I’ve always found painting somewhat intimidating. I find most tutorials hard to follow and a lot of techniques, even fairly simple ones like edge highlighting, give me a lot of trouble. Your tutorials are the first I’ve come across that are easy to follow, not terribly complicated, and produce a result I really like. Seraphon is my next planned army project and I will absolutely be using your guides to help me bring them to a higher level than the basic “battle-ready” I’ve done thus far.
Looks fantastic! Its almost like you know i have one of these on my shelf waiting for its turn to become more than grey plastic! Will refer back to this video when its turn comes around!
amazing work. love it. I'm hoping to take insiraption from this once I finally start painting minis. It's always excited me but I'm too scared to start still since it's pretty expensive to buy everything needed to start off haha
Thanks for watching! I'm glad its encouraging you to start the hobby. Yeah it can be kind of expensive. I think you could get started for under $100. I'd pick out a dozen paints and a couple good brushes, those will last you a while as long as you take care of them. Then look in to getting some second hand models to practice on (a lot of people may give you some old stuff for free). Once you have painted a few models and know some basics, then I'd start looking at the new plastic kits. Good luck and I hope you enjoy painting!
awesome job as always!! I’ve been wondering for a while now how you get your brushes so sharp and able to do the thin lines so easily? I have trouble with doing that and I would love a tutorial or a demonstration of how you do that? Also just a look at your wet pallete too cause my sucks and I’m looking for inspiration! Thank you and keep up the amazing work!
Great idea for a tutorial! I think the brush sharpness comes from two things. The first is making sure you have high quality sable brushes (either red sable or kolinsky if you can afford it). The second part is how I load the paint onto the brush: drag the brush towards you while twisting it, and that helps form the hair into a point. Hope that's helpful. And as for wet palettes, I use the one from Army Painter (their wet palette is a good product. I don't recommend their paints though)
The "feathering" technique when you use the contrast paint to apply it, then drag it around with a cleaned, damp brush- I keep failing on that one. I've seen other tutorials doing the same thing, so I've been practicing alot on this technique, but so far I don't know why I end up with ugly, sharp lines at the end of my original application of the contrast paint. I've watched how you and other painters do this, but I've never seen any of you guys end up with said lines, and no matter what I try- be it thinning the contrast paint using water or medium, to varying "dampness" on the brush or even the speed or thickness of the contrast layer- To me it seems completely random and I'm at a loss of what to do as I've so far not been able to find a solution or a more in-depth tutorial on this. Really grateful for any insight whatsoever on this :)
What do you mean by a "sharp line"? Is it a line of dried paint along the edge of where you initially applied it? It could mean that the paint is drying before you're able to blend it. If that's the case, I'd advise working on a smaller area at a time. Sometimes I will get some tiny dried areas before I'm able to blend it out. If I notice them, I will press the brush a little harder and "scrub" them away. It usually works, just have to be very careful not to scrub too hard or you'll remove the under layers. There are a ton of different variables when blending the contrast paint; how much paint is initially applied, how much is on your brush, how diluted it is, where you start/end your brush stroke... all of them affect the end result and it's really hard to narrow it down to one specific cause. I think it could be compared to learning how to ride a bicycle - so many different forces at play. You fall off a bunch, then eventually, almost like magic, everything clicks and you're riding it. I hope you're able to figure out what's causing the issue and good luck with your painting!
@@MattsHobbyHour thank you so much for the reply! Yes, as you guessed, it's a line of dried paint. It happens almost instantly, it feels like, which is why I'm struggling so much with this, as so far it doesnt seem to matter how much paint I apply, how thick a layer, how small the area is that I apply it to etc. Sometimes it works but mostly it doesnt, and I've yet to figure out why it does the few times it does. For instance, with the same amount of speed and thickness on te Spawn of Chotec, I could cover almost half of the fin on the back and get most of it looking good, but since one area between two spines got a line I decided to go for areas between the spines, one at a time, and still got the line. It's frustrating and demotivating, but guess I just gotta keep on practicing :)
@@TheAkurei87 Yeah that sounds like the paint is just drying too fast. Some colors dry faster than others, and it can also be the air temperature/humidity affecting it. You could try slightly wetting/dampening the area before applying the paint (similar to some watercolor blending techniques where you wet the paper first). It may help. I applaud your efforts and determination. Good luck!
Lovely video, thank you! By the way the fern/leaves-like on the sides of its head are meant to be the branchiae (gills), like seen in larvae of most amphibians, and in some adult newts and salamanders (like the famous axolotl). Similar to what pokemons Mudkip and Wooper have xD they probably painted them red because they are rich in blood vessels so are often red
I'm thinking it could be two things, either the paint is drying before you can blend it, or there is too much paint/water on the model. Coffee staining tends to happen when there's too much water and not enough binder/acrylic medium present, so I'd be leaning towards too much water on your brush during the blending part. Here are a couple ideas/tests you could run that might help us figure it out: Have you had any success blending on a smaller area? If you're able to get good results on a smaller area, that should tell us that speed is a factor. Sometimes we can only paint so fast, and the solution might just be to work on smaller areas at a time. The other possibility is either too much paint on the model, or there is too much water on your brush when you go to blend. Since contrast paint is really runny, if you put too much on at once, it will just flow right into the area you're blending. Try painting a small section with just enough paint to tint the surface, almost like a glaze, and then try blending the edge. Also, double check your brush before you try to blend, and make sure you're wiping it off on a paper towel. The brush should be just barely damp, and that's it. If there's any more water than that, it's too much. Hope this helps and good luck!
@@MattsHobbyHour is it worth having a dry(er) brush to hand to blend with maybe? That might help. My thought was to potentially use contrast medium or lamia medium if I couldn’t get the blending down to well. Whatever product that might increase the working time If possible
@@thatchris1626 try using a less-wet brush first and see how that works for you. Just make sure to wipe it off on a paper towel first. It should be slightly damp, but not overly saturated with water. Good luck!
@@Genera1en I'm sorry, I don't recall the exact listing for the larger bottles, all I remember is they're 30ml. I looked on my Amazon history and don't see the order. I actually wouldn't recommend those anyway; the nozzles on every bottle ended up cracking. Not a great design. I've been replacing them with the smaller 15ml bottles.
It is a toy, and no one knows what dinosaurs actually were colored like, so what exactly can you claim IS realistic for a dinosaur without being full of chit? The color scheme is cool.
incredible paintjob i love the new line of seraphon models so much but as for 7:40 those could be gills like what Axolotls have
Thanks! I think you're right!
The pattern on the back, as you said, looks like a lot of fun.
I think it would be cool to vary the pattern as well. Maybe some spots or stripes for different models. Lots of potential!
Ah more Seraphon please!!!! Your Tyranids videos also have some amazing paint schemes!
Thanks for watching! I'll try to include some more Seraphon in the future.
I’ve always found painting somewhat intimidating. I find most tutorials hard to follow and a lot of techniques, even fairly simple ones like edge highlighting, give me a lot of trouble. Your tutorials are the first I’ve come across that are easy to follow, not terribly complicated, and produce a result I really like. Seraphon is my next planned army project and I will absolutely be using your guides to help me bring them to a higher level than the basic “battle-ready” I’ve done thus far.
Thank you! That's such a nice compliment for me to read. It really means a lot to me. Thanks for watching and good luck with your next army project!
Absolutely superb paint job, and thanks for breaking it down so well. I dont have this model but i have a vintage one I could try this on
Thanks! I bet the scheme would look great on the old model
What an awesomely vibrant color scheme Mr. Matt. I love it. The black markings on the fins really make the piece. Thanks.
Thanks Shane!
Looks great! I will definitely use this guide when painting this for my Lizardmen Old World-army.
Great to hear! Thanks for watching!
Absolutely love it. Especially that pattern on the fin
Thank you!
Looks fantastic! Its almost like you know i have one of these on my shelf waiting for its turn to become more than grey plastic! Will refer back to this video when its turn comes around!
Good luck tackling the hobby backlog! I have my share of grey plastic on the shelves too. Thanks for watching!
You, sir, deserves a like and sub for this vid! Been looking for a solid tutorial to make me paint my Spawn of Chotec! Thank you very much! :D
Great to hear, thank you! Good luck with your Spawn!
This is phenomenal. Well done!
Thank you!
Niceeee i was planning on trying these techniques to see how they would look seems like it will work very well. Thanks for the vid
thanks for watching and good luck!
amazing work. love it. I'm hoping to take insiraption from this once I finally start painting minis. It's always excited me but I'm too scared to start still since it's pretty expensive to buy everything needed to start off haha
Thanks for watching! I'm glad its encouraging you to start the hobby. Yeah it can be kind of expensive. I think you could get started for under $100. I'd pick out a dozen paints and a couple good brushes, those will last you a while as long as you take care of them. Then look in to getting some second hand models to practice on (a lot of people may give you some old stuff for free). Once you have painted a few models and know some basics, then I'd start looking at the new plastic kits. Good luck and I hope you enjoy painting!
Looks really good. I wish I could paint that well.
Thanks for watching! Keep at it and you'll get there!
awesome job as always!! I’ve been wondering for a while now how you get your brushes so sharp and able to do the thin lines so easily? I have trouble with doing that and I would love a tutorial or a demonstration of how you do that? Also just a look at your wet pallete too cause my sucks and I’m looking for inspiration! Thank you and keep up the amazing work!
Great idea for a tutorial! I think the brush sharpness comes from two things. The first is making sure you have high quality sable brushes (either red sable or kolinsky if you can afford it). The second part is how I load the paint onto the brush: drag the brush towards you while twisting it, and that helps form the hair into a point. Hope that's helpful. And as for wet palettes, I use the one from Army Painter (their wet palette is a good product. I don't recommend their paints though)
The "feathering" technique when you use the contrast paint to apply it, then drag it around with a cleaned, damp brush- I keep failing on that one. I've seen other tutorials doing the same thing, so I've been practicing alot on this technique, but so far I don't know why I end up with ugly, sharp lines at the end of my original application of the contrast paint. I've watched how you and other painters do this, but I've never seen any of you guys end up with said lines, and no matter what I try- be it thinning the contrast paint using water or medium, to varying "dampness" on the brush or even the speed or thickness of the contrast layer- To me it seems completely random and I'm at a loss of what to do as I've so far not been able to find a solution or a more in-depth tutorial on this. Really grateful for any insight whatsoever on this :)
What do you mean by a "sharp line"? Is it a line of dried paint along the edge of where you initially applied it? It could mean that the paint is drying before you're able to blend it. If that's the case, I'd advise working on a smaller area at a time. Sometimes I will get some tiny dried areas before I'm able to blend it out. If I notice them, I will press the brush a little harder and "scrub" them away. It usually works, just have to be very careful not to scrub too hard or you'll remove the under layers.
There are a ton of different variables when blending the contrast paint; how much paint is initially applied, how much is on your brush, how diluted it is, where you start/end your brush stroke... all of them affect the end result and it's really hard to narrow it down to one specific cause. I think it could be compared to learning how to ride a bicycle - so many different forces at play. You fall off a bunch, then eventually, almost like magic, everything clicks and you're riding it.
I hope you're able to figure out what's causing the issue and good luck with your painting!
@@MattsHobbyHour thank you so much for the reply! Yes, as you guessed, it's a line of dried paint. It happens almost instantly, it feels like, which is why I'm struggling so much with this, as so far it doesnt seem to matter how much paint I apply, how thick a layer, how small the area is that I apply it to etc. Sometimes it works but mostly it doesnt, and I've yet to figure out why it does the few times it does.
For instance, with the same amount of speed and thickness on te Spawn of Chotec, I could cover almost half of the fin on the back and get most of it looking good, but since one area between two spines got a line I decided to go for areas between the spines, one at a time, and still got the line. It's frustrating and demotivating, but guess I just gotta keep on practicing :)
@@TheAkurei87 Yeah that sounds like the paint is just drying too fast. Some colors dry faster than others, and it can also be the air temperature/humidity affecting it. You could try slightly wetting/dampening the area before applying the paint (similar to some watercolor blending techniques where you wet the paper first). It may help.
I applaud your efforts and determination. Good luck!
@@MattsHobbyHour Thank you so much for taking all the time to give me several thorough responses to this! Much appreciated!
It looks lovely
Thank you!
I'm totally stealing some of this scheme for one of my Cosmic Frog minis. Thank you
Please steal all you like! Thanks for watching!
fantastic paint job 👍
Thanks!
excellent result
Thanks!
Lovely video, thank you! By the way the fern/leaves-like on the sides of its head are meant to be the branchiae (gills), like seen in larvae of most amphibians, and in some adult newts and salamanders (like the famous axolotl). Similar to what pokemons Mudkip and Wooper have xD they probably painted them red because they are rich in blood vessels so are often red
very cool, thanks for that info!
I've been holding out but I'll have to give contrast paints a chance now I think
You should! I wouldn't use them for every part of a model, but they definitely have their place in the hobby toolbox.
good job. I like theese kind of tutorials
Glad to hear! Thanks for watching!
Absolutely incredible paint job! Could you tell me if the shades you used here (and on the aggradon) are the newer versions? Thanks heaps!
thanks for watching! As of right now all of my shades are the old formula with the exception of the new version of Carroburg Crimson.
@@MattsHobbyHour brilliant, thank you!
FINALLY. I got my Matt fix.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder!
Wow really cool
Thanks for watching!
Wow! Could you paint Bretonnian Knight on Horse with contrast?
Juan Hildalgo does a pretty sick contrast paint of bretonnians - though it's some infantry. Would be easy enough to switch over to the knights.
I have a bunch of knights waiting for paint, I'll be sure to post a guide soon. Thanks for watching!
@@MattsHobbyHour great 😍 cant wait for it 😎
Amazing!
Thanks!
Nice work! Don't forget to add your End Cards at the end :)
Thanks! Still a lot I need to figure out here!
@@MattsHobbyHour you and me both brother! Ha ha!
Again...WOW!
Thanks for watching!
I’ve been trying to do some blending using contrast, but without fail no matter my speed it always creates coffee stains. Do you have any advice?
I'm thinking it could be two things, either the paint is drying before you can blend it, or there is too much paint/water on the model. Coffee staining tends to happen when there's too much water and not enough binder/acrylic medium present, so I'd be leaning towards too much water on your brush during the blending part. Here are a couple ideas/tests you could run that might help us figure it out:
Have you had any success blending on a smaller area? If you're able to get good results on a smaller area, that should tell us that speed is a factor. Sometimes we can only paint so fast, and the solution might just be to work on smaller areas at a time.
The other possibility is either too much paint on the model, or there is too much water on your brush when you go to blend. Since contrast paint is really runny, if you put too much on at once, it will just flow right into the area you're blending. Try painting a small section with just enough paint to tint the surface, almost like a glaze, and then try blending the edge. Also, double check your brush before you try to blend, and make sure you're wiping it off on a paper towel. The brush should be just barely damp, and that's it. If there's any more water than that, it's too much.
Hope this helps and good luck!
@@MattsHobbyHour is it worth having a dry(er) brush to hand to blend with maybe? That might help.
My thought was to potentially use contrast medium or lamia medium if I couldn’t get the blending down to well. Whatever product that might increase the working time If possible
@@thatchris1626 try using a less-wet brush first and see how that works for you. Just make sure to wipe it off on a paper towel first. It should be slightly damp, but not overly saturated with water. Good luck!
Where did you buy the dropper bottles?
Amazon sells big packs of them. There are lots of different options to choose from.
@@MattsHobbyHour yours looked bigger then the normal bottles that’s why I asked can’t find em. Do you remember which one it was?
@@Genera1en I'm sorry, I don't recall the exact listing for the larger bottles, all I remember is they're 30ml. I looked on my Amazon history and don't see the order. I actually wouldn't recommend those anyway; the nozzles on every bottle ended up cracking. Not a great design. I've been replacing them with the smaller 15ml bottles.
@@MattsHobbyHour Ok thanks for the tip! And yes you really should make a vid with a red saurus warrior :)
@@Genera1en great idea!
The Leafs on his Head are Called "feathery gills" thats the same what a Axolotls has.
I learned something new! Very cool. Thanks for sharing!
it looks like a toy and not realistic- sry
thanks for watching!
It is a toy, and no one knows what dinosaurs actually were colored like, so what exactly can you claim IS realistic for a dinosaur without being full of chit? The color scheme is cool.