hey you yes you I know how you paint because I paint and I am not an artist but after 10
years of trial and error I've learned some stuff I always want to be improving my painting not to
be the best miniature painter but so that I can make my toys look like how they look in
my head I have five models to paint and I want to go step by step through my painting Journey
how I used to paint in high school how I painted after I finished my first Army all of the steps I
have learned up until now a trip down memory lane to relearn the ins and outs of painting
miniatures when you're first starting out pretty much everybody learns how to paint the exact same
way the coloring book method you take a look at your model you figure out all its parts and
then you pick colors for all those parts this little mimic is perfect to explain this style
of painting it's very straightforward I pick out all the colors I want to use I find it helpful
to do this first imagine what the finished menu will look like and working backwards comparing
colors and what they look like together then it's just a matter of working one by one to get each
part colored in sometimes it takes a code or two or three or four or five or six but eventually
everything is a nice solid layer of color and it's fun to watch the model come to life for your eyes
depending on the mini it can be really tricky to actually see all the little details working like
this you learn all there is to see on the model if you finish and there's still a spot or two
with no paint well now you know you can fill in those naked spots no matter the mini the coloring
book method will work it's not a particularly fast way to paint but it is really simple and
I think that Simplicity lets some little things like special effects really Shine without needing
any more painting skills you can take a minute to the next level I took some gloss paint and
painted over his gaping mouth and tongue and then I took some ooh glue and let it dry halfway and
then shoved it into his mouth poking and prodded it all over with the toothpick until it was a
spider web of sticky saliva just look at that grin and just like that after one more minute
of work the model is a lot more eye-catching blood slime weathering powders there's a lot of really
simple things you can do to make your models pop without needing to level up your painting
but what if you do want to level up your painting here's another little mini a Tipsy demon s that
has been coloring booked with base coats just like the mimic and to level this model up it's
all about washes I applied orange washes to the body Brown washes to the hair and clothing
green and brown washes to her liquor bottles and black wash all over the base washes have
developed a nickname in the miniature hobby verse liquid talent and that name is not hyperbole it's
because they provide some shading value and outlining all in one big wet easy to apply
coats now you can call it done there but if you want to take things a step further you enter my
favorite thing in all of painting highlighting highlighting is taking a color that exists on
the model and making it lighter this is where things start to get really spicy and by spicy
I mean painterly and realistic I went back to the original colors I base coated the demon with and
mixed in a little bit of white paint and then a little more and then a lot more to make steps of
lighter colors then I applied those to the tops of details making smaller and smaller marks this adds
more information to the model than was already there her cheeks and muscles become more prominent
the folds of her clothing catch the light and a flat gray floor becomes a reflective Stone floor
this takes a lot more practice than coloring book style because you have to make decisions about
what spots should and shouldn't be highlighted but as you practice and learn it all becomes intuitive
it's amazing the difference a little bit of highlighting will make and it makes you wonder
the more you do that the more you learn where those highlights should go maybe you should do
the highlights first this elf magician will be a lovely model to demonstrate on I started with a
black primer then a xenathol prime as NFL Prime is a white coat of paint sprayed from directly above
to stimulate the sun when it is at its Zenith when doing a zeny prime don't be afraid to
leave some spots black those are where the natural Shadows would be and you don't want to fill those
in after this the model already looked pretty good but that's not the highlights I was talking
about I loaded up some white paint on my brush and painted on where I think the brightest spot should
be working in only black and white makes things much simpler it's one question what spot should be
dark and what spot should be light it also forces you to examine the model and memorize its details
which comes in handy later and speaking of details I bet you're wondering where did all these amazing
Miniatures come from well the art of genre is launching a Kickstarter campaign for a DND 5th
edition compatible campaign book in over 100 STL Miniatures based on the heroes monsters and traps
from the video game Legend of Keepers a roguelike strategy game by Goblin Studios what sets this
campaign apart is the blending of the dungeon defender video game mechanics and classic d d
tropes your players can take the role of dungeon exploring heroes or play from the perspective of
the monsters defending their homes from those pesky adventurers creating a truly unique RPG
experience this campaign features an incredible amount of Heroes and monsters all rendered as epic
printable Miniatures sculpted by the legendary lazy Squire games you will receive access to minis
such as Brock skull cracker Hannah Cartwright and lustwort the unclean and monsters such as the
classic vampire a spooky mermaid or the enormous enchantress Legends of Keepers super campaign is
designed for customization and replayability at its heart mark your calendars this campaign will
launch on February 21st 2023 backers will get a beautifully Illustrated 350 page campaign book
and access to over 100 Miniatures keep your eyes on that page there will be a special surprise for
all you EOB fans out there then it's time for colors you don't want to cover up the black and
white you can thin down regular like paints until they're see-through but another way I like to do
is working with paint that is already transparent like Games Workshop contrast paint arm painter
speed paint washes and artist inks these flow on nicely and instead of doing many many coats of
paint to make a spot uniformly one color I push and pull that one coat of paint making sure it
pools in the dark areas and is thinner where my white highlights are that's why I love this style
of painting so much I get to do my favorite part first the highlighting and even the base coating
is a little bit better because instead of layer after layer to get good coverage I'm pushing and
pulling the paint around to take advantage of my undercoat and as icing on the cake I get to
highlight again I can see under all my layers of paint the original black and white highlights and
this becomes my guide painting over these spots to make sure the colors and values are perfect I
call these highlights the Final highlights because these are the last brush Strokes on the model this
is the same as the demon s with the washes except that my previous steps push the lights and darks
a lot further than base coats and washes could now when painting this model I mix my colors with
white paint which desaturated my colors but that's not a problem because I can apply more transparent
paint right over everything this might seem a little scary but the paint is really thin and
see-through and I'll just add more saturated color and not cover up anything a little green on the
base with the airbrush a little magenta ink on the skin with a brush and then picking out the
eyes and this elf is done and she looks lovely this style of painting is so great because I'm
constantly throughout making those fun artistic decisions she's very top lit because I did a
classic xenathol Prime but you don't have to do it that way when I look at this tiefling warlock I
see two very prominent details the fire spells in her hands I started the same way as the elf black
priming everything I like a black Prime because it makes everything on the model completely dark
and now all I have to do is add light I also broke from the norm and it is Zenith all of
dark blue this will make sure that the final product is cold then I sprayed all the magic
stuff on her the skulls and Flames with white letting it over spray onto other parts of the
model the light that is Illuminating this model is not the Sun from above but the Magic in her hands
I began highlighting with a brush loading up with white paint picking out any details
that I thought the airbrush didn't give enough attention to also the white through the airbrush
is not as bright as my acrylic paint so I need to go over the brightest spots again then came
the colors transparent colors right on top of all my undercoating another important thing to think
about is things can be more than one color for a base coat on the clothing I mixed purple and
blue this made her long flowing skirt look more interesting with the dress flowing from Blue to
purple and after my base colors were applied I started my final highlights before the whole model
was finished and that is because I want to do some object Source lighting and where the bright light
is going to spill it needs to land on top of fully finished highlighted details and speaking
of detail do you like to Game On boards with lots of details well then the eons battle patreon is
for you we make brand new train sets every month this month our patrons get the Goblin Rave cave a
psychedelic Cavern perfect for games like 40K kill team and any other tabletop war game the
skin was particularly fun to paint I made these areas really warm in preparation for the colors
to follow after the hair and eyes it was time to transform this mini with a little airbrushing
neon green through the airbrush anything that was still unpainted got a squirt of this and
I let the paint spill right over the details that were closest to the flames and spells it's
like I'm working on two minis just the Witch and then just the Spells it's the Magic's turn to be
base coated highlighted and shaded with Greening through the airbrush white paint highlights with
the paintbrush and then some yellow Inked alter the colors of the Flames once you graduate from
a classic xenathol up his light down as dark and you start to move those light sources around you
really start to understand Reflections and color blending and texture everything becomes a lot
simpler and all of a sudden you can move between the different styles of painting and I think
the painting gets a lot faster and speaking of faster this model is going to get a little bit of
everything as xenothal Prime to start airbrushing inks to make object Source Lighting on the Flames
at the base layers of transparent paint to base coat highlighting my base coat colors with a mix
of white paint coloring book base coats for the trim and the clothing highlighting the flames in
preparation for more inks coloring book base coats on the big playing cards inks on the
fire white to blend yellow to color and a little yellow to add saturation back into every detail
on the model the more you know the more intuitive these steps become and the faster it'll be to make
these decisions and the models will get painted faster because you're using the right tool for
the right job the more you paint the more you'll learn and you'll have all these paying steps in
your back pocket there's one more thing to do to improve paint more minis yes the more you paint
the better you get and it's not just about numbers it's important to paint lots of different things
in a lot of different styles return to coloring book style try xenophiling from underneath instead
of above put green transparent ink right over your finished work just to see what happens
the more you try it the more you learn and the more you learn the better you get
these d ynamic thing but I have a Shelf full of 40K kill teams to paint and the
lessons I learned here will do wonders to improve those guys and anything else I paint