Hey team, I’ve been rooting around both on this page and the “painting” page trying to find info on fig painting tutorials…yes, it’s time I finally learned how to do this right, instead of just frequently buying figure kits and frequently leaving them right in the closet. [;)]
I’ve found a lot of good links, including the Vallejo page, Historicus Forma, Reapermini, as well as recommendations for Shep Paine’s figure book and Verlinden’s “System”.
Are there any other really good books/online tutorials available that I’m missing? I know that there are a LOT of great fig painters around here, wanted to see where/how you guys learned to do what you do. [:D]
I’m looking primarily for acrylics, but I’m not averse to oils. Just not experienced enough…yet!
I found the best way to learn to paint figures was to have one or more mentors. I’m very fortunate that my club has several really good painters who have critiqued my work and pushed me along. I realize you’re way down east, so you might want to pick a painter here or at one of the other sites whose style you like for online mentoring. It’s not as good as 1:1, or 6:1 at my club meeting, but it’s a start.
Yeah, I hear you there about the mentoring…in fact, I think that an hour spent watching someone who knew what they were doing paint would be more useful than a whole laundry list of websites. No matter how many times I read how to “blend” colors, I don’t really have a true idea of how to do it. Just seeing it done once would make this SO much easier! [banghead]
Sadly, I’ve looked around my general area to see if there are any other model builders (was actually considering starting an IPMS chapter)…but it’s me. Like, ME, and no one else. I’m amazed that the local “Craft Barn” even keeps a selection of models. So the local mentoring idea doesn’t have very good odds of materializing. Meh. [V]
dupes: Sounds like you and I are at the same “skill” level when it comes to figures. I quote “skill” because I use the term loosely, no offense…misery loves company[;)]. I made improvements on my Russian guys (painting 11 guys I was bound to improve some) specifically on the uniforms, but I could still use any tips I can get. One comment I received was to paint them like vehicles, same procedures. I tense up[sigh] on figures for some reason though…I think the flesh is what is so difficult for me. Let me know what you find in your research…I have a few guys for my Jimmy that I want to include later.
Trust me, judging by your Russkie troops, you’re a ways ahead of me right now…I have plenty of physical skills/dexterity (used to paint fantasy gaming figs a lot) but no technique/theory knowledge.
Yeah, the flesh is definitely the hardest part to make “real”. Although, the whole process is a bit counter-intuitive, especially for someone who’s never seen it done. [:(]
I will certainly forward on to you the more useful stuff I find! [:D]
If you are willing to drop some cash for knowledge, Osprey has a whole line of “How to” books on figure painting, fine tuned to specific figures types.
Huh. I didn’t realize (or hadn’t paid attention) to the fact that Osprey did figure painting stuff. Guess I’ve got a trip to Borders in my near future to check them out. [;)]
I found some of these articles helpful, especially Bannerman’s “Painting 1/35 scale heads in 8 steps”. Don’t know how well it would work for scales other than 1/35, but I’m getting convincing results, and I’m not very good at all!