Just finished a trooper last night I'm feeling like I'm in a bit of a rut with my painting. I started over ten years ago and I feel like I have barely improved.

it took me hours just to get this trooper done, and I'm not even thrilled by how it looks. I've seen guys churning out stuff 10x as fast with better detail, let alone some of those gods posting pics of Vader with blue highlights and all kinds of other perfection. I've watched videos and practiced... I still take forever, still can't dilute my paints properly, still have trouble with washes, still can't avoid graininess, and still can't get an even coat of a paint to appear on a flat surface. I've had these same problems since I started. The most frustrating thing is that I think I even understand what I'm supposed to do in theory, but I just can't get the theory to take hold in reality.

Compared to some Sohei 28mm I did recently, which I'm ok with... but still, the stuff I've seen out there, I just don't see how I can ever even begin to get to the levels of Sorastro and the rest of you guys.

How do you all deal with feelings of inadequacy in a hobby that's supposed to be a source of pleasure and relaxation? I get that my big problem is that I am comparing to others, but how do I get better without comparing, and how do I deal with the inevitable thoughts of "jeese, why do I even bother trying?" that invariably accompanies that comparison? How do I deal with feeling like I am never getting closer to the goal of others' skill?

19 minutes ago, Varulfr said:

Just finished a trooper last night I'm feeling like I'm in a bit of a rut with my painting. I started over ten years ago and I feel like I have barely improved.

it took me hours just to get this trooper done, and I'm not even thrilled by how it looks. I've seen guys churning out stuff 10x as fast with better detail, let alone some of those gods posting pics of Vader with blue highlights and all kinds of other perfection. I've watched videos and practiced... I still take forever, still can't dilute my paints properly, still have trouble with washes, still can't avoid graininess, and still can't get an even coat of a paint to appear on a flat surface. I've had these same problems since I started. The most frustrating thing is that I think I even understand what I'm supposed to do in theory, but I just can't get the theory to take hold in reality.

Compared to some Sohei 28mm I did recently, which I'm ok with... but still, the stuff I've seen out there, I just don't see how I can ever even begin to get to the levels of Sorastro and the rest of you guys.

How do you all deal with feelings of inadequacy in a hobby that's supposed to be a source of pleasure and relaxation? I get that my big problem is that I am comparing to others, but how do I get better without comparing, and how do I deal with the inevitable thoughts of "jeese, why do I even bother trying?" that invariably accompanies that comparison? How do I deal with feeling like I am never getting closer to the goal of others' skill?

Step 1. Isolation - if you can’t see what other people do then you can’t feel bad about it

Step 2. Git Gud - practice as much as possible. Retry like its dark souls.

I really dont see anything wrong with your Storm Trooper. The wash may be a little more than I would like but thats just me as I prefer a shiny white Storm Trooper.

In my personal experience I found that using craft store "Satin" finish paints have yielded the best results for me especially when painting Storm Troopers. Using a 75% paint to 25% water dilution and doing them in an assembly line type process. By the time I finish the coat on Storm Trooper #7, Storm Trooper #1 is ready for the next coat. The "Satin" paints dry with a smooth finish. I rarely ever see a brush stroke when dried. If need be you can thin your washes as well to get a desired effect. It's better to add more detail until you get the desired effect.

This community is an excellent resource for tips and tricks. My opinion is that I got a much more desired effect from the $0.79 - $1.29 paints than I did from the $4.00 - $7.00 paints.

First keep your head up.... ?

Take your time, its not important to paint fast and like god's as Sorastro

Have fun anyway dont look too much what and how others painting there mini's...

Take inspiration and do your own thing,...

Every mini is artwork for me, it takes love and time to paint them

Dont forget that!

Give yourself time ,in art and painting many people are self-critical , its not wrong but to much of it is a killer sometimes...

At the moment I do not many painting, less time, sometimes less motivated, but it will come time , I do paint on free days 8 hours ,... and belive me I am a slow painter ?

I do say I can understand you completely

But Keep in mind not to forget to have fun

Take a timeout if necessary

And like I said every mini is painted with passion ,...

By the way I like your stormy ?

It is like it is

Greets

Andrew

I like what you've painted! Don't be so hard on yourself!

I am definitely not in the upper echelons when it comes to painting; however my goal is "table ready". Maybe adjust your expectations accordingly?

Check out Uncle Atom regarding this topic.

Are you mediocre at your hobby?

I'm definitely mediocre both in painting and in playing.

I think painting comes down to what you want out of it and how much you're willing to put in.

You should get better with time (but sometimes there won't be). Some improvement happens with improved tools as well. Watching others paint to learn skills is a big benefit to growing your ability. If all you want is something you're happy with on a table, who cares what others say. If you want to improve the output, focus on that. This forum is great for asking what others did to try and repeat the finished product. Some of it is trial and error.

I paint because it's really zen for me. I work customer service for a living, and sometimes having a physical thing showing the fruits of my efforts as a hobby is super rewarding. Ultimately it's about making yourself happy and if you want to set benchmarks, do it.

If you want feedback on those troops, they look good. The base coat (or primer) is the most important thing in getting a smooth model. If that isn't coming out right, stop there and try again. Thin paint is important as well. You can go really diluted, but prepare to go for several layers (ultimately still better than one heavy layer).

What got me over the hump was sitting next to a better painter and having them walk me through it. I got lucky to sit down with a golden demon winner at my local store a long time ago and it got me to a good enough level in a few sessions that the online tutorials made more sense and I was able to self teach from there.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the tips and feedback!

I think I do need to figure out a better way of doing the priming coat, as was mentioned above. I have a lot of difficulty spraying because I live in the mountains, dry and cold, so I've been doing brush priming. I find it really inconsistent though, and I'm not sure how to improve on that.

On this trooper I tried brush priming in white, then doing a vallejo dark wash and touch up with white over that. I tried playing around with diluting some wash to see if that would help, but it just darkened all the flat surfaces: when wet it looked great, but it dried terribly and wouldn't even hold the pigment in the crevices. I had to go back over and touch it all up again with directly applied wash only in select spots.

Any advice on brush-priming, as I think that's really been the core of my difficulties here. Also, why is white SO DIFFICULT when it comes to getting a solid coat?

Sometimes we are our own worst critic.

The mini looks good to me. A little rough maybe, but that's were we improve and have fun!

Hit youtube, look at the basics. Don't forget this is a hobby, have fun.

Break down your process.

1. Smooth primer, is it smooth looking and doesn't obscure the details. Your good.

2. Thin your paints, THIN your paints. If it takes you 2 or 3 coats the that's good.

3.Washes are skill in a bottle, and are your friend.

4. Once your done look at it see the art you created! From bare plastic to a work of art.

5. Now comes the critical eye, what can you do better. Is lack of technique? Youtube it, grab some plastic armymen and try it out. You see something new try it out.

6. Practice makes perfect, just paint and you'll develop your skill.

I like the replies everyone has given so far. I have a few questions that may help out:
1.) What primer do you use for brush-on? I use Vallejo gray and brush it on mine. You don't actually need a consistent color of primer across the whole model, you just need at some of it there so the paint binds to it. My primer layer (when brushed on) usually looks splotchy, but it does not matter at all, the paint will hold after that.

2.) Do you use a wet palette? The wet palette is amazing and will keep your paints at a nice consistency, especially if you rub in a little water with the end of your brush. Not only that, your paint will take a significantly longer time to dry out and become grainy.

3.) Videos do help, but really it's all about the time you are willing to spend on a single model. Sure you can get faster, but sometimes you don't need/want to. If your goal is to get faster and also have quality go up, try setting a timer on a batch of troops, such as the standard 7 in legion. Allow yourself about 1-2 hours per mini, and then see if you can find ways that speed up base-coating. Details always take longer, as they should, because it requires smaller brush-strokes that are more carefully placed.

4.) The Vallejo white / light colors do have a tendency to get grainy, even with a wet palette. For these I use a little bit extra for dilution. A good thing to dilute with is distilled water, and it is also common to mix in a drying retardant, such as a matte medium (Vallejo Matte Medium, if you like Vallejo).

Hope this helps.

The only thing I can really tell you is practice, practice, practice. Almost no-one is great right out of the gate. It's taken me 20 years of painting to get where I am and I'm still not as good as some.

As some have said, look up how to do techniques, watch videos, thin your paints and just work on control. Ultimately, you just have to get comfortable with the idea of making mistakes and be happy with the level you can achieve. Challenge yourself to get better but don't expect to master a new technique right out of the gate. And don't rush. Some of us also paint slowly. I'm lucky if I crank out a new mini each month. Don't rush and you'll get there eventually. If you make it into a chore you won't enjoy it.

As someone who also lives where it's cold the majority of the year, the absolute best purchase I've ever made in the mini painting hobby is an air brush. You can get fairly good complete packages for like $80. It really cuts out a lot of the frustrating bits from painting minis.

I'm right there with you friend. I don't think I'm a bad painter, but I am by no means a great one. I buy into Legion to play games. Painting is a means to and end in that regard - I'd like my models to look semi decent on a table. I've even finished painting my Rebel Army, which I may upload at some point, and I thoroughly enjoyed painting them actually. My Imperials however are slow going. I finished my AT-ST which I thought turned out alright. But painting Stormtroopers is monotonous and (for me) difficult. It is the first time I've tried painting minis true to a set colour scheme and not just doing my own (like I have in 40k and LOTR) and I feel like I don't do it justice. (I did stray from this with my Snowtroopers which I pained closer to Imperial Army/Mudtroopers). At the end of the day though, as long as they stand out on the battlefield for me I'm ok, and If my lower quality models are wiping the floor with someone's Golden Demon winning army then all the better.

I think it looks ok?

You have painted a ST better than maybe 60-70 % of people I have seen(not that its a competition).

One of the worst things you can do is take a close up picture of your painted minis...for some reason they highlight every ittle mistake and enhances it a 100 times....whereas just looking at a mini normally dosnt show this.

Also, as strange as it seems as they are just 2 colours, ST are actually a very difficult miniature to paint. You have to either spend hours lining it with black/grey or enter a battle with black wash to make sure its not too heavy.

1. Those are not bad.

2. White is difficult to get right .

3. Don't compare your miniatures to the work of those that paint for a living. Compare them to what they looked like when you started.

4. Not every mini has to be competition-grade. Sometimes it's better to paint to a lower standard than your best to reduce the time it takes to get a playable unit. Painting in assembly line style helps with speed. I've currently got four squads of stormtroopers lined up on my desk.

White is a BEAST when painting anything. This is why I seriously prefer an assembly line method when doing Storm Troopers, Snowtroopers and Scout Troopers. Once again, using thinned down paints and if needed, washes. Doing it this way also helps achieve a consistant look as I am touching all the same areas of my troopers in a timely manner. For me this also seems to cut down how long it takes to complete troopers. (even if it really didn't)

If you want you could always do some outside-the-box paint schemes and make a squad that isn't a full on white armor squad. Once again this community offers a lot of inspiration.

I honestly do a drybrush priming on my miniatures as well as a brush on Matte, Satin or Gloss finish. Due to the climate in my area spray primers and finishes almost always look horrible when dried. That is probably not recommended by anyone else but it works for me.

We are always our own toughest critics and being happy with our final results is a great reward. Yes, I see some amazing stuff in this community and have been inspired by what others have done but I never judge my work by it. My miniatures are table ready and even if I never played a single game simply painting them would have been just as enjoyable.

I would say to not be afraid to take steps back to take them forward. When I've gotten better, I really changed my style and process. And for a while, I was worse. Switching to a wet palette for example took a while to get used to. I definitely had a few models that I just tossed when done trying new things, but after a while I was much better. This was true for changing primers, palette, shading, dry brushing, etc. Give yourself permission to be a beginner all over again. As a side note, I only prime the couple of months a year I can where I live, so I have to plan ahead for the cold winter and humid summer.

Bottom line is, there is ALWAYS going to be someone better than you. So, the best thing to do it not base your skills on others, unless you are learning new techniques. Be happy with what you have painted (yours look fine to me!) but always look to improve in small steps. I have an 'arms length' rule, if it looks fine from an arm's length away then it will look fine on the table. I'm not painting Golden Demon winners, but gaming pieces. Keep that in mind and you will probably be a lot happier with your stuff!

I have to agree with the other posts. Don't set your sights too high. I only try for tabletop quality.

And as mentioned above a few times, thinner is better, especially with primer. Miniatures don't need the primer coating that wood or metal may need. To me primer is there to give the real paint something to stick to. Also, I recommend washing your miniatures before primer.

Your models look lovely. I think you're unfairly comparing yourself to people who do this at a competitive, professional level.

Different levels of expectation are very much a thing - I've been painting longer than you, but if I wanted a stormtrooper to look like that it would probably take me hours, too. I don't take hours on a mini because I don't care if it looks like a realistic person, I go for tabletop quality, not display.

I would also second the suggestion of an airbrush. It can help you get on primer that isn't grainy given your temperature conditions, and it can help get a solid base coat on an entire unit quickly, which saves a ton of time right off the bat. Then, of course, there are more advanced highlighting and things you can get into if you choose.

Your models look **** good to me. You may be a lot better than when you started and just not realize it. But we ALL sometime feel like the last thing we painted sucks and feel frustrated that it’s not better. I am slow. I just accept it and keep going. Stormtroopers make me want to kill myself (not literally). I recently did a set of “quick and dirty” snowtroopers then sat down to put a lot of effort into the second set and I’m 100% sure the quick and dirty ones look better even though they took 1/2 the time. That’s how it is sometimes.

As far as getting better, after you reach a plateau where you are proficient with your basic skills (and you clearly are despite what you say) there’s really only two ways to improve. Volume - paint 1000 more minis until everything you do is second nature. Or, more realistically for a hobby painter not a pro working on commissions, pick ONE THING to work on. Do your model just as you always have but say “this guy I’m working on improving my sense of depth in his face.” Make a mental plan to do that, implement it as well as you can and see how it goes.

If you feel discouraged take a break. We all have those moments.

Nevermind. Leapt before I looked.

On 10/22/2018 at 10:31 AM, Varulfr said:

still can't dilute my paints properly

Give this a watch.

It helped me immensely.

Also, wet pallet

here's another one for you on thinning.