How would you teach a new painter?

[DLMyst]

I've got a friend who is interested in learning how to paint miniatures. I know the easiest way to teach him would be to point him towards the LTPK. But I'd rather teach him myself as an experiment, and I think this could make an interesting topic.

 

I'm thinking of starting with 3 small sessions:

1 - Prep. prime, drybrush

2 - washes, highlights

3 - mixing, layering

 

I figure it would be better to learn the basics first, practice and gain muscle memory (brush control), and then more area specific techniques (fur, armor, skin, etc.) will be much easier to tackle. So many times we see minis posted where we see someone do a great job on NMM but the face sorely needs work (random example). I'm not attacking the LTPKs, I love them, but I want to see what happens if we avoid the paint-by-number style.

 

So let's discuss things or ways to teach, instead of specific tips that are readily available in other topics. What can you suggest? What would you teach?

[pocketcthulhu]

Honestly pick them up the First learn 2 paint kit from reaper, That helps the get the core skills started and then go from there.

 

perhaps 3-4 copies of the same mini to practice core skills on.

Edited May 18, 2013 by pocketcthulhu

[ShadowRaven]

mini prep 101.

You need to teach the fellow that washing minis is important. explain why primer is important, and the differences in primer. Spray vs. brush on and drying times.

 

I think though you have the right idea, break it down into basic sections. For me, drybrush would go after washes. But mixing and layering as a last step is definitely a good way to end it off.

[Pingo]

The thing about teaching is you're not trying to impart what you think is the right way to do things, you're trying to help someone develop the skills to do their own way of doing things.

 

So you have to determine what your friend is trying to do, since while there is an accepted mainstream of how minis are painted, there are a lot of different focuses, interests, and variations possible.

 

The basics, like the cleaning and prep ShadowRaven mentioned and your small sessions idea, are good, and then you can tailor them to your friend's interests.

[ShadowRaven]

Pingo brings up a good point. Too often when I was in school, I had 'teachers' that told how it was to be done, sometimes even showed, but had no patience for someone wanting to try their own way. I don't think that will be a big problem here though, if all you want to do is cover the basics and a little bit of colour theory to give them a start.

[Jen]

If it were me, for the first session/lesson I'd bring a couple of already prepped, already primed minis and go right to putting a base coat on the mini. This depends greatly on your friend's interests, but a substantial number of people aren't so fond of the prep steps. Also, mini prep doesn't make a substantial change (usually) to the mini, where putting on a base coat gives a pretty immediate sense of progress. You can see the colors going in to place and the thing starting to come to life right away.

 

Once they're hooked, then I'd go back to prep and priming. ;)

[DLMyst]

Been there man! I failed a math test once with all the right answers, but when I "showed my work", I didn't fall into their idea of how it must be done. Again, praise to Pingo for finding the right words for what I am attempting. I know my friend lacks imagination, so I don't want to tell him what he must do, but what he can do, and let him take it from there. I know this guy will pick it up really quick and probably surpass my skill (I'm not being humble here, the guy excels at whatever he focuses on), so really, after basics I want him to work his imagination and not depend on someone else's idea of what colors should go on a dwarf or an orc.

 

Jen, the immediate gratification method may keep him more interested than the Work Hard And Practice way, but I'd feel tons of shame if he'd settle on mediocrity because it's easier. A student's failure is also the teacher's failure.

[Loim]

If you're providing the minis, let your friend pick something that they are excited about painting, that's a big step. Then I'd just sit and paint. GIve them pointers, and let them ask questions.

[pocketcthulhu]

If you're providing the minis, let your friend pick something that they are excited about painting, that's a big step. Then I'd just sit and paint. GIve them pointers, and let them ask questions.

I have to agree, I learn by screwing up for the most part.

[purple llama]

I'd bring a couple minis that are easy to prep, and have him prep his while you prep yours. Maybe make yours a little tougher. I had a friend teach me years ago, and I did some at paint and takes, and never had to prep a mini. When I finally sat down with my own, all excited to get started, it took me weeks to push through the prep work. This could have been avoided if I had had some guidance on what needs doing and a bit of experience to show me it isn't so bad.

 

For the painting, if he seems comfortable with it, sit him down with some paints and tell him to have at it! Advice is best taken when it's been asked for, so pushing techniques before he's had a chance to try it doesn't work nearly so well.

 

And, you know, paint your own stuff at the same time so he doesn't feel so on the spot, and to give him a chance to ask what you just did there.

[Doug Sundseth]

When I've taught minis painting classes, I've gone over tools and prep, but the first important thing is base coating and brush control. Then details, because that's more brush control and a new painter can see that there are details to be painted. Then basic highlighting and shading with a quick explanation of why you have to paint shadows when there's a perfectly good light overhead that is providing shadows without any work at all. I included a handout with lots of the details that seemed likely to be forgotten to avoid straining the students' memories too much.

 

IME, that's more than a solid 2 hour lesson can hold, but it's a decent start.

[Gailbraithe]

Several of the players in my Pathfinder game wanted me to teach them how to paint, so I did an evening lesson. I used GW's Ghouls because they don't require a lot of different colors. I went over priming, basecoats, washes and highlighting in one evening and let them keep their ghouls. As we worked I tossed in little random tricks and techniques, like how to keep your hands from shaking. It went well.

[DLMyst]

I like the idea of working on my own mini, if only to take the pressure off of him, hadn't thought of that. I forgot to mention that I'm getting him an identical bones 3-pack, just so he can see the varying results by using different techniques. But the general idea, as others have brought up, is to lay down some base skills and then let him choose his next model, and either learn from his mistakes, or avoid them by asking for advice, whichever method facilitates his learning.

 

I'd love to spend an hour with him up front talking about brush care, paint properties and color theory without even having a miniature in sight. But that might bore him to death or make him run away. I gotta find a delicate balance of teaching style, somewhere between "what do you think?" and "shut up and listen".

 

Now I'm thinking as a pre-lesson first session, is to let him dip his toes in the water. Just hand him an dollar store Cowboys & Idians, a brush and a few paints, and let him base coat it (pre-primed, of course), and see how he feels about it. His reactions should help me gauge what kind of teacher he's looking for.

 

I know, I know... I'm blowing all this out of proportion. But I don't know any other painters in my area, so it would be nice if he became one. I just want to nurture the seedling, and not drown it.

 

Thanks for all the ideas, keep 'em comin'!

[dispatchdave]

I think a few general tips before you get started is a good idea, maybe show him a color wheel (then throw it out the window like I do!), and spend, *maybe* 5 minutes on it. Maybe.

 

Brush care is more important, and a lot less intimidating. Start with the "Never let your brush stand in the rinse cup", and go on to "Never let paint get into the ferrule (this part here...)".

 

Another note; warn your friend you're going to throw a lot of information at him, and that it's not going to stick. That's ok. Once he hears the terms, it'll be easier to ask questions (e.g. "What was that you said about Ferris Bueller? Something about not getting paint on him?" I warn my trainees (at work) that we're going to cover a lot, and to please come back with questions about stuff they don't remember.

 

I recommend against handing him a cheapo toy to paint (probably more personal preference, but hey, whatevs). Bones are cheap enough, go ahead and let him get started on those.

 

The most important part? Get painting with him! Many people learn by watching (not by being told) and by doing. Odds are he's one.

-Dave

[Laoke]

I did this recently with my partner, who has the advantage of being a trained artist.

 

Basically I went 'These are the techniques I use, this is why, remember that this is going to be viewed from a fair distance in most cases so don't stress about tiny mistakes, just go nuts and have fun!'

 

Said techniques where

• Base coating and lining
• Washing to shade
• Drybrushing to highlight

She ended up doing a blue-skinned ogre, with a tartan orange & brown kilt and had a blast doing it. As she's in the middle of her Masters in Fine Art she hasn't been doing a lot of art purely for the enjoyment. Prep work was done by me before hand, as I tend to batch them together: when I get a shipment from Reaper I sit down and do the flash removal / reposing if necessary / cleaning in the ultrasonic cleaner in one session. So she didn't need to worry about that and just started slinging paint around once she decided which figures to paint.

 

For someone with less of an artistic background I'd consider doing some color theory but that would mean learning the basics myself first. At the end of the day it's all about learning what works for you and enjoying the process, so I'm less likely to say 'This is the way it must be done' and more the 'OK, how would you do that? Neat, that'll work, here's a shortcut you might not have considered' style of teaching.

 

[Edit] Painting alongside them works really well, and is really enjoyable as the person doing the teaching as well.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Laoke