Wonderful video! I've painted for 39 years. My wife, 9. Your general concept of embracing the familiar and the real vs. chasing new shiny is spot on for both of us. Nice job.
Reference photos! I learned this in 7th grade art class back in 1970 and have never given it much thought since it's just been what I do for both models and minis. Great to call it out. I also fought the paint pot of the week battle for over a year (and took the associated hit to the wallet). A month back, I watched a vid on using craft paints (blasphemy) and picked up Testor's Craft line in a 36 bottle range. And it was an "et voilà!" moment - they provide excellent opacity, consistent pigmentation, consistent viscosity, easily mixed, easily thinned, work with brushes and airbrushes, and $29 for 36, 2oz bottles. At my current thinning rate, I suspect that these 2oz bottles will each become 5oz to 6oz of usable paints.
A line attributed to George Lucas when shown a Apple Mac mock up for a background, 'Good enough is good enough'. If you are not painting for competition or display, this is what everyone should remember. Plus I believe that in the early days the GW 'Eavy Metal team only painted the front of the models because that was all that was seen in the photos so for most games the back detail isn't important as you are the only one who would see it - actually love to see that in an official GW tournament. Great video.
Thanks so much, Lyla and kitties! This was super helpful, because something that was sometimes a stumbling block for me was feeling like I needed to paint every model to a competition-ready level when they just need to be ready for the tabletop. So your demonstration of different techniques and emphases depending on context (gameplay, social media, competition) was super helpful, especially since a lot of twenty-minute painting tutorials on RU-vid don't always take into account that their techniques need to be viable for someone's attention span across a unit of at least ten models, in some cases dozens of them. Comparing myself to established painters on social media has sometimes had its uses when I'm looking for reference photos but has more often than not simply made me feel like I'm not doing enough. So this video was a blessing to see, particularly for its focus (no matter your skill level and no matter which specific context you're painting for) on honing and mastering the fundamentals until you feel comfortable enough to experiment with them, and it was very much appreciated. Blessings!
Just the video I needed today. Getting out of personal habits and painting mentally and physically. So you video helped feed my mental side and off to paint for the physical.
Recently I've gotten more invested in one line of paint, and I can attest to how much of a difference that makes in simply knowing how everything will work together. Great video!
I love your advice about finding a paint line you like and stick with it. Thats exactly what I did. I had so many brands. So I bought an Army Pinter Mega Set, and gave everything else away. 🙂
Another basic that some people skip is that it also pays to organize your workspace before (à la mise en place). Setting up the tools, brushes, and paints you're going to use, in order of use or how frequently you need it, really speeds up the session.
Huh, funny you say that...half of the time I just plunge in headfirst and start doing it and things just happen quickly because I'm not overthinking it. I also know my Vallejo and P3 paints well enough by now I can afford to do that. It's when I start to thinking "Hey, what am I doing here and how am I gonna DO this," is when it slows down for me. Really enjoyable and informative video as usual, Miss Lyla!
I’m such a big fan of painting from reference! I mostly paint dnd minis, and have been focusing on monsters. I like looking at photos of real life animals to understand texture, form, and basic colors, and at fantasy art to get inspired for the overall color pallet and lighting.
All my paints are organized, by my process is not. That's the hardest thing for me (especially since im distracted easily) I've never heard of recipe keeping before. I've always just used reference photos and gone on my own thing. I tried and failed nmm (it looks like stone) but need a recipe to follow. I have a lot of skin recipes, so I'll be sure to put them down! Ty so much!❤
Great video, I actually did a lecture at my old animation uni on a similar topic a few years back. Procedure, workflow and knowing where to focus your effort is such an important part of building speed and efficiency in your work, but I often see newer artists focus too much on only the act of drawing/painting to the neglect of everything else. It's really hard to physically just paint mini's faster, but so much we can do with workflow and preparation to help us get us get our plastic painted.
Great video Lyla 🖌💜😺!!! The tip about reference is so important!!! Glad to see you saying it, as I see almost no one else talking about reference in the mini painting sphere, despite, like you said, it being the absolute default in every other form of art education and so important for all forms of art!!! Good stuff ✨
And now I have the terrifying image of a group of Termagants who discovered Red Bull in my mind.... Thanks, Lyla! Loved the video and the sentiment. Speed is more about reps and knowing what you're good at and what corners you can cut depending on the result you want than it is using whichever brand of contrast style paints are new this week.
I love the idea of “pick one technique to focus on and stick with that,” but I get stuck in a choice paralysis of “which one do I pick?” There are a hundred different ways to paint and all of them say they’re the best.
Simple solution for painting Warhammer 40K miniatures. If you paint everyone in the colors of the Alpha Legion then you save money on paint supplies. Don't buy into all the gimmicky paints, we are all Alpharius.
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! New content from Lyla Mev! Never seen a cat that peaceful! Please more videos about non metallic metal and advices to mix the colors.
Regarding the "Master your arsenal" bit? I cannot master wet blending. It is my achille's heel technique, and I just cannot get it to work. What I can do is layering and drybrushing. There have been times when someone asks me what brand airbrush I use, and I say "Size 20/0 round, sable hair..." You master a technique, and I mean, truly master it, you can get results that people will not believe are from such basic techniques.
