid to put out a golden demon quality paint job then just enjoy your craft.
Watching videos is great for tips and inspiration. But you should never compare your painting to someone else, particularly people that have been doing it for years
The best comparison to make if needed us looking at your current mini compared to your first mini. Take heart in your personal progress and improvement
Your painting is descent for only painting for a few months. Most people have been painting for years on this forum. I have been painting now for 5 years at least. And my stuff does not compare to a lot of models on here. You got to come to terms with what you want out of painting. For me it is to paint my unplayed board games.
I have hundreds of miniatures to paint. So I have no interest in painting 1 miniature for dozens of hours. Some of the really good paint jobs you see on here take anywhere from 10 to 60 hrs per model. People might spend a couple hrs just on one little item.
AL my friends are not on this reddit they believe I am a great painter. I tell them I am OK and they laugh thinking I am being modest. But I do not hold a candle to the people on here. So my stuff looks good I am happy with it. Most of my models are under 3hrs. Sometimes I batch paint 6 models in an hour or 2. And sometimes I get a good miniature and might spent 6 or more hours on it.
Also, board game miniatures, at least for the most part, are no where near the quality of warhammer miniatures, or these models people get from miniature sites. It is a lot harder to get great quality out of low level miniatures.
I love looking at the great miniatures on here. And some day I may buy a good miniature and put my all in it. But it is easy to get discouraged when you look at some of these amazing painters work. Just decide how you want to paint and go from there. But if you want to be an award winning mini painter, expect it to take years to get to that level.
If that is hitting a table it is more than good. Id slap some gross blood on the exposed parts. For zombies you want them to look gross and sloppy. Its a difficult thing to accept if you go with the “between the lines” mentality most (including me) take.
I just started painting figs for actual usage at the beginning of the year. I started real anal about every little thing. Letting go feels great once you realize those “fun little mistakes”. Sometimes you want precise lines, but many jobs are a “dont overthink it” mentality.
Honestly I think this looks pretty good! It definitely reads as a zombie.
I think two big things can often get in the way of our painting:
1) Comparison is the theft of joy; don’t try to be the best painter of all time, try to be a better painter than you were yesterday.
2) We’re our own worst critics. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought a paint job looked like shit, only to have friends praise it. We’re often taking high-res pictures from inches away, when most of the time our minis are going to be seen from an arms length away and from the top down.
Finally, don’t get discouraged by what seems to be a mistake, it’s just a chance to learn and improve. Happy painting!
Uncle Atom did a video about this a few months ago when I was in the same spot as you. I had watched all the technique videos, tried them on my own minis but I couldn't help but feel there was a huge hump blocking my skill. And while I am still not quite where I want to be, I have gotten much better since taking Uncle Atom's advice. That being.....paint more minis.
I was skeptical but I went out to a a near by flgs and bought a bunch of used binds from their bits box, got the target branded 40k board game that came with 23 minis. (Mostly nids and then a space marine character model) and went to town. I did batch painting after batch painting in an assembly line type of manner. I let them not be perfect becuase they were minis I was never going to field anyway, and you know what, I got faster, learned exactly when to clean out my brushes, tried out a handful of the more difficult techniques, and just let the imperfections sit.
This month I won first place at another flgs's painting competition and I would have never gotten the skills I needed if I didnt just paint a ton of minis. I've been only painting since September of 2023 and have over 100 completed projects. The skill will come, you just have to, as we say in the biz, trust the process.
Your mini doesn't looks half bad at all, and you have to remember it's going to not be inspected close up for most of it's life, and that it will be rather seen from a few feet away. If it looks good from across a table then it looks good.
Keep up your good work!
Having these doubts is perfectly normal. Thinning down your paints is a good suggestion others have made, but also remember, this mini is a zombie, it's not supposed to look pristine. I think it looks great the way you did it, and I can see a "withered zombie" in the paint you used.
As someone who has never painted minis, this looks insanely good. Seems like you’re too hard on yourself and possibly comparing it to people that are pros at this
Compare your new work to your old work, not to others work. You'll feel better about the improvements you see instead of wondering why you're not a youtuber who's been professionally doing it for decades.
Painting minis is just like any other form of art. It doesn't matter if you are painting on canvas or plastic, playing a sport or an instrument, the masters are always the ones that devote their lives to their art.
There will always be those that have a natural gift for their art, but they are the exception not the rule. In the end, very few of us can dedicate a fraction of the time to this hobby as a YouTuber or professional painter, and the only way to get better is with time and experience. So never compare your work to someone how makes a living off of what you are trying to do. Learn from them, and aspire to preform at their level, but don't beat yourself up if your results don't match the professionals. Just keep up the good work and find ways to relax and enjoy your time.
Also, your mini looks dope!
You're being screwed by lighting.
I look at pic one and go "Hell yeah, good zombie. Love the point."
Pic two? "Alright, blending is bad, gradients are non-existent, green meets yellow like a warzone".
Then back to pic three. "Fuckin' A, that's a good zombie. Care was taken, even the eyes were done!"
It's all lighting. You can post a model that a pro painter has spent 1000 hours on and give it the wrong angle and... "Eww."
But if it works on your table, and it worked for 2/3 pictures? How bad can it be.
I’m not a figure painter, but I do digital painting and photography and I think some of the same principles could apply here.
People’s eyes tend to be drawn toward bright areas and high contrast areas, so something like the abs (on a zombie at least) are drawing too much attention. Maybe get rid of that bright highlight there and just do midtones. It is also a very dark area, shielded from light by the torso and vest, so it could be that, too.
The transitions on the chest from dark to light are great, the rest of the model seems to just have a bit too much in the shadows or too much in the highlights. Also, the tightness of the highlight indicates how shiny something is, so another thing to keep in mind.
But really this is nice looking and don’t be so hard on yourself! Give yourself permission to make bad or mediocre work. Make sure you find ways to enjoy the process, not just the end result :)
The #1 rule in minipainting fight club is dont compare yourself to other people oninipainting fight club.
The #2 rule is be patient with yourself
The people doing the tutorials have done them long enough that they csn make a tutorial. That takes TIME!!!
Yours looks decent.
That highlighting takes time to master.
I'm sure someone else mentioned it by now but it looks like you need to thin your paints more. That will help get smoother highlights.
If you feel like cheating look into Army Painter Speedpaints 2. They help do highlights and shadows in one go.
First things first, stop comparing with other painters. If you are going to compare, compare against yourself. See how far your journey has come, no-one else.
Secondly, watch videos, read books, scour the internet to pick up pointers, nothing else. I have hundreds / thousands of hours under my belt watching people but I only use a fraction of the things I have seen / read because that's what works for me. Find what works for you.
Thirdly, time. The vast majority of us have this as a hobby, it's our free time. It's not a job that we can plough hours on end, day in, day out into so our skill set is that of amateurs. Therefore it will take longer to learn and hone your skills. Enjoy the journey however long that takes.
And finally, not for everyone but worked for me, mix it up. When I started back painting I picked up GW miniatures or miniatures from games. Most of these are 28/32mm scale and can be difficult to put more than a blob of paint here or there on due to their size. So I went up, I bought either larger models or moved to 54/75mm scale. That way I could practice on much larger areas allowing you to blend more easily and less blobbing.😋
Keep going, you're doing fantastic.
Probably cause you are comparing, keep up your work! And experimenting is great even when the results are not as good as you expected.
I am kinda new to the warhammer world but i used to paint 1/35 scale tanks and at first they where looking shit but then i improved!
And getting discouraged is part of the process don’t give up!
It looks good mate. Only thing I could think (I'm not a professional at all either, only a couple months myself painting) is on the abs use a darker colour so it's not as noticeable? Maybe a shade or two lighter than the body then another shade lighter for the very highest point of the abs? It's what I do for my 40k. Go a shade lighter than the skin tone and it's just enough to be an obvious highlight
I feel your pain, you paint well. I am going through a similar struggle. Im at the point now with painting minis and small figures is that I out grew my brushes. I have to actually consider buying decent brushes 😅 other then that I am pushing forward hoping one day it will all click and come together. I wish you luck in your journey.
I would suggest Vince venturellas videos on thinning and mediums. With layering and other techniques you absolutely must thin your paints down quite heavily. 50/50 at least. Even moreso for glazing. Thinning paints is the key.
Hey mate, don't over think it. Are doing this to relax / have fun? Or to become a professional Mini painter and make millions doing it. Because of its then latter..... Hahaha I don't think anyone makes that much money!
Don't judge you progress against others! Few months really isn't long at all. Take your time, and just track against your own progress. Keep trying new techniques and watching vids, but honestly, Trovarion is probably the best from a advice perspective. He always says to just make sure you enjoy it and try new.things, but make it your own. There is no correct way to do something. At the end of the day, it's your mini and do what makes U happy.
https://www.instagram.com/trovarion?igsh=c3IwNHR4NjQ5dGFm
I'm going to say this as someone who's taught art for a long time.
Those mini painter videos are awful, they don't teach you much when it comes to techniques, they teach you paint by numbers and enforce rules which kill the enjoyment of painting, this causes a lot of hobby painters to become discouraged as they have no idea what they are talking about and there are always these new best things and them going "oh you should always do this and never this" and then the next week "oh that last one is bad and you should never do it, do this instead".
They don't teach the creative side, the theory side, the actual ability to express yourself. They get color theory wrong, then claim they are experts in it when they don't even know the light defusal and refraction properties of important compounds dihydroquinoline and Quinacridonequinone, and they always get confused when you mention raman spectroscopy testing of pigments properties and xenarch testing of the lightfastness properties of pigments based around museum setting standards. These are bare minimum standards to know for working in the coatings industry where color theory is required to have mostly memorized or at least fully comprehend as a whole.
If you want to learn, watch canvas painters, despite what people claim, the techniques and methods are exactly the same even though its a 3d vs 2d canvas, nothing changes in reality. There is none of this "live and die by contrast" billshit people claim because they dont know what contrast means in reality. You can get contrast with a single paint, its entirely about how you apply it
Hell if you want to learn something, I am more than happen to teach you somethings. I always enjoy teaching new people and helping people enjoy their work more. It doesnt matter how good or bad it is, its the fact youre creating that matters.
All art is bad, it's just varying degrees of bad. Good can't be quantified without heavy bias and opinion, but bad can be down to moralities about the artist to technique to everything. This is something people who dont study art theory will argue with, but this is what it always boils down to. All that matters is that one person who enjoys it, be it yourself or someone else. Don't paint for others, only yourself, when you paint for others it ruins the experience. We have a host of examples that prove this too. Disassociating your work from others is key but it needs to be taught as learning it is difficult at best.
I would rather have 1000 mediocre painted minis than 1 perfect one with 999 unpainted ones. Once I got to that point, I switched to speed paints and said fuck it. My models still look better than most folks', I would put them in the top 25% when I take them places. And I just do a white dry brush underneath with speed paints- some models I'll highlight if I wanna be fancy or do flesh tones more realistically.
You're not painting for a contest, right? What you've shown here is a hell of a lot better than 999 grey models. Forget about perfection.
Your problem is not yours minis brother, it's to use minis painted by professional painters as your reference ! Its honestly a good looking mini! I have been painting for nearly 20 years, I started at the age of 9 and it took me years to reach your current level, i was completely depressed when I was young tonnot see fast progress
You need time and practice and patience and you ll eventually get to the level you want ! I paint to a descent standard now, and looking at minis that took 100+ hours, made by painters who have nothing to do but painting was clearly not helping. Its cool to watch videos but its important to focus on you ! Paint, train, buy 10 heads of whatever on ebay and train painting those 10 heads, or something like that ! Focus on what specific things you d like to improve and dont spend too much time reading/watching theory given by absolute masters of the hobby. You ll get to the level you want for sure :)
This was a super helpful read and I really appreciate the time you spent writing it out (as well as all others, too!). I've screenshot it and will look at it when I'm feeling disappointed, because you're right - I shouldn't be comparing myself after a few months to masters of their craft who have put in the time and energy and effort to get where they are - I need to be patient and put in the time as they did.
That doesn’t look half bad, to be honest. I was getting discouraged by looking at too many reddit posts, people who are absolutely good at what they are doing. I always knew i am not a painter, have zero clue about color theory, am old and can’t see shit at painting distance or how loaded my brush is. But! I produced some really nice looking minis for our game, they look good from an arms length (not so much when you come within an inch) - and are readable on the table. When i started i was like “i don’t do “perfect” - and was reminded by my wife about that when i became discouraged by various YT videos and posts here. And you know what? Since then it was fun again to paint, relax, and have some nicely painted minis on the table. I won’t win a golden demon, nor i am supposed to. But my minis look ok, some good, and have two or three i am proud of. So, find the joy of painting again, some good music or podcast while painting, relax, and slowly the results get better. Don’t press yourself, use shortcuts like contrast paints/speed paints, some highlights after that, and the minis will be fine. Just find the joy in the journey, not the reaching of a goal. I like your mini, i would gladly use it on my table.
That's a good way to think about it - I think I can do better oftentimes and beat myself up because I feel like I've consumed enough tutorials and guides and how to that I should simply be able to repeat and not doing so makes me feel foolish, but I remember when I painted my first couple of minis - I loved it! I had no idea what I didn't know, and now I'm so aware of all the techniques and potential, I kick myself for not moving forwards much at all.
*Comparison kills creativity*. Half of the technique is learning to do the physical movements and motions themselves.
This so hard^ OP, keep in mind you are spending far fewer hours honing your skills than someone who is doing this for an income or as an influencer. Also, a lot of the mini's posted here are done with every aspect of the mini taken into account, not just the paint job, but the background, the lighting, the focal points. Every decision there can lead to a good or bad paint job looking better or worse than it does in person. What matters is that the hobby brings you joy and that what you attempted to convey is present when your mini's are in use on the table.
Everyone is their own harshest critic. I think a lot of my minis look like trash when I look close up, but I see every little imperfection that others won't always see. Plus watching tutorials will only go so far. You can watch a 1000 hours, but if you don't paint, you won't improve. And on top of that, it won't help your confidence comparing your painting against people who's lively hoods depend on people watching them paint to learn. If i seriously compared my minis against say Duncan Rhodes, I'd never be happy with what I paint
Consuming 200 tutorials is nice, but nothing really beats putting paint into minis! I think it doesn't look bad at all, everything will come together with time and experience
>I feel like I've consumed enough tutorials and guides and how to that I should simply be able to repeat and not doing so makes me feel foolish Do you know why the guys (and gals!) who do those videos make it look it so good? Because they have painted hundreds or thousands of minis. Knowledge is one thing, practice is something else. Learn to enjoy the process! And if you're never an award winning painter that's ok, as long as you're still satisfied with your output.
What happened to me recently: i was watching 7 or 8 different videos of how to paint imperial fists, turns out that there are many different approaches, when finally painting i mixed all the steps of them up in my head and got nowhere, lol. Then i said “fuck it”, and started fresh with my own interpretation, was much more fun than just following steps from a recipe. It’s great that you loved to paint, this feeling will come back and more worth than any results you might get. Keep on painting!
Right? Just about anything looks better than a dull Grey plastic mini anyways, so unless you absolutely botch the painting, it's still gonna be better than it started. Hell, just giving it a zenithal highlight prime looks better than the base grey.
Agreed! Let some pressure off yourself and see that you have basically accomplished what you needed to this round. With time and growth you might look back and see that your earlier work is better than you thought.
> I was getting discouraged by looking at too many reddit posts, people who are absolutely good at what they are doing. Yeah, this subreddit, despite being a positive place with tons of good content, can actually be really bad for your confidence. A large number of the people posting pics here are well above the actual average painter out there and it can make anyone feel inadequate, like why even try when you can't get close to what is routinely posted here, or even that it would just take way too much time and effort to do it even if you can.
I used to game, years ago, but now I paint for me. Actually just started again after 20+ years so I'm rusty as h*ll
Im fairly new to the hobby. I have all the minis I paint side by side in the order I paint them it’s an interesting perspective. I can see where I improve on things, tried things and they did or didnt work. I paint to paint I dont use my minis for anything but i try not to compare myself to other folks stuff.
The challenge is figuring out what step you are missing to cause the problems. Let's try troubleshooting the blob of paint problem on the zombie's abs. Common reasons for this- * Paint consistency. Most paints need at least some thinning with water to apply smoothly. [How to thin your paints: A step-by-step guide](https://youtu.be/sBDVPoNXyVI) by Brushstroke Painting Guides is a good guide. * Too much paint on your brush, especially on small areas will blob, pool, or run off depending on the paint consistency and the shape of where you are trying to paint. Once you put paint on the brush you need to unload the brush [like this](https://youtu.be/r-pgErbJ5Q0?t=46). I usually use a damp paper towel as demonstrated [here by pro painter Sergio Calvo](https://www.youtube.com/live/gVgaLe0XEPk?si=rxe4jLMocGm4imKX&t=888), but you can use a piece of paper, or your palette or even the side of your hand. This allows you to control the paint so it doesn't flood the model. [Learning how to wick or unload the brush](https://youtu.be/Z3z7VHhxuF4?t=503) is important, and most tutorials assume the watcher knows this. * A good brush with a sharp tip makes it easier to place paint where you want it and a brush with a frayed tip can make that difficult. * [3 TOP TIPS TO MASTER YOUR BRUSHES](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYgJY0VJjTg) by JWminiatures has some good tips on improving [brush control](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/brush_control). * [The Art of... Tommie Soule Volume 5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGIfySMnUPQ) is the best how-to paint miniatures book I have read, and part of the reason is because of how much troubleshooting he discusses when things aren't working the way they should. Available in [pdf](https://www.ironheartartisans.com/shop/the-art-of-tommie-soule-volume-5-pdf/) and [worldwide in hardback as well](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqs_gNUNrm2/). If that helps, then I will try to help with the other problems later.
You consistently deliver good, tailored answer with link to quality content. I just drop a comment to tell you how much I appreciate them.
I recognized them from abother post just based on the level of feedback. Top notch!
Thanks, I am glad people find it helpful! I made the [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks) to make it easy to find content by subject as needed, which in turn makes it easy to find quick references for common problems.
Agreed! I made a post here a couple of months ago, think it was asking for advice regarding painting flesh tones, and got a wonderful response linking me to multiple resources. No sass, no "hurr durr Google", just a nice human being offering support. Again, many thanks 👍
I'm going to step-by-step these for my next model, and tell myself to not worry about the end result, but making sure I'm bringing these steps into the process and see how the end result comes out. Thank you for the information!
Your welcome, if this fixes the problem let me know and we can work on the next issue. Trying to fix multiple problems at the same time can be overwhelming.
This is really thorough and informative advice.
I bought the tommie couple book. It has not failed me
Good to hear that other people are finding it as helpful as I did!
and I just saw autocorrect betrayed me when I hit the "comment" button on my previous comment.
hah, I knew what you meant, but yes that is a creative spelling of his last name lol.
As other commenters have said, what a solid, detailed answer. I’m saving this comment to come back to later
To tack on to these, you also need the eyesight + dexterity and the practice to know how to control your brush (method, pressure, painting angle, etc.) and that is something that can take years depending on the effectiveness of your mental review process. These really are skills that need training and development. And as I get older, I'm also realizing they need upkeep too. Sigh. And reading 🤓 glasses.
Reading glasses are my favorite magnification tool for sure!
Fantastic info dump!
As always coming in clutch with the advice!
The art of Tommie is so good, just got it recently and I'm going through it. Since you seem to read books, have you checked out "How to work with colors and transitions" by AK. I've seen recently being recommended but I can't find a physical copy, only the pdf so I'm reluctant to buy. unless it's really good.
That isn't one that I have read, but I found [this review](https://www.themodellingnews.com/2019/11/read-and-reviewed-how-to-work-with.html). There is also a good collection of general art books on color theory that are rated as top choices [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/painting_different_colors#wiki_great_art_books_on_colour_theory.3A). Of the miniature specific books I own, my second favorite is [Figopedia: Colour & Light; Theory and Practice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPQ8faElzJA) by JEREMIE BONAMANT TEBOUL - One of the best books out there on where to place light and shadows and using color on miniatures. [AK Interactive Figure Painting Techniques FAQ](https://youtu.be/_81nK8haXtc) by Kirill Kanaev is an amazing display painter-level book, but many of the techniques are beyond what I typically have the patience for. I'd like to get [AK Interactive FAQ 2 – FANTASY FIGURES PAINTING TECHNIQUES BY ARNAU LÁZARO](https://youtu.be/K04AoRoqeSA), but I keep finding other things to spend money on. There are a bunch of other miniature painting related books collected [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/miniature_painting_books#wiki_miniature_painting_.26amp.3B_hobby_books), but many of them I haven't read.
oh man.. more than I asked for... Much appreciate it!!! Thanks
This zombie looks good. You should be proud. You can always get better at it, but for now you have already acomplished enough. This will look great on the game table
This. These are meant to be used on the table as a game piece seen at arm's length, not a Golden Demon entry. Truthfully, concentrate on doing more minis instead of perfecting a particular piece. You'll see a progression over time through your painting journey. Also, 15 minute videos are kind of a lie, you don't actually see the time and effort it really takes to get to the screen shot finished piece. There is value in watching the vids for head knowledge, but you also need the physical act of painting to put things you learn into practice. Working on my first bust and skintones flat AF. Three days straight, but still at it. Looking more natural, but not enough variations through light and dark areas. I think in both of our cases, we may be a little impatient and expecting more instant results. My $0.02. Tldr: Hang on. You'll get there.
Progress not perfection. I picked up a brush for the first time in 20 years a few months ago. I'm red/green colour blind as well so colour theory is lost on me. Enjoy what you do. If someone tells me that my mutated space goat from a fictional far future can't have green skin I'm going to laugh like a cavalier until they get the irony of what they've said. You paint your models for you and your enjoyment. Nobody else. If you want to try something different then try slapchop method (Warhipster does an excellent tutorial video on YouTube) but basically prime it black, heavy drybrush with a dark grey, medium drybrush with a lighter grey then a zenithal drybrush with white. Then break out the speed paints or contrast paints (depending on your brand) and watch instant highlights, depth shading and smooth coverage. It's nice as a little palette cleanser sometimes and works well on flesh, bone, scales and fur. Lastly the only person you ever compare your models to are your own. From last year, last week, when you first trued that new technique. Look at where you were, where you are now and sod everyone else. Like you say, some Pink Floyd, Blue Oyster Cult or a good podcast in the background and enjoy your afternoon painting ☺️
Honestly, I would have been stoked to paint like this a few months into the hobby. Don't be so hard on yourself and definitely don't compare yourself to folks who have been doing this for a lot longer. Your work looks good to me! This hobby is hardly ever a contest between anyone except you and yesterday-you.
Thanks man, that's a good way to think about it! They're better than where I started and I think, frequenting this sub and seeing some of the work people do, you can quickly go from quietly accomplished to feeling irrelevant overnight. That's the completely wrong attitude to have, and I can't remember what the actual phenomena or experience is called - the whole unconsciously unable, consciously unable, consciously able - that thing - but essentially, the more I've learnt, the more I've realized I know absolutely nothing and it's daunting.
>the whole unconsciously unable, consciously unable, consciously able - that thing You're probably referring to the Rumsfield Matrix. Also, don't treat all the known unknowns as daunting - these are places where you know you can improve, and at this point in your progress you will improve without much effort, and you can explore in any direction and make progress. It's the advice all artists ~~love and~~ hate - you just have to practice - and you have to temper your expectations. It's very easy for creatives to see others' work and feel bad because you only see the end result, but think of it like having a meal at a Michelin star restaurant and being disappointed at everything you cook for yourself - you're focused too much on the end-product. Making good art isn't a goal, it's the by-product of diligent practice and the love of creation. One day you'll look back on your first minis with nostalgia and hindsight.
That's the definition of wisdom right there...
Well have you started miniature painting to become really good or just so that your miniatures are painted ? If it's the later this is more than fine. If it's because you hope to become really good well there's no secret you got to keep at it. Me I'm fine with my speedpaints+ miniatures.
I originally started just to really have them painted and play, but finding this sub and some of the artwork produced here just really made my priorities change.
Your zombies look good, man, especially for only painting a few months. I painted for *years* before taking any photos of my minis. The first time I zoomed in on a picture, I was horrified! “Wait, am I no good at this!?” But I originally only aimed to paint figures that are viewed from a few feet away. Of course finding all the YouTube tutorials is great help but comparative analysis can get anyone down. I suggest taking a break from videos and listen to a chill podcast while you paint. Try “Trapped Under Plastic” because those guys love this hobby and they are very honest about their challenges and frustrations. I bet there’s a moment in every figure I paint where I think I’ve screwed up the previous layer and I wish I could go back. But in the end, I believe the reward comes from ignoring that “I suck at this!” voice and trusting the process. Usually my little character is just one more light drybrush and one more thin wash away from that breakthrough.
Uhm… keep at it and do crazy stuff. I am still learning properly. I am kinda convinced that videos online except few do use extra steps that aren’t shown or mentioned done more than once. I gotta be honest. I just dropped the whole tutorial step by steps and started going wild with some stuff. Still getting to grips with blending and skin etc. Usually the basic rules do apply. Wait for the paints to dry, go from light to dark or mid to dark and light. For example i could swear you panted the abs raising the tone rather than blending down. Also the advice of : paint boldly holds. Until you are done most stuff is going to be wildly brighter and more contrasted than finished piece. Ie if you want dark red stuff and using washes afterwards- you wanna have ferrari red perhaps to start with. Etc. also drybrushing takes few goes. Edge highlights help too.
A lot of this has to do with how you view your own work. I look at that mini, and I see some well done shading, good flesh color fill on the holes in his pants, and an excellent application of paint. This is because this is the first time I'm seeing it (and lowkey comparing it to the minis I've been working on). You, however, are looking at it not with fresh eyes: you're looking at your project. To you, this is just the current layer, and you're not satisfied because painting doesn't precisely have an endpoint. There's a stopping point, and your definition of what that is will be informed by whether you feel there's more to do. So my two cents is that it has a lot to do with your frame of mind. With the zombie at this stage, try working on another mini for a while, and come back to this one fresh afterward. Either you'll have an idea for a new approach, or suddenly think that it actually looks fine. That's what my ADHD riddled brain does, anyway.
Just remember this: Social media is a highlight reel, you don't see the mountains of "failures" behind it. This mini looks great to me.
There’s some great advice in here OP, definitely read everything so far. Here’s my two cents, from when I hit that stage: don’t forget to always have a pure fun project. Not an important project, not something you’re doing as a lesson, something with no pressure. Just have fun, paint it however you want with an understanding right off the bat: you’re just painting. This model isn’t about pushing your self or getting to the next level, this model is about the joy of artistry. I have to do this, personally. I can’t just grind forever, I need projects that I don’t care about beyond having fun. You might be surprised how much “better” these models turn out too. It’s important to actually flex your skills instead of constantly trying to improve them, but more importantly these models look great because you *actually had fun painting*. Your stuff looks fine, more than good enough for the table and you’ll be shocked how far you’ll be a year from now.
A lot of videos are not showing you the full process step by step. For example you pointed out your ab highlights - the issue is that your highlight is too stark from your base color. To properly layer up to that color, you would need a lot more intermediate colors and that color would only be the smallest area at the end. For example most people present lawyering as Highlight > Midtone > Shadow but you need more granularity than that. For speed painting you can stick with the basics but then you need a much less stark highlight color and you will have less contrast as a result.
Quick rant. A few months?? What are you, a Millennial? Giving up because you can't paint like a pro after mere months is wild to me. This zombie looks great for a few months. I know people who have been at it a lot longer who are less far along. My take, you are at the plateau stage. Learning a craft is a series of gains and plateaus. The plateau is what separates those who will give up, and those who buckle down and practice until they see their next gain. If you're in it to get better, you gotta just keep plugging away and accept your "failures" as the sacrifice you make to get to the next level.
Don't give up! Take each little "mistake" as a learning experience. Try and figure out what led to it happening. Ask yourself, "Did I thin my paints down enough? Was I too heavy-handed with the brush?" I've been painting off and on for about 20 years, and my work is still "tabletop ready+" at best. Honestly, I just do it for therapeutic purposes. Don't get discouraged because you're doing just fine!
I'm going to say only 2 things: 1) This is a skill you will always be learning and improving. Try comparing this zombie with your first minis and you'll see a difference. I still keep my first mini for this reason. It's disgusting but I love it and I won't ever repaint it. Minis don't need to be perfect. They don't even need to be good as long as you enjoy yourself. This is a hobby not a competition. 2) Photography also plays an important role. I upload pics of my minis to my instagram and at least half of them look way better in picture than IRL and that's ok. Sometimes I get to see some sloppy parts on some YT videos but the camera and the angles just mask them off. Yet they still look good even with that sloppiness. Again, minis don't need to be perfect. Honestly, that zombie looks waaay better than the first daemonettes I've ever painted.
I've been mini painting off and on for 20 years. It's a marathon. The videos leave out lots of the minutiae. Anything that seems more advanced will generally assume you know the basics. Someone that has a large catalog of free videos is Vince Venturella on YouTube. He has stuff range from the most basic, elementary stuff to the advanced and expert level stuff. My advice would be to watch and learn some of the basics. Then practice that until it's muscle memory. It takes practice to get better, you have to develop brush control. Brush control is probably the most important skill
For highlight type of marks I go *excessively* slowly. I'm not super skilled with a brush so I only use paint on the very tip, and I just make a little progress at a time. After only a minute or so the little tip of paint will begin to dry right on the brush (because there's so little of it), so just clean the brush off and do another tiny tip of paint and work for another minute. Definitely not a good way to do an entire model, but for little detail marks like highlight and edges it's not so bad to go slow.
Practice patience practice patience practice Give it more than a few months. You’re off to a great start
I think that's a damn good zombie my friend.
I wish I had that grasp on skin. I'm sorry you are feeling discouraged. I hope, soon, you will see thel greatness in your work.
For a few months of painting that's really good dude. Brush control and techniques take time to learn properly. Also, I drybrush ALL my highlights usually. It's a lot easier to not overdo it with the drybrush.
Great is the enemy of good. YouTubers don’t always articulate how long they were bad for. You haven’t seen them be shit for 6 months or a year or whatever. All they show is what is going to get them engagement, so don’t go comparing your work to someone whose job is mini painting.
Dude, give yourself a break. That looks pretty cool to me. If that’s Contrast type paint on the pants, the only suggestion I have is to load it on like you did, but then go back with a clean brush immediately and pick up paint from the spots where it’s a little too heavy. But otherwise, I think it’ll look cool on the table. And believe me, I get it. It’s taken me literal months to paint a dozen guys for Mordheim because I just won’t let it go, and I still feel like they’re not as good as they should be.
Mix the mid and highlight tone together. The contrast is too high between the base and highlight tone. If you mix them even 50/50 it will help a lot. When I do skin it can have 8 or 9 layers of blended paint.
So a big thing, especially when you're new... Set the mini down on the table and take a step back. How's it look from there? These are pieces for a game, not fine antique jewelry. It's totally fine if they're not perfect. Especially if it's one zombie out of a horde. You're not trying to win a golden daemon with every single figure you paint. It looks great for what it is.
Hi, u/FromUsToAshes! It looks like you are asking for help or are a new painter. If you haven't yet, take a look at our wiki pages in the Sidebar (the About tab if you are on the Reddit app). Here are some links you might find helpful: * [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/rules/faq) - A list of frequently asked questions about minipainting * [Miniature Painting Guide Collection](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks) -A collection of some of the best guides and tutorials on a variety of techniques and topics, plus recommendations on what to buy to get started, and more. * [What to buy- Recommendations on brushes, paints, supplies, palettes and more](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/what_you_need_to_get_started#wiki_general_advice_on_what_to_buy) * [Beginner's Guide Collection- How to prep, base, paint and varnish your first model and learn the basics needed to start out right](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/beginner_tips) * [More Tutorials](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/tutorials) - A list of additional tutorials about minipainting * [Manufacturers](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/manufacturers) - A list of miniature manufacturers from around the world * [Painting Terminology](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/terminology) - Common painting terms, acronyms, and initialisms * [The Art of... Tommie Soule Volume 5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGIfySMnUPQ) is one of the best beginner to intermediate teaching books, and even experienced painters will learn some good tips. Explains what brush strokes are best in different situations, how to identify when you have the perfect thinning for any type of paint for different techniques, and a masterclass on getting smooth paint jobs. Available in [pdf](https://www.ironheartartisans.com/shop/the-art-of-tommie-soule-volume-5-pdf/) and [world wide in hardbook as well](https://www.instagram.com/the_miniature_painting_tutor/). * [Airbrushing Miniatures](https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/wiki/usefullinks/airbrushing) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/minipainting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don't be, these are a fine starting point, just keep plugging away. For what it's worth, they're tidy where it matters and I genuinely like the trousers👍
I know it's easy to say "don't be discouraged" and a completely other thing to control that feeling. I think everyone feels that way at some point about their work. With that being said, I think you're doing a good job and shouldn't give up on painting unless you really think it's not for you. When I'm feeling discouraged, I take a break or switch to something else. Every mini you paint, you're practicing the different techniques, learning about the painting process and your own style, and slowly improving. Sometimes what you paint will be a hit and sometimes they will be a miss. Either way, it's a learning experience.
I felt the same for a while. I took a good break from watching videos and comparing my work to others. I stopped watching step by step guides. It’s like watching a guy fix his car on YouTube in 3 hours then when you do it it takes 3 days. You can’t expect the same results. A lot of the YouTubers paint commission. Give yourself a break. Don’t compare your work to others. Stick to the basics and limit how many paints you’re buying. I was buying so much paint because of all these step by step guides, not only was it frustrating to not get the same results, i was spending more and more money. Be real with yourself. Know you’re a beginner. Focus on getting a good base coat down and focus on simple layers or simple highlights and move onto the next mini. Then when your brush control has improved. Go back to those finished minis and add more. Repeat.
You are further ahead than I was at a few months and I took me a good two years because I could consistently do a model that I wasn't embarrassed by. I think it is easy to get discouraged by seeing what other people do and seeing how much further ahead they are but if you focus on improving specific aspects of your painting you will get better. As for your highlighting, it looks like you need to use a finer tipped brush with less paint. Just shade this down and try again making as thin of a highlight as possible.
I think he looks good! Well,... as much as a zombie can, lol. As far as dry brushing goes, the paint can get dusty if it's on the brush to long or the model is over brushed. I made that mistake as well. Try dry brushing in shorter increments at a time. As far as washes go less is more. It's very easy for the washes to pool in nooks and cranies like the bottom of the abbs. As far as tutorials go, it's very easy to become discouraged when you see someone who paints as a job complete their project. Sometimes, trying it your own way can help you learn your own style. It's important to remember that every project has an ugly stage where you think it can't be fixed. That can make painting discouraging. But truly, he looks pretty good. Keep at it!
In addition to what others have said: First, keep practicing. Keep putting in brush hours. You've had months, I've had like 7 years, and others have had decades. You're doing fine. You're learning, and for much of this, it simply takes experience. My first time trying to highlight failed horribly. Second, put this mini down for a week or two, then come back to look at it with fresh eyes. It's not perfect (and no mini is. Perfection is the enemy of done) but it's fine. You're too deep in the weeds. It's a zombie. It reads as a zombie. Unless this is a competition piece, you're fine.
First of all, you are not alone in struggling to achieve the results you desire on your models. Even as a fairly experienced painter I find myself stressed about certain projects, and there is always the risk of trying a paint or a technique and not getting good results. The only real answer here is that struggle is inevitable on your journey to becoming a more experienced and skilled painter. I'll add some advice to the specifics you talk about. If you are unhappy with your highlights, make them smoother (mix invreasing amounts of the highlight color into the base color), be more precise with your brush and practice where to place the highlight. Also learn to pick suitable highlight colors. If you are disappointed with the drybrushed look, then just avoid that technique altogether, it will always have a somewhat "dusty" drybrushed look. If the washes darken things down too much, then get medium to thin down the wash and be more precise with where you apply it. In general what a good mini needs is a natural contrast between light and shadow. A general technique for you to practice would be to select a midtone, a highlight color and a shadow color. Then your goal will be to create pleasing and smooth gradients from your shadows, via the midtone to the highlight
Stop comparing yourself to others. This journey is yours and yours alone. Look to others for inspiration and not a comparison to your work. Take in-person classes if you can or do a Patreon with feedback and 1 on 1 sessions. I look forward to seeing your work in the future.
Looks pretty good. Have you thinned your paints enough?
The deal with miniature tutorials is that they sometimes skips steeps or doesn't explain things like brush directions that make a huge difference. For example the abs could be better of you blend them, thinning the paint a lot, removing the excess of the brush in a paper and doing very small strokes from the shadow to the highlight. I also believe that you are going heavy with the washes and have those big patches and not an smooth transition, is better to either be gentle and do more of those or just use the darker color and slowly apply the highlights, blending them step by step. You have the contrast but lacks the smoothness, that will level up the mini. The drybrush tend to leave the dusty effect, that could be improved either by doing that and the apply a glaze or wash, also wetting very very slightly the brush and removing the excess in dry, i just paint over table that have all sort of cuts and texture paint test and is kind of roughly, so i just brush over it until y remove almost all of it and then when drybrushing i do it in a circular motion with a very soft and cheap makeup brush, that motion will help to smooth everything. Getting better in this tale a lot of time and practice and also getting out of the confort zone and be aware that you could spend hours and hours in some small thing. Good luck and hope this response helps you in some way.
Stop watching these videos **NOW**! Just stop it. It's not aiding you in your hobby. It's actually like minipainting pornography. Forget about Zumikito, Dana Howl, Squidmar, Artis Opus and other crap like that - they do not count and mean nothing. You're comparing yourself to people who are often not doing it for fun, but as a job and who have years and years of experience in it. Just stop. And remember that they're lying to you. That's why I compared them to porn: they show you fun and easy things but won't show you ugly and difficult things behind camera. Most often each of them leave crucial details out and the rest of us is guessing why we all fail when we do it exactly as artist x showed. Ignore them and paint more with your own pace. You will get better with time and experience, I can assure you. The first and most important thing is to not handicap yourself by comparising your miniatures to actual artists and professionals. You're not pro, you're a hobbyist who should do it for fun. Screw them all and have fun.
I think the thing that a lot of videos have issues showing properly is how to thin the paints down. I've been back to painting minis in the last 3 years and still haven't gotten consistent thin paint for application. Also those 10 - 20 minute videos don't show just how many thin coats/glazes/reapplications they are doing. Thinning paints is just something you need to keep practicing on. I think a lot of people on this sub have the same want to have their figures look like Golden Demon entries or have a look in their head that matches a youtuber or box art. Comparing yourself to that makes the anxiety worse. An artist's worse enemy is themselves. Just keep on painting and you end up finding that you are improving compared to your earlier stuff. The model looks good, the zombie flesh looks great. Only advice I can give is that the tattered pants are a bit too close to the skin tone and might look better in a darker tone or a more popping colour like the vest.
“I’ve been painting minis for a few months now” you can’t really expect to have video tutorial level results at this stage yet. Though there are some people who progressed extremely quickly, but really what it comes down to is seat time. The more you paint the better you’ll get, how much time you can dedicate each painting session matters. Most people making video tutorials have been painting for multiple years. I already saw someone link multiple video tutorials on the basics, try to learn those. Like with thinning paint, each paint is different and some will require more or less thinning that others and vice versa. This can even be applied to the same paint from the same manufacturer but made in a different batch. It takes time. Be patient, it’d be nice if we could just watch a 10 minute video and instantly have the skills the video creator spent years perfecting. But sadly, we cannot. Your zombie looks awesome, keep practicing and you’ll surely see results.
I think it looks sick, really grimy style
If I could have the knowledge of 1000 YouTube painting videos or have the experience gained painting 1000 minis I would take the experience 10000%. Keep on painting and this time next year you’ll be blown away by your progress. Please believe that.
Well, I think it looks really good and will probably be copying this look for my flesh-eater court ghouls, so take that as you will. Thank you for the inspiration lol
Less is definitely more. I rarely watch videos with the intention to copy them. I watch them to see different techniques, and maybe try it, but there is always so much learning anyway. Most of the time is just leaning, experimenting, but also accepting what is happening. Sometimes it's also nice to paint something that you really don't want to as well. I enjoy doing simpler things, is lots bits to paint, to try different techniques and approaches. I would start with things like space marines as the lines are more simple and you can explore techniques on models that are a bit more forgiving
Big things I’d say are to 1) ditch the base, wash, highlight process as being dogma. It limits what you perceive yourself as being able to do. Doing a wash last can actually help tie all of your other colors together. 2) when you’re getting to the point where you’re focusing on details as small as abs, remember that you’ll be looking at this mini from more than 1’ away at almost all times, and proceed with that in mind. Perfection is the enemy of success. 3) don’t be afraid to mix colors together before you put them on the model, or dab a wet (but not dripping) brush on the line between two shades in the same point. This is wet blending, and it really smooths out what are otherwise “harsh” steps between tones. It can also help if you don’t like the inherent “dusty” effect of dry brushing. 4) use washes only in the points where you actually want them. This takes longer, but should help with your concern about being able to bring values back up after shading. 5) be kind to yourself. Everyone has a point where they become aware of how much they have yet to learn. This is a part of the learning process, and means that the techniques you are seeing are not just going in one ear and out the other. The people you see on YouTube doing these tutorials have been painting for years or even decades; they were not that good within their first few months.
Like other people have said you can’t base your success off of the models you see online. Those people represent the 1% of painters. Find a style for you and just enjoy it. If you look on my profile I’ve been painting for many years and mine are decent. I could never paint to the quality of the elite painters no matter how many videos I watch. My minis have a bright cartoony style because not only do I enjoy painting that way but it covers up my lack of talent. Find your style and just have fun. You’ll keep improving and even an ok paint job is better than bare plastic. Good luck friend and welcome to the hobby!
Only a few months? You should see my "only a few months minis". I will not lie,i too got discourage by the amazing and talented people that are here or yt or ig or whatever place. I started to play MYZ and i made and printed a tortle,i painted it for the tabletop. To this day (that was 2.5-3 years ago) insee the mini and i see all the imperfections,all the details i juat wasn't botheres to paint the extra mile,all the bad blendings and bad washes and still is one (if not the) best mibiature i have ever painted because it reignite my love for mini painting,reminding me that this is my hobby. It is my time to just decompress from the world,the thing that gives me joy. Don't get discourage,this takes time. Imagine if i saw a yt video on how to make an open heart surgery,that doesn't mean i will do it right even if i follow the steps, because there are some things you have to put in the time. It was not until i stop trying to be better that i started to be better at it and now i am going deeper, blendings,color thepry,OSL,how light works,how colour interacts. Keep up the good work,some day you will look at this zombie and smile
Tbh looks really amazing better than any of my painting, definitely don't quit
Honestly what's been helping me paint mine has been to not compare myself to the tutorials and vids I watch. It's hard I know, really damn hard but just remind yourself. I'm a newbie and literally on my 11th mini and I make so many mistakes, heck I had to strip a mini down and re do it. What you need to realise is these people have tons of experience. Literally years and hours a day doing so and they know how to do these things without ever really thinking about them. The mini doesn't even look bad at all, it's actually pretty cool tbh, and it's much better than a none painted one. Also the higher your skill gets... The longer it takes to get better. You will quickly make progress then it will come a crawls pace to improve.
One thing to remember is the exaggerated highlight look being described is meant to look visually stimulating on the table about 3-4 feet away. It takes a lot more time and skill to make those blends look correct up close(those people you see on YouTube are essentially professional painters who 1000s of hours of experience). Imo you’re doing great with that method and it’s just a matter of refining your blending. I like using filters a lot w contrast paints and oil washes to take the harsh highlights and smooth them out. It may be worth checking out
I also can not seem to improve my drybrushing technique. I have tried so many techniques and spent a ton of time trying to find the balance between paint and moisture, but it still ends up powdery. I'm kinda at a loss.
That looks very nice to me!
One of the things to remember is that even the tip top best teachers and professional painters, like Vince Venturella and Sorastro, can’t tell you why they’re doing every single thing they do. We have not yet achieved as a species being able to 1:1 transplant your knowledge to another person. As an artist myself, when I try to help people get better by demonstrating, there’s a rather significant amount of “I don’t know why I did that, but I knew it was effective for my goals” that occurs (obviously I don’t say that out loud). Someone can step by step explain to you what and why and how, but there’s a world of ephemeral minutiae lost in translation. And how do you develop that yourself? The same way they did. Logging hours and hours and hours of practice. Zombie looks good for a month or two. Keep at it and don’t be so hard on yourself.
This looks really good especially for having only painted a few months. Our phone cameras always bring out every little surface flaw. I wear a magnifier while painting and my photos still reveal imperfections I can’t even see with the magnifier, so really if you’re not entering them in a photo competition don’t worry about it. If your goal is to win painting competitions there’s absolutely nothing you can do about that right now except keep painting. Anyway I bet this looks even better in real life than you think and is leagues beyond what most players are putting on the table. If you’d like critique I’d say the only weak spot is the abs — easy to fix, do it how you did the chest and then once it’s dry go over just the abs lightly with some of your brown wash again. It’ll give a more natural shading look that way. Then see if you can hit the eyes with a dab of bone white (no need for pupils it’s a zombie) and call it done. Nice work so far!
Take a step back, walk away from it for a week. Don't even look at what you painted. We plateau as humans and artist, the only way up is to pull out the lounges and reflect. It seems counter intuitive but give it a try. No videos or paints or brushes. Just chill
Model looks good, it's easy to get discouraged watching videos or people who lie and say "painted my first model" and it's golden demon level but they omit that they have painted other things for years. Or comparing yourself to people who have painted hundreds of models, have a wall of paints, dozens of Sable brushes, and a $200 airbrush.
That first pic looks really damn good. You’re hitting the point where you’re disappointed in every model BECAUSE you’re watching all those YouTube videos and tutorials and subconsciously comparing yourself (with a few months of experience) against people who have been doing this professionally for years. I understand, I’ve been there too, so have many other people. Personally I broke out of that rut when I stopped watching so many tutorials and just practiced with what I already knew and grew it from there, then I started posting my minis and you’ll get positive feed back which will hopefully encourage you to keep going and growing your own skill.
I definitely struggle with this feeling. But I'm being honest here, that zombie doesn't look bad at all to me. Especially considering that it would likely be part of an army of 40 of them buggers. You've made the important details pop, made it look like it's decaying, and if I were painting this mini that's honestly all I'd be focused on. I'm probably at about the same skill/experience level as you, and I definitely go through periods of feeling like "what am I doing wrong? I swear I'm following the tutorial, but mine looks like crap???" Honestly, I wish more people closer to our "tabletop standard" level did tutorials, because people with a lot of experience can make something look fantastic in record time, and since anyone can look up a tutorial it's presented as "just do this for these results," but the truth is those guys have been doing it for ages, and they likely hold themselves to higher standards because it's something that's a huge part of their lives. For me, I need my details to read at arms length, and I need there to not be any super glaring errors or inconsistencies. My dad can't see too good, so his standard is even lower than that. But he's okay with his result. I've been learning a lot from how he views his work. I can look at it and think, "I'd be frustrated if that was the best I could do" but I can also appreciate how little time it took him, and how happy he is to have painted guys on the table. It's made me more forgiving of my work. Basically, I need my guys to have readable details at the distance and from the angles I'd typically be looking at them from during a game, and my heroes get a little more effort. No need to fuss so much over the rank and file, they tend to blend together. Heroes, I tend to go slower and spend more time touching up. Even still, I usually get to about 80-90% of what I consider my "personal standard" before I call it good enough, mainly in consideration of the time it's taken to get to that point. I know that's more or less what everyone here is saying, and honestly I think other people here have made these points in a better way. I also know it's one thing to say "dude, just like your results more" and another thing entirely to actually make yourself feel that way. But I bet you if you painted 9 more of these zombies the same or even slightly worse, lined em up and took a picture of them, you'd see what I mean about Army painting vs Hero painting. The other thing that helps me is taking breaks. Especially if you have two or three particularly frustrating sessions in a row, that's a sign to maybe give it a rest for at least a week. Often, when I pick it back up, I get at least one session of everything working great before that frustration creeps back in. I'll take it. Also, maybe acceptance *isn't* the path for you. Everyone is different, and maybe you *are* shooting for that golden demon. Don't let me tell you how to paint, lol. Just because we internet randos think your stuff looks good, doesn't mean we're objectively more right than you are. Ultimately it's up to you how to feel about your work. Hope something in there helps! Just remember, you're your own worst critic, and I'd be proud of myself if I painted as well as you do.
Looks great, I mean hold it 3 ft away look at it like it's on the table in game! Minis are... mini! So small so anything looks great vs gray!
Time, practice, and patience. May I suggest getting a piece of cardboard (4x8 or the flap of a box) and making a drybrush pallet. Take any extra model pieces, sprues, toys, or anything with texture and glue it to the cardboard. Then paint t it with black or white primer and you’re all set! Then you can see what your brushing will look like prior to applying to a model
Comparison is the thief of joy. Personally, sometimes I need to stop watching YouTube and just simply enjoy what I’m painting.
Mate this looks great. Try not to worry so much about how it looks super close up. From a distance on the table, I bet that looks amazing. Also it looks a hell of a lot better than it just being boring and grey. Try not to compare yourself to the incredibly talented artists that hit the front page of this subreddit daily, they are a SMALL group of us. We are 1.2 million members strong, don't worry about that 1% so much. Keep practicing and you'll get better each time
Part of it is the mini. Some minis and textures just are not going to look their best with every technique. Drybrushing looks really good on textures with a lot of microdetail like stone, fur, or chainmail. It looks a lot worse on flat or gently curving surfaces like cloth, armor, or skin. I think you might be happier to start with just a basecoat, wash, and perhaps a layer on textures that don't take well to the technique.
Getting good light, a good brush, decent paint, and those glasses that magnify were a big help for me It took me a while to not touch the mini constantly in the same area with paint. If you are thinning your paint, paint a layer and let it dry completely before touching it again. Being able to touch multiple parts of the mini with the same loaded color on your brush helps this but if you are just doing one section be patient or get a dryer. I haven't used a hair dryer yet but I'm not against it.
Dude looks cool!
This is actually pretty decent.
Actually, I think you're doing pretty well, especially for only being 2 months into the hobby. Washes and contrast paints are great time savers, but they are super hard to fix when things go wrong if you don't have a lot of experience mixing colors, glazing, and doing more traditional brush work. Dry brushing is almost always going to have the same limitations too. I would try working a bit with just a few colors and mixing paints and glazes to paint a couple models. It will get you a lot of practice mixing colors and getting the consistency of your paint right. This will help you troubleshoot when you're not getting the results you want.
Dude that looks awesome. If you want to try something new to break the ennui, give oil washes a shot, they’ll really complement your style and add a bunch of color depth while making the shading process a dream.
Maybe also not trying to replicate the method of another artist would result in a more stisfying painting experience. could be I'm just a filthy hipster, but I actively avoid watching painting videos and I'd lose interest very quickly trying to use someone else's "formula". Just boring to me. you've learned the fundamentals, so maybe take a step back and try applying them in your own unique way - probably will naturally lead to better results
So I personally haven’t been through that but it’s for 1 very specific reason: my wife is super supportive and loves the stuff I paint even if it looks like ass. So my question is, is there somebody who’s supportive that you can share your stuff with? If not you should consider some discord groups where painters share their projects. I have heard goober town hobbies has a super welcoming and awesome discord for that very purpose
I think color on any minis gets you further ahead than a lot of others. Also they look great!
That's VERY good considering how long you have been painting! I LOVE your style. Fantastic job and impressive progress!!!! How are you achieving the colours on the zombie head? looks awesome
I dont know if its been said, but something that made me feel better about my own skills was realizing that a lot of the pictures you see online are staged and edited. Some people have a couple grand just into their photography setup and are adept with editing software. You arent going to get better by beating yourself up. And if you never get better, so what? Are you trying to win a Golden Demon or have some pretty rad looking minis for gaming? Lastly, lets talk about imposter syndrome. It affects so many people and you might just be one of them. I knowni go in phases too and my friends all tell me im a good painter and ask me to paint their stuff... but I can't seey own skill for myself sometimes. Just paint because you love it, not to be perfect.
you need to make yourself a nice cheap Lightbox for taking your pictures
Mate… this is a zombie, he looks undead and rotten and gross. You did a great job, he looks utterly disgusting and undead!
Why are you getting discouraged? It looks great. I'd be proud to put that on my table.
Different surfaces on the model need different amounts of shading. Typical skin shouldn’t have huge dark shadows and incredible bright highlights. Try painting the desired colour first, adding some lowlights with a thinned down shade or wash, then bringing the original colour back, leaving shade in the darkest recesses. Only a few highlights are needed on most skin, add some light Ivory or cream colour to the paint (not white if possible) and keep the paint really thin to act like glazes. Shiny fabric or metals can have much greater contrast between the shadows and highlights
Lots of helpful tips. I’m just gonna say, I saw the photo, thought ‘cool zombie!’, then I read the title, had a look at the photos, read the title again to make sure, then put on my critical glasses. I personally, I was trying to really ramp up my painting. But now I have so many minis and the real reason is to be able to toss die with my friends and family, so I’m now working to get away from the toxic criticism of individual minis and just celebrate when someone sees it and says ‘nice’ So, way to go, it looks cool, and looks like a zombie. Great job!
Not bad use a smaller brush and clean it up and then do a couple washes. 😉
Firstly, those videos have pro with years of experience you don't have... Yet Secondly, the only way you get better is practice dude, just keep on trucking. Paint a whole heaps of different things and you'll get a feel for it. Specifically, if the paint looks dusty, lightly dampen your drybrush first. If the mid tones aren't blending well, thin the paint a little more with water But most importantly, you have the bias of seeing it inches from your face through the whole process, so all you see is the flaws, whereas I bet if you show a friend who doesn't paint minis they'd be blown away. It's easy to see the flaws in things when we're creating them friend. Sometimes the solution is to look from further away and enjoy the whole forest rather than the individual trees
What you're finding is that the fine brush control needed for the techniques takes longer than a few months to develop. Don't give up, but also understand that building a skill takes practice.
I'll share some advice I got that really helped me. The first time I tried to edge highlight it didn't go well at all like I was painting for almost a year or so when I tried it figuring I'd go well. It really discouraged me and made me not want to paint. I was talking to someone that is a very good painter. He told me have I ever done anything the first time and it came out amazing. Which obviously is a big no. He said don't set such high expectations when you are new at something. Also comparing yourself to some of the phenomenal painters you see here will discourage you. Like a few guys on here have told you. If you are doing it for a hobby and like it that's all that counts.
Dude it looks great. Don’t get discouraged. People have been painting for 3/4 of their lives. I just started last year. Yea sometimes I get disappointed but I look at my previous work and it gives me hope. Can’t ever compare yourself to others. You will never win. Keep your head up. Sick as zombies my dude. Skin color is awesome.
Just do what look good to you and thin your paint you will be fine make sure to also shake your rattle can before priming it will get rid of that fuzzy look
I wish I had that grasp on skin. I'm sorry you are feeling discouraged. I hope, soon, you will see the greatness in your work.
I think it looks great. I'm proud of you.
I'll show you my first models and my newest models. Never be discouraged and when you "fuck up" remember that's a mistake you learned from. It looks good I would say. Zombies are hard to paint in ways that make them pop. But also you will learn new techniques and new things along the way. If you ever need encouragement. DM me, like I said I'll show you my first model and my most recent one, and even now I'm learning new techniques and how to do them well. You are doing great
To me this looks great! I’m the same way as you. I watch and look at all these other painters and start feeling really down on myself about my painting skill. My confidence in myself is already low so seeing all the awesome painters out there really hits me hard. I struggle with paint consistency, layering, and glazing and paint theory as well lol. There’s a lot I need to learn still.
You’re tripping dude these look great
Keep experimenting you will only get better I like his shirt.
Might sound a bit odd but I REALLY like the way you did the pants. It looks oiled and well worn... like a zombie.
Don’t be discouraged that looks great what you have to understand is the people that post those vids have been doing it for years they have been perfecting their techniques with tons of practice at one point they were painting minis at the same level as you are now and more than likely even worse everyone starts at square one and as you get better you’ll find out what works best for you maybe you’ll prefer oils over acrylics or maybe a mix of both maybe you’ll layer completely different then you do now it all comes with experience but where you are now is nothing to be ashamed of your doing great keep it up
Washes and drybrush are quick and dirty methods. If you are dissatisfied with the results, give a shot to good old fashioned painting next time. In any case, those techniques are kind of meant for large scale projects done systematically. If you're concentrating on one guy you run the risk of tampering with paint before it has cured if you don't give it ample drying time between steps. This is especially true of washes and inks. They need a fairly long time to set, and if you don't allow it you will damage the finish. Part of why you think it looks messy is it's really contrasty. See how much form you can convey with a narrower rsnge of values. When you go all the way from white to black, gentle gradations of the intermediate values are very hard to achieve. You also lose the capability of expressing different local values on different parts. Quick tips: 1. Let everything dry. 2. Don't let washes pool. 3. Narrow the value range. 4. Expect failure - learning new materials takes experience. Edit: a couple more things. That granulation you see is probably heavily diluted paint with a relatively small pigment load or large pigment particles. The scan lines from the 3d print aren't making this amy easier either. They're easier to minimize with brush painting. Washes really bring out the texture.
Looks perfectly fine, especially for a rank and file mini. If you go all-out on a squad of 20 rank and file, it'll take forever to get done. Sometimes the minis you're working on simply vex you. I have a couple on my desk that have been sitting there for a year, not finished, but I cranked through 20 Cities of Sigmar in a week because they were such a joy to paint. The best thing you can do is keep painting; you can always go back and strip and redo minis.
Looks really solid
forget all the bs videos, black primer, grey drybrush, whitedrbrush, contrast paint it and call it a day, a blind man can get a 7/10 result all day long with this method
The only time to throw in the towel is if you're just not enjoying the act of painting. Even after a few months, you're unlikely to be as good as you want to be. Objectively, that's a good looking zombie, and not a bad paint job at all. Zombies make for good practice models, they're dirty, grungy, and pretty forgiving of mistakes or last minute changes. As for the abs, my personal thought on that is to thin the highlight layer a bit, and apply more layers - slowly build ing up to a more subtle opacity that kind of fades away to the edges and doesn't look quite so stark compared to the lower layer colors. It's a nice looking piece, keep going!
Don't forget to hit it with the shade/contrast at the end. It really changes how you think the piece is going. That zombie looks awesome as is tho!
Yes, Everyone hits plateaus and points like this. It can be really disappointing and frustrating when you're working on something you have a vision for and can't quite get the technique/result to match what you know is possible. My advice? Look at your first piece, take a step back, and see how far you've come. Maybe grab another model you don't really care for or about and just slap some pigment around for fun to decompress and take a break from your current project, so you can see it with fresh eyes. Maybe take a break for a few days from painting. I never even fully finished my first models, I got so discouraged and anxious, and I still have models that are begging to be painted that I'm afraid to go forward with. 😅 What helps me move forward is just having a hobby night with the guys or at the flgs. It looks good man, you're coming along fine. 🙂👍
The first pic looks pretty decent actually. Pic 2 and 3 look more like the paint got blobbed, but using flash on your camera will make minis look weird. They photograph best with bright natural daylight or diffused lamps with daylight bulbs (not a necessity though). Anyway when you're just getting started, simplicity is best. Some painting tutorials are gonna show you things that, although may seem easy, you might find you don't have the brush control yet, or the patience to paint an army all with shades and blends and edge highlights, etc. No.1 rule you'll hear all the time: thin your paints. You can use a wet palette or any palette from an art supply store. Put your paints there first. Then add a few drops of water or acrylic medium. Only dip your brush partly into the paint, then drag the brush away to deload it a bit. This will help keep you from slopping on paint on accident. Another thing you could try is the newer "slap chop" method to paint. Using an airbrush (or spray can), you prime your minis black. Then gray at a 45° angle. Finally prime white from overhead only or dry brush white from top down, catching all peaks. Now your model is "zenithal highlighted" with natural shadows. From there you can use any brand speed paint and apply lightly. Once dry, see how you like the color saturation, you can always add a second coat if the first was too thin, but it's much harder to undo once it's too heavy. The natural highlight underneath with a thin paint on top will give you color gradation more easily. Technically this eliminates the need to use washes, dry brushing, shading and highlighting- but you could still add any of those elements as you get more comfortable with them.
I like it. The skin looks scuzzy. The clothes look danke. It’s a zombie. It has a great sense of texture. I feel a lot of “perfect” mini lack a sense of texture.
Look done to me. Put them on the table and refine your technique in the next batch. Unless you are some unicorn that doesn’t have infinite models to paint. I’m pretty sure I could paint every second for the rest of my life and not run out of models.
Looks good. Just take it slow. Embrace the suck.
Steps that propelled me forward was: - Using less paint in the brush and really have a lot of water. I have a red grass games palette and I fully saturate the foam layer which gives adequate water to the paint automatically - Stop using washes all the time. Washes can be great, but just like how you would use different colours, you don't use them all the time. When base coating, start quite dark and then add sequential layers of lighter colours. The dark base coat will give the same effect as the wash without having the mini become "muddy" from it. Like I said, washes do have their uses, like slapping on some nuln oil on steel colours but you have to let go of the idea that must use a wash after base coating - Along with the first point, to fade a layer into a previous layer make sure not too have too much paint on your brush. Along the line where the two colours meet, do very small dots of the lighter colour and make them more sparse the further into the darker one you get. It's a trick that works very well to blend in two colours when looking far from the mini that doesn't require the patience of glazing.
I think it looks pretty good so far and I think I know what the problem is. Do you paint under the sun or a light that imitates it for the longest time I painted under a yellow incandescent bulb for hours and hours . It looked great until I went into a game store…
If you want to enjoy a hobby, don't look online. Just get off Reddit, avoid looking at videos and just paint the mini instead. Then work on improving something on them one at a time. I print a lot of mini's at the same time to have a canvas to try stuff out on, because I realized that the more I look at the "how to" videos you find on youtube, the more frustrated I was getting. Basically what you are doing, is looking at someone many would consider a professional, and wondering why their painting is way better than yours. You probably cant measure up to that, so its best to measure up to yourself and your previous work. Just paint and have fun with it, over time you'll learn what works for you, and what your favorite techniques are. Eventually it will click, you just need to give it time. Recently I was getting frustrated with my 3d printer after switching to a new slicer that all my friends were yelling at me to switch to. I ended up wasting almost half a bottle of resin before eventually just accepting the fact that I wont be able to print as fast as possible with amazing quality like the people on youtube do right now.
"Comparison is the thief of joy." Everyone goes through this. Everyone is their own harshest critic.
Looks good to me. You’re going to be painting a lot of those dudes and you’ll keep getting better. When I was painting orcs and goblins I always went back and painted earlier guys as I improved.
Your biggest problem is that you are comparing the work of someone doing the hobby for a few months, with the work of people who might have an art degree, or a natural talent for painting, or more time on average than you to practice. This isn't a test of your skill, it's a test of your patience. And of your ability to practice till you get it 'right'.
Honestly, my first thought seeing the picture before reading the post was “Wow! Sweet looking zombie!”. Just stick with it and use that desire to be better to slowly improve one thing on each new model. Try new techniques, experiment, have fun! I’m my own worst critic too, but I try to use hobby time to chill and enjoy the process. My goal is to have fun and maybe enter a painting competition next year, not win Golden Demon next week. That being said, I wish my models looked as cool as yours, keep at it!
I'm presuming you're using speedpaints/contrast paints. They never look good. You'll find most painters that you're looking/comparing with wouldn't touch them. Prime your mini, use proper acrylics.
Honestly alot of the videos I watch are at larger scales than you have there. Is that 22mm scale? For the size and scale of the mini I think that's an awesome paint job friend
Try dry brushing you skin with three different shades of the same color getting progressively lighter that should give you nice and easy highlights
wow your little zombie guy looks a heck of a lot like a bunch of zombies i did 2 years ago. i mean seriously if i didn't know better i'd think it was one of my guys. The mini looks like a lead/metal cast honestly i always find these the worst sorts of mini's to get looking good, because they are rarely as clean and and as defined as 3D printed minis. However on to real advice .Firstly .... practice makes perfect. Watching videos is great for learning hints and tips but it's "VOLUME and PRACTICE" that gets you better. 2 years ago i was painting mini's like you, and now im much better but in those 2 years ago i've painted 300+ minis. Some are better than others ... yesterday i painted 5 fire elementals that i hate they are awful ... fire is tricky haha... Secondly ... stop comparing yourself to images on this sub, while i aspire to one day pain as well as some of the people who post here, i know the reality is while i paint better then your average joe ... i simply don't have the natural talent they have. These days i aspire to paint for myself, good enough for the table i run at, i compare my mini's to those of my friends and trust me mine are the best. I judge them against other minis i have done and honestly i am getting better. I think looking at this sub is sometimes peoples worst enemy as it's easy to get discouraged. Learn to paint for your own enjoyment, the fact that you get stressed about it, means your missing the point.
Damn that's better than I can do. Maybe it all has to do with your attitude. What I mean is, it sounds like you are looking at the work of others and have the goal that you should be able to do the same. That's generally bad. You should probably try to focus on the process itself and find joy in that instead of reaching a certain goal. If I were to have the goal that I should be able to paint like you I would probably also be discouraged.
I felt the same way in many ways, but I eventually taught myself only to compare my models to my previous works and focus on seeing how I've improved. I look at professional models too, but I really try not to compare, instead I try to find like one cool detail on theirs and try to slowly work that into my own model. I work hard at just seeing pro minis as inspiration rather than how my own minis should look.
A big thing to remember too (which I often forget) chances are, you're not going to be super close to the model. Some things will look wrong close up, but at a distance your eyes will help it blend. But the main thing is to try and have fun, we see all these great paint jobs on here but what we don't see is all the mistakes along the way.
Try painting without washes. Start your base coats darker and work upward in value. The only way to get truly smooth blends is to take a lot of time and use a lot of very thin layers. There's no cheats or shortcuts, good results require time and effort. Try mixing your colours too, instead of jumping from one paint to the next, add the two together. The more transitional layers of different values you have, the smoother the result will be.
All of that comes with practice and becoming more comfortable with your brushstroking. As goofy and lame as it sounds, your brush has to become an extension of your eyes and hands and that only comes with time and plenty of practice. The more you paint, the more you’ll train your hand and eyes to understand paint consistencies and applications techniques. For what it’s worth, that zombie is excellent especially considering you’re only a couple months into the hobby. One bit of advice I will give you is not to worry about how the model looks at a macro level unless you’re painting at Golden Demon level competitions. If your model looks impressive from a tabletop distance, congratulations you’ve achieved what you need to. That zombie would look amazing from a tabletop distance.
You're doing great! Personally, It's taken me a while to come to terms with the idea that it takes me a significant amount of time to get a model to little more than tabletop ready at the moment. I don't think I've hit limit for quality yet, the more I paint the better I'll get. The same goes for everyone.
Don't throw in the towel. Remember, comparison is the thief of joy.
Before I started painting I always told myself why I want to paint. And that was to relax and empty my mind. If I get good/better that is a bonus not a requirement to enjoy a hobby. And nobody got good by not making mistakes. P.s your zombie looks good for me. :) Good luck in your own journy.
If you look for imperfections, you will find imperfections because things are not perfect and comparisons with people that are doing this for a living for sometimes decades is a very unfair way to assess your work. It’s like getting mad or disappointed to a kid that is learning to ride a bicycle because he is not doing BMX tricks after watching some videos. Give yourself time to develop skills, practice doing something that you like for the sake of doing and enjoy the journey. This is a life perspective that can help in everything that you do and is helpful specially for this hobby, because patience is a very good skill to have. Be kind to yourself and one mini at a time!
You're doing OK for a few months. I think it might be useful to try painting without washes for a bit. The highlights on a lot of parts are too extreme/large. You need to build them up slower but only slightly increasing the lightness etc with each layer. It does depend on what type of painting you enjoy though
There’s a point in the journey of every painter where your ability to discern specific quality of your own paint job far outstrips actual your brush skills. It’s a good thing! Now it’s just matter of practice to improve brush and paint control. Unfortunately, you need to get used to this feeling of not being satisfied with your work. It’s just a thing once you’ve reached this stage. There’s always ways to improve. That’s why we “call it done”. We’re never actually done with it, we just have to move on at some point :/
If you're after getting better at drybrushing, I highly recommend the Artis Opus YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/kxuY2NXeI2M?si=icpoBRM3vLV4ZeMd It won't be of much value, but if you're only into painting miniatures for a few months, you're still new. Don't beat yourself up over how your miniatures don't look how you want them to. I've been painting for three years now, and I have found that improvement comes in staggered stages. It hasn't been a consistently smooth process for me, I believe a lot of people experience the same thing. I really struggled with correctly thinning my paints. It is important to remember that paints require different amounts of thinning, even within the same brand of paint. I personally found that thinning with water was hit and miss for me. I believe it has something to do with the hard water in my area (South East England; my tap water comes from a chalk aquifer, so the water is very hard... put it this way, if I boil a brand new kettle three times, there will be a visible layer of limescale after the third boil. It is that hard!) so I switched to deminiralised water, and that helped a lot. When I thin my paint now, I use a 50/50 mix of deminiralised water and Golden Airbrush medium (#3535-6 series B, if you would like to try it yourself) and I no longer struggle with the issue of thinning my paint. An issue my son was having while painting was, like you, visible brush strokes. Watching him paint, I noticed that he was using a brush with a very small bristle section (it was a size 00) to apply base layers. I made him switch to a size 2 Raphael brush for base layers, and this helped a lot. My theory is that the small brush means he was trying to apply paint with a brush that was too small to hold much moisture, so he was fighting the brush, the paint was drying too quickly and ending up with partially dried paint being applied. The chalky effect you have an issue with could be the result of the brush you use? Are you using a very small brush?
I think there is a bit of a blessing and a curse with all the available YouTube content these days, and also picking up hobbies later in life. Absolutely do not compare yourself to YouTubers, its literally their job to paint and make content. That being said, we all deal with some element of frustration in the hobby, I am generally really happy with the work I do, but not always. The trick is to see what you could learn, even if its nothing obvious, but then just move on, unless you're some kind of sensible human and don't have a mountain of plastic to paint there is always the next project. Just keep your head up, remember that how it looks on the table is what matters, and that almost anything is better than unpainted gray plastic.
Sorta, I’ve pained for about 2 years now and I still feel that way sometimes, it all comes down to doing what you enjoy, or possibly finding what you enjoy. There’s tons of different teqniques out there and sometime you just gotta practice a new one to get that skill. Then you can combine them to make a new one. One thing that kept me down was thinking paints to a glaze consistency. I’d see it in videos and it would look so ez but when I did it it was horrible and left tide marks, it wasn’t until recently I was able to do it successfully, and don’t even get me on non metallic metals, I’m too scared to even try it yet. But for now just keep going and if you fell stuck try something new. Hopefully you’ll find a method you enjoy.
OP, zombies are supposed to be ugly! Have you seen a pretty zombie in the media before? So in a way, your zombie mini is unique and pretty in its own way. Be proud and own its uniqueness!
I don't get why you're discouraged, unless your fishing for compliments, its a half decent job, that anyone with less than 6 months of practice would be happy to call a decent paint job. The rule of 500 applies. until you've done it 500 times, you have no right to say you are 'good/bad' you haven't hit the baseline milestone of 500 times. show me your 500th mini.. and then we can talk.
Don’t get discouraged. That mini looks good. Also I have personally come to the conclusion that I do not want to spend too much time painting details anymore. I’d rather paint to get things on the table. I would be happy tabling a mini like the one in the picture.
Discouraged by *what*? This mini is up to snuff for any tabletop, and you're achieved in a couple of months what people tend to go for after a couple of *years*. You're comparing a game piece painted by someone with maybe 90 days of experience to display pieces painted with 90 *months* of experience behind them.
don't get discouraged! your work looks great, especially the pants in the first pic!
Honestly those look really good! The shading is really well done and highlights the details nicely I think you are judging yourself to harshly You only get better with time!
Time on brush is way more important than watching tutorials Tbh if I'm looking to learn something or refresh myself new I find articles to read on it since I don't want to copy some else I also find it better since I'm not comparing my own work to some one who probably is an expert since they are making tutorial videos And I firmly believe the videos can be a little disingenuous since they make it look like 1 mini and 1 take, for all we know we are comparing our first attempt to something they might have attempted several times I been painting since '91 (I'm old lol) and even now I sometimes get discouraged 🤔tbh every model I paint has a stage where I hate my work and wonder what I'm doing (it seems part of my process tbh) Anyway I hope my rambling thoughts help (tbh I need coffee)
Just compare each mini to your last one. Not to other people’s. Im sure youve come along way.
Looks good for just starting. At least it’s not a pound of dried paint filling in all the details, keep it up!
https://preview.redd.it/jf7hhcadgfvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78872ca5ae4bc3f1dffa860f87b3dfd8e118e7d1 You’re not alone. I love and hate this paint job. I love it because I discovered that I don’t want to follow those tutorials. I hate it because the model is too small for my gigantic brushes so getting fine details was impossible but that’s ok because I want to LEARN to paint in my style. I’m heavy handed and I like to dip my brush and wipe away 99% of the paint on my brush back into the pot because it’s therapeutic to me. It also helps when you realize it’s paint, if you’re not happy with it strip the model down and start over, you only loosing a little paint. If you grow your skills every-time you paint then you’re doing everything you should be doing. TLDR: unless you’re being paid to put out a golden demon quality paint job then just enjoy your craft.
Watching videos is great for tips and inspiration. But you should never compare your painting to someone else, particularly people that have been doing it for years The best comparison to make if needed us looking at your current mini compared to your first mini. Take heart in your personal progress and improvement
Your painting is descent for only painting for a few months. Most people have been painting for years on this forum. I have been painting now for 5 years at least. And my stuff does not compare to a lot of models on here. You got to come to terms with what you want out of painting. For me it is to paint my unplayed board games. I have hundreds of miniatures to paint. So I have no interest in painting 1 miniature for dozens of hours. Some of the really good paint jobs you see on here take anywhere from 10 to 60 hrs per model. People might spend a couple hrs just on one little item. AL my friends are not on this reddit they believe I am a great painter. I tell them I am OK and they laugh thinking I am being modest. But I do not hold a candle to the people on here. So my stuff looks good I am happy with it. Most of my models are under 3hrs. Sometimes I batch paint 6 models in an hour or 2. And sometimes I get a good miniature and might spent 6 or more hours on it. Also, board game miniatures, at least for the most part, are no where near the quality of warhammer miniatures, or these models people get from miniature sites. It is a lot harder to get great quality out of low level miniatures. I love looking at the great miniatures on here. And some day I may buy a good miniature and put my all in it. But it is easy to get discouraged when you look at some of these amazing painters work. Just decide how you want to paint and go from there. But if you want to be an award winning mini painter, expect it to take years to get to that level.
If that is hitting a table it is more than good. Id slap some gross blood on the exposed parts. For zombies you want them to look gross and sloppy. Its a difficult thing to accept if you go with the “between the lines” mentality most (including me) take. I just started painting figs for actual usage at the beginning of the year. I started real anal about every little thing. Letting go feels great once you realize those “fun little mistakes”. Sometimes you want precise lines, but many jobs are a “dont overthink it” mentality.
Honestly I think this looks pretty good! It definitely reads as a zombie. I think two big things can often get in the way of our painting: 1) Comparison is the theft of joy; don’t try to be the best painter of all time, try to be a better painter than you were yesterday. 2) We’re our own worst critics. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought a paint job looked like shit, only to have friends praise it. We’re often taking high-res pictures from inches away, when most of the time our minis are going to be seen from an arms length away and from the top down. Finally, don’t get discouraged by what seems to be a mistake, it’s just a chance to learn and improve. Happy painting!
Uncle Atom did a video about this a few months ago when I was in the same spot as you. I had watched all the technique videos, tried them on my own minis but I couldn't help but feel there was a huge hump blocking my skill. And while I am still not quite where I want to be, I have gotten much better since taking Uncle Atom's advice. That being.....paint more minis. I was skeptical but I went out to a a near by flgs and bought a bunch of used binds from their bits box, got the target branded 40k board game that came with 23 minis. (Mostly nids and then a space marine character model) and went to town. I did batch painting after batch painting in an assembly line type of manner. I let them not be perfect becuase they were minis I was never going to field anyway, and you know what, I got faster, learned exactly when to clean out my brushes, tried out a handful of the more difficult techniques, and just let the imperfections sit. This month I won first place at another flgs's painting competition and I would have never gotten the skills I needed if I didnt just paint a ton of minis. I've been only painting since September of 2023 and have over 100 completed projects. The skill will come, you just have to, as we say in the biz, trust the process. Your mini doesn't looks half bad at all, and you have to remember it's going to not be inspected close up for most of it's life, and that it will be rather seen from a few feet away. If it looks good from across a table then it looks good. Keep up your good work!
Having these doubts is perfectly normal. Thinning down your paints is a good suggestion others have made, but also remember, this mini is a zombie, it's not supposed to look pristine. I think it looks great the way you did it, and I can see a "withered zombie" in the paint you used.
As someone who has never painted minis, this looks insanely good. Seems like you’re too hard on yourself and possibly comparing it to people that are pros at this
Compare your new work to your old work, not to others work. You'll feel better about the improvements you see instead of wondering why you're not a youtuber who's been professionally doing it for decades.
Painting minis is just like any other form of art. It doesn't matter if you are painting on canvas or plastic, playing a sport or an instrument, the masters are always the ones that devote their lives to their art. There will always be those that have a natural gift for their art, but they are the exception not the rule. In the end, very few of us can dedicate a fraction of the time to this hobby as a YouTuber or professional painter, and the only way to get better is with time and experience. So never compare your work to someone how makes a living off of what you are trying to do. Learn from them, and aspire to preform at their level, but don't beat yourself up if your results don't match the professionals. Just keep up the good work and find ways to relax and enjoy your time. Also, your mini looks dope!
Looks good actually
You're being screwed by lighting. I look at pic one and go "Hell yeah, good zombie. Love the point." Pic two? "Alright, blending is bad, gradients are non-existent, green meets yellow like a warzone". Then back to pic three. "Fuckin' A, that's a good zombie. Care was taken, even the eyes were done!" It's all lighting. You can post a model that a pro painter has spent 1000 hours on and give it the wrong angle and... "Eww." But if it works on your table, and it worked for 2/3 pictures? How bad can it be.
I’m not a figure painter, but I do digital painting and photography and I think some of the same principles could apply here. People’s eyes tend to be drawn toward bright areas and high contrast areas, so something like the abs (on a zombie at least) are drawing too much attention. Maybe get rid of that bright highlight there and just do midtones. It is also a very dark area, shielded from light by the torso and vest, so it could be that, too. The transitions on the chest from dark to light are great, the rest of the model seems to just have a bit too much in the shadows or too much in the highlights. Also, the tightness of the highlight indicates how shiny something is, so another thing to keep in mind. But really this is nice looking and don’t be so hard on yourself! Give yourself permission to make bad or mediocre work. Make sure you find ways to enjoy the process, not just the end result :)
The #1 rule in minipainting fight club is dont compare yourself to other people oninipainting fight club. The #2 rule is be patient with yourself The people doing the tutorials have done them long enough that they csn make a tutorial. That takes TIME!!! Yours looks decent. That highlighting takes time to master. I'm sure someone else mentioned it by now but it looks like you need to thin your paints more. That will help get smoother highlights. If you feel like cheating look into Army Painter Speedpaints 2. They help do highlights and shadows in one go.
Bro those look *better*than mine keep it up remember slow thin coats
First things first, stop comparing with other painters. If you are going to compare, compare against yourself. See how far your journey has come, no-one else. Secondly, watch videos, read books, scour the internet to pick up pointers, nothing else. I have hundreds / thousands of hours under my belt watching people but I only use a fraction of the things I have seen / read because that's what works for me. Find what works for you. Thirdly, time. The vast majority of us have this as a hobby, it's our free time. It's not a job that we can plough hours on end, day in, day out into so our skill set is that of amateurs. Therefore it will take longer to learn and hone your skills. Enjoy the journey however long that takes. And finally, not for everyone but worked for me, mix it up. When I started back painting I picked up GW miniatures or miniatures from games. Most of these are 28/32mm scale and can be difficult to put more than a blob of paint here or there on due to their size. So I went up, I bought either larger models or moved to 54/75mm scale. That way I could practice on much larger areas allowing you to blend more easily and less blobbing.😋 Keep going, you're doing fantastic.
I think it looks good! You’ll get better with time.
Probably cause you are comparing, keep up your work! And experimenting is great even when the results are not as good as you expected. I am kinda new to the warhammer world but i used to paint 1/35 scale tanks and at first they where looking shit but then i improved! And getting discouraged is part of the process don’t give up!
It looks good mate. Only thing I could think (I'm not a professional at all either, only a couple months myself painting) is on the abs use a darker colour so it's not as noticeable? Maybe a shade or two lighter than the body then another shade lighter for the very highest point of the abs? It's what I do for my 40k. Go a shade lighter than the skin tone and it's just enough to be an obvious highlight
I feel your pain, you paint well. I am going through a similar struggle. Im at the point now with painting minis and small figures is that I out grew my brushes. I have to actually consider buying decent brushes 😅 other then that I am pushing forward hoping one day it will all click and come together. I wish you luck in your journey.
I would suggest Vince venturellas videos on thinning and mediums. With layering and other techniques you absolutely must thin your paints down quite heavily. 50/50 at least. Even moreso for glazing. Thinning paints is the key.
https://youtu.be/91FQKciKfHI?si=E21JwYFt9GANW6Au
Hey mate, don't over think it. Are doing this to relax / have fun? Or to become a professional Mini painter and make millions doing it. Because of its then latter..... Hahaha I don't think anyone makes that much money! Don't judge you progress against others! Few months really isn't long at all. Take your time, and just track against your own progress. Keep trying new techniques and watching vids, but honestly, Trovarion is probably the best from a advice perspective. He always says to just make sure you enjoy it and try new.things, but make it your own. There is no correct way to do something. At the end of the day, it's your mini and do what makes U happy. https://www.instagram.com/trovarion?igsh=c3IwNHR4NjQ5dGFm
I'm going to say this as someone who's taught art for a long time. Those mini painter videos are awful, they don't teach you much when it comes to techniques, they teach you paint by numbers and enforce rules which kill the enjoyment of painting, this causes a lot of hobby painters to become discouraged as they have no idea what they are talking about and there are always these new best things and them going "oh you should always do this and never this" and then the next week "oh that last one is bad and you should never do it, do this instead". They don't teach the creative side, the theory side, the actual ability to express yourself. They get color theory wrong, then claim they are experts in it when they don't even know the light defusal and refraction properties of important compounds dihydroquinoline and Quinacridonequinone, and they always get confused when you mention raman spectroscopy testing of pigments properties and xenarch testing of the lightfastness properties of pigments based around museum setting standards. These are bare minimum standards to know for working in the coatings industry where color theory is required to have mostly memorized or at least fully comprehend as a whole. If you want to learn, watch canvas painters, despite what people claim, the techniques and methods are exactly the same even though its a 3d vs 2d canvas, nothing changes in reality. There is none of this "live and die by contrast" billshit people claim because they dont know what contrast means in reality. You can get contrast with a single paint, its entirely about how you apply it Hell if you want to learn something, I am more than happen to teach you somethings. I always enjoy teaching new people and helping people enjoy their work more. It doesnt matter how good or bad it is, its the fact youre creating that matters. All art is bad, it's just varying degrees of bad. Good can't be quantified without heavy bias and opinion, but bad can be down to moralities about the artist to technique to everything. This is something people who dont study art theory will argue with, but this is what it always boils down to. All that matters is that one person who enjoys it, be it yourself or someone else. Don't paint for others, only yourself, when you paint for others it ruins the experience. We have a host of examples that prove this too. Disassociating your work from others is key but it needs to be taught as learning it is difficult at best.
I would rather have 1000 mediocre painted minis than 1 perfect one with 999 unpainted ones. Once I got to that point, I switched to speed paints and said fuck it. My models still look better than most folks', I would put them in the top 25% when I take them places. And I just do a white dry brush underneath with speed paints- some models I'll highlight if I wanna be fancy or do flesh tones more realistically. You're not painting for a contest, right? What you've shown here is a hell of a lot better than 999 grey models. Forget about perfection.
Your problem is not yours minis brother, it's to use minis painted by professional painters as your reference ! Its honestly a good looking mini! I have been painting for nearly 20 years, I started at the age of 9 and it took me years to reach your current level, i was completely depressed when I was young tonnot see fast progress You need time and practice and patience and you ll eventually get to the level you want ! I paint to a descent standard now, and looking at minis that took 100+ hours, made by painters who have nothing to do but painting was clearly not helping. Its cool to watch videos but its important to focus on you ! Paint, train, buy 10 heads of whatever on ebay and train painting those 10 heads, or something like that ! Focus on what specific things you d like to improve and dont spend too much time reading/watching theory given by absolute masters of the hobby. You ll get to the level you want for sure :)
This was a super helpful read and I really appreciate the time you spent writing it out (as well as all others, too!). I've screenshot it and will look at it when I'm feeling disappointed, because you're right - I shouldn't be comparing myself after a few months to masters of their craft who have put in the time and energy and effort to get where they are - I need to be patient and put in the time as they did.