Trouble starting out.

Hi! ScorchedDragon here, and I just entered the hobby and started painting my start collecting box and skinks soon after, that is where the trouble began. I’ve watched a number of videos, tutorials, and relocated step for step, but it’s always resulted in the same, an ugly paint job and a dunk in the stripping vat. I must have stripped my skinks five times each once and it took me three days of painting to be satisfied with a single Saurus warrior. Where have I gone wrong? Whenever I add water to my paints, no matter how little, it either turns into a glaze or doesn’t thin enough and creates ugly stroke marks. Here is an example of my single model that has yet to meet the fate of his skink brethren.

https://imgur.com/a/bTpQtNB

https://imgur.com/a/CN737yL

https://i.imgur.com/gmyxeqZ.jpg

Welcome aboard,a few questions about what your using first,

Which paints are you using?

What type of brush are you using?

What primer are you using?

To be honest, this is a more than fair starting point.
To reduce all variabilities to your skill, you should use priming, specific miniature colours, proper brushes and a good palette/mixing surface.
What I suggest is to slow down a little, work in small batches and think carefully about all the steps.
The two thin coats rules is generally mandatory for tthin but matte and covering basecoat.
Try not to overdo washes (this was one of my mistakes).
Thin your layer paints with water and test a few brushstrokes on paper before painting the mini.
Ignore some of the details for the time being, few properly done highlights look way more pleasant than many clumsy brushtrokes.
There is always time to add more details and layers, but it is hard to go back to a uniform, flat, thin base coat.

I’m using Tamiya White primer, basecoating the flesh Temple guard blue and the scales caledor sky, I then washed the whole miniature with drakenhof nightshade and highlighted the flesh with baharroth blue, I then did final highlights along the edge of the crest with the baharroth mixed with a small bit of white

As for brushes, I was using a army painting basing brush for most of my base oats and went in with a fine tipped brush for everything else but the washes, which were done with a thicker round brush

Welcome to the community @ScorchedDragon !

Everyone is friendly here as you'll soon find. Before long you'll probably have numerous posts to this thread providing lots of useful feedback.
@Crowsfoot has you off to a good start with those questions, so I'll hang fire before I give you paragraphs of well-meaning feedback, text, questions and waffle.

On a motivational point, and if I can be completely honest, for someone that has just entered the hobby -and yet unfamiliar with the basics which we may take for granted- that is a really respectable first foray in to miniature painting. You've clearly thrown yourself in there, tried different techniques and produced something that IS very much "table-top standard". With a little help, time and practice you'll begin refining your ability and technique. You'll start noticing differences in the finish and quality of your work fairly quickly.

Ved

Thank you very much, Sotek praise such kind words! I’ve been meaning to enter the hobby for years and finally took the plunge in jumpstarting my plastic addiction, even bid and won some used older warriors on eBay and have tried the wash medium for the real skin tutorial. It’s hard though because my paints seem to dry out even after I thin them and put them in a wet pallete around five or three minutes after I put them down! I also admit I don’t have the steadiest of hands, and have also been using both a third hand magnifying glass stand and this monstrosity

https://www.amazon.com/Dicfeos-Head...ocphy=9001877&hvtargid=pla-376106833369&psc=1

My washed always seem to stain the whole mini instead of flowing into the crevices, so that is also something I find confusing.

ScorchedDragon said:

My washed always seem to stain the whole mini instead of flowing into the crevices, so that is also something I find confusing.

Click to expand...

That's expected and you have 2 basic choices:
* use much less amount of the wash on the brush than you typically do and apply only to the shadowy parts and sponging up the wash with a clean brush (you have like 30 seconds to do so)
* play with the wash as usual but have the original base coat color on the palette and once the wash dries simply paint over extending the non washed area to the washed area

Super skilled painters also use techniques like blending, but that is something I would try later.

PS. Its nice to hear I'm not the only beginner here

ScorchedDragon said:

have also been using both a third hand magnifying glass stand and this monstrosity

https://www.amazon.com/Dicfeos-Head...ocphy=9001877&hvtargid=pla-376106833369&psc=1

My washed always seem to stain the whole mini instead of flowing into the crevices, so that is also something I find confusing.

Click to expand...

Holy crap, I've only ever seen anything like that at an optician. Is that comfortable to wear?

I don't have a lot of room to work with, a lot of the time having to pack my area after each session.

I use this folding daylight magnifier. It's not the perfect solution, but you get used to it and it is so compact. Very happy with it actually. I don't have a direct picture of it in use, but if you have a look at my paintblog, there are a few low-light shots where the light source comes from it. Battery powered and very bright. Folds down to nothing.

https://www.amazon.com/Daylight-Com...t+magnifying&qid=1566466578&s=gateway&sr=8-40

Working to a zoomed scale with steady hands and neutral light means finer work and smaller errors. It is something I've very much found to be a boon for painting.

Ved

I can’t help much when it comes to painting but I will say this much - I’ve been at the hobby for over three years and my models still don’t look that good! There is nothing to be ashamed about there!

Nothing wrong with what you have done so far, you won't get a display finish using the techniques you used on the Saurus.

Keep at it and as your understanding of the process involved grows you will get crisper detailing, trial and error is the best way to learn, we don't all paint the same even though we use the same techniques.

I use the same head device and I love it but it does take some getting used too, my eyes are old so I need it, try painting a model without it, hold it at arms length and then put on the glass and inspect it.

Welcome to Lustria.

@Crowsfoot and everyone else has you headed in the right direction.

ScorchedDragon said:

My washed always seem to stain the whole mini instead of flowing into the crevices, so that is also something I find confusing.

Click to expand...

You could try thinning your wash with Lahmian Medium. This will give the wash a higher surface tension and make it flow into the recesses better. It will also reduce coffee stains and tidelines. The downside is it will reduce the intensity of the color. This means you will likely need to take more than one pass with the wash. If more than one wash is required then you will NEED to wait for the first wash is fully dry. If not you can end up with frosting or glossing.

Hope this helps.

Wow, thanks for the advice! I’ve been using the Lahmian medium recently, but I’m still getting the hang of it

@ScorchedDragon , if only I could show my first mini... You are starting from a great place. Below are my thoughts:

- You can't compare yourself to expert mini painters. Let me repeat, DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO EXPERTS Art, and this is an art, is challenging because often times things don't turn out like you have it in your head, internal expectations, or it doesn't compare to other people's art. You are new and you are going to be constantly learning and improving, so don't set yourself up for failure by comparing your work to others.

-Most of us are painting table top minis. It's okay if some of your work doesn't look super clean at 6 inches. Most of the time they wont be viewed like that. Also all mini's look better in units, so the more you paint, the better they look together.

-Keep pushing through failure. Learning how to manipulate your paint, how much to thin it, how much to put on your brush is the hardest part. You can watch 1000 videos on it but you will only learn through doing.

-Use a really big brush. When I started I wanted to use all these small brushes for control but it really hurts you. The paint dries so much faster on the tip and it might be causing some of your problems. Go out, find a really big brush with a fine tip and I think you will instantly find some more success.

-Control your washes. Slapping an all over wash on the entire mini can work, but that darkens down the mini. The idea of a wash is to add depth and contrast. If you learn to control it a little more I think you will get more out of it. Multiple wash layers is always great when you have the time.

But like I said you are already painting well, if you keep painting in one year you will be amazed by your progress. Keep it up and don't be so hard on yourself!!

I was actually wondering whether I should be teaching myself wet blending and if it is worth doing at this point starting out?

Wet blending is a great technique for painting Seraphon because skin tones are often a lot of different type of colors and tones. Some of the bigger monster models would be good to practice on because they give you some large round areas of skin or scales.

I would practice on some spare bases you have laying around before putting it on a model.

I'm brand new, but have you tried contrast paints for the scales? I have had pretty good results testing them straight from the bottle.