Salutations from a complete novice. What’s your recommendations to get started?
Note: A FLGS in town actually has a mini-painting workstation that you can use for $5/session, or as part of their monthly subscription for playing TTRPGs onsite. Since I play PF2E there several times a week I have that subscription. So I have a place to paint that’s already kitted out with just about anything you could need for mini-painting. (I think they charge extra if you want to add stuff like grass, sand, etc. to the mini, but the primer, paints, sealers, etc. are all included.)
I have two awesome minis arriving soon that are unpainted, so I’m looking for online sites/videos that start from “I know nothing” and work up from there.
Thanks in advance for any and all guidance you can provide!
I’m relatively new, and I’ve gotten a lot better over the course of a couple months.
My top tips:
- The journey is the destination.
It’s trite, but true. You aren’t painting for anyone else. Paint a model then move on, improvement is slow and perfection is unattainable.
- No matter how “bad” you think your paint job is it looks better than a bare mini.
If you doubt me, just slap some paints on a mini and put it on a table with a handful of unpainted minis. You’ll see how much better the painted one looks and how many more details you can see.
- Don’t worry about mistakes.
No one will see that tiny bit of blue on wrong spot. Realistically you’ll only really see the top and back of the mini.
- Highlight one more time than you think you need.
When you get to the point of “should I push this orange more yellow” or “is pure white too much here”? The answer is always one more highlight.
- Try new things.
You’ll see different painting techniques, try them, worst case you don’t like it, in which case look at tips 1-3
- Equipment you want
A #1, #0 and #00 brush. You can do fine with just a #1, the other two are bonuses.
Brush soap. It saves your brushes.
A wet pallet.
Paint, but specially a cheap artists white and black in addition to any mini paints. If you want to go crazy a mixing white is good too.
That’s it. Remember it’s fun and looks way cooler than an grey blob on the table. You’ll get better with practice.