The thick over thing/thin over thick was really by biggest hurdle with oil paints thats really glosses over a lot. This was a great explanation of that
@@mendedbrushstudio I have a very close technique but i'm using acrylic and oils together. I have a question for you: In your video you say you varnish with mat polyurethane varnish from vallejo, but on mine it seems that this varnish doesn't stick to oils ( which is normal i think cause it's water based, and water and oils repel each other.) How are you doing for it to stick to the oil layer ? I use an enamel varnish, but it's super toxic and not very cool once sprayed...
Best oil video. I'm a new painter but attracted to oils for their saturation and 'sick gradients'. Ended up ploughing many fields of brown over minis and giving up. Dude - this video is a gift. Going to play around with some disposable minis tomorrow. 🙂
It's just plain crazy that this channel, that these considered and carefully explained vids have only garnered 1k or so subscribers. The quality of information and explained technique, it's direct applicability to really practical, really fast and really effective mini painting demonstrated on the most popular minis of the day should have reached and excited tens of thousands of painters. The sheer density of information means I have to watch the colour theory vids three or more times to absorb all that's taught. These are pure painting gold. Black, white, red, yellow, these hold no more fear for me, bright and saturated, grim dark and deeply moody, I've followed along and tried them all. This stuff is full of answers to fundamental shadow, highlight and specular issues that make these colours a struggle. I'm so lucky to have found them given the algorithm ignores them. ((you might notice this comment cut and pasted on all of these vids because it bears saying and I can't put it plainer.
Mate, that's incredibly kind of you. Thank you very much. I'm just glad that so many of the folks that are seeing it are finding it helpful. Appreciate the support!
Hi! First of all, thanks for the video. I really like the pace and the explanation is very clear. I hope you can help me with a small issue I'm having with odourless thinner. My usual process is do basic colour blocking with acrylics then stain the miniature with oil paints or use an oil wash to shade recesses. From time to time, it has happened that regardless of the thinning ratio, the wash would "rip away" the acrylic layer. In the beginning I thought it was me being too hasty or rough with the brush, but then I started wondering about the odourless thinner because it happens particularly with one specific bottle. It's a cheap no-brand product that I got in an arts store, if it helps. This does not happen with "Tintoretto" 100% vegetal o.t., "Maimeri" o.t. and the traditional linseed oil/white spirit mix. In your experience, have you ever had similar issues - with odourless thinners of different brands having different solving power? Could this cheap odourless thinner just be straight white spirit/odourless turpentine - hence super aggressive? I understand it is a very generic question, but sometimes the labeling of products doesn't really help and I'm trying to troubleshoot before I eff up more paintjobs :D
Really been enjoying your videos, but while I understand the fat over lean thing (and vice versa) on canvas, I'm kinda struggling with detailed patterns in oils on miniatures. I'd love it if you could do a video on doing like a traditional camouflage pattern or even Harlequin diamonds or similar using oils. I acknowledge that it might be better to go to acrylics for that kind of stuff, but I like how you're really exploring the space w/ oils and so I'd love to see what you can do.
I prefer oils for freehand these days, even over an acrylic base, because I tend to make a lot of mistakes with it and once you get a handle on your ratios of thinner:paint it's very forgiving. I'm not a canvas painter, but at this scale even the tiniest amount of thinner can make the difference for adhesion. While you could work entirely wet into wet, for something like camo or diamonds I'd probably do the dominant colour first and let that dry. That way you can easily adjust your more detailed shapes without worrying about that underlying layer. I also use negative space a lot to refine said shapes and clean up my lines, either using my blending brush, that base colour, or, if I'm working over a dried surface, just straight up thinner.
awesome video. please do more. :) i am just starting with oils, and i am struggling with finer details and bright colors. i guess my problem is that i have to much paint on my model after my pre shading...
Wish we could have seen or had an example of how much thinner was being used in the thick over thin section. I'll go looking to see if you have a basics tutorial. EDIT: Looks like there isn't a how-to tutorial and the channel hasn't had a new vid for a year, so I'm guessing there won't be. Still great info here thanks!
Loved using oils the few times I've tried, which was mostly skin on busts. Glad I found your channel. Now I have a ton of short informative vids to watch and get caught up!
First off, thanks for this video. I've been doing acrylic model painting for a while now: as I'm looking to try oils for the first time, this video has been great heads up at what to expect and try to avoid. Truth be told the thin-thick and thick-thin is likely to be the one to catch me out. Thanks again.
@@mendedbrushstudio Ok, I've written and erased this response a few times. I think what I'd most like to see is how to get the paint consistency correct on the pallet. I seem to swerve between too chunky and too soupy. I'm mainly using Winsor and Newton student paints and odorless thinner. I've seen other products like linseed oil. Would that help?
And because I can't help adding more. It would be amazing if there were short tutorials for different skills. Maybe focusing on crossover techniques for acrylic painters. But really, I just look forward to when you put something new up. Thanks for everything!
If you don't have one already, I recommend getting a small palette knife to mix up what you put on the palette from the tube, like mixing natural peanut butter. That alone should help a lot if you're running into separation issues. Student grade can be a bit tougher to work with, but consistency from the tube can vary regardless of grade. If straight oil is flowing from the tube, I'll use a paper towel to catch the excess before squeezing the paint out. If the paint is too thick and chalky then you can add a tiny (and I mean tiny) amount of oil, but it's rare that I run into that. Crossover techniques could be fun, or maybe a look at the differences between mediums and ways to adapt skills from one to the other. Thanks for the ideas!
This seems like the right video to ask on. I’m trying to get started with oils and i’m having a problem with my pre-glaze. I can’t get the right consistency because it’s too thick or too thin. I see you barely touch the brush to the paint on the palette to then smear it in the center but my paint doesn’t stick to my brush like that. I have to scoop it up with my brush which overloads my brush. I’m using W&N Winton oil colors if that makes a difference.
thank you once again. and always nice to have it explained to me in my native accent :) congrats on the 1k. and i'll second another vid on thin>thick and vice versa. everyone else (including Wappel) seem to gloss over this. I have a bunch of oils but havent plunged into it yet. i was surprised watching this that two thin coats blended was enough to be considered "thick". ah, just rewatched again that last shoulder pad wasnt a pre-glaze, you never wiped it off. so was 'thick' to start with
Thanks! I think "thick>thin>thick" is as easy to over complicate as it is to gloss over, as every tube is going to have its own consistency even before you factor in thinner, mediums, the phase of the moon, etc. Instead of worrying about all that, just look at what's infront of you at the moment you're trying to apply paint. If it doesn't stick and you haven't used much thinner yet, add a bit. If you're several layers in and have been using thinner thus far, try thickening it back up. With practice you develop a better feel for it, but getting that practice is low-risk thanks to long the working time.
There are toxicity warning label on some of the oil paints and wonder if it's something should be concerned about if using for gaming where we touch the minis? If so, does varnishing would eliminate the toxicity?
quick question: i was painting with oil paints over a black primer/grey primer zenithal and suddenly i saw that i was just moving the paint around instead of blending it. More distressingly, i could see the bare plastic appearing. As if by adding oil paints and feathering out I removed all layers of primers. Do you have any idea what happened?
I decided to dive into oils beyond the winsor & newton artist starter I picked up, and the thing that's boggled my mind is indigo--I don't think any two manufacturers use the same formula. Pigments are black and blue, or black and blue and violet, or two blues and a black, or even brown and blue. Schminke does a true actual indigo, but I understand it's not as lightfast as the alternatives, and then they have a different single pigment hue. Have you experimented with more than the WN and if so, do you have preferences?
I haven't with Indigo. It can be frustrating but I also wouldn't sweat it too much. You'll likely find that as you get more comfortable with mixing that finding the 'right' version of a colour doesn't matter as much, since you'll be able to make more things work together. These days I'll try out colours for the fun of it and if I find something I like then I'll figure out how to incorporate it with the rest of my palette. Light fastness also hasn't been an issue in the few years I've been using oils, as my minis don't see a lot of UV exposure. It could still be a thing over a longer period of time, but I don't factor it in when buying a new colour.
This was purely curiosity--I found it somewhat liberating that there is no right way. When I've wanted a desaturated dark blue I've been using what I have, and burnt umber with phthalo blue produce a really nice, slightly warm kind of indigo I find reminiscent of P3's Coal Black, almost a dark teal. Playing around trying to make chromatic blacks has shown me a number of ways to make dark shades of a number of colors I'm looking forward to testing out as underlayers as I get time.
I find it liberating, too, and working wet into wet kinda forces you to embrace it. Chromatic blacks were likewise a real gateway for me. Glad you're enjoying it!
That's right, though depending on your situation you might need to go thicker, even for edges. It's all about how it compares to what's already on there.
I've been playing with almost everything you've been talking about in your videos, well everything but the concept of "thin over thick and vice-versa". I haven't played with that because it seemed counter to what every other painter has said about painting with oils, and I'm not even referencing mini painters but canvas painters. All of them say thin to thick or fat over lean. Like this whole video right here: th-cam.com/video/-WzN2pz4Pk4/w-d-xo.html Having been told this, and then seeing you put thin paint over thick it just looks like magic. It shouldn't work from what I've seen. I need to give it a shot, but conceptually it doesn't make sense in my head yet. Do you know why this seems to work but all of the other painters say not to do this?
I'm not a canvas artist but I believe they recommend against going in that direction because the faster drying thin layers can cause the slower drying thick layers to crack when applied over them. I haven't found this to be an issue for minis and I suspect it's due to us using a lot less paint and subsequently needing far less time to dry overall.
The thick over thing/thin over thick was really by biggest hurdle with oil paints thats really glosses over a lot. This was a great explanation of that
I'm guilty of glossing over it myself as so much of it is by feel. I'm glad it was clearer this time!
@@mendedbrushstudio
I have a very close technique but i'm using acrylic and oils together.
I have a question for you:
In your video you say you varnish with mat polyurethane varnish from vallejo, but on mine it seems that this varnish doesn't stick to oils ( which is normal i think cause it's water based, and water and oils repel each other.)
How are you doing for it to stick to the oil layer ?
I use an enamel varnish, but it's super toxic and not very cool once sprayed...
Cheers mate. So full of great content 😄👍👍
Best oil video. I'm a new painter but attracted to oils for their saturation and 'sick gradients'. Ended up ploughing many fields of brown over minis and giving up.
Dude - this video is a gift. Going to play around with some disposable minis tomorrow. 🙂
That mud can be tricky at first, just remember that less is always more.
Thanks very much, glad you're sticking with it!
It's just plain crazy that this channel, that these considered and carefully explained vids have only garnered 1k or so subscribers. The quality of information and explained technique, it's direct applicability to really practical, really fast and really effective mini painting demonstrated on the most popular minis of the day should have reached and excited tens of thousands of painters.
The sheer density of information means I have to watch the colour theory vids three or more times to absorb all that's taught.
These are pure painting gold. Black, white, red, yellow, these hold no more fear for me, bright and saturated, grim dark and deeply moody, I've followed along and tried them all. This stuff is full of answers to fundamental shadow, highlight and specular issues that make these colours a struggle.
I'm so lucky to have found them given the algorithm ignores them.
((you might notice this comment cut and pasted on all of these vids because it bears saying and I can't put it plainer.
Mate, that's incredibly kind of you. Thank you very much. I'm just glad that so many of the folks that are seeing it are finding it helpful. Appreciate the support!
Okay, i'll definitely need real cadmium :D
Hi!
First of all, thanks for the video. I really like the pace and the explanation is very clear.
I hope you can help me with a small issue I'm having with odourless thinner.
My usual process is do basic colour blocking with acrylics then stain the miniature with oil paints or use an oil wash to shade recesses.
From time to time, it has happened that regardless of the thinning ratio, the wash would "rip away" the acrylic layer.
In the beginning I thought it was me being too hasty or rough with the brush, but then I started wondering about the odourless thinner because it happens particularly with one specific bottle. It's a cheap no-brand product that I got in an arts store, if it helps.
This does not happen with "Tintoretto" 100% vegetal o.t., "Maimeri" o.t. and the traditional linseed oil/white spirit mix.
In your experience, have you ever had similar issues - with odourless thinners of different brands having different solving power? Could this cheap odourless thinner just be straight white spirit/odourless turpentine - hence super aggressive?
I understand it is a very generic question, but sometimes the labeling of products doesn't really help and I'm trying to troubleshoot before I eff up more paintjobs :D
Really been enjoying your videos, but while I understand the fat over lean thing (and vice versa) on canvas, I'm kinda struggling with detailed patterns in oils on miniatures. I'd love it if you could do a video on doing like a traditional camouflage pattern or even Harlequin diamonds or similar using oils. I acknowledge that it might be better to go to acrylics for that kind of stuff, but I like how you're really exploring the space w/ oils and so I'd love to see what you can do.
I prefer oils for freehand these days, even over an acrylic base, because I tend to make a lot of mistakes with it and once you get a handle on your ratios of thinner:paint it's very forgiving. I'm not a canvas painter, but at this scale even the tiniest amount of thinner can make the difference for adhesion.
While you could work entirely wet into wet, for something like camo or diamonds I'd probably do the dominant colour first and let that dry. That way you can easily adjust your more detailed shapes without worrying about that underlying layer. I also use negative space a lot to refine said shapes and clean up my lines, either using my blending brush, that base colour, or, if I'm working over a dried surface, just straight up thinner.
This series has been great, thank you. My completely greedy request would be a video about living skin and the colors that go in to it.
I'm hoping to look at skin sometime next month. Stay tuned!
awesome video. please do more. :) i am just starting with oils, and i am struggling with finer details and bright colors. i guess my problem is that i have to much paint on my model after my pre shading...
Thank you so much for this video, it covers many issues oil painters face when painting miniatures and gives us priceless tips to deal with them!
Amazing and informative. Greatly appreciated and perfect timing given my entry into mini painting.
Yoooo, fantastic!
The video we all need! You legend
Your oil painting videos have been exceptional. Very well done mate.
Wish we could have seen or had an example of how much thinner was being used in the thick over thin section. I'll go looking to see if you have a basics tutorial.
EDIT: Looks like there isn't a how-to tutorial and the channel hasn't had a new vid for a year, so I'm guessing there won't be. Still great info here thanks!
Fantastic information. Thank you for the video - I love painting mini’s with oil as I’m a very slow painter and the working time is a great feature.
Thank you. And same, they've made a huge difference to my workflow.
Congratulations on 1000 subs! Here’s to many more🎉
Loved using oils the few times I've tried, which was mostly skin on busts. Glad I found your channel. Now I have a ton of short informative vids to watch and get caught up!
First off, thanks for this video. I've been doing acrylic model painting for a while now: as I'm looking to try oils for the first time, this video has been great heads up at what to expect and try to avoid. Truth be told the thin-thick and thick-thin is likely to be the one to catch me out. Thanks again.
This was great! Any chance we could get a video going into further depth about adhesion and thick over thin?
Thanks! Sure, what sort of things would you like to see with it?
@@mendedbrushstudio Ok, I've written and erased this response a few times. I think what I'd most like to see is how to get the paint consistency correct on the pallet. I seem to swerve between too chunky and too soupy. I'm mainly using Winsor and Newton student paints and odorless thinner. I've seen other products like linseed oil. Would that help?
And because I can't help adding more. It would be amazing if there were short tutorials for different skills. Maybe focusing on crossover techniques for acrylic painters. But really, I just look forward to when you put something new up. Thanks for everything!
If you don't have one already, I recommend getting a small palette knife to mix up what you put on the palette from the tube, like mixing natural peanut butter. That alone should help a lot if you're running into separation issues.
Student grade can be a bit tougher to work with, but consistency from the tube can vary regardless of grade. If straight oil is flowing from the tube, I'll use a paper towel to catch the excess before squeezing the paint out. If the paint is too thick and chalky then you can add a tiny (and I mean tiny) amount of oil, but it's rare that I run into that.
Crossover techniques could be fun, or maybe a look at the differences between mediums and ways to adapt skills from one to the other. Thanks for the ideas!
@@mendedbrushstudio Thanks for the palette knife idea, never occurred to me to mix it first before thinning it for use.
That was a super helpful video.
Great Video!
This seems like the right video to ask on. I’m trying to get started with oils and i’m having a problem with my pre-glaze. I can’t get the right consistency because it’s too thick or too thin. I see you barely touch the brush to the paint on the palette to then smear it in the center but my paint doesn’t stick to my brush like that. I have to scoop it up with my brush which overloads my brush. I’m using W&N Winton oil colors if that makes a difference.
Thanks for the video, good content on points, no fuss nor showing off. I like it
Dude 1000, congrats from Canada. Been here since day one. Love your videos.
Thanks, I really appreciate the support!
Mate you my hero!
I love your videos. Please keep it up your channel will grow!!!
thank you once again. and always nice to have it explained to me in my native accent :) congrats on the 1k. and i'll second another vid on thin>thick and vice versa. everyone else (including Wappel) seem to gloss over this. I have a bunch of oils but havent plunged into it yet. i was surprised watching this that two thin coats blended was enough to be considered "thick". ah, just rewatched again that last shoulder pad wasnt a pre-glaze, you never wiped it off. so was 'thick' to start with
Thanks! I think "thick>thin>thick" is as easy to over complicate as it is to gloss over, as every tube is going to have its own consistency even before you factor in thinner, mediums, the phase of the moon, etc. Instead of worrying about all that, just look at what's infront of you at the moment you're trying to apply paint. If it doesn't stick and you haven't used much thinner yet, add a bit. If you're several layers in and have been using thinner thus far, try thickening it back up.
With practice you develop a better feel for it, but getting that practice is low-risk thanks to long the working time.
Great vid! Would you consider creating some Marvel Crisis Protocol painting tutorials using oils?
Sure thing. I hope to get to some eventually as they're great models.
Very helpful video, thank you 👌
Good video definitely needed this one. Any chance of using some MCP figures as painting tutorials?
Sure. Can't say when, but there are some great minis in there and I'd love to paint more of them.
Congratulations on 1k
I’m guessing you have see the new models, what do you think ?
Thanks! As a Tyranid player since 2nd edition, I'm more than a little excited.
May i recommend Molotow one4all as a primer? It goes on superthin.
There are toxicity warning label on some of the oil paints and wonder if it's something should be concerned about if using for gaming where we touch the minis? If so, does varnishing would eliminate the toxicity?
the biggest trouble to paint minis with oil is how to dry the paint faster.
quick question: i was painting with oil paints over a black primer/grey primer zenithal and suddenly i saw that i was just moving the paint around instead of blending it. More distressingly, i could see the bare plastic appearing. As if by adding oil paints and feathering out I removed all layers of primers. Do you have any idea what happened?
I decided to dive into oils beyond the winsor & newton artist starter I picked up, and the thing that's boggled my mind is indigo--I don't think any two manufacturers use the same formula. Pigments are black and blue, or black and blue and violet, or two blues and a black, or even brown and blue. Schminke does a true actual indigo, but I understand it's not as lightfast as the alternatives, and then they have a different single pigment hue. Have you experimented with more than the WN and if so, do you have preferences?
I haven't with Indigo. It can be frustrating but I also wouldn't sweat it too much. You'll likely find that as you get more comfortable with mixing that finding the 'right' version of a colour doesn't matter as much, since you'll be able to make more things work together. These days I'll try out colours for the fun of it and if I find something I like then I'll figure out how to incorporate it with the rest of my palette.
Light fastness also hasn't been an issue in the few years I've been using oils, as my minis don't see a lot of UV exposure. It could still be a thing over a longer period of time, but I don't factor it in when buying a new colour.
This was purely curiosity--I found it somewhat liberating that there is no right way. When I've wanted a desaturated dark blue I've been using what I have, and burnt umber with phthalo blue produce a really nice, slightly warm kind of indigo I find reminiscent of P3's Coal Black, almost a dark teal. Playing around trying to make chromatic blacks has shown me a number of ways to make dark shades of a number of colors I'm looking forward to testing out as underlayers as I get time.
I find it liberating, too, and working wet into wet kinda forces you to embrace it. Chromatic blacks were likewise a real gateway for me. Glad you're enjoying it!
Good day! So is it correct if i'll use oils to do edge highlights, i need to thin the paint if the base oil paint is comparatively thick?
That's right, though depending on your situation you might need to go thicker, even for edges. It's all about how it compares to what's already on there.
May I know what Brand and color the radiant blue is from?
Of course. The Radiant series I use is from Gamblin.
I've been playing with almost everything you've been talking about in your videos, well everything but the concept of "thin over thick and vice-versa". I haven't played with that because it seemed counter to what every other painter has said about painting with oils, and I'm not even referencing mini painters but canvas painters. All of them say thin to thick or fat over lean. Like this whole video right here: th-cam.com/video/-WzN2pz4Pk4/w-d-xo.html
Having been told this, and then seeing you put thin paint over thick it just looks like magic. It shouldn't work from what I've seen. I need to give it a shot, but conceptually it doesn't make sense in my head yet. Do you know why this seems to work but all of the other painters say not to do this?
I'm not a canvas artist but I believe they recommend against going in that direction because the faster drying thin layers can cause the slower drying thick layers to crack when applied over them. I haven't found this to be an issue for minis and I suspect it's due to us using a lot less paint and subsequently needing far less time to dry overall.