Help improving my painting skills!?

I realize I'm not the best painter, I mean my ogre's aren't super detailed but they are painted enough to play with. Anyways what I was really wondering / asking for was suggestions on ways I can improve my painting skills. I just picked up mordheim last week and finished a model and was wondering what I could try to improve the painting job for future models. I didn't really try any shading on this miniature (wasn't really sure where it'd be best used to be honest) but I tried going over with a really watered down black ink afterwards to give him a grungy appearance (used for mordheim). Anyways here are the pictures. Any comments suggestions or input would be appreciated.







(also this is my first time actually trying to do a good job on the painting, the base isn't done that's fine sand that I glued on there. I'm going to paint it and add some static grass once the sand is dried on really good.)


Also I'm curious what's a good way to paint eyes?

Thanks
~Scott

This your paints and bum in seat time is all that will improve your skills. Also if you go to the coolminiornot site there are a heap of articles on painting. Good luck.

eyes? take a tiny amount of white paint and dab the raised spot where the eye is... then i just put a tiny little dot of black in the middle for a pupil. nothin special though

Sounds good, I never really liked painting so I just blew through everything, I think when i get around to building up my skaven (pretty much an army on the sprue) at the moment, I'll take my time a bit more. I've painted half (4/8) of the empire warband I'm currently working on for mordheim, and I think some things are turning out somethings I need to work on but I'm happy for the most part.

Inks, drybrushing, etc are a crutch for beginners. Try to stay away from them for the time being. The real trick to becoming a better painter is solid colors. This is followed closely by color schemes and then the mastery of blending colors seamlessly. If you are interested in a light year jump then listen closely, Im talking from experience here and I wish I could have been told this when I started.

First of stop undercoating in black! This makes seeing the details very hard and especially for a beginner works against you. Undercoat with either a neutral brown or gray. Avoid white as well unless the subject is to be very bright. If you are painting Orks, undercoat with a green spray. It just makes sense to undercoat the model with the color that it will mostly be. Taking a step back, glue sand to the base and let dry before you undercoat. You wont be able to tell the difference, so why cause yourself extra work by not doing this?

Here is how I prep my minis. Of course you dont have to follow it, but in time you will see that it saves not only time, but sanity in buckets full.

-wash and dry parts/ spures
-clean mould lines
-assemble minis
-glue sand and other basing textures, let dry
-undercoat, let dry completely
-paint base!!!!
-paint mini
-flock and other finishing details

I know its difficult to paint a boring base when you have the whole mini ready to go. If you do get the base out of the way now though, not only will it look better it will be easier. Why? Because if you paint the mini first it will take more work and time to meticulously paint around the feet. It also means that you dont get that obvious line around the feet where you try to avoid painting over the finished minis feet.

I like to put my minis on a plastic 35mm film can with some Blu-tac. Make sure it is seated so it does not fall off. If you have a larger 40mm base or such, use a larger holder. This way you dont have to touch the mini till its ready for flock.

Now that you have prepped the mini properly (IMO) its time to learn to paint!
Start with a color scheme. Not all colors go well with each other, but some allowance is needed for such things as the story behind the mini or a certain effect you are looking for. Once you have chosen the colors, paint the mini. Yes it is that simple. Paint a section with some care not to go outside the lines. It is not imperative, just begin to learn how to stay in the lines. This inadvertent practice will help you more in the long run. Thin your paints a bit. If the paint runs then it is too thin. Full strength may fill in the finer details and this is just the first coat. Work on another part of the mini while that part dries. Then go back to the first part and give it a second coat. Each successive coat will be easier. How many coats are needed depends on the coverage. You want a solid color. Repeat with all of the main colors of the mini. Now the base coloring is done. Paint companies are realizing how important this is and are soon releasing heavier pigment paints to help with this.

With the base coloring dry, its time to highlight. The difference between done, good and great highlighting is experience. So how do I gain experience without knowing how to do it? You teach yourself and heres how. You have a mini in hand with solidly painted colors, turn the holder from left to right. Notice how the light hits the details and how it changes. Choose a color of the same hue only lighter as the highlight. Now paint solidly those areas where the light hit the most. Its no secret the light tells you where the shadows are. Do not worry about smooth transitions at this point. Unless you are a savant, you dont understand this concept yet. Just paint in solid lines. When these dry, repeat the highlighting with a lighter color only fill in less area and less often. Do this on only the "highest" points. You now have a painted mini and wow the base is already done!

A couple of side notes,
-If you mess something up fix it now! Clean your brush and the mistake, let the area dry and start again.
-If your paint is drying up stop! Clean the brush and do not touch that area till it is completely dry (and then some).
-If you are tired, go to bed.
-If you need a break, take one.
-If you dont need a break, take one anyway.
-Dont drink the paint water! GAG, I should have gone to bed. Hey, it was next to my drink!
-Enjoy painting other wise whats the point?

Now with this all said, I am not by any means a "pro painter". However I do very well and am learning every time I pick up a brush. You can feel if its going well or not. If it is not then start over. At some point you do want to finish that mini so give that last statement some leeway.

Happy painting and Good Luck!

Thanks I'll have to try that, I Just about have my mordheim warband done that I started tonight. I only messed up one time mistaking the water down black ink for chaos black. so needless to say I had to wash it off and repaint parts of the mini.

I'm just curious as to why you'd wash the sprues though?

residue left from the casts to allow the sprues to be easily removed - at least, thats what i've been told

so how is it benificial? does the paint and glue stick better instead of almost repelling on the flat surfaces?

I dont wash any of my sprues or models prior to painting however I know I should be because the effects that happens when I dont at times is horrendous

The residue left from the casting process is to help remove them easier.. this is true.. now when it is left on it can someimes make it difficult for paint or glue to take hold or even just come right off after you have thought to have finished the model.

That being said.. it is the only step in building/painting models that I skip time after time and regret every so often when a chunk of paint falls off due to the residue left on the model.. oh well..

Also with concerns to painting.. practice makes perfect, thin coats are better than thick coats of paint, paint inside out.. meaning paint from the part that is the deepest on the model and work outwards, basecoat colors that will be used a lot, if you use black as a basecoat take a picture of the model prior to spraying it.. so that you can see the details even with it being black.. and overall just have patience with regards to what you are painting and never stop trying new techniques once you master the ones you have now.. will always push you forward as a painter..

Cheers and hope this helps too
Gris

you guys offer the best advice. Seriously I think with my next army i'm going to take the time a bit to make it a bit fancier for my standards. I think it's because I've been playing more lately and seems like everyone else's painting is that much further ahead of mine, so I'm trying to do it not to show them up but to feel better about my models. Either way I've been using the mordheim models as practice. not painting them all with the same scheme but trying different things.

Some more pictures. As I said I'm happy with some of them not so happy with others. (the flash made some of the colors seem different on the computer than what they are on the actual model).

Anyways.





I'm quite fond of the guy in the middle (in the middle sets of pictures) I think he's my favorite mini so far. but I don't really like the shining gold hammer mini. but eh it works.

I am not the best painter in the world but I can say that your skill will grow by leaps and bounds if just practice painting alot.  Buy cheap mini and paint them to sell and perfect your skill and when you embark on your prized project it will look awesome.

I think i'm going to focus on a couple mordheim warbands to paint up half decently I'm going skaven after the human mercenaries and at that point i'll start my warhammer skaven army which will be my first attempt at decent painting.