I really needed someone to say this to me. Thank you. For so long I've talked myself out of painting my miniatures for fear of "messing them up". After all they are quite expensive. Now let's see if I can put this advice into practice.
Are you me? This is where I'm at now, trying to break into the hobby. I've got the paints, brushes, and supplies that I think I need to get started. Watching online tutorials has been simultaneously incredibly educating and intimidating. I kinda needed to hear this, and just go for it, knowing it's going to be a learning experience.
Here's how I approach the painting proscess: Most Mechs are ancient and battered, and get hasty coats of paint that's a close enough from fellow mechwarriors using brooms for brushes. The royal guard types probably get pretty airbrushing and hangers and such, but don't be scared to just throw on a primer coat, I like black then white, brush on a base coat, then another, and another, accent the panels with a black wash, and just keep layering paint and washes for weathering. Do some jeweling and you're ready to base.
Great video! I think it was Trovarion, another awesome painter on youtube who said something like this: "You are your own worst critic." Pretty much boiling down to you seeing every 'flaw' in your own work, by knowing what you did and why. Sometimes hiding mess-ups with other colours. While everyone else just sees an awesome end product and doesn't give a flying F about any of those 'flaws'. In your case, you say you're not perfectly happy with the tattoos, while I've been zooming in on the pictures you posted, looking at the details, being amazed that someone hand-painted that on a tiny model. I know I'm in a much slower car than you and I'm driving on the bus lane basically (I love that analogy). Having been hobbying for around 20 years now, still dont own an airbrush and only very recently I finally overtook one particularly slow bus blocking my way to progress. That slow bus had "oil wash" written all over it😀. I first used it on an Adeptus Titanicus project to grime up those things. I used my battletech models to see how far I could take decals on uneven surfaces. For me personally, a new project is where I try to get brave and overtake 1 more slow bus on my lane. The next bus I'm crawling towards has "OSL" written on it, and the project that makes me try to overtake that one, will be my Steel Rift Authority mechs. They're currently still under construction, but i'm already eyeballing that turnsignal to eventually drive past that thing. All in all, it's just very personal and the only fair comparison to make, is your current self to your past self. Wow, that was quite a ramble. Sorry for the textwall😅
On twitch I always used to tell people “so long as you’re striving to be better today than you were yesterday and tomorrow you’re striving to be better than you are today that’s all that matters.”
I still love that koi tattoo man! And the two tone canopy blend is fantastic! The ONLY wrong way to paint a miniature is to not start lol! Great video!
I thing I love about BT is that the scale is so huge and the tech level is so low, that just a basic paint job on a mech looks great. If anything painting a mech like a 28mm space marine is too detailed. A 1:285th scale mech on the table is looking at the battlefield from a chopper. You cant even see infantry from that point of view, you just see the dust as they walk
I gave up painting. I just ran into too much pressure on myself to try and paint like a pro, and then get discouraged when I didn't get the results. Immature, I know, but I did encounter excellent people who do commission work. It's actually been more satisfying to send out my minis and see people's interpretations. I have become way to risk-averse in my life...
the same advice in this vid doesn't just apply to painting minis, i may be new to painting BattleTech minis and have yet to paint the minis i do have (at the time of writing) but this advice can also apply to any kind of art, i found myself making the same decision regarding character design with hobby cartooning, and i have been drawing characters human or otherwise for 17 years (again, at the time of writing this comment) and there is a bit of wisdom that several teachers told me: "your first 10,000 sketches WILL suck, but you have to keep pushing for 10,001, that is the only way you can get better as an artist and as a person" to me, painting BattleTech minis is WAY outside my comfort zone, but it is still a valid art form, and i feel that my muscle memory from drawing characters will help with the painting process :D
I will most likely stay roughly on my level. The main reason is time constrains. I need a month to finish one Miniature and have maybe 4h in it. There just never is enough time. By now I am fine with it. Sometimes I am very pleased and use a lot of techniques, sometimes it is just a base color, a wash an some few details. Sometimes I go back and details come a couple of years later. 😁 Not on the level of any TH-cam guy but by now I learned to be fine with it. Really love content like that.
Rule #1, paint goes on minis Rule #2, don't compare your work to others Rule #3, (optional) always strive to improve. Some people say Rule #0 is thin your paints, but I say that falls under Rule #3.
I think rule two would be not to compare to others and derive value. I do have loads of reference photos of work I look at for guidance or ideas but definitely have to keep in mind it’s reference, it’s ok not to be perfect. The bust in the video doesn’t look as good as the box art reference but for “my” skill set, feels great and looks great to me. And that’s what matters. I think the issue is when we aspire to be as “good” as an artist we follow or as “good” as a reference image we have and if we don’t hit the mark we feel like we failed. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. We’re all in our own boats sailing at our own speed encountering our own waves. We may have the same tools but we all arrive at our destinations our own way at our own speed, and that’s ok.
@@Thearmedpainter I say don't compare your work to others for 2 reasons. Don't get in the mindset "Oh man I can never do that good," which happens to beginner painters and makes them not want to paint because they can't get amazing results right away. (I personally struggled with this one) The second reason is don't get the mindset "oh man that guys work is so terrible it makes my eyes bleed" and then discourage them by saying something disparaging. So I guess an amendment to #2 is Don't compare your work to others (except in relation to #3) EDIT: Rereading your comment I see you mention what I was meaning too.
The best way is the way that works for you , hobbys are supposed to be fun, if you are not getting a great time and fun you should change, if not, do your way!
I really needed someone to say this to me. Thank you. For so long I've talked myself out of painting my miniatures for fear of "messing them up". After all they are quite expensive. Now let's see if I can put this advice into practice.
You’re welcome. My goal is always to encourage others to take steps to move forward, if this video helped one person, mission accomplished :)
Are you me?
This is where I'm at now, trying to break into the hobby. I've got the paints, brushes, and supplies that I think I need to get started. Watching online tutorials has been simultaneously incredibly educating and intimidating. I kinda needed to hear this, and just go for it, knowing it's going to be a learning experience.
Here's how I approach the painting proscess:
Most Mechs are ancient and battered, and get hasty coats of paint that's a close enough from fellow mechwarriors using brooms for brushes. The royal guard types probably get pretty airbrushing and hangers and such, but don't be scared to just throw on a primer coat, I like black then white, brush on a base coat, then another, and another, accent the panels with a black wash, and just keep layering paint and washes for weathering. Do some jeweling and you're ready to base.
Great video!
I think it was Trovarion, another awesome painter on youtube who said something like this: "You are your own worst critic."
Pretty much boiling down to you seeing every 'flaw' in your own work, by knowing what you did and why. Sometimes hiding mess-ups with other colours. While everyone else just sees an awesome end product and doesn't give a flying F about any of those 'flaws'.
In your case, you say you're not perfectly happy with the tattoos, while I've been zooming in on the pictures you posted, looking at the details, being amazed that someone hand-painted that on a tiny model.
I know I'm in a much slower car than you and I'm driving on the bus lane basically (I love that analogy).
Having been hobbying for around 20 years now, still dont own an airbrush and only very recently I finally overtook one particularly slow bus blocking my way to progress. That slow bus had "oil wash" written all over it😀.
I first used it on an Adeptus Titanicus project to grime up those things.
I used my battletech models to see how far I could take decals on uneven surfaces. For me personally, a new project is where I try to get brave and overtake 1 more slow bus on my lane. The next bus I'm crawling towards has "OSL" written on it, and the project that makes me try to overtake that one, will be my Steel Rift Authority mechs.
They're currently still under construction, but i'm already eyeballing that turnsignal to eventually drive past that thing.
All in all, it's just very personal and the only fair comparison to make, is your current self to your past self.
Wow, that was quite a ramble. Sorry for the textwall😅
On twitch I always used to tell people “so long as you’re striving to be better today than you were yesterday and tomorrow you’re striving to be better than you are today that’s all that matters.”
I still love that koi tattoo man! And the two tone canopy blend is fantastic! The ONLY wrong way to paint a miniature is to not start lol! Great video!
Great video! Love the positivity and encouragement in all of your hobby videos.
I thing I love about BT is that the scale is so huge and the tech level is so low, that just a basic paint job on a mech looks great. If anything painting a mech like a 28mm space marine is too detailed. A 1:285th scale mech on the table is looking at the battlefield from a chopper. You cant even see infantry from that point of view, you just see the dust as they walk
That Battlemaster looks awesome, along with all the rest of your work.
Thank you! The minis I do a tutorial with will likely get auctioned off at some point to help the channel grow.
It's the fear thar kept me from painting my 3rd edition Battletech mechs for almost 30 years. Just started not to long ago.
I gave up painting. I just ran into too much pressure on myself to try and paint like a pro, and then get discouraged when I didn't get the results. Immature, I know, but I did encounter excellent people who do commission work. It's actually been more satisfying to send out my minis and see people's interpretations. I have become way to risk-averse in my life...
Lmao, lol even.
@@terminator572 😃
the same advice in this vid doesn't just apply to painting minis, i may be new to painting BattleTech minis and have yet to paint the minis i do have (at the time of writing) but this advice can also apply to any kind of art, i found myself making the same decision regarding character design with hobby cartooning, and i have been drawing characters human or otherwise for 17 years (again, at the time of writing this comment) and there is a bit of wisdom that several teachers told me: "your first 10,000 sketches WILL suck, but you have to keep pushing for 10,001, that is the only way you can get better as an artist and as a person" to me, painting BattleTech minis is WAY outside my comfort zone, but it is still a valid art form, and i feel that my muscle memory from drawing characters will help with the painting process :D
I will most likely stay roughly on my level. The main reason is time constrains. I need a month to finish one Miniature and have maybe 4h in it. There just never is enough time.
By now I am fine with it. Sometimes I am very pleased and use a lot of techniques, sometimes it is just a base color, a wash an some few details. Sometimes I go back and details come a couple of years later. 😁 Not on the level of any TH-cam guy but by now I learned to be fine with it.
Really love content like that.
The man is an artist. Very solid work, sir.
Rule #1, paint goes on minis
Rule #2, don't compare your work to others
Rule #3, (optional) always strive to improve.
Some people say Rule #0 is thin your paints, but I say that falls under Rule #3.
I think rule two would be not to compare to others and derive value. I do have loads of reference photos of work I look at for guidance or ideas but definitely have to keep in mind it’s reference, it’s ok not to be perfect.
The bust in the video doesn’t look as good as the box art reference but for “my” skill set, feels great and looks great to me. And that’s what matters.
I think the issue is when we aspire to be as “good” as an artist we follow or as “good” as a reference image we have and if we don’t hit the mark we feel like we failed. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. We’re all in our own boats sailing at our own speed encountering our own waves. We may have the same tools but we all arrive at our destinations our own way at our own speed, and that’s ok.
@@Thearmedpainter I say don't compare your work to others for 2 reasons.
Don't get in the mindset "Oh man I can never do that good," which happens to beginner painters and makes them not want to paint because they can't get amazing results right away. (I personally struggled with this one)
The second reason is don't get the mindset "oh man that guys work is so terrible it makes my eyes bleed" and then discourage them by saying something disparaging.
So I guess an amendment to #2 is Don't compare your work to others (except in relation to #3)
EDIT:
Rereading your comment I see you mention what I was meaning too.
amazing work. Love your thoughts on trying new things.
true words buddy!
Looks great!! Keep up the content, those tattoos are amazing!!!!!
The best way is the way that works for you , hobbys are supposed to be fun, if you are not getting a great time and fun you should change, if not, do your way!
^^^
Oh....and I will take that Battlemaster... LOL
I’ve got to get some more painting content done for the channel but the stuff I paint will likely get sold to support the channel. ;)
It sure can.