Painting/ Hit a wall

[Ice Queen Westley]

Hello everyone. I have been painting for about two years, advancing the whole time. I want to be a blue table painter. I know at the moment i don't have anywhere NEAR the skill to be a high level painter. But its a goal and i am sticking to it for now. I am hitting a point where i have no one to instruct me and i would just like personal opinions and advice. I want to know how to highlight and such. Techniques to make my miniatures more life like. If any of you would like to get into a discussion on the subject. We may skype and such and i can show my miniatures and where i am stuck and we can work past it together.

This is a prime example of what I'm talking about.




whenever i highlight it comes out like this.



Notice on the cape where i ATTEMPTED highlighting. I am very bad at it....


also just for reference i just got my first quick shade inks. Kind of just coating my miniatures in it. Other than that i dont know how to use it either.  

[Lady Blodwynn]

You may want to invest in the painting guide done by Citadel to get a grip on the basics first such as block painting and washing.

Also, if I may be so blunt, before painting a model, make sure that you properly clean off all the excess vents first and do so with a sharp blade and with care. The wings on the helmet are sadly not doing the model a lot of good like that.

It might also be an idea to study colour charts a bit more to find colour combinations that work. The blue, green and purple do not go together well.  

[Hoxtalicious]

Regarding washes, they're easy to use:

1. Paint the model flat, as in apply a single colour onto the undercoat for all relevant parts of the model, giving it an even coat that shows no streaks or undercoat showing. So say, your Dark Angel, I'd paint all the armour green, the robes a creamy colour, exposed metals gold or metal and the ropes red.

2. Wash the painted section of the model with your wash of choice. Carefully brush away any excess wash or move it around the model so it is evenly covered. Wait for it to dry. I'd go with Devlan Mud for the entire model, though Badab Black for the bolter and other metallic parts painted boltgun metal.

3. Go over the model with the primary colour you used, either with a detail brush, or a drybrush, going over the washed parts of the model. Green on green, metal on metal, gold on gold etc.

4. As a final highlight, take a colour a shade lighter than the primary colour or mix the primary colour with a dot of white, then use a detail brush or drybrush again to lightly touch up on the raised portions of the model. For metals, take a shade lighter, or a silver paint for those fine edge details.

Also, I agree that looking into a "How to paint Citadel Miniatures" might be a good investment. Failing that, pop round Dakka Dakka for some advice. They can be a bit critical, but they mean well and the site has plenty of tutorials around on just about anything.

Finally, just a word of warning regarding Blue Table Painting: Avoid. Their Kickstarter campaign flopped hard under dubious circumstances and their track record regarding finished work varies wildly.  

[Ice Queen Westley]

Lt. Brookman

Regarding washes, they're easy to use:

1. Paint the model flat, as in apply a single colour onto the undercoat for all relevant parts of the model, giving it an even coat that shows no streaks or undercoat showing. So say, your Dark Angel, I'd paint all the armour green, the robes a creamy colour, exposed metals gold or metal and the ropes red.

2. Wash the painted section of the model with your wash of choice. Carefully brush away any excess wash or move it around the model so it is evenly covered. Wait for it to dry. I'd go with Devlan Mud for the entire model, though Badab Black for the bolter and other metallic parts painted boltgun metal.

3. Go over the model with the primary colour you used, either with a detail brush, or a drybrush, going over the washed parts of the model. Green on green, metal on metal, gold on gold etc.

4. As a final highlight, take a colour a shade lighter than the primary colour or mix the primary colour with a dot of white, then use a detail brush or drybrush again to lightly touch up on the raised portions of the model. For metals, take a shade lighter, or a silver paint for those fine edge details.

Also, I agree that looking into a "How to paint Citadel Miniatures" might be a good investment. Failing that, pop round Dakka Dakka for some advice. They can be a bit critical, but they mean well and the site has plenty of tutorials around on just about anything.

Finally, just a word of warning regarding Blue Table Painting: Avoid. Their Kickstarter campaign flopped hard under dubious circumstances and their track record regarding finished work varies wildly.

I only have 3 inks. Light, Dark and strong tone shades. sad
and thank you this is very helpful. So now to highlighting..any tips on how to make the highlighing more clean and not so rigid? or does it just take practice? And how many times to i re-highlight it with more white added to make it lighter?  

[Vikki Stardust]

I'd focus on mastering the basics first before moving on to highlights.

Highlights can be as many or as few layers as you want to. My old models used to have two or three, mostly a mix of two paints with the following ratios: 75-25%, 50-50% 25-75% and finally 0-100% for extreme highlights.

Doing them tho.... That requires patience and a steady hand. sweatdrop  

[Ice Queen Westley]

Vikki Stardust

I'd focus on mastering the basics first before moving on to highlights.

Highlights can be as many or as few layers as you want to. My old models used to have two or three, mostly a mix of two paints with the following ratios: 75-25%, 50-50% 25-75% and finally 0-100% for extreme highlights.

Doing them tho.... That requires patience and a steady hand. sweatdrop

I have no problem with patience and all that. I am just looking for tips.  

[Ice Queen Westley]

Lt. Brookman

Regarding washes, they're easy to use:

1. Paint the model flat, as in apply a single colour onto the undercoat for all relevant parts of the model, giving it an even coat that shows no streaks or undercoat showing. So say, your Dark Angel, I'd paint all the armour green, the robes a creamy colour, exposed metals gold or metal and the ropes red.

2. Wash the painted section of the model with your wash of choice. Carefully brush away any excess wash or move it around the model so it is evenly covered. Wait for it to dry. I'd go with Devlan Mud for the entire model, though Badab Black for the bolter and other metallic parts painted boltgun metal.

3. Go over the model with the primary colour you used, either with a detail brush, or a drybrush, going over the washed parts of the model. Green on green, metal on metal, gold on gold etc.

4. As a final highlight, take a colour a shade lighter than the primary colour or mix the primary colour with a dot of white, then use a detail brush or drybrush again to lightly touch up on the raised portions of the model. For metals, take a shade lighter, or a silver paint for those fine edge details.

Also, I agree that looking into a "How to paint Citadel Miniatures" might be a good investment. Failing that, pop round Dakka Dakka for some advice. They can be a bit critical, but they mean well and the site has plenty of tutorials around on just about anything.

Finally, just a word of warning regarding Blue Table Painting: Avoid. Their Kickstarter campaign flopped hard under dubious circumstances and their track record regarding finished work varies wildly.

Also just trying to get the gist of this. I should paint all of the primary colors such as undercoats and all of that. Then wash it. Then go over the places i washed and use that same primary color to highlight the raised areas and such? Or wherever i dont want washes to be.  

[Lady Blodwynn]

Regarding the washes, here is a quick tutorial, just ignore the grade at the end: http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=4193  

[Ice Queen Westley]

Lady Blodwynn

Regarding the washes, here is a quick tutorial, just ignore the grade at the end: ]http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=4193

http://www.thewarstore.com/product71197.html

I dont have specific inks. These are all the paints and inks i have. : I dont have Citadel anything besides a few of the old regular paints.  

[Vikki Stardust]

Imwestleywheresmybutercup

Lady Blodwynn

Regarding the washes, here is a quick tutorial, just ignore the grade at the end: ]http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=4193

http://www.thewarstore.com/product71197.html

I dont have specific inks. These are all the paints and inks i have. : I dont have Citadel anything besides a few of the old regular paints.I think youll need more paint, not just for practice, but also if you want to be a serious pro-painter.  

[Ice Queen Westley]

Vikki Stardust

Imwestleywheresmybutercup

Lady Blodwynn

Regarding the washes, here is a quick tutorial, just ignore the grade at the end: ]http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=4193

http://www.thewarstore.com/product71197.html

I dont have specific inks. These are all the paints and inks i have. : I dont have Citadel anything besides a few of the old regular paints.

I think youll need more paint, not just for practice, but also if you want to be a serious pro-painter.

Well i dont plan on just jumping into it. I thought this set would be sufficient to at least /learn/ what i need to be a more serious painter. Are you honestly telling me that i cant even begin to do highlighting or shading with these paints???  

[Lady Blodwynn]

Imwestleywheresmybutercup

...

Here is a guide on mixing using the paints you have: http://admin.thearmypainter.com/files/downloads/pdf/TAP_mixing_guide.pdf

And yes, yes you can practice highlighting and shading with that set, you just need to experiment more with mixing the paints to get the hues you need.

But as it stands regarding the model you have provided us:

- Clean it up the parts of the model that show where it has been attached to the sprue.
- When priming, go with a spray over a brush, or when brushing on a black or white undercoat, be sure to get every nook and cranny of the model. Don't paint colours straight over bare plastic or metal. By looking at the front of the model, I can see what looks to me like bare plastic showing on the small skull at the end of the ropes and plastic showing through the red ropes.
- Practice painting neatly with a steady hand, so that you get a nice and tidy model. The smaller icons on the vambrace, the eye lenses and the smaller exhausts on the power plant show this.
- Experiment with colour patterns that go well together, as mentioned before, the current palette of colours does not go well together. The light blue in particular looks horribly out of place with the rest of the model.

I'd say, grab a few regular Tactical Marines from the set first and experiment on those before moving on to characters, which are the central pieces of an army and as such, deserve more attention and a higher level of detail.  

[Ice Queen Westley]

Lady Blodwynn

Imwestleywheresmybutercup

...

Here is a guide on mixing using the paints you have: http://admin.thearmypainter.com/files/downloads/pdf/TAP_mixing_guide.pdf

And yes, yes you can practice highlighting and shading with that set, you just need to experiment more with mixing the paints to get the hues you need.

But as it stands regarding the model you have provided us:

- Clean it up the parts of the model that show where it has been attached to the sprue.
- When priming, go with a spray over a brush, or when brushing on a black or white undercoat, be sure to get every nook and cranny of the model. Don't paint colours straight over bare plastic or metal. By looking at the front of the model, I can see what looks to me like bare plastic showing on the small skull at the end of the ropes and plastic showing through the red ropes.
- Practice painting neatly with a steady hand, so that you get a nice and tidy model. The smaller icons on the vambrace, the eye lenses and the smaller exhausts on the power plant show this.
- Experiment with colour patterns that go well together, as mentioned before, the current palette of colours does not go well together. The light blue in particular looks horribly out of place with the rest of the model.

I'd say, grab a few regular Tactical Marines from the set first and experiment on those before moving on to characters, which are the central pieces of an army and as such, deserve more attention and a higher level of detail.

This model was pretty rushed. It is not quite like everything i do. I didn't really cut it out. A friend did, because it is his model. I did clean it up and i fixed up the gray areas. however i do still enjoy the color scheme. I suppose i am color blind. Oh and i WANT PRIMER. Badly. But at the time i had none and no way of getting it. So i just roughed it.



and i feel like painting characters are the best practice personally. They have the most detail so they force me to be more meticulous. Which i enjoy greatly.  

[Ice Queen Westley]

Thank you all for your input so far. i hope to post more pictures and get more feed back, and in the future i will stick to a better color scheme ;3