"Your take on artistic expression for figure painting?" Topic

I recently saw one of the fantasy miniature painting channels on YouTube put out his latest video. In it, he lamented all of the people migrating to using Speed Paints, Contrast Paints, and Dip'ing, because we were abandoning the pursuit of learning higher painting skills. I've been expecting such a video for more than a year, and one of them finally posted one.

Side Bar: If everyone adopts the faster, easier, simpler painting techniques, it may negatively impact their viewership/income on YouTube. I get it. They make money ($ – $$$?) off of their channel, and the videos they post. If people opt for the simpler, faster, easier techniques, their channels may wane, and become like Dodo Birds -- extinct. I get it. Now, back to my poll and discussion topic…

I've watched high-end miniature painting channels, for several years, now. I noticed how the majority of these YouTuber's have silently switched from painting 28mm figures, to 32mm, 54mm, and larger figures -- they are easier to paint to a higher, more artistic level. I found that subtle, sly, and a bit deceitful, to be honest.

These videographers all claim to be gamers, and I don't doubt it. They eschew high-end painting, which they obviously enjoy, and to which they have developed some serious talent in their chosen art form.

Then, there are gamers like me…

I paint to play. I paint armies. I paint in assembly line fashion, using block colors. I brush on The Dip Technique, followed by a matte clear coat. I want my miniatures to look acceptable at 3-5 feet, on the tabletop, which is where I view them, 99-and-44/100% of the time. I have more than a dozen separate racial armies which I play games with, which are fully painted; I have other armies within my painting queue, but I literally have 12+ painted, ready for the tabletop, armies: not one army I've been painting for three years, and it just became obsolete per the manufacturer's latest rules update/change -- this is a real situation, posted on YouTube by another gamer…

So, where do you fall into the figure painting spectrum?

A) Primed, or Bare, I don't care.

B) Any paint, beyond primer, will suffice.

C) Basic block painting -- they're markers, but I prefer some color.

D) Basic block painting, followed by some form of shading: Black Wash (paint + water); Magic Wash (clear acrylic floor shine + acrylic paint); The Dip Technique with/without matte dull coat; other, similar, but high-speed, simple techniques. These were commonly referred to as Army Painters, or Good Enough to Game With (GEtGW) style.

E) Speed Paints/Contrast Paints + Zenithal priming.

F) Oil painting (requires custom thinning/blending) for better/easier blending (normally takes a few days to fully dry, w/o applying heat).

G) High End Painting, the higher the quality, the better, I spend hours painting individual miniature figures.

H) Other, fill in the blank, please, category.

My hope is that Dear Editor Bill and Staff will see fit to make this a poll, so members can answer it anonymously, without fear of being "outed" as being something less than a stellar, high-end, artistic figure painter. I feel there is some snobbery when it comes to painting figures for wargaming. LOL! Cheers!

"C" for me. Painting is a necessary evil. I generally do not enjoy it.

It seems that I now have to add something new to my list of things to worry about. 😄

I paint for myself, and want to get good looking figures, but as quickly as possible. So, Contrast Painting, and equivalent, followed by "normal" block painting for hair, straps, reins, etc.
it's just a matter of Old Dog (painting since 1975) and New Tricks.
My first New Trick was Uncle Duke's Heritage acrylics. This was a step up from Pactra and Testor's.
I also paint UNITS, not a single piece at a time. 🤷

D, though I'm starting to use Speed/Contrast paints

I sed to be 'C', but I was pressured to go to 'D'. I agree with the OP, I paint to get troops on the table and looking ok at normal viewing distances.

I think there are stages between E and F, which is probably where I go. Again, can get fantastic results starting from D and adding more details

I do take issue with the title/premise

There's a lot to be learned from the "artistic world" that doesn't result in a specific technique – for instance color selection and the effect of light direction on highlighting and shading

There are two problems with Yoo Tubers

(1) They have to produce videos regularly to make money. So saying something stupid or controversial gets them clicks, as does raving about the latest paint/brushes, whatever

(2) Most of them are idiots with good brush skills

I do enjoy Marco Frissoni. If you want to see how an artistic approach can improve miniature painting, his videos are great. Be warned, he is an excitable fellow, and I always want to rush out and buy new paints after watching his stuff.

I have dabbled with oil painting. It's fantastic for some effects and great for blending, but time consuming.

John

There must be something between high-end and competition painters. Competition painting is almost a different thing altogether where capturing light effects is the focus. The display is the purpose as opposed to tabletop management.

D.

D+ E-

I think F & G should be reversed. If you've ever seen some of the stuff done with oils by Georgios Galazoulas on some of the Facebook groups, it's pretty remarkable. Not sure how that would translate to painting large units, but for a few figures it's certainly beautiful and probably time consuming.

I think a more interesting topic/exercise would focus on what level gamers think their painting is as compared to what other gamers think. Over the last few years there seems to be a rising lack of self awareness by many gamers about how good their painting and/or games look.

D for the squaddies, G for the big brass

Squaddies

coolminiornot.com/456560

Big Brass

coolminiornot.com/456567

D for the bulk of my troops. A little more detail for the commanders. I have experimented with contrast type paints but with too much invested in regular hobby paints, I don't want to spend hundreds more on tons of these type of paints.

I'm in the D range.

I paint the eyes and facial hair on my 10mm figures.
So I'm in the I category. I is for Insane.

C, D or F, depending on scale and level of enthusiasm at the time. I like to do >=28mm horses in oils, for example, but my 15/18mm figures are C's. I'm painting for me (and the occasional "Not too bad, mate!" from the blokes I game with), not some self-licking ice-cream on Tool Tube.

I paint 15mm only. D for me.

ROFL! Love the comments!

jwebster:

There are two problems with Yoo Tubers

(1) They have to produce videos regularly to make money. So saying something stupid or controversial gets them clicks, as does raving about the latest paint/brushes, whatever

(2) Most of them are idiots with good brush skills

Pure gold for humor -- and truth…

aegiscg47:

I think a more interesting topic/exercise would focus on what level gamers think their painting is as compared to what other gamers think. Over the last few years there seems to be a rising lack of self awareness by many gamers about how good their painting and/or games look.

Based on what I've seen/read/viewed on gaming forums, and YouTube videos, those of us in the A-D range, often believe we're at the low (detestable, to be honest, per some comments and videos…) end of the spectrum. The vocal minority seem to eschew (very loudly!) that figures should (most certainly!) be painted to the higher end, towards the painting competition level. Well, that is how the vocal minority come across.

The unwashed masses (myself included) of figure painting gamers are primarily silent -- this is what prompted me to post this topic. I suspect that the largest majority of game-playing figure painters are actually more on the A-D end of the spectrum, but there is no accurate way to gauge this, outside of a completely unscientific, totally unreliable, farce of a poll, such as this one. LOL!

Thanks! Cheers!

To aegiscg47's point, I've received accolades for my figure painting, from my gaming buddies, for 2+ decades (almost 3!). My painting style has been frozen since around 1997: I've not changed, improved, or gotten worse (Dear God, NO, Sir!). I might have improved in efficiency, a bit, but that is all. I have 12+ armies consisting of typically 40-250 figures each, all painted to the same standard, so I rely heavily upon the idea that, "Quantity has a quality all its own…"

I remember that in my early days in the hobby, I did simple block painting, followed by a black wash of acrylic paint and water. My friends were genuinely struggling to believe that I achieved such decent results so simply, at such an early stage of painting. They still struggle to believe I achieve my decent results in an average of 10 minutes of brush time, per figure. Assembly line painting will turn your mind to mush after a couple of hours, but it is incredibly efficient and effective, when coupled with The Dip Technique (brushed on, not dunked)! Like I said, "Quantity has a quality all its own." My armies all have the same painting style, so they blend well together, on the tabletop. That helps the quantity quality, as the whole table has the same overall appearance, so it all gels together nicely.

I consider my painting skills to be pretty much on the shallow end of the spectrum: fast, efficient, effective, at 3-5 feet viewing distance, only, which is all I care about. Cheers!

Another thing about yoo toob

They are primarily targeting games workshop players. Many of those figures are now designed to be quick to paint with contrast paints, washes, drybrushing and so on. They are also so expensive that it is more reasonable to take more time

John

C/D

Sometimes I use an ink wash, sometimes I don't.

As expen$ive as minis are, I paint them to as high a standard as I can (the bigger they are, the more detailing they get), mainly because I don't want to go back years later and repaint them again. And, I'm not out to impress others, I'm doing it for me… ;-)

I am somewhere in the C/D/E spectrum.
I have just started with contrast paints and find they work well for me.

After 40 or so years of painting I know that I do not have the talent or the patience to paint at a high level. I am happy with my results and agree with Sgt Slag that if all your figures are painted to the same quality level that does give the game a consistent look that I find pleasing.

I have heard that the best way to define wargames painters is just two categories. Enthusiastic or Talented. I am definitely in the enthusiastic group :)

H I paint to please myself. I don't use "speed painting" or contrast paints, I'm not too keen on the look.
If I'm happy with how a figure looks then it's OK.

F&G I paint my horses with oils and also Artists Acrylics, and high-end painting on the figures. I save time on doing 5 to 6 figures at a time. I originally started painting 75mm & 90 mm figures, so I brought those techniques to my wargame figures. I've won a few painting awards and I quit entering contests at conventions back in the late 80's. It's the only way I paint, so it takes me longer but it's part of the hobby I enjoy doing.

Some D and E. I love washes and use GW, Army Painter, my own, oil washes and more. I use an airbrush when needed and lots of acrylic inks. I'm also an army painting guy. I love painting. One of my favorite things to do in life. I do not use highlights except for a couple of figs. I paint to a solid wargaming standard. My wife does much more than that and is a much better painter than me. She has painted up Darkest africa Foundry armies, Samurai, 15mm Russians for the Crimean war and more. Great woman!

Thanks,

John

D to E. Depends what I'm working on ?

C/D, depends how bothered I am. I don't paint enough stuff these days to justify learning how to use speed paints, although I'm sure paint manufacturers would be very happy to sell me complete sets of paints I don't need. When figures are on the table, all that matters is that they are vaguely the right colour, you actually notice the bases far more. It is very easy to ruin a great paint job with a lousy base.

C-D for me. And anything other than a flat base adds immensely to the overall effect.

C – D+ for me. Ships are mostly C now (used to do wash & highlights on those too be can't be bothered now), 6mm mostly C with some D. 10mm D and 15mm d – D+.
Tried contrast paint but, as I mostly do 10mm now, it isn't really much quicker than block/wash/highlight, though I'd imagine it is in larger scales.

C to D as well.

D when I painted figures.

I tend to be more of a G except when I need a lot of stuff in a hurry. Then it is a base coat, a wash, maybe some highlights and a matte varnish.

TBH, I do not consider the "spectrum" as continuous.
I find Contrast paints superb for face flesh, and horses.
However, they are too garish for 18th C uniform coats. Nor, can they do straps. Contrast White on a dark color, Contrast or "other" does not work. So I must resort to "block" (🙄) painting for straps. Or packs.
I'm not a museum quality painter, but I'm not ashamed to put my stuff on the table. There's no "Oh, well. At least he tried" comments.
There are many tools in the toolbox, and a hammer doesn't work for everything.