You’re NOT Supposed To Be Good At This

[sundancer 44383xp 5]

At least that’s what The Army Painter says in a two part video.

I find these videos quiet relaxing and well made. Especially since they are not only pro painters but also staff from The Army Painter and some random people from the hobby.

What do you thing of these?

[pagan8th 14454xp 3]

I’ve seen them.

When you see pro-painter work it does make you feel inadequate…

But painting is their job and they speed more time on one mini than an average person does on a warband, or even an entire army.

I know it’s not easy to say, because I suck at painting, but if you do one mini you are proud of, consider it a win.

[zoidpinhead 12846xp 3]

Thanks for sharing these.  I really enjoyed the approach and that so many different perspectives.  It was fascinating to me that hobbyists across a broad range of interests and experience still come to broadly the same conclusions about techniques that helped.

A key point to realise is what works best for you.  So knowing yourself is so much more important than knowing a specific technique or approach.  Right now is as bad at painting our miniatures as we will ever be.  Every time we pick up a brush we learn something and get better.  For me, realising that volume of output to a sufficient standard was more important than perfect painting has made such a difference.  I’m so much happier as a painter and I get loads more finished models to play with.

[sundancer 44383xp 3]

Don’t hold yourself to the box/promotional art. Done is better than trying to be perfect. Plus the videos are so relaxed and laid back that it feels like a total 180 compared to many other YouTube videos.

[pagan8th 14454xp 1]

Although I know that I don’t have to paint as well as the box art…

It can put me off buying the miniature if it’s expensive and I know it will look awful. I would really like the Morathi miniature by GW, but I know I couldn’t do it justice (and it was £80 last time I checked… so way above budget) and mistakes on a small mini are more acceptable to me than mistakes on big mini.

[zoidpinhead 12846xp 2]

it feels like a total 180 compared to many other YouTube videos

Indeed.  Perhaps this will signal a change in how some creators present their work, especially on YT.  We certainly need a different direction as the clickbait chasing it getting a bit silly now and it is hard to find reasonable content by genuine hobbyists.

I know I couldn’t do it justice

Knowing yourself is vital.  If you are happy with the limitations you put on yourself then that’s fine.  Personally I find larger models are more approachable than the smaller scales to me these days as the minces are going.  I’d rather paint a big GW Primarch type than the equivalent monetary value of 6mm 😀  Each to their own though, there is no right way to do this, just the way that allows you maximum happiness.

[limburger 22439xp 1]

I think this applies to a lot of arts and crafts we do as a hobby.

It’s only a small percent of folk that get to be so good that they can post tutorial videos about their craft.
And a lot of tutorials really gloss over the very basics, because that stuff is rarely engaging enough for the clicks they need.

Folk rarely if ever show what the ‘average’ looks like within their chosen hobby.
And even rarer do they show their own mistakes (or how to fix them).

[dags 4232xp 1]

I think these are great, and great advise for a lot of newer painters.  Also for not so new I still make mistakes, although I learn more from them now.  The confidence I can fix them has only come in the last few years

[jeffersonpowers 619xp 2]

It’s a trap, hugely perpetuated by social media, to think that you have to be awesome at everything you do — that you’re not allowed to do something you may not be particularly good at, just because you enjoy doing it.

My wife is really into karaoke, so I sometimes find myself in karaoke bars. I don’t have any interest in it myself, but I’m very happy it exists, for people who just want to sing for the enjoyment of it. Most people you see at karaoke aren’t particularly good singers, but they’re clearly having a great time which is so much more important, and often lost in our society that’s so focused on competition and achievement. It should be the same thing with painting.

I do find that I often fall into the trap of “table view vs. close up photograph.” I’ll be perfectly happy with my paint jobs when viewing them at the painting desk or on the table during a game, but when I take a photo to post online, all I can see are the flaws, flaws that I can’t see at all on the actual model. Someone needs to figure out how to make a “table view” Instagram filter…

[grantinvanman 10022xp 2]

I paint to a decent standard, but not since I took a Golden Demon home have I painted to *that level*. That was around 50 hours on ONE model. And worth only a silver 2nd place. That was an all summer project. So many layers… nah, never again.

What’s the point? I can paint at a good pace, with quality results, that will get me a Button once in a while. I’m fine with that.

 

[greyhunter88 1657xp 3]

Speaking of making mistakes, there’s a YouTube channel I like watching called Dr. Faust’s Painting Clinic. He’s not the best painter, and his equipment or set-up are clearly not top-dollar, but what I’ve always loved about his videos is that he will often keep in mistakes. Like he’ll do an entire step, and then come in and say something like “once I layered the other colours I realized that this made it look too muddy, so now I’m going in and changing that original colour”.

Took me a while to realize that was why I liked the channel, was because it felt much more organic and closer to how it feels to actually paint something. It’s true that you don’t really see that too often on some of the bigger channels.

[sundancer 44383xp 1]

Dr. Faust is one of the OG painting youtubers. I’ve been watching and reading him since… like forever. He did have a nice blog back in the day that’s still archived somewhere.

[grantinvanman 10022xp 1]

That’s a name that is a blast from the past for sure! I can picture the little logo for his channel. I was young and hopeful when I first saw his stuff… 👴🏻

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