In the past I have been hesitate about throwing painting tutorials out there. Most of the tutorials I see are from top notch painter teaching you how they do their tricks. BTW I think they are absolutely awesome the ones that I have seen. I believe you have to be to a certain level to utilize them fully and get the most out of them. However I have not see tutorials on getting someone who has just started painting (or knows little about the tricks) to get them to a stage where they can use the master class tutorials. Painting is like anything else where you learn in steps. To use some of the master stuff I believe you also need experience/understanding with paint and several techniques in painting. Not just see but understanding what you can do and how you can do it. Anyway…
This is an example of maybe how someone progresses…
First you randomly throw paint on there. My kids are at this stage. Multi-colored rainbow figs.
Second you start to coordinate your colors. Paint chainmail how you have seen it in real life instead of bright red.
Third you start to try and stay within the lines.
Fourth you start to refine your detail and maybe start painting rivets. Minor highlighting begins.
Fifth you start to highlight in some way on a larger scale either through just painting or actually doing washes… maybe a combination of both.
The sixth step and beyond I believe is where you start getting several branch offs. This I believe is where your passion will be the driving factor on how far you will truly progress.
I understand the basic tips are probably out there but usually they still point you towards being a master. What about those who just want nice table top figs? Three basic colors? Now I don’t search the internet much so this may all exist our there in webland.
Most gamers can can get themselves through the first three steps. Is there interest in stages four and five?
The people that I have painted with will often here me say “oh that is really easy”. They probably get sick of it or may even think I am full of crap. I will reveal a secret here. One is that it is truly easy for me and I believe it is easy. The second is, what if I were to say it was really hard, would anyone want to try it or even think they can do it?
Now getting back to the point. Is there interest in stages four and five? The one thing I would not want to do is put together easy methods and they never get used. I have limited time which I can use elsewhere.
I did not address the types of painters either.
Dip and flick painter. That is all they want. These tutorials would be useless to them.
This is as good as I am going to get. I can’t paint. Well I disagree. My mother was an Art teacher for over 25 years and she believed everyone can do art. It just may take some longer to get to the same place. They may have to work harder.
Then there are those with some level of desire to improve but may lack the talent or the means to get there. Some may even think it is to hard for them but they keep trying. They may also have bad techniques which I have found to be a huge element in painting figures.
**** My tutorials would be basic in nature. Intended not to be master class by an means. What they would be intended to do is try to communicate a basic understanding of easy steps to get something to look good. Once understood they are a jumping off point to adding so much more.
My disclaimer: I don’t consider myself a great painter. I believe I need to push myself even harder to where I want to be. I do however believe I know tricks to help beginners out.
I have decided to call these tutorials “Four & Five Tutorials”
Until then… John…
Filed under: Four & Five Tutorials, Painted Figs | No Comments »