40K Terra - Warhammer 40k Forums - View Single Post - How to paint better and feel better about your painting

Ion Raptor · 08-21-2007

So I've been seeing a lot of posts on other forums with people looking at great miniatures and saying that they really don't want to pick up a brush anymore, or looking at the Youngbloods competitions and feeling down about it. So here's some tips on how to keep yourself happy with what you are doing.

1. Everyone starts somewhere, some people paint nice looking miniatures on their first go, others don't. Who cares, you will all get better with time.

2. Speaking of getting better with time, you should keep your first minis or at least keep a picture album of them. Then you can look back and see where you've come from. Sometimes you don't think you have gotten any better until you've seen pictures of miniatures you've done 2 years ago.

3. Those people with 9 and 10 rated miniatures? They've been painting for YEARS, usually 10+, and likely have backgrounds in art anyway. So don't get turned off by them.

4. Face it, there will always be some people better then you at a younger age, some kids just have a knack for it or have been taught by professionals. Maybe their big brother or parents have been painting for a while. These 15 year old kids with 8+ minis could have been painting since they were 6, have you been painting since you were 6? I know I haven't.

5. Challenge yourself, but don't try too hard. Think of it like walking up steps. You can't get any higher if you pace back and forth along the same step......but at the same time you can't leap 4 steps at a time and think your going to get up the stairs without falling and breaking some bones. Take it easy, a little bit at a time.
I suggest taking a look at Cool Mini or Not, go to the gallery and separate them lowest to highest, most people are around a 5 or a 6 so take a look around there. Sample a whole bunch of them and find minis that look about your skill, then find minis that are .3 or .4 above it, take a look and see what they've done and see if you can pull any ideas from there.

6. Now on the other hand do NOT use CMON as a gauge of your own minis and skills (as in uploading your own pictures). Photography plays a big part in your score. Unfortunately so does people's own personal tastes, a well painted miniature rarely seen on CMON will score higher then an equally painted standard Bolter Marine. Plus I have seen MANY low scores because a miniature is not legal in play.....and we all know that has everything to do with painting and converting, I've seen a VERY well done female Space Marine get extremely low scores because there are no female Space Marines.

7. Play some music or some TV while painting, and be in a nice brightly painted room. I find that when there's some background noise and I'm in an open white room with lots of windows I can paint better and for longer periods of time then anywhere else.

8. Extend your horizons, paint some minis from a different company or a different faction then the ones you currently paint. Some things are just easier to paint.

08-21-2007	#1 (permalink)
Ion Raptor Beef Potato Wheelman Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 796 Rep Power: 2 Thanks: 22 Thanked 111 Times in 45 Posts Blog Entries: 4	How to paint better and feel better about your painting So I've been seeing a lot of posts on other forums with people looking at great miniatures and saying that they really don't want to pick up a brush anymore, or looking at the Youngbloods competitions and feeling down about it. So here's some tips on how to keep yourself happy with what you are doing. 1. Everyone starts somewhere, some people paint nice looking miniatures on their first go, others don't. Who cares, you will all get better with time. 2. Speaking of getting better with time, you should keep your first minis or at least keep a picture album of them. Then you can look back and see where you've come from. Sometimes you don't think you have gotten any better until you've seen pictures of miniatures you've done 2 years ago. 3. Those people with 9 and 10 rated miniatures? They've been painting for YEARS, usually 10+, and likely have backgrounds in art anyway. So don't get turned off by them. 4. Face it, there will always be some people better then you at a younger age, some kids just have a knack for it or have been taught by professionals. Maybe their big brother or parents have been painting for a while. These 15 year old kids with 8+ minis could have been painting since they were 6, have you been painting since you were 6? I know I haven't. 5. Challenge yourself, but don't try too hard. Think of it like walking up steps. You can't get any higher if you pace back and forth along the same step......but at the same time you can't leap 4 steps at a time and think your going to get up the stairs without falling and breaking some bones. Take it easy, a little bit at a time. I suggest taking a look at Cool Mini or Not, go to the gallery and separate them lowest to highest, most people are around a 5 or a 6 so take a look around there. Sample a whole bunch of them and find minis that look about your skill, then find minis that are .3 or .4 above it, take a look and see what they've done and see if you can pull any ideas from there. 6. Now on the other hand do NOT use CMON as a gauge of your own minis and skills (as in uploading your own pictures). Photography plays a big part in your score. Unfortunately so does people's own personal tastes, a well painted miniature rarely seen on CMON will score higher then an equally painted standard Bolter Marine. Plus I have seen MANY low scores because a miniature is not legal in play.....and we all know that has everything to do with painting and converting, I've seen a VERY well done female Space Marine get extremely low scores because there are no female Space Marines. 7. Play some music or some TV while painting, and be in a nice brightly painted room. I find that when there's some background noise and I'm in an open white room with lots of windows I can paint better and for longer periods of time then anywhere else. 8. Extend your horizons, paint some minis from a different company or a different faction then the ones you currently paint. Some things are just easier to paint.