Salutations from a complete novice. What’s your recommendations to get started?
Note: A FLGS in town actually has a mini-painting workstation that you can use for $5/session, or as part of their monthly subscription for playing TTRPGs onsite. Since I play PF2E there several times a week I have that subscription. So I have a place to paint that’s already kitted out with just about anything you could need for mini-painting. (I think they charge extra if you want to add stuff like grass, sand, etc. to the mini, but the primer, paints, sealers, etc. are all included.)
I have two awesome minis arriving soon that are unpainted, so I’m looking for online sites/videos that start from “I know nothing” and work up from there.
Thanks in advance for any and all guidance you can provide!
I’m relatively new, and I’ve gotten a lot better over the course of a couple months.
My top tips:
It’s trite, but true. You aren’t painting for anyone else. Paint a model then move on, improvement is slow and perfection is unattainable.
If you doubt me, just slap some paints on a mini and put it on a table with a handful of unpainted minis. You’ll see how much better the painted one looks and how many more details you can see.
No one will see that tiny bit of blue on wrong spot. Realistically you’ll only really see the top and back of the mini.
When you get to the point of “should I push this orange more yellow” or “is pure white too much here”? The answer is always one more highlight.
You’ll see different painting techniques, try them, worst case you don’t like it, in which case look at tips 1-3
A #1, #0 and #00 brush. You can do fine with just a #1, the other two are bonuses.
Brush soap. It saves your brushes.
A wet pallet.
Paint, but specially a cheap artists white and black in addition to any mini paints. If you want to go crazy a mixing white is good too.
That’s it. Remember it’s fun and looks way cooler than an grey blob on the table. You’ll get better with practice.