Never change. Bits like the "fuck you this video is not for you" and "turn the volume down and let it play cus I need the revenue for Christmas" is what makes you come across as a real person and not an artificial character for TV. And that honesty is part of why I value your videos. No one likes cable tv personalities. Everyone loves chatting with their friends at the game store. You deliver like you are the latter and its great. Never change.
It's the reason I put a lot of my stuff up on a group discord or Facebook group. I want to hear other people's opinion of it, because all I see are the flaws.
People get all wrapped up in thinking they need to be experts at the stuff they enjoy. I’ve been painting for ages, but my stuff is mediocre. But it gets painted and I enjoy that process, so I don’t care! I learn something new every time I sit down to paint. It’s usually “well shit, something else not to try again.” 😁
Same way when I diy. No one else will notice that small overlap on the skirting, but it will bug me until I die. Or where I missed a small bit of filler so the wall has a small dimple, that when the sun shines through at a certain time, it makes a slight shadow.
Hi there, mate! Love your channel! So, I only started painting earlier this year, probably around February. Now, I'm not a wargamer at all--I find having dozens of pages of rules printed out, throwing scads of dice and having multiple counters going all at once to be far too overwhelming for me (if you can manage it, you're a far greater individual than I!)--but I have been playing and collecting Shadows of Brimstone for a couple years now, and I really wanted my figures to look nicer, so I started painting them. I'm still not done with that project, but I will work on it more in the future when I have more time--even so, your videos, Dave, are what inspired me to start. I mean, I painted as a teenager (some Space Orks) and my god, it looks someone slapped them with some paint and went "That'll do!" 'cos that's basically what I did. Still, seeing someone with MS create such amazing pieces... I kept asking myself: "Well, he has MS and he's doing what he loves--what's your excuse?" and I finally broke down and got started. Touching on what you said at around 4:30 and 4:40--I've been learning new things with every model I make and paint. Seriously. Even if it's something as simple as learning that you should probably sand down some of those rough mold lines before painting or scrape them off (oh god, my early figures look so rough..!), down to learning how to make Dr. Strange's cloak appear to be billowing in the wind, with it being worn and tattered. (I painted up a set of the Marvel Zombies board game figures for a friend as a surprise Christmas present; zombie Dr. Strange was the last one I did, and I think it's the best out of all of them.) Aside from that, I've had to take the model and look at it before starting to paint it, determining exactly where to start. With some, I've actually started with fine details first (not always, but it does sometimes make sense to do so!), and with others, I sometimes start with the clothes, the body, whatever; it's learning the key points to start with that matters most to me. Though, that said, NOTHING is as infuriating as painting a figure to the best of your ability, finishing it up, and giving it a final once over before realizing you missed a huge portion of the figure that was obscured by another part of it! AAAAAAAAAGH! Ooh, that's a really good point to touch on around the 7:00 mark! See, I've been frustrated by painting a BUNCH of minis at once, which is why I give myself a stopping point, saying that I do not have to continue after this. The thing is, when I look back to some of the figures I've painted, they all look somewhat individually distinct. Usually because, well.. I got bored. Yeah, I could, say, paint an army all perfectly monotone and all exactly the same, but it's far more likely that I'd just paint individual figures and then combine them into an army. For me... I try to tackle each figure as its own project, not looking at everything else I have to do. This doesn't always work, as I'm looking at a handful of Reaper minis I have sitting that I'm planning to give away as gifts, and I haven't even really touched them aside from doing some cleanup, sanding, and a brief wash with a toothbrush and some water. Y'know, I only have, what.. around 30 days to do it? Granted, once I get started, it'll only take me probably a week to do all of them, but still.. I want to approach each one as its own individual thing. (I'm actually planning to try my hand at doing some basing, instead of just going with flat black! Wish me luck!) Another great point around 11:00, with trying new things. So, I started out like most do: crappy hobby store brushes. I've since upgraded to the Army Painter set (it's a lot better, but I fully acknowledge that they're not the best) and I'm planning on upgrading my brushes again. For paints, I'm still using the heavily watered-down Sargent acrylics I have, as I really love the tones I can get out of them, as well as some cheap hobby store paints. That said, I will fully acknowledge my ability massively increased when I started playing with shades from Citadel, and I'm also looking into Vallejo as well as playing with oil paints sometime in future. I'm learning, and I know it'll cost me in the long run, but I love it and think about it this way: I used to spend $60 every other week or so on a new video game. Now, every few months, I spend around 60 dollars on new paints, new minis, new brushes or new tools (I'm considering trying my hand at using Tamiya putty or Milliput, as well!), heck, maybe even a 3D printer is in the cards for the near future! The final point I want to touch on is at 12:20 or so: I have had to learn this the hard way. I'm genuinely going to try my hand at making detailed bases for the minis I plan to give away this year, something I've NEVER done before. Why? Because, well.. I want to put my all into this, to show these people that I believe they're worth going to the effort. It's a pain, but I really do want to do it, you know? Anyway, my apologies for the long-ass post, but this video was phenomenal and I wanted to share a bit of how far I've come in around 10 months or so, give or take. (I'm still too much of a coward to put my stuff online, though--hopefully that changes in the near future, mate! Because I truly adore this hobby, even if I don't really do anything as grand as having armies face off against each other.) Cheers, Dave, and thanks for uploading and doing what you do. To everyone else, thank you for reading if you made it this far--bearing with me couldn't have been easy! Even so, I'd like to wish Dave and all his viewers a pleasant day; love this channel, I love the work you do, and you keep inspiring me to try new things! Thanks, mate, for reminding me why I love this hobby! Cheers again!
Learning when inspired really resonated. I recently painted the necromantic horror team. I followed a tutorial on UA-cam and did some techniques and colours I have not really used. It was a hugely enjoyable project as I could see new things happening as the whole team came together. It won’t win awards but it’s my team, it’s a step on my hobby journey and I really love playing them
learning that I paint at my speed and accepting that is a big point that helped me. It was just a mindset change to being happy with doing things the way I am that helped me enjoy painting more.
My favourite quote from one of my fave painters on here and around, Sonic Sledgehammer, is "uniform isn't" and that has helped me through a lot of tough painting batches, especially when I don't fully write down a method for a colour scheme or something.
Blimey, you are right, Dave. I had been stale for ages, not trying anything new. I found I was scared to try new techniques as I didn't want to "ruin" the new expensive model I'd just bought. I now try techniques on random models I have in my bits box. Works a treat.
Dude, that opening really set the mood for the video - the grey and wintery outdoors is a good reminder that you've got permission to spend time indoors. Also, i think i can count on one hand and still have enough fingers to make a wide variety of rude gestures, the number of times i have seen the outdoors in a miniature painting video
I'll always have a soft spot for your full guide videos, but these chill talking head ones are great for just slowly building up a comfortable kind of motivation to finish projects. Wise words delivered well. Cheers for the drive, I'm gonna go have another crack at the 40k Hobbit Army I swore I'd finish last year.
Your videos are a big part of my motivation to build my own 40cm servoskull. I slapped to much stuff on it that i will need to paint, with so many different materials, these videos are a help to just do and try things, learn along the way how it works for me and having lots of fun with it.
Alex over at 52 did something similar, must be the time of the year. But my advice to anyone new is to watch the vids on here, enjoy them and take the idea, put your spin on it or mould it into what your comfatable with. Don't get bogged down with trying to copy the top guys, adapt it to your own style. Or do your own thing, it's your miniature, paint it as you want it. All my orcs are brown or black, traditional, but my own. But above all enjoy the hobby.
Stellar chit-chat, broski. Great points well made. On your last point about overselling ideas to ourselves... I swear, as a kid I was so much better at just cramming stuff together to fit a picture in my head. I don't know when it happened, but I've been realising more and more over the last 2-3 years that I buy stuff with a "neat idea" in mind, but once I've got my hands on the kit something in my brain tells me being creative and making something new with it would be a waste of it, somehow... So I just build it as per the instructions and have a unit of something I'm not particularly fussed about. Thank you for shining a light on it so starkly. I'm now going to dig around in my bits box and ruin an expensive kit... And I think I'm going to enjoy it!
Aye aye the chat we had with Elstonation was super interesting! Would be nice to get your take on it. But yeah, I think as kids we were not inhibited by how much work it’d be, and it might not live up to expectation.
Love everything you said here. I've really struggled with seeing improvement in my painting. I think its because I was trying to do everything 1000%. With contrast-like paints becoming a thing I've been able to get more of the basecoating and boring stuff out of the way so I can spend a larger part of my time doing the highlighting and detail stuff I enjoy. Not to mention its easier to get a decent quality paint job way faster for the dopamine kick that keeps me motivated to start another mini.
The first video I've watched on normal speed for ages and ages! Love the audio quality, the production, the edits, top quality video all around on the technical aspect. What I've come to understand about myself as a person is that I have almost no patience, perfectionist tendencies without the skill to back it up (well, not always, I'm very good at some things) it's the usual gifted child ADHD stuff (and I definitely think I have ADHD since I already have an autism diagnosis...), anyway, painting, yes. So, I've had to re-learn how to enjoy myself painting, praise the Emperor for contrast paints, they really did kickstart my journey back into painting having spent years making really awesome conversions, sculpts and kitbashes and never putting so much as an undercoat on any of it. Plus I've finally got an airbrush and it's just fun. Obviously I've got a long way to go to learn how to use it really well, but the best thing is that it's just fun, I get a real kick out of using it.
you hit the nail on the head with this one... analysis paralysis is probably the biggest killer for me... i will have a model/project in mind then proceed to overthink it it terms of colour and actual execution.. stress about it and never really get anywhere with it. being your own worse critic is so true. but i find every time i finish a project I've learned how to and how not to do something for the next one. great advice and great content Dave 👍
Best thing i ever heard is "Practice doesnt make perfect, practice makes permanent." If you're not pushing yourself to do something new or better, you'll get really good of the quality you started. I hate batch/army painting because I don't get better. I get really good at the mediocre. So I paint models individually and I vary colors on each one. It's slow, but I feel accomplished every single time and progress is very noticeable. You army painters have my utmost respect and admiration, I can not do what you do. I am unable to sit down and crank out an army I'm happy with in a designated time frame.
Brilliant video as always, and great advice. I remember when I started this hobby, it was all about having fun collecting, painting and playing with minis. I try and keep that in mind when I sit down to paint or play games. It is easy to lose sight of this is why we got into this in the first place. I've also recently started to focus on finishing projects. To take a step back from the hype and the FOMO and keep on buying new toys as they are the new thing this week and just focus on painting the minis and games that I have. It has lifted a bunch of stress when I paint, there isn't this little voice taunting me about the growing shame pile. Because I have a plan, the pile is going down and my painting is improving. It all feels good, I'm back to that fun place again with my hobby.
Dave bavk again with another stunning jazz track in the background. If Dave, Hector or Tony could allow us an insight into what it is, and where its from... The people need to know!
I try to remember that the best painters spend a heck of a lot more time on their minis than I do. I typically spend about 90 minutes per mini and max out around 3.5 hours
Perfect video for being at my hobby desk way too early on a Sunday morning trying to finish my first epic scale warlord titan. It’s almost done, and I’m pleased with it, but I’ve already thought of a half dozen things I could to improve the process and/or the final product on the next one. But….there is also my Orc Blood Bowl team which I’ve committed to doing 100% with oils, so that’s going to be a big learning experience. Which to tackle first…. Love your philosophy, love your vibe, love your companions, hate that your recommended brushes can’t legally be shipped to me in the US.
Yes !! Contrast paint (or their equivalents) always add some of their medium to thin them a bit. My theory is its best to paint on the thin side as you can always add and have infinitely more control that way. Espicially if your beginning. 12:42 😔 no one ever mentions scale75. I love them have nothing but good things to say about them, sadly no one else does. I think there's like a 1000 people in the world that uses their paints.
Thanks Dave, love your hobby thoughts videos. Hector, you're beautiful just the way you are. 🐸 I think the thing that holds me back the most is resisting the fact that not every mini needs to be your best. I'm usually a slow painter, because I want everything to be as good as I can make it. The truth is, you will improve a lot more by finishing many projects where you focus on practicing one thing (like your He-man), than you will by trying to do everything perfectly on every mini. I'll also throw out there that continuous improvement is a noble pursuit, but it's also ok to reach a point with painting you're satisfied with, and just be happy with that. It's ok not to be the best at everything.
I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. To paint them is my real test, to display them is my cause. I will travel the internet searching far and wide, teach myself to understand the power that’s inside. Painting miniatures oh it’s so true, our courage will pull us through. You teach me and I’ll teach you, pikachu.
Lovely video as always Dave. I can’t remember where I read it but a few years ago I discovered this psychological theory that explained the more you tell people you are going to do something. The less likely you are to do it. Receiving positive feedback from people about an idea gives us a little dopamine hit and rather than actually pursuing the larger dopamine release from doing the thing, you get stuck in a loop of micro dosing on dopamine talking about the idea rather than actually doing it! Anyway that’s my rant. Loved the video as always can’t wait for the next one!
Some thoughtful ruminations there, and some cool style video-o-grafininin. Re: army painting, yeah I can dig that. I'm mainly an army painter and have seen my painting improve for eah army I have done.Cohesive armies are great, but I like variety and have ended up with a mish mash but a feeling of progress. Adding new units 'cos I want to test the rules, which change, is my weakness. I've got 3 new armies started now and i'm flitting between them and my main army for that variety - and they are all totally different projects. Only thing they have in common is that they will all follow the Stillmania and be fixed lists, to avoid the headache I have now of writing an army list for a tournament and wanting it to look cohesive but play ok.
I’ve not really considered the difficulty of painting an army, finding out it doesn’t work, then needing to paint more to experiment with what works. That sounds haaaaaard man!
I paint more and more the way you explain … finish an old Ghazkull Trakka begin in 2018 this week and I play more and more with my way of painting. Start the hobby in 1889 and learn every day since. You make good videos man.
Since having a break from the hobby for two months I learned a lot about highlighting and trying new styles or working on old ones and so far in loving every new skill.
Some very good advice here, even if you see a fault in the paintjob, it is not certain that someone esle ses it as a fault. Experienced that just last month. I had a problem with one of my paints from Citadel as it was very old and the pot probaly wasn't 100% tight anymore. So it was hard getting it on right and it looked slightly darker than what I wanted. But the person at the store that looked at it saw it and thought it was an effect I had gone for.
I moved in with my partner a couple of months ago and was unpacking loads of minis, He was holding a Judge Dredd ganger (When I first got inro the hobby again) next to a AoS stormcast (Relatively recent) and he said Im way better now and I saw it for the first time!
completely agree with the stagnation thing. if you only paint space marines you'll be really good at them. but to be really great and grow at painting, paint different genres and scales and try new paints and styles and techniques.
That Gundam ...Unicorn?. Sooo nice. Sorry, easily distracted. Ha tricked you. You looked at a trombone player comment. Encouraged! But to the point. Army scale painting always makes things less shiny to me. All solid advice. Cheers.
I find that if I start a project with a goal, I'm more likely to finish. If I don't have a definite goal in mind, things get put down. I painted 40 IG for OPR:GDF-FF because I arranged a game and wanted to show up with painted models. Did it over three evening. I haven't finished assembling the Chaos Battalion I bought earlier this year. No single model is fully assembled because I started, put it down and then didn't pick it back up until today
Been looking for a contrast colour for the purple hard chitine for months, the green on those wariors look like it could be the answere, I have a magenta yellow for the soft parts
The “get it done now” mentality speaks to me. My local buddies always have ideas for warhammer crusade’s or new games to pickup, but we usually end up just playing once then moving on to the next thing
A couple of thoughts as someone who focuses more on drawing and the like (there's a ton of overlap, both in artistic concepts and general process): The first thing you really ought to do when addressing your artistic skill level is to decide where you want to be and why. If you want to be faster so you can get minis on the table sooner, you're gonna end up pursuing an entirely different set of skills than if you want to have box-art or even tournament level painting skills. I get my artistic expression out with drawings, so when painting minis, I prefer to go for simpler methods that still feel complete, such as relying on overbrushing instead of traditional block-painting (i.e. what GW teaches). Second, you gotta experiment. For minis, this means getting yourself some expendable (but still fun) minis to just have at it with. Personally, I suggest never buying minis for this purpose, and instead rifling through the pile of shame (if you get anxiety over wanting to "Paint them right" someday--like I do--then this is an excellent exercise to teach your mind that it's actually *better* to paint them poorly now than perfectly never). Then, paint them up in a scheme you'd normally never do, or try a method you don't want to risk on your main army. It's an excellent way to pump some creativity into your headspace, as well as practice vital skills. On that note, a vital part of artistic growth is education. This can sometimes be challenging, given learning is a skill unto itself (one which we're rarely ever taught), but you'll usually be good so long as you're just mindful about how you can apply the things you learn/research (whether it be through UA-cam, blog posts, books, or whatever). My recommendation is to start off with the essentials--stuff like color theory and lighting. From there, you can focus on specific techniques, like layering, non-metalic metal, OSL, etc. Some good resources I've used are Scott the Miniac and 52 Miniatures, as well as some of the older tutorials by Midwinter Minis (those ones were great, because they relied on basic colors instead of specific shades, and really helped enforce the basics of using color). Anywho. Those're just some of my thoughts. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to make sure you enjoy what you do, whether that's speed painting an army so you can get to the game, or fixating on a single models so you can imbue it with life. Find what you like, and get better at that so you can do it more.
A couple of things I've learnt (more recently) during my time in the hobby: You don't have to adhere to GW's 'base, wash, layer, highlight' mantra. I gave up using washed a few years ago and its really helped my painting improve. Sure, washes have their place, but they don't need to be used as 'liquid talent'. Using layering to achieve shadows and highlights will improve your painting a lot. Don't spend too much time painting your rank 'n' file infantry. Chances are no one will notice the little bit of freehand you did on a model, or the NMM knife your model is carrying if they're in the middle of a blob of infantry squads. There's no shame in painting your basic infantry easily and quickly, then spending more time on your bigger models and characters.
my goal for painting is 'table top ready'. I know that I am never entering a painting competition. and with the vast amount of miniatures that I want to paint, being satisfied with the end result is important. because I batch paint, 8-20 at a time, I am averaging 40 minutes per mini.
Get those videos out lad.. I need my fix of seeing people losing their minds 🤣 Aside from that banger video as always and roll on the next plastic crack delivery!!
As someone who paints a LOT and thinks they are slowly improving this video may not be for me, but as someone who is also currently painting 30 tyranids and struggles with hobby motivation it is very important to mix it up when working on things. for a lot of people the point of warhammers is to paint an arms as quickly as possible and get it on the table so you can actually using but doing that in one go can be a huge slog and it is hard to picture the end result when you are edge highlighting your third squad of basic troops. make sure to mix it up. Finish a model rather than batch painting. It may take a bit longer but it is far better for keeping you motivated.
A lot of people stagnate. They stay stuck in their ways good or bad. So I see people painting from 2017 to today and they’re at the same level. While using myself for an example I’ll take a year or two off completely and return even better
Every Christmas I have our Ross reminding me that I havent painted my Dark Angels army yet. So I dread walking into my office and see the boxes staring at me...and I mostly turn around.
How did I snap myself away from playing World of Warcraft and paint some minis? WoW is playing the best it has in years and I can't tear myself away and have a full set of Guyver and Zoanoid minis to paint.
Man, I have my share of issues but giving a damn about how well I paint fortunately ain’t one of ‘em. Slap on some paint and get to rolling dice baby! I do admire the heck out of people who can manage to do a good paint job though just not my deal.
Having gone through a lot of mental health problems and I have discovered a few things. The most important one is perfection is the enemy of done the enemy of good of good .
Videoaufruf aus dem kalten Norden Deutschlands. Ich unterstütze die Aussagen in diesem Video. (And yes I did that on purpose in German to confuse the algorithm XD)
why isn't my mini painting getting better? Because I'm very close to the wrong side of "too old" and my eyes are burning out. lol.... fml. Slapchop until I can't now.
I guess you don't have to be easy on yourself as long as you manage to stay on course developing your painting-fu. I'd say just go as hard as you can bear. That's what good artists do.
I probably could get better, but I don't want to. I've realised I'm happy with just above tabletop standard for 99% of my minis. For me, it's just about getting the job done to my own standard. If I improve my standards, I'll never get anything done. 😂 I'm never going to an award winning painter and I'm ok with that.
So, maybe your painting is getting better but it is different. Or of a standard but still different. This is true for my painting and I am not disappointed by it. The question also springs to mind, are you prepared to invest the extra time to hit golden daemon standards?
I do not think it is worth investing 20 years of skill for painting competition that does not offer cash prize… different is better than perfect I think!
I have a friend who has been painting longer than I have (30+ years) and is pretty darn good at it. Recently, he switched completely over to contrast/speed paints and now everything he does looks like slop. I don't understand it but whatever makes him happy. That is not a way to improve your mini painting, guys. Team Opaque forever.
Never change. Bits like the "fuck you this video is not for you" and "turn the volume down and let it play cus I need the revenue for Christmas" is what makes you come across as a real person and not an artificial character for TV. And that honesty is part of why I value your videos. No one likes cable tv personalities. Everyone loves chatting with their friends at the game store. You deliver like you are the latter and its great. Never change.
He had me when I watched a 100 pound army challenge and I saw health and safety frog nick a box of, I believe, bolt action
Thank you for da kind words mate!
He still has that box in his pile!
I enjoyed this. No one is as harsh a critic as yourself. Remember it’s a hobby,it’s supposed to be fun.
It's the reason I put a lot of my stuff up on a group discord or Facebook group. I want to hear other people's opinion of it, because all I see are the flaws.
People get all wrapped up in thinking they need to be experts at the stuff they enjoy. I’ve been painting for ages, but my stuff is mediocre. But it gets painted and I enjoy that process, so I don’t care! I learn something new every time I sit down to paint. It’s usually “well shit, something else not to try again.” 😁
Same way when I diy. No one else will notice that small overlap on the skirting, but it will bug me until I die. Or where I missed a small bit of filler so the wall has a small dimple, that when the sun shines through at a certain time, it makes a slight shadow.
*Me, watching this and reading the comments while taking a break from DIY* same
Hi there, mate! Love your channel! So, I only started painting earlier this year, probably around February. Now, I'm not a wargamer at all--I find having dozens of pages of rules printed out, throwing scads of dice and having multiple counters going all at once to be far too overwhelming for me (if you can manage it, you're a far greater individual than I!)--but I have been playing and collecting Shadows of Brimstone for a couple years now, and I really wanted my figures to look nicer, so I started painting them. I'm still not done with that project, but I will work on it more in the future when I have more time--even so, your videos, Dave, are what inspired me to start. I mean, I painted as a teenager (some Space Orks) and my god, it looks someone slapped them with some paint and went "That'll do!" 'cos that's basically what I did. Still, seeing someone with MS create such amazing pieces... I kept asking myself: "Well, he has MS and he's doing what he loves--what's your excuse?" and I finally broke down and got started.
Touching on what you said at around 4:30 and 4:40--I've been learning new things with every model I make and paint. Seriously. Even if it's something as simple as learning that you should probably sand down some of those rough mold lines before painting or scrape them off (oh god, my early figures look so rough..!), down to learning how to make Dr. Strange's cloak appear to be billowing in the wind, with it being worn and tattered. (I painted up a set of the Marvel Zombies board game figures for a friend as a surprise Christmas present; zombie Dr. Strange was the last one I did, and I think it's the best out of all of them.) Aside from that, I've had to take the model and look at it before starting to paint it, determining exactly where to start. With some, I've actually started with fine details first (not always, but it does sometimes make sense to do so!), and with others, I sometimes start with the clothes, the body, whatever; it's learning the key points to start with that matters most to me. Though, that said, NOTHING is as infuriating as painting a figure to the best of your ability, finishing it up, and giving it a final once over before realizing you missed a huge portion of the figure that was obscured by another part of it! AAAAAAAAAGH!
Ooh, that's a really good point to touch on around the 7:00 mark! See, I've been frustrated by painting a BUNCH of minis at once, which is why I give myself a stopping point, saying that I do not have to continue after this. The thing is, when I look back to some of the figures I've painted, they all look somewhat individually distinct. Usually because, well.. I got bored. Yeah, I could, say, paint an army all perfectly monotone and all exactly the same, but it's far more likely that I'd just paint individual figures and then combine them into an army. For me... I try to tackle each figure as its own project, not looking at everything else I have to do. This doesn't always work, as I'm looking at a handful of Reaper minis I have sitting that I'm planning to give away as gifts, and I haven't even really touched them aside from doing some cleanup, sanding, and a brief wash with a toothbrush and some water. Y'know, I only have, what.. around 30 days to do it? Granted, once I get started, it'll only take me probably a week to do all of them, but still.. I want to approach each one as its own individual thing. (I'm actually planning to try my hand at doing some basing, instead of just going with flat black! Wish me luck!)
Another great point around 11:00, with trying new things. So, I started out like most do: crappy hobby store brushes. I've since upgraded to the Army Painter set (it's a lot better, but I fully acknowledge that they're not the best) and I'm planning on upgrading my brushes again. For paints, I'm still using the heavily watered-down Sargent acrylics I have, as I really love the tones I can get out of them, as well as some cheap hobby store paints. That said, I will fully acknowledge my ability massively increased when I started playing with shades from Citadel, and I'm also looking into Vallejo as well as playing with oil paints sometime in future. I'm learning, and I know it'll cost me in the long run, but I love it and think about it this way: I used to spend $60 every other week or so on a new video game. Now, every few months, I spend around 60 dollars on new paints, new minis, new brushes or new tools (I'm considering trying my hand at using Tamiya putty or Milliput, as well!), heck, maybe even a 3D printer is in the cards for the near future!
The final point I want to touch on is at 12:20 or so: I have had to learn this the hard way. I'm genuinely going to try my hand at making detailed bases for the minis I plan to give away this year, something I've NEVER done before. Why? Because, well.. I want to put my all into this, to show these people that I believe they're worth going to the effort. It's a pain, but I really do want to do it, you know?
Anyway, my apologies for the long-ass post, but this video was phenomenal and I wanted to share a bit of how far I've come in around 10 months or so, give or take. (I'm still too much of a coward to put my stuff online, though--hopefully that changes in the near future, mate! Because I truly adore this hobby, even if I don't really do anything as grand as having armies face off against each other.)
Cheers, Dave, and thanks for uploading and doing what you do. To everyone else, thank you for reading if you made it this far--bearing with me couldn't have been easy! Even so, I'd like to wish Dave and all his viewers a pleasant day; love this channel, I love the work you do, and you keep inspiring me to try new things! Thanks, mate, for reminding me why I love this hobby! Cheers again!
Great post.
Learning when inspired really resonated. I recently painted the necromantic horror team. I followed a tutorial on UA-cam and did some techniques and colours I have not really used. It was a hugely enjoyable project as I could see new things happening as the whole team came together. It won’t win awards but it’s my team, it’s a step on my hobby journey and I really love playing them
learning that I paint at my speed and accepting that is a big point that helped me. It was just a mindset change to being happy with doing things the way I am that helped me enjoy painting more.
My favourite quote from one of my fave painters on here and around, Sonic Sledgehammer, is "uniform isn't" and that has helped me through a lot of tough painting batches, especially when I don't fully write down a method for a colour scheme or something.
Blimey, you are right, Dave. I had been stale for ages, not trying anything new. I found I was scared to try new techniques as I didn't want to "ruin" the new expensive model I'd just bought. I now try techniques on random models I have in my bits box. Works a treat.
Dude, that opening really set the mood for the video - the grey and wintery outdoors is a good reminder that you've got permission to spend time indoors. Also, i think i can count on one hand and still have enough fingers to make a wide variety of rude gestures, the number of times i have seen the outdoors in a miniature painting video
I like to go outdoors, haha. It's kinda sad to see a cinema camera and lenses stuck inside hahaha
I'll always have a soft spot for your full guide videos, but these chill talking head ones are great for just slowly building up a comfortable kind of motivation to finish projects. Wise words delivered well.
Cheers for the drive, I'm gonna go have another crack at the 40k Hobbit Army I swore I'd finish last year.
Your videos are a big part of my motivation to build my own 40cm servoskull. I slapped to much stuff on it that i will need to paint, with so many different materials, these videos are a help to just do and try things, learn along the way how it works for me and having lots of fun with it.
Alex over at 52 did something similar, must be the time of the year. But my advice to anyone new is to watch the vids on here, enjoy them and take the idea, put your spin on it or mould it into what your comfatable with. Don't get bogged down with trying to copy the top guys, adapt it to your own style. Or do your own thing, it's your miniature, paint it as you want it. All my orcs are brown or black, traditional, but my own. But above all enjoy the hobby.
Stellar chit-chat, broski. Great points well made. On your last point about overselling ideas to ourselves... I swear, as a kid I was so much better at just cramming stuff together to fit a picture in my head. I don't know when it happened, but I've been realising more and more over the last 2-3 years that I buy stuff with a "neat idea" in mind, but once I've got my hands on the kit something in my brain tells me being creative and making something new with it would be a waste of it, somehow... So I just build it as per the instructions and have a unit of something I'm not particularly fussed about. Thank you for shining a light on it so starkly. I'm now going to dig around in my bits box and ruin an expensive kit...
And I think I'm going to enjoy it!
Aye aye the chat we had with Elstonation was super interesting! Would be nice to get your take on it. But yeah, I think as kids we were not inhibited by how much work it’d be, and it might not live up to expectation.
Love everything you said here. I've really struggled with seeing improvement in my painting. I think its because I was trying to do everything 1000%. With contrast-like paints becoming a thing I've been able to get more of the basecoating and boring stuff out of the way so I can spend a larger part of my time doing the highlighting and detail stuff I enjoy. Not to mention its easier to get a decent quality paint job way faster for the dopamine kick that keeps me motivated to start another mini.
That’s the perfect way to do it I think. Good on you for identifying a ‘shortcoming’ and becoming a happier painter!
I really love videos like this Dave, honestly feels like a hobby therapy session and i mean that in the best way. Much love
I love these videos. They really help to keep my own hobby in perspective. I am not a great painter, but I get a little better every week.
The first video I've watched on normal speed for ages and ages! Love the audio quality, the production, the edits, top quality video all around on the technical aspect. What I've come to understand about myself as a person is that I have almost no patience, perfectionist tendencies without the skill to back it up (well, not always, I'm very good at some things) it's the usual gifted child ADHD stuff (and I definitely think I have ADHD since I already have an autism diagnosis...), anyway, painting, yes. So, I've had to re-learn how to enjoy myself painting, praise the Emperor for contrast paints, they really did kickstart my journey back into painting having spent years making really awesome conversions, sculpts and kitbashes and never putting so much as an undercoat on any of it. Plus I've finally got an airbrush and it's just fun. Obviously I've got a long way to go to learn how to use it really well, but the best thing is that it's just fun, I get a real kick out of using it.
Best thumbnail game in the biz. Hats off, great vid
you hit the nail on the head with this one... analysis paralysis is probably the biggest killer for me... i will have a model/project in mind then proceed to overthink it it terms of colour and actual execution.. stress about it and never really get anywhere with it.
being your own worse critic is so true. but i find every time i finish a project I've learned how to and how not to do something for the next one.
great advice and great content Dave 👍
Best thing i ever heard is "Practice doesnt make perfect, practice makes permanent." If you're not pushing yourself to do something new or better, you'll get really good of the quality you started.
I hate batch/army painting because I don't get better. I get really good at the mediocre. So I paint models individually and I vary colors on each one. It's slow, but I feel accomplished every single time and progress is very noticeable.
You army painters have my utmost respect and admiration, I can not do what you do. I am unable to sit down and crank out an army I'm happy with in a designated time frame.
Brilliant video as always, and great advice. I remember when I started this hobby, it was all about having fun collecting, painting and playing with minis. I try and keep that in mind when I sit down to paint or play games. It is easy to lose sight of this is why we got into this in the first place. I've also recently started to focus on finishing projects. To take a step back from the hype and the FOMO and keep on buying new toys as they are the new thing this week and just focus on painting the minis and games that I have. It has lifted a bunch of stress when I paint, there isn't this little voice taunting me about the growing shame pile. Because I have a plan, the pile is going down and my painting is improving. It all feels good, I'm back to that fun place again with my hobby.
Dave bavk again with another stunning jazz track in the background.
If Dave, Hector or Tony could allow us an insight into what it is, and where its from... The people need to know!
The smooth jazz selection on artlist is where some of them come from, sir!
I try to remember that the best painters spend a heck of a lot more time on their minis than I do. I typically spend about 90 minutes per mini and max out around 3.5 hours
Some great tips that apply well to all aspects of the tabletop hobby.
Calm, entertaining with nice jazz background soundtrack. I keep coming back even though I'm a casual gamer.
Perfect video for being at my hobby desk way too early on a Sunday morning trying to finish my first epic scale warlord titan. It’s almost done, and I’m pleased with it, but I’ve already thought of a half dozen things I could to improve the process and/or the final product on the next one. But….there is also my Orc Blood Bowl team which I’ve committed to doing 100% with oils, so that’s going to be a big learning experience. Which to tackle first….
Love your philosophy, love your vibe, love your companions, hate that your recommended brushes can’t legally be shipped to me in the US.
Yes !! Contrast paint (or their equivalents) always add some of their medium to thin them a bit.
My theory is its best to paint on the thin side as you can always add and have infinitely more control that way. Espicially if your beginning.
12:42 😔 no one ever mentions scale75. I love them have nothing but good things to say about them, sadly no one else does. I think there's like a 1000 people in the world that uses their paints.
You're a legend. LEGEND. Thanks for taking the UA-cam lane in your life
Thanks Dave, love your hobby thoughts videos. Hector, you're beautiful just the way you are. 🐸
I think the thing that holds me back the most is resisting the fact that not every mini needs to be your best. I'm usually a slow painter, because I want everything to be as good as I can make it. The truth is, you will improve a lot more by finishing many projects where you focus on practicing one thing (like your He-man), than you will by trying to do everything perfectly on every mini.
I'll also throw out there that continuous improvement is a noble pursuit, but it's also ok to reach a point with painting you're satisfied with, and just be happy with that. It's ok not to be the best at everything.
I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. To paint them is my real test, to display them is my cause. I will travel the internet searching far and wide, teach myself to understand the power that’s inside. Painting miniatures oh it’s so true, our courage will pull us through. You teach me and I’ll teach you, pikachu.
Lovely video as always Dave. I can’t remember where I read it but a few years ago I discovered this psychological theory that explained the more you tell people you are going to do something. The less likely you are to do it. Receiving positive feedback from people about an idea gives us a little dopamine hit and rather than actually pursuing the larger dopamine release from doing the thing, you get stuck in a loop of micro dosing on dopamine talking about the idea rather than actually doing it! Anyway that’s my rant. Loved the video as always can’t wait for the next one!
Screenshotted this in my head
Some thoughtful ruminations there, and some cool style video-o-grafininin. Re: army painting, yeah I can dig that. I'm mainly an army painter and have seen my painting improve for eah army I have done.Cohesive armies are great, but I like variety and have ended up with a mish mash but a feeling of progress. Adding new units 'cos I want to test the rules, which change, is my weakness. I've got 3 new armies started now and i'm flitting between them and my main army for that variety - and they are all totally different projects. Only thing they have in common is that they will all follow the Stillmania and be fixed lists, to avoid the headache I have now of writing an army list for a tournament and wanting it to look cohesive but play ok.
I’ve not really considered the difficulty of painting an army, finding out it doesn’t work, then needing to paint more to experiment with what works. That sounds haaaaaard man!
Good practical tips :) can't wait for the podcast
Thank you!
I paint more and more the way you explain … finish an old Ghazkull Trakka begin in 2018 this week and I play more and more with my way of painting. Start the hobby in 1889 and learn every day since. You make good videos man.
Thanks mate!
Since having a break from the hobby for two months I learned a lot about highlighting and trying new styles or working on old ones and so far in loving every new skill.
Some very good advice here, even if you see a fault in the paintjob, it is not certain that someone esle ses it as a fault. Experienced that just last month. I had a problem with one of my paints from Citadel as it was very old and the pot probaly wasn't 100% tight anymore. So it was hard getting it on right and it looked slightly darker than what I wanted. But the person at the store that looked at it saw it and thought it was an effect I had gone for.
There ya go! Nicely done!
These are great tips. Especially the "Make sure to work on what's inspiring you" one.
Thank you!
I moved in with my partner a couple of months ago and was unpacking loads of minis, He was holding a Judge Dredd ganger (When I first got inro the hobby again) next to a AoS stormcast (Relatively recent) and he said Im way better now and I saw it for the first time!
Yay, been waiting for vid Dave, great work man, really look forward it mate 🙌
Cheers boss!
Im painting decades, I hate it, it’s not fun, it’s something to be endured! Great content!
Nothing better than a Saturday morning with a cupper listening to Dave wax lyrical 😊
Looking forward to the podcast!
You are very special among youtube community.
Thank you! My mum also says I’m special
A brilliant, thoughful and well put together video., Dont stop being you. Cheers, Jon
Thanks Jon!
completely agree with the stagnation thing. if you only paint space marines you'll be really good at them. but to be really great and grow at painting, paint different genres and scales and try new paints and styles and techniques.
That Gundam ...Unicorn?. Sooo nice. Sorry, easily distracted. Ha tricked you. You looked at a trombone player comment. Encouraged! But to the point. Army scale painting always makes things less shiny to me. All solid advice. Cheers.
Aye aye! Perfect grade unicorn! Thanks for the super mate!
Just into the intro so far, and so relatable
Bases and faces. That's a useful rule I've gone by for ten years.
Great video, enjoyed it while painting
Grand! Glad to keep you company!
Thanks Dave.
Good general life advice really. Thx for the excellent video
Thanks man
I find that if I start a project with a goal, I'm more likely to finish. If I don't have a definite goal in mind, things get put down.
I painted 40 IG for OPR:GDF-FF because I arranged a game and wanted to show up with painted models. Did it over three evening.
I haven't finished assembling the Chaos Battalion I bought earlier this year. No single model is fully assembled because I started, put it down and then didn't pick it back up until today
Been looking for a contrast colour for the purple hard chitine for months, the green on those wariors look like it could be the answere, I have a magenta yellow for the soft parts
Really well said!😊
I always get my picked from Wayne’s Gherkinshop 😂
The “get it done now” mentality speaks to me. My local buddies always have ideas for warhammer crusade’s or new games to pickup, but we usually end up just playing once then moving on to the next thing
“I need the revenue coming up to Christmas”, that is priceless!
Thank you for talking sense to an old fool who is way too critical of his own work.
Any time Squatch!
A couple of thoughts as someone who focuses more on drawing and the like (there's a ton of overlap, both in artistic concepts and general process):
The first thing you really ought to do when addressing your artistic skill level is to decide where you want to be and why. If you want to be faster so you can get minis on the table sooner, you're gonna end up pursuing an entirely different set of skills than if you want to have box-art or even tournament level painting skills. I get my artistic expression out with drawings, so when painting minis, I prefer to go for simpler methods that still feel complete, such as relying on overbrushing instead of traditional block-painting (i.e. what GW teaches).
Second, you gotta experiment. For minis, this means getting yourself some expendable (but still fun) minis to just have at it with. Personally, I suggest never buying minis for this purpose, and instead rifling through the pile of shame (if you get anxiety over wanting to "Paint them right" someday--like I do--then this is an excellent exercise to teach your mind that it's actually *better* to paint them poorly now than perfectly never). Then, paint them up in a scheme you'd normally never do, or try a method you don't want to risk on your main army. It's an excellent way to pump some creativity into your headspace, as well as practice vital skills.
On that note, a vital part of artistic growth is education. This can sometimes be challenging, given learning is a skill unto itself (one which we're rarely ever taught), but you'll usually be good so long as you're just mindful about how you can apply the things you learn/research (whether it be through UA-cam, blog posts, books, or whatever). My recommendation is to start off with the essentials--stuff like color theory and lighting. From there, you can focus on specific techniques, like layering, non-metalic metal, OSL, etc. Some good resources I've used are Scott the Miniac and 52 Miniatures, as well as some of the older tutorials by Midwinter Minis (those ones were great, because they relied on basic colors instead of specific shades, and really helped enforce the basics of using color).
Anywho. Those're just some of my thoughts. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to make sure you enjoy what you do, whether that's speed painting an army so you can get to the game, or fixating on a single models so you can imbue it with life. Find what you like, and get better at that so you can do it more.
I don't know why, but now I've seen it I can't unsee it.
The bane of Christmas.
The smell of a school disco.
Lynx Africa.
Yeah I realised in the edit. Thought about content aware replacing it, but that was hours of exporting hahaha
That Gundam base diorama is awesome! Maybe Tony can take over and showcase how it was built? You know, so the 40K crowd does not get surly. 😉
Hahaha, I would trust Tony near that thing.
A couple of things I've learnt (more recently) during my time in the hobby:
You don't have to adhere to GW's 'base, wash, layer, highlight' mantra. I gave up using washed a few years ago and its really helped my painting improve. Sure, washes have their place, but they don't need to be used as 'liquid talent'. Using layering to achieve shadows and highlights will improve your painting a lot.
Don't spend too much time painting your rank 'n' file infantry. Chances are no one will notice the little bit of freehand you did on a model, or the NMM knife your model is carrying if they're in the middle of a blob of infantry squads. There's no shame in painting your basic infantry easily and quickly, then spending more time on your bigger models and characters.
Thank you well said
Another banger, thanks Dave.
Love it, shared
Cheers maaaaate!
my goal for painting is 'table top ready'. I know that I am never entering a painting competition. and with the vast amount of miniatures that I want to paint, being satisfied with the end result is important.
because I batch paint, 8-20 at a time, I am averaging 40 minutes per mini.
And where did you get that fancy shirt?
Can’t remember the company name! I know they’ve unfortunately closed recently though!
Great video
Cheers mate!
What is the large grey skeleton, hanging behind you? I must have one.
The part about consistent painting and the sudden 'fuck you' jarred me and I had to roll it back as I was laughing. lol
1:55. Hector is seeing his perfection in the mirror, not problems
Get those videos out lad.. I need my fix of seeing people losing their minds 🤣
Aside from that banger video as always and roll on the next plastic crack delivery!!
Amma working on them, chief!
As someone who paints a LOT and thinks they are slowly improving this video may not be for me, but as someone who is also currently painting 30 tyranids and struggles with hobby motivation it is very important to mix it up when working on things. for a lot of people the point of warhammers is to paint an arms as quickly as possible and get it on the table so you can actually using but doing that in one go can be a huge slog and it is hard to picture the end result when you are edge highlighting your third squad of basic troops. make sure to mix it up. Finish a model rather than batch painting. It may take a bit longer but it is far better for keeping you motivated.
Yessir! Seeing it come together piece by piece is better than never!
A lot of people stagnate. They stay stuck in their ways good or bad. So I see people painting from 2017 to today and they’re at the same level. While using myself for an example I’ll take a year or two off completely and return even better
The L cuts always make me question my sanity... :D Other than that great video with solid advice!
Every Christmas I have our Ross reminding me that I havent painted my Dark Angels army yet. So I dread walking into my office and see the boxes staring at me...and I mostly turn around.
You haven’t painted your dark angels yet?!
@@MSPaints come on 😂 I only bought them 8 years ago. Give a man a break.
Honey wakeup, MS Paints dropped a new one
How did I snap myself away from playing World of Warcraft and paint some minis?
WoW is playing the best it has in years and I can't tear myself away and have a full set of Guyver and Zoanoid minis to paint.
Man, I have my share of issues but giving a damn about how well I paint fortunately ain’t one of ‘em. Slap on some paint and get to rolling dice baby! I do admire the heck out of people who can manage to do a good paint job though just not my deal.
"When I look at people, I see the component parts." Dr Frankenstein.
Wames Gorkshop ❤
Having gone through a lot of mental health problems and I have discovered a few things.
The most important one is perfection is the enemy of done the enemy of good of good .
What are those lovely models at 1.33 fat chef and wizard chap look awesome... Anyone?
Black Scorpion Miniatures mate!
Videoaufruf aus dem kalten Norden Deutschlands. Ich unterstütze die Aussagen in diesem Video. (And yes I did that on purpose in German to confuse the algorithm XD)
If my entire audience becomes Germany I’ll know who to blame!
@@MSPaints We started with the Royal Family now we take the social medias. *muahahaha*
why isn't my mini painting getting better? Because I'm very close to the wrong side of "too old" and my eyes are burning out. lol.... fml. Slapchop until I can't now.
I guess you don't have to be easy on yourself as long as you manage to stay on course developing your painting-fu. I'd say just go as hard as you can bear. That's what good artists do.
I probably could get better, but I don't want to. I've realised I'm happy with just above tabletop standard for 99% of my minis.
For me, it's just about getting the job done to my own standard. If I improve my standards, I'll never get anything done. 😂
I'm never going to an award winning painter and I'm ok with that.
ahh you read my mind again
well, this video hit my neurodivergence real hard! Anyways thanks for laying thing bare, I enjoyed the reasoning a lot :)
I don't really give a flyin' funk about army consistency because my army is Orks and the less cohesive and more rag tag they look, the better.
So, maybe your painting is getting better but it is different. Or of a standard but still different. This is true for my painting and I am not disappointed by it. The question also springs to mind, are you prepared to invest the extra time to hit golden daemon standards?
I do not think it is worth investing 20 years of skill for painting competition that does not offer cash prize… different is better than perfect I think!
weed really helps me paint :)
I have a friend who has been painting longer than I have (30+ years) and is pretty darn good at it. Recently, he switched completely over to contrast/speed paints and now everything he does looks like slop. I don't understand it but whatever makes him happy. That is not a way to improve your mini painting, guys. Team Opaque forever.
I thought you meant in the head🙄 I was thinking never! 😂 pls dont ❤ I'm gonna warn Tony
Oh we all beyond help with that!
Shout out to lynx Africa can!
Amazed you’re only the second person to spot it! Haha
Because I stopped caring when I got a kid and passed 35 >.
My problem is my eyes and over focus
When you brabch out and paint more than just GW stuff. ;) (I kid, I kid... but not really....)
woah woah wait you cant just show us those arbiter models and not link em
A double negative makes it a positive… right? Right??
If someone sold motivation in a can...they'd get my money. I'll watch 3 painting videos a day and not pick up a brush in months...
My mate owns a canning place and a micro brewery… two secs mate