"Are good painters generally also artistic in other ways?" Topic

I'm just wondering (for no reason other than curiosity) if those amongst us who would be regarded as good figure painters are also good at other artistic pursuits such as drawing and painting pictures?

On the one hand, miniature figure painting is a kind of 'painting by numbers', as the actual "drawing" is done for you by the sculptor. The skill is in not going over the lines, just like in 2D pictures!

But on the other hand, an artistic eye might be required to go beyond mere blocks of colour to include shading and highlighting and so on.

Maybe it would be great to have a poll to see if good painters are also good drawers. Maybe not artists in the sense of Van Gogh or Picasso, but the type of people who when someone sees you draw something, they say, "Gee, I wish I could draw like that".

It would be interesting to find out what percentage of 3D figure painters are generally artistic, against those who consider themselves totally un-artistic in 2D.

Well I'm not a great painter but my ability to put pen to paper is truely dismal compared to my painting ability.

I guess not all artistic abilities are the same. I've even managed to sculpt one or two things but that is where my abilities end.

Jeremey
www.germy.co.uk

pretty good at both, also used to do tattoo designs.

I've got an Art 'O' level. I guess my painting is of about the same quality ('O' stands for Ordinary)!

Hello Scurv, I was just thinking we hadn't heard from you in a while.

Several of the good figure painters I know are also very good at drawing. Same is true of the good sculptors I know.

I can "paint by numbers", does that count?

I consider myself to be basically average, though my friends all say I'm really good.

I dont really like 2D art. I'm ok at it I guess, but I really prefer to work in 3D. I like to work with metal,stone, clay and wood

I've been drawing all my life and studied illustration. I was okay at comic book illustration and came up with a great technique using pencil, markers and pastels.
Airbrush illustration was my strong point but back in the analog days it was a pain in the butt so I didnt do it too much. I made a few bucks freelance doing it. Mostly line art, I was never good at paintings with the occassional watercolor, but who cant do those!

How does it translate into mini painting? You are used to color theory and working with paints. May have a better grasp of balance and what looks good. But thats just an advantage in starting out.

I can't draw enough to win at Pictionary!

Well...I'm a watercolourist and fiber artist in real life. I can't draw my way out of a wet paper bag but I'm good with texture and colour. My minis are all right I suppose....

I just paint miniatures. Some of the people I game with are artists. Scuplture and illustration. One has even had her work in Art Shows. BG

I question whether or not I might be considered a "good" painter (it's all relative!), but I'll put in my two cents. I took 3 years worth of art classes in high school, the result of which being that I'm not too terrible at drawing something if I've got it sitting right in front of me. Ask me to draw something out of my imagination or off the top of my head, however, and things get ugly. Figuratively and literally. :)

I have to agree with Rogcollectibles. The most important things I was able to carry over from my art classes into mini painting have been the "theoretical" stuff, rather than techniques. Stuff like color theory, organization of various parts of a composition (for dioramas and such), possibly more open-mindedness toward using "non-conventional" tools in mini painting, etc.

I am a decent figure painter. Otherwise, artistic talent is nil.

-Michael

I'm a fairly good painter...won some contests, etc.

BUT, I am not artistic...definitely more left brain.

I'm a decent figure painter (although my standards have declined a lot since getting into wargaming) but can't do much else well. I can draw crudely, and the largest canvas my 2d painting looks good on is 25mm standard! I sculpt miniatures a bit -- cartoony but that's not a bad thing anymore.

So for me at least painting figures has not translated into any other art skills. My brother can draw pretty well and had some art classes as a kid but never got as good as me at figures. My sister got interested in painting figures briefly and was not bad for the simple reason that she chose very good color schemes ... painting with her actually taught me a lot. I think the awful truth may be that _anyone_ with a desire can paint figures pretty well. The award-winners must also have some talent or skill but I think anyone can paint to a wargames standard, for instance.

I am a good painter. Very good, no. As far as things like drawing, the best I can do is to fill an inside straight once and awhile.

I do believe that many techniques can be learned but most of us plateau out at a certain stage and then find a few incremental changes over time to keep it interesting. The one thing that cannot be transferred is creativity and that separates the excellent from the very good. That same creativity can be harnessed with training to make people excel in several related disciplines.

Just my thoughts. Care to cut the deck?

I think that most of the good painters are good at drawing. That scares me because my drawing is not good.
Ramiro

I'm a good mini painter, but abyssmal at any kind of 2D art. I'm good with color mixing and shading but that's the extent of it. FYI my ex wife had a BFA and was in several shows with her water colors and acrylics but could not paint a mini to save her life. I think it has something to do with how your brain works with your hands.
Peter

I am a good figure painter and a very gifted blues harmonica player.

I like to think of myself as a fair to middlingly good minis painter -- I'm also a reasonably good landscape painter, cartoonist and computer graphics artist. And along with that I'm a philosopher. The only thing I don't do is music or dance -- that's my sister got all those genes.

I can finger paint

OK mini painter.

OK artist.

3 years of college drawing, painting, and sculpting classes.

All, to very little avail. ;-)

Ok, at the risk of sounding like I'm pretentious...

I studied art and design at Chelsea School of Art for my Diploma and fine art at the Byam Shaw School of art for my degree. I have been part of numerous exhibitions and have had two one man shows at the University of Ulster in Coleraine Northern Ireland.

I'm a Member of the Society for art of Imagination and am exhibiting with them in thier touring Brave Destiny Exhibition which is currently in Washington and will later go on the Miami. So, yeah I'm good artistically in other ways.

Nick Hook.

Nick, how do you feel your experience as an artist has helped with mini painting? Has it made it easier or better? Do you use artists colors for painting figs?

Rog,

Yes I would say that it has helped in that I know how to mix colours with a fair degree of certainty. Techniques like drybrushing in mini painting are fairly similar to regular painting- drybrushing is called scumbleing.

I use Daler Acrylics for both my gallery paintings and my minis. I'm sure that over the years at artschool I developed the steady hand that I have.

I'd say the real benefit of art is in my conversions, I've created many Gigeresque choas beasts!

OK Figure painter...

Crappy artist...

Good Violinst...

Nuff said.

I'm a decent figure painter but lack in any other type of artistic abilites. I am good at manipulating shapes, sizes and areas. I design computer chips and spacial relationships are extremely important. I think artistic abilities are based on how ones brain works with a combination of life experiances.

-TJ

Nick - I still find those who can really draw to be most impressive. On my first visit to the British Museum, still can't figure out what was more impressive nall the exhibits or the fellow who calmly, and quickly did the most incredible pen and ink sketch of a statue there. Pen and ink is most impressive since an unbroken line is beyond me. Also would rather confess in public to what mental conditions I'm being treated for than to admit at what age I could finally draw a recognizably human figure.

i am old and weak ! this year is am 43. i didn't do "IT" enough to go blind, but i do have to wear glasses. bifocals, too ! it is really hard to see these damn small people things. i keep to simple designs, and lots of blocks of colors. i can do a little shading, but ( lucky for me ) i seem to really like the bold colors. red shirt, red pants, black boots, nothing there to shade of blend. my skins get shading.

. . . and my fingers don't always go where i tell them to go. i would paint more, if i could find the free time. as soon as the kids are in bed and the house is quiet, i am tired, too. caffine helps, but i end up with slight trembles, so mini painting isn't the best thing to do at the end of the day. if it is a quiet saturday morning, i can paint, the morning light in the kitchen is perfect. other art: i paint my minis the same way i do all my art projects, bold and blocky. almost cartoon style, in the sense that everything gets a black outline and i like a limited number of colors. i am satisfied what what i do in the way of art. i also like to write, both fiction and non-fiction, and i know my way around a wood shop. none of my "skills" has really been much of a help in any other area, the cartoons haven't really helped with 3D figures. as for music, the only thing musical i can play is a CD player !

Won paintin comps in Newcastle, Manchester, Reading and plenty others. Can't draw a stick man tho'. The sculptor is the artist, I just fill 'em in. Can't play an instrument either.

People who have not seen good minis are impressed by mine, but not even small children are impressed by my drawings. But then again, maybe if I had spent all those hours practising drawing instead of minipainting I'd be fairly good at that. I think it works the other way though, I have several friends who are good at drawing/painting that picked up minipainting in a fraction of the time it took me.