looking for painting advice

[eosgreen]

Basically I have been playing warhammer/40k for a long time on and off and my painting I would say is above avg but im trying to take it to the next level and i'm mostly self taught/look at pictures read whatever i can find

I'll get right into them

- Do most of the better painters use something to make the paint flow better? if so are there any that dont cause shine? i had a flow improver that caused my models to shine
- When im painting things that dont have an edge i can drag my brush off, sometimes with some of the paints (pigment specific problem idk) like a muscle or inside of a chaos warrior shoulder plate, some paint is left over usually a small dot from the end of the brush. this leaves a raised area and also a thicker paint which does NOT look good. how do i avoid this?
- I currently dont use washes or glazes but the blending they seem to do is spectacular and im going to be buying a tzeentch army soon so i want to learn to blend muscle very well. this is why im asking the above two questions because im looking to blend a blue/purple to pink
- GW taught me to never load the brush up past the half way point but i see people hitting the entire brush up to the metal part on youtube who paint really well

is there any website or great video maker on youtube that could help me? i havent been able to find one

[tankbusta]

Patience and practice will get you where you want to go. I suggest you use an old mini with some detail on it to try things out on before you go to paint one you'll put in your army. Just so you understand how I paint, I prime, (use hobby primer, not auto or wood primer, hobby primer like GW or Armory comes out finer and won't obscure details), Basecoat, (medium blue in the case of Tzeentch for example), ink (dark blue), drybrush (medium blue with 2 drops of white), highlight (medium blue 50/50 with white), glaze if necessary, touch up, then seal. For the pink, try base coat red, violet ink, drybrush pink, highlight pink/white

I've never used flow improver, I just thin the paint properly. A matte/satin finish or sealer should reduce the shine.

Paint should not be too thick, so you might need more than one coat to achieve the effect you want or cover a darker color. Most mini painters use a few thin coats, it actually gives a bit of depth to the end look of the mini.

If you are trying to paint light colors over dark, you might need to use a white or grey primer over the dark area first.

Don't drag the brush, lift it. If you are leaving paint, then you might have too much paint on the brush.

Inks are fantastic for faces, muscles, etc, but use them sparingly, they are designed to get into the deep areas and define them, I apply inks using a fine brush into the details, not slopped over the whole area, but if you put a little too mush one, use the brush to pick up the excess, or wipe with a cloth or tissue to soak up the ink.

Glazes are designed to go over the surface, not the cracks, and can help add color in the right light, or reducing the effect of too much highlighting.

Don't overload the brush, this allows you to control how much paint you apply, and where you apply it. The paint that is behind the tip, and especially up near the metal and wood, dries and starts clumping, it also dries between the bristles and cause them to spread, so you lose the fine tips. Also, use a palette instead of sticking the brush into the bottle, it keep the bottled pain close and allows you to control how much paint you put on the brush. A palette can be a piece of cardboard, a paper towel, etc.

Blending is a gradual process, and inks and glazes help speed that up, but look at a color wheel on Google to see how colors transition from one shade to the next. Experiment: paint an area blue, another area pink, and a purple in between. Is that the effect you want?

You didn't mention drybrushing, but that is another great technique for adding detail. The brush has very little paint on it, and that paint is a slightly lighter shade than the color you are painting over and is lightly brushed over the surface, but not into the deep areas.

Be patient, it takes a little time to get to Golden Demon level. You can watch a 1000 videos, but the best thing you can do is practice your technique until you get the effect you want.

Good luck, I can't wait to see what you create.

[Calam]

Hi,

I like the videos on [URL="http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePaintingClinic"] The Painting Clinic[/URL], he does a wide variety of models from 15mm to 1/6th scale figures. You can check it out I've gotten a lot of tips from him.

[Baneblade]

GW washes are fantastic. I use them on almost every inch of a model as some point. Agrax Earthshade is a must for almost any color, unless you want a very bright model like High Elves. It is great for skin, metal or just about anything you can think of, it is cheating in a pot.

As for basing, less is more. Do not be afraid of needing two coats or more to base a model.

Speaking of basing, actually basing the model really helps it out. Simply use PVA glue and sand on the base before priming the model, and painting the sand really helps it look better. Even an average model will look much better when it is based. Try a simple dirt color by putting a base coat of dark brown on the sand, and a couple of dry brushed lighter browns to create an effective earth base.

[Matt Adlard]

It takes practice and patience, time and practice.

Watch You-Tube Videos.

In regards to getting a dull/mat finish on your figure, use dullcote spray, what I currently use and works very well.

Washes and glazes are great and if you paint say a pink horror, in pink, washed in red, quickly gives a decent look, Glazes, their main use is to accentuate the color you're going for, so after you wash a model it will mute the color and the glaze will reawaken the color you're originally going for.

The wash is supposed to flow into the cracks and such to create the illusion of shade, while the glaze dries evenly over the whole surface, tinting it a little. Glazes can be made from thinned paint, thin with water.

Paints try different types, I am a big fan of Wargames Foundry paints and they work very well with the tri-ate system, though have some Vallejo and they are good too. GW paints tend to be love/hate.

Quickshade, these are very useful for some jobs and also have a purpose with figures like Skaven, beastmen, etc.

To thin paint and make it more pliable, try using water or ink, no need to to pratt around with fluidic stuff if you are starting out.


Good link for you - [URL="http://hot-lead.org/advance/fire_prac.htm"]http://hot-lead.org/advance/fire_prac.htm [/URL]it covers what you are after and has an interesting concept, and if you look at blues, pinks, and golds with your chaos warband/army same principles will carry across.

With regards Gold look at WD tutorials for lizard man army a has some useful tips with gold and will help tone down some of the shiny bright gold as a nice contrast to brighter colours.

Good videos, [URL]http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlPainting[/URL]

[URL]http://www.youtube.com/user/MiniwargamerJ?feature=watch[/URL]
[URL]http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePaintingClinic[/URL]

Practice and learn as you go.