Painting Preferences

[Olaf the Stout]

Hi all,

 

I'm relatively new to painting so I am trying to learn all the best tips, tricks and techniques to improve. A couple of questions that I want to know people's personal preferences on:

 

1. After you undercoat your minis do you paint your basecoat in a mid-colour and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint your basecoat in in your shade colour and then layer over that to your mid-colour and highlights?

 

I used to paint mid-colour first and then shade/highlight from there but I've given the second way a go and it seems to be working well. It takes a bit longer but the final result looks better in my opinion.

 

2. Do you basecoat your entire mini first and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint one colour, do the shading and highlighting before moving onto the next colour?

 

I used to basecoat the whole mini first and then shade/highlight each colour but I found I would inadventantly get one colour paint onto another area by accident. If this happened to be an area I had already shaded/highlighted it could be quite a bit of work to fix up again.

 

The mini I am currently painting I am testing out the paint one colour, highlight and shade to completion method. It is going ok so far but the mini is still only half finished.

 

Olaf the Stout

[DirePenguin]

Hi all,

 

1. After you undercoat your minis do you paint your basecoat in a mid-colour and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint your basecoat in in your shade colour and then layer over that to your mid-colour and highlights?

 

It depends. I'm not sure on what though...but when I do skin, leather and hair I usually start with the shade color, but with fabric I start with the mid tone. I can't tell you why, but this workes for me.

 

2. Do you basecoat your entire mini first and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint one colour, do the shading and highlighting before moving onto the next colour?

 

I used to base coat every color, but I've found that it's more motivating to finish one part first, because then at least some of the mini is done rather quickly. I would recommend starting with the face and skin both because I think it gives the mini life, and therefore it can look at me and demand to be finished, but also because when I paint from the inner layers and out I don't need to to quite as much touch up afterwards.

[yani]

1. After you undercoat your minis do you paint your basecoat in a mid-colour and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint your basecoat in in your shade colour and then layer over that to your mid-colour and highlights?

 

I pick out three colours I'm going to use - a dark, mid and light shade. I put the base coat down in the dark colour. I highlight from there using the other two, but I also add in the deeper shadows from there too if I feel the need arises.

 

2. Do you basecoat your entire mini first and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint one colour, do the shading and highlighting before moving onto the next colour?

 

I used to just do once piece at a time, but I ALWAYS found one area that I missed. So now I plug in the basic colour on the mini to ensure I have it all covered, then line, then start working from the bottom up - i.e. skin first, then the clothes, then accessories (usually). Plus doing that helps me see the relationship of colours on the mini first.

[Angorak]

I used to do the dark to light layering but have gone almost exclusively to a midrange base and shade and highlight method.

[anvil]

I suggest working from the inside out. That is start with the stuff that is deepest into the mini. Usually that's the skin, but can vary depending on the type of figure (zombie, robot, decapitated grue, etc.). I also find I like doing one thing/color to completion like the head, then the tunic. Out of years of (bad) habit I find I always leave the weapon for last, as it usually winds up being a handle during the rest of the painting. Blue-tac and wooden spools has mitigated this somewhat.

[Wren]

I think 'best' really needs to mean 'best for you at the time', as I've found myself going back and forth on some of these over the years.

 

1. Base coat in mid or darkest shade?

 

Generally I base mid and then add the shades and highlights. I find it's easier for me to visualize where to put the shadows that way. If it's a very hard to reach area I'll paint darkest and work up. Or sometimes it seems easier to paint a pale colour by starting very light and working down the shading. I used to paint skin starting on the darker side, just adding a bit of shading through a glaze and then working up.

 

2. Paint all the base coats then paint or paint one area fully at a time?

 

Until recently I was painting one area fully at a time. After listening to some painters I admire talk about how they paint and look at colour, lately I've been experimenting with doing the base coats first. It really does seem to help me judge the intended colour scheme of the mini. The old way, I think I had a tendency to paint with mostly mid tone colours with a few darks. Painting a pale tan or what-have-you on something I was painting in parts, it would always look too pale and I'd end up going darker than I originally planned with the base coat. If I cover most of the white primer I find it easier to judge the colour scheme as a whole and make sure there are areas of dark, mid and light tones on the mini to give it more contrast and interest.

 

I'll admit I find base coating tedious and annoying, so it's hard for me to push to do it all first at the beginning stage of painting. And I'm a messy painter, so I absolutely know what you mean about having to fix areas. I just lay in basic coats to get a feel for the colour scheme, I know I'm going to have to tidy up a bit when I get to that part to paint it for real.

[mattmcl]

I generally start with a color about 2/3 of the way to my shadow color, then I shade down, then up, then back and forth until I get the contrast right.

 

I work on the whole mini at once for the most part, but I usually leave swords and such for last as they inevitably get chipped otherwise.

[Helltown]

1. After you undercoat your minis do you paint your basecoat in a mid-colour and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint your basecoat in in your shade colour and then layer over that to your mid-colour and highlights?

 

I almost always start from the shade color and build up from there for minis I intend to display or use as a character, the only exceptions are minis where I'm not 100 percent sure of my color choices. For army models, I start with the mid-tone and then do the shadows because I know the mini is going to see a lot more washes and glazes than a display mini so that I can get 'em done faster.

 

2. Do you basecoat your entire mini first and then shade/highlight? Or do you paint one colour, do the shading and highlighting before moving onto the next colour?

 

Depends on the mini, but sometimes I'll base-coat the entire mini so that I can get a general idea on how the colors play together (or not). Other times I'll work one color at a time. The more fiddly bits a mini has, the more likely I am to paint one color at a time.

 

I've never really thought about this sort of stuff before, I just sit down and paint most of the time and see what happens in the end

[Vaitalla]

1. Used to go dark to light for absolutely everything, now it depends on how light the color I want the viewer to see is. If it's a very light color (like most skintones) I start dark and work light. If it's a medium/midtone color I start with that midtone, then work shadows and highlights. And if it is a dark or deep/vibrant/translucent color I will typically mix a little of the highlight into it and put that on as my basecoat, as if I start with the deep translucent it is very hard to layer up without seeing brushstrokes (adding a little of the highlight in makes the paint more opaque and thus easier to layer smoothly).

 

2. Used to basecoat everything at once, but found it kills my inspiration (basecoating takes forever and I feel I don't finish anything). Finishing one area at a time allows me to say "yay, I finished it" and also allows me to concentrate more on one small area at a time, which I think leads me to do a better job.

 

--Anne

[paintminion]

I usually start inside out, and meander through some basecoats to fix some of the largest areas color schemes, but no, I generally don't work just one area at a time because then I can't tell how dark and light the contrasts and color will work. I may sort of work one area at atoime once I know the sceme of things. Small stuff I might basecoat or wash after a bit of work in other areas just to get the white to dissappear, again, usually to help determine contrast and color placements and accents. I often find that after doing a few areas, I may have to go back and give something more highlight, or deeper shadows, or something needs better blending or a change of tone to fit the whole better.

 

So really, it's the meandering method of painting. Back and forth, back and forth, until it looks right.

[Olaf the Stout]

Ok, slightly different question now:

 

As someone starting out painting, what method would you suggest, dark basecoat and highlight up from there or midcolour and shade and highlight?

 

I am thinking that dark basecoat and highlighting up will be better for minis that I want to spend a bit more time painting (my Blood Bowl minis for example). The midcoat then shade and highlight method might be quicker and therefore better for things like Warhammer armies or RPG minis that I will need quite a lot of (like Skeletons or Orcs for example).

 

So far I have been able to get better results with the dark basecoat and highlight up method. When I try the other way I am a little unsure to go about the shading. Any suggestions?

 

Olaf the Stout

[Sergeant_Crunch]

To be honest, it's something that you have to work out for yourself. If you gave 20 painters an assigned paint scheme using the same colors on the same mini they'd going about painting the piece in 20 different ways to get the same paint scheme, maybe more if some didn't like the way it was turning out and start over. So grab a couple minis and see which works best for you, as there is no "best" way for everyone.

[Doug Sundseth]

As someone starting out painting, what method would you suggest, dark basecoat and highlight up from there or midcolour and shade and highlight?

 

So far I have been able to get better results with the dark basecoat and highlight up method.

 

There you go, then.

 

Seriously, go with what works for you. I've started with a deep shadow color and shaded up. I've started with white and stained down. I've started with the mid-tone and shaded and highlighted. I've started with a mid-shadow and highlighted up and shaded the deep shadows. They all give slightly different effects, and I've not noticed that any is particularly easier than any of the others.

 

For general painting, I think I start with a mid-tone most often, possibly because it allows me to see the color scheme sooner in the painting process. (If you start with the deep shadows, you really can't tell what it's going to look like until you're almost done.)

 

Or maybe that's just a rationalization for an ingrained habit.

 

(Which is largely to say that I agree with Sergeant Crunch.)

[Vaitalla]

Yep, go with what is working for you. As should be obvious through all these replies, even experienced painters have gone about painting in many different ways, and some of us still switch it up from model to model--based on what is working for us.

 

How to go about the shading if you start with a midtone, btw, would be either a wash or layering in the shadows--which is to say, just painting the shadows on where there are creases or recessed areas or where the light source would not be falling. The more you thin your paint for this the less you will see brush strokes, and the less paint you have on your brush the better you will be able to control where your shadows are going.

 

--Anne

[PurityThruFire]

To be honest, it's something that you have to work out for yourself. If you gave 20 painters an assigned paint scheme using the same colors on the same mini they'd going about painting the piece in 20 different ways to get the same paint scheme, maybe more if some didn't like the way it was turning out and start over. So grab a couple minis and see which works best for you, as there is no "best" way for everyone.

 

Sarge hit the nail right on the head.

You really have to experiment with different ways to find the one that best suites your style.

Heck, it may even change depending on what colour you are using as it was stated earlier in the thread.

Best of luck!