Hi All,

I was wondering if someone of you could provide me with some tips on how to improve my painting techniques I feel that I should point out these are the first models I have ever painted in my life and although the quality is not bad its not great either so I really would appreciate your suggestions on I can improve it. Hopefully the slideshow will work for some reason the pics wouldn't upload

I look forward to hearing your comments,

With regards,

Julian

sorry for some reason this site has a block on submitting my slideshow???

Please view pics here

http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d1887326 ... ol-amroth-

until I can figure it out

Hi Julian
You should get some great tips on painting from this site - although I'm still learning so take my advice with a pinch of salt! I had a look through your slide show. If these are the first models you have ever painted then you've made a great start - they're about 10 times better than my first attempt. Good clean colours and very neat painting. If you can take some photos at 'model level' rather than from above the model then it would be easier for us to provide some advice. When I first started I painted straight out of the pot rather than thinning my paints first. That was my first big mistake. Now all my paints are thinned and I always use a wet brush so it thins the paints even more. It can seem like a pain at first because it takes more layers of paint to cover the model, but the end effect is much better. Another tip - if you haven't done so already - get some good quality brushes. I started with the GW brushes, but I now mostly use Windsor and Newton 7 series. Yeah, they are more expensive, but the difference in quality is worth it and they improved my level of accuracy - the paint goes on the areas I want it to go on and that means less time painting over things. These aren't the only good brushes - others on this forum probably use different brands.
Probably my final bit of advice is to work on your shading technique. When I first started I didn't use any shades. I then moved onto GW washes, mostly baddab black, and splashed this all over the model then followed up with highlights of the original colours on the raised areas. This is a reasonable approach especially if you have lots to paint. After that I progressed to just putting the wash on particular areas rather than on everything. This gives a better result. For example, I don't use black washes on skin (at least for human/elf/dwarf skin), but do use GW orgyn flesh wash.
Now I am working on using washes only sparringly and I do a lot of shading through wet blending of paints. This works really well on cloaks etc but it can be time consuming especially when you first start. I really like the effect though. My method (and this is probably different to what others do) is to blend together a black, darkened original colour (eg 50:50 black and green), original colour (eg green) and maybe a lighter version of the original colour (lighter green). The paint needs to stay wet and the black/dark colour is painted in the recesses of cloaks etc then follow this up with lighter versions of the colour you want until you get a nice gradation of dark through to light colour with the lightest colour being on the highest/raised points. It takes time to learn this and you won't get it first go probably. It's not for everyone either and GW shades can give a nice effect in a shorter time.
Hope some of this helps.
Good luck with it. Love to see how you progress.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

Hi Julian!
First off, I think you did a nice job on those KoDA. To improve your painting results try using some of the GW washes...I find that using a thinned down wash of black over the entire model will bring out the detail and also darken the base colors used. After the washes dry you can highlight again with your base colors to add depth. This is a very simple way to get a 3D look to your paint jobs until you get better at layering paints from dark to light. Hope this helps a bit.

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No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

hi both thanks for your reply, although 90% what has been suggested are things I do all ready I was shown how to paint these by a member of the WD painters but I feel I'm lacking techniques that would improve the overall quality of them. although I did spend 31/2 weeks painting these 6 models doing 12-6 5 days a week yes I really do have that much free time thanks to my job . Also my camera is shockingly bad despite being 10mega pixels I couldn't get a decent photo and I'm not a bad photography and in the end resorted to taking the pics on my phone which was kind of annoying as I have an iPhone so no real control over it except point and shoot

I will be taking a few weeks off from painting more Knights of Dol Amroth as after spending that long painting them I've got a bit bored of them for the time being and have decided to paint a High Elf Chariot which will provide a good opportunity to practice and learn new techniques as they are that much bigger. So will look into improving my shading etc and hopefully will be able to show you my improvements in a couple of months once I've finished the next batch .

Regards,

Julian

I think my main advise is stay away from white, but if painting white
use a basecoat of light grey or deneb stone
use a thinned down white and do many coats.
By thinning it down you will finish with an even, thin final layer.

I agree with bilbo that washes add alot to plain colour.
Bit of black wash on boltgun metal brings out the chain mail holes etc
Bit of brown wash on greens, browns or creams adds depth
Bit of ogryn flesh on skin makes it ALOT better.

Bit of brown wash on gold really makes it pop too.

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No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

Aye bilbo, brown on gold then just do the very edges of the armour with a mix of mithril silver and gold makes it look pro without the effort.