Understanding Brush Control - HC 305 

This has to be the single most useful video I have ever seen regarding miniature hobby painting. I've been painting for over ten years and must have watched hundreds of videos, but I don't think I've seen any of this explained before. Thank you so much.

Another one of those "wish I had seen this 5 years ago" videos. Thanks Vince!

Back when I initially started this hobby in the early 90's, this information would've been heaven-sent. To say that your videos have been instrumental in my enjoyment of a hobby I had long ago abandoned wouldn't be giving you enough credit. I went from completely disgusted with a process i didn't even know enough about to realize I knew nothing about it, to suddenly having my eyes opened, and having access to information that would've kept me painting all these years, had I been privy to it. Over these months of being aware of your channel, you've addressed every headache I ever experienced as a budding miniature painter; every single roadblock to my enjoyment of this hobby has been painstakingly detailed in such a manner as to not only re-kindle my desire to sit down and paint something I have to squint at to see, but also look forward to doing it. Thank you for that.

Seeing that paint go from specs to a pools was so informative. Been struggling with dilution and that one thing alone was such an "ah ha" moment. Thanks!

Thanks for another quality video with some serious food for thought. I'll definitely be taken note. I have Tourettes syndrome and some particularly annoying motor tics but I find a certain zen in mini painting that helps manage it somewhat. Although every so often I can feel a tic coming in and have to move away from the mini lest it look like its been attacked by the cubist movement. Anyhow keep it up, I look forward to the next one.

Thank you, genuinely, for helping me understand how the *hell* glazing even works.

Mind blown. Its this kind of masterclass that keeps me coming back time and again to your tutorials. Thank you

I have been through a lot of youtube channels in my recent journey as a beginner miniature painter. Many are really good, with great artists and great tips, but your content is just above all the rest. So many topics covered, such clear, pragmatic explanations, and all with the right mindset... Thank you. I am glad you now have a patreon so that I can repay you a little for all those free lessons.

Continues to make super helpful "I didn't think about that" videos. Keep on making hobbyists better painters!

Great vid. I love the dogs barking in the background. As someone who has a dog that is motion activated and has to make sure that everyone knows that there is a dog who lives in this house, I feel your pain.

So simple, yet so elusive - until you come along, Vince, and ‘splain it clearly so anyone can understand it.I’m off to practice, practice, practice until I can get it all under control (or at least as close as I ever get). Thanks as always for the excellent guidance and teaching.

I'am so glad you did this video. Being a beginner myself I recognized that I dont't need videos about certain techniques but about the absolute basics of painting like thinning the paint, loading the brush and applying paint to the miniature. This video is great for that. As an addition for your list of criteria for brush control I would add as number 5 the pressure you apply the paint with the brush. You talked about it in the video, but didn't add it to your list. Thanks again for this video!

Thank you Vince. This is low-key one of the best mini painting tutorials on youtube. I don't aspire to be a competition painter or anything, but these brush control techniques have improved my painting hobby so much over the last couple of years! I still have a lot of room for improvement, but it's great to have this knowledge.

I’ve been trying to paint minis for about 2 years now and this 10 minute video has been more help than the untold hours of “tutorials” I’ve consumed elsewhere. Thank you so much for this series, Vince.

“Eating the paint or whatever you do” I feel so called out right now

Thank you Vince, this makes a whole load of videos, just make more sense now! Including some of your Hobby Cheating ones. Please keep giving hints like these, to those of us still trying to catch up, to the range of new skills (and some old) out there. Thanks again, Bat.

I recently got into Warhammer and your videos are a godsend. As much as I love watching Duncan Rhodes painting tutorials, I love how you deep dive into basic techniques, Makes me wish IU found your videos first before I got started with my SM Intercessors. I still have five more marines left to paint and I'm definitely going to use what I learned from you on those models.

Thank you so much for this! Everything here is so valuable as a newbie painter and I didn't realize it was exactly what I needed to see in order to work on improving my skills. Your explanations are clear and concise, absolutely fantastic!

I picked up hobbying about 6 months ago and have spent that entire time searching youtube for the "how to paint minis" tutorial that would cover exactly this stuff. Your channel is a gold mine of the kind of useful beginner stuff other channels (who all mean well and are very lovely!) just seem to assume we already know. "thin your paints" yes, ok sure. but how much? at what point does a thinned paint become a glaze? "be sure to edge highlight" ok, sure! but mine always look super chunky, what gives? thank you so much.

Vince, your videos are the equivalent of a degree in miniature painting. So much content, so many useful tips and information. As a hobby painter, gamer, collector and overall enthusiast I simply can't thank you enough for making these. Sincere congrats because you really help the community with your knowledge.

All hail to Vinci V. the one and only painting technomancer. This is guide is so crazy good and one of the topics I’ve rarely seen covered at all and never in a good way. Thank you Vince - I owe you one :-) In a second note - I was laughing hard when I heard Scott and Jon crack that joke in the podcast… but to hear it applied to this awesome guide “bow”.

This was super useful! I've been thinking about my brush control alot and this helped me solidify what I was feeling and correct things that were off

i had this video on a tab for a few days waiting to be watched. Definetly worth it thank you a lot Vince!

Mini painting video of the year, informative and straight to the point. Tnx 👍

Great vid! I think Trovarion would approve of the message. And Bob Ross appreciate those happy little brushstrokes.

What an excellent breakdown and simplified description with great demonstration. Thank you!

Ive been in painting for a little over a year and wanted to up my game for quite some time. Your videos are great for anyone who wants to up their game and even the long ones are easy to watch. I only recently started watching the channel but it will be on the top of my recommendation list!

Thanks Vince. Have probably watched about 50 hrs of your HC series and product reviews recently as I look to get back into miniatures after a decade absent - they've made a huge difference in terms of my understanding of techniques and my excitement about returning. I cannot truly express what, or how much, that has meant but you have my sincere thanks and utmost respect.

Thank you - these type of short but condensed tipps are really very helpful!

I've watched tons of painting videos and most explain how to get an effect or what to do, but none have ever explained why the paint goes on a certain way. This will help me so much, thank you!

Thanks Vince. This has been exactly what I was looking for. You’re the best!

Love to see more videos like this, about the mechanics of painting! Way more useful than "layer this specific shade, then THIS specific shade". Great stuff!

Thank you for this video! It's fascinating how often with miniatures painting we forget about the basics. I was painting several months and then realized I might just not do the basic techniques right, including the brush strokes. So Invested three weeks into experimenting with different techniques on a flat plasticard. It really helped me to connect to the medium in a better way and helped my miniature quality.

Thanks a ton for this. I have heard people talk about brush control and improving it since I started painting years ago, but nobody ever bothered to go into detail about exactly what that entailed. It basically just felt like "get better n00b." This gives target points for intentional practice. Huge props, as always.

Hi Vince, I just wanted to say this is hands down the best explanation of brush technique I've come across. Understanding the rationale for what you do is so useful in trying to improve. Much appreciated.

Just starting with mini painting ant this GEM of a video is packed with useful info. Great job. Thank you.

Fantastic video. Simplicity, is the ultimate sophistication.

This is probably the most important video I've seen since I started painting.

What a great video! Concise, excellent examples - I’m always impressed with your videos Vince!

Awesome video. It shows why I love painting so much. We edge highlight so extremely differently but but both are effective. I prefer a 20/liner w no additional moisture (proacryl thinness) for edges. I think not fighting the paint dry was the biggest hurdle for me and edge highlighting. Opacity and moisture + brush control = joy. Great job. I am giving you an award on reddit in my mind. Platinum baby.

Getting into my first steps of mini painting in my mid thirties, and love your videos. They are advanced but always helpful even for the beginning painter. I am glad to see that I have developed some of what you describe in a natural way watching your videos. Next mini will be trying feathering!

Very very detailed tutorial, thanks Vince.

Thank you so much for demoing brush control and not just talking about it, this is so helpful!!

Yup, most useful video yet. Can’t wait to try out all of this!

Brilliant as always, thanks Vince!

Thank you so much for the video, Vincent. Too many times I've heard people say "you need brush control", but none of them ever went into any detail about it. This was very informative and educational.

Like a lot of people have already said, thank you for taking the time to explain this stuff. I love your videos generally, but my favourites are the ones like this that actually explain some of the theory of painting and teach people how to improve the basic techniques. A lot of other hobbyist videos tend to just tell you 'glaze this' 'feather that' without actually explaining or showing what the paint and brush needs to look like. I'm going to try putting a lot more thought into how I use my brushes after watching this video. Probably explains why I've struggled with techniques like wetblending and feathering so much.

How did you know that I have been thinking about my brush control recently?!?!? But seriously, surely a master class from a master!

It is that time of the week again. Love how in-depth, informative, and your delivery in your videos. I've definitely shied away from the larger brushes but have started to follow your advice; it is definitely surprising to see how much control you can have with seemingly too large a brush. It is great to see the up-close action shots. Theory is great and all but seeing it in action is a whole other ball game. Keep up the amazing work and super bummed I didn't win one of painted models by you. Maybe next year.

I think that brush control and proper tip of the brush are very underappreciated skills to use. I struggle with the proper angles and sustaining the tip. Thanks for the video Vince!

This is the video I need as a beginner! All beginners need to watch this! Well done Vince!

Wow Vince you hit the nail! Very good video about one of the most important topics that is rarely explained. That's the video I'll suggest every beginner to watch. Thanks

Exactly! My main brush for the last several months now has been a Princeton #3 that I've found does me just fine (though it appears the point is going on it already, sad to say). This was a great video that I will be referring to in the future as a refresher course. One must never forget the basics. Thank you, Vince!

Vince you are awesome! Thank you very much! This was extremely helpful - saved it on my paint techniques playlist

Great example of how to control. I've heard a lot of people talk about control but never seen someone demonstrate it. Thanks!

That was super educational....great advice presented very clearly!

Thank you so much! I was just thinking this morning about these issues.

Thanks to you I am a better painter today than I was yesterday!

I was literally just tonight fretting about my lack of brush control and inability to pull off fine lines. I definitely think I need to choke up a bit, I don’t know that I ever do that. While watching videos isn’t some miracle cure, I appreciate it SO much that you take the time to offer it. 🙏

These are the kinds of vids I wish I had when I started, core basics that are not explained that well and yes you learn as your paint but this video gave me a better understanding of why n how

This explained brush control so well! Thank you!

Damn, this is probably the most informative video you have ever done and that is saying a lot!! You should really consider teaching people brush control in a class setting, especially for newbies. Thank you so much!

This is a fantastic video, and I think a lot more could be discussed about this subject. I think knowing how to use the brush is what keeps a lot of us in beginner territory. When I see people that are actually artists like yourself and other top painters, you guys will move the brush in all sorts of directions with different lengths of strokes going from a long swipe, to a tapping, to short deliberately swipes or scratches. Me on the other hand, I just tend to swipe in long strokes like you did while base coating. Sometimes I'll try to imitate artists by tapping at certain things or using shorter strokes, but I'm fairly sure I'm not doing it at the right time for the right reasons. I'd be very interested in learning more about this.

A very good video on brush control.

Cheers for this, oddly enough I was painting something earlier today and berating myself once again for not being more mindful about brush control - decide to hop onto youtube to see what's new and lo and behold this is the first vid that pops up! I never fail to learn something new when I watch your vids...it mightn't immediately translate to my painting practices but I'm sure it's all floating around in my skull somewhere waiting to click into place. Until then I'll keep watching and soaking up the know-how ;) Thank You!

Thank you so much I will need to practice all of this and has answered some of my questions I had , why some times I cant get the paint of the brush the way I want to.

Ave Vince! Yet another awesome video! You the man!

GR8 info! Thanks Vince!

I've been looking for this videos, is what I need the most right now

Thanks Vince, another video covering an interesting area of the hobby

Vince! Thanks a lot for this and many, many, many other useful videos. In addition to being informative, they're also very inspirational. Oh and I couldn't agree more with the below comments about how your videos would've been heaven-sent back in the 90's. Much appreciate your style and to-the-point instructions, without all the usual youtuber half-assed comedy baked into it. Keep up the good work! A question about airbrushing (asking here since I figured you may not see comments on very old videos): I get a lot of dripping from the nozzle, i.e. paint pouring out into the little round protective front piece (you know the ones which helps you avoid piercing yourself with the tip of the needle - done that a few times, ouch!). This only happens after some 5+ minutes of using the same paint. This makes it messy, and also more complicated to clean. (I use your method with the squeezy bottle, backwash and dump in a cup, but I find I have to do perhaps 5-6 washes, instead of 2, and I usually need remove the needle between every paint.) Also: in your airbrush cleaning video, you mix 10-12 drops of airbrush medium with 2 drops of paint. Now, on the backside of the Vallejo airbrush medium bottle, I read: mix 2 drops of medium to 10 drops of paint! I'm confused!

Awesome. Thank you Vince 👍

Thanks this was super useful. Seems like it would be something basic but it's rarely addressed by the majority of hobby youtubers.

Awesome tips! Thank you Vince!

Thank you for sharing Vince :) have a good weekend.

This is gold. Thank you Vince. Rock on sir!

Awesome!!! Crazy value here!

You are a legend, I love your videos and this has concreted for me that you are a great teacher, for months now I have been unsuccessfully searching for this information as I recognised that my roadblock was my brush control but there is very little out there, please can we have more videos that are like this that focus indepth on the motor skills to build up our skills and specifically some excercises on paper and then on models with the common shapes we see. Also some tips on how to tackle those insanely small details that festoon GW's modern Sculpts (Bladeguard and chaos Marines I am looking at you! for example the small chains, crosses etc hanging from their belts that as much as I take my time and try to be neat I end up putting paint exactly where I do not want to and then spend way to much time going back and forth to cleanup only to then get paint on another area-repeat ad Neaseum!) This is content we in the hobby desperately need more of as I feel we are hitting the saturation point of how to paint X videos, how to NMM or blending etc that are great IF you have the brush skills to be able to pull off those steps especially when due to covid a lot of people have started the hobby or returned and their only guide is youtube and because many do not go to their FLGS anymore to paint and learn from others first hand, infact my two FLGS do not even have painting tables and do not run any classes so my only option to grow is self teaching via youtube currently. This kind of knowledge is absolutely fundamental but for some reason has just not been covered or tutorialised, maybe exactly because it is so fundamental if you already know it and learned it so many years ago it is hard to actually teach this to newcomers.

Thanks so much for this, fantastic tutorial, really well explained.

Yes! Fundamental painting education!! Like jolt cola for the grey matter!

Great Video! I haven't painted since 94ish, and recently decided to try out painting miniatures again. Wanting to make sure I don't start with bad habits, and found your channel! you definitely have earn a subscriber! thank you for your time and knowledge!

Thank you, Vince! Always learning from you!

I'm just about to start painting miniatures and found this great video. Really helpful

super Vince trick and skill! thanx to sharing

Nice video. Thanks, Vince.

Now that's the ultimate useful video!!

Great video, very helpfull. Thanks Vince!

Super helpful! Many thanks for this video!!!

As a newbie this was so informative! More by good luck than good management I am using some of these techniques, but I didn’t know why!

This sort of stuff is really helpful thanks VV

Thank you so much for this excellent advice!

I never don't learn when I watch your videos! Great video today, as always, and thanks for doing what you do

Great video! Especially to recommend to newcomers to the hobby!

Brilliant video!

excellent expert explanation!

Never thought of any of that. Thanks again.

I just thought about it yesterday, thank you !

Thanks for the wise words, im guilty of some of the pit falls you mentioned and have flayed many a brush by not using correctly

What a fucking amazing video, Vince. Really fills in the blanks of why my blends weren't working

Thank you, really helpful as I try to improve.