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Does it take time or talent?

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  • Gavalaar1980
    SMF Supporters
    • Aug 2020
    • 480

    #61
    Originally posted by Steve Ski
    Howdy, Gavin, great points you brought up.

    Minor correction though, I was taught by a friend how to paint military miniatures from the beginning, but I have no traditional oil paint or art training or study, color theory, etc. The only classes that could possibly qualify for any "training" would be one art class in 10th grade HS, and that was pencil drawing. I fight color tones all the time and that color wheel pegged to my book shelf railing is pretty much there just for looks. I very rarely if ever refer to it, HA! T'sall good, I'm in for a good color tone fight every now and again.:anguished:

    This Sport is all about having fun and enjoying the process, otherwise we'd be mowing the lawn or trimming bushes, right? You've got the basics down very well and just need to keep expanding on what you've learned already, but may I suggest, I would definitely get into some learning from others. All of us stand on the shoulders of the Greats, regardless if it's cars, AC, tanks, ships, or figures. You're going to take some serious leaps forward if you honestly take the time to check out how some go about their craft. If you're happy with how things are going, you're good, but for inspiration I'd take a close look at a few of these pages from Putty&Paint and Planetfgure to see just how far you can take it, if you wanted to. Remember, you'll only be as good as you think you can be, then set about doing the work.

    https://www.puttyandpaint.com/projects/top-projects Pay close attention to the clock when viewing this page, time will go by so fast you'll miss your bed time like I did the other night, HA!
    https://www.planetfigure.com/forums/...ed-figures.50/ I learn from these guys and gals on a daily basis. You could get an equivalent of a 4yr degree by studying this work.


    Tim brings up an excellent point, take what you can use and toss the rest. When you're at the stage you are right now, you won't be needing the bottom down basics, but a refinement of your techniques and skills. Eventually, after you watch enough vids and read enough articles, you'll begin to identify techniques and processes just by looking at someone's work. It's that time invested thing, it becomes second nature.



    Spot on David. Who cares if someone does or doesn't like what I or anybody else does? This is not a job, it's a hobby, spot on! I refer back to one of my dad's favorite sayings, "It's none of your business what you think of me anyway!" Encouraging others and giving a gentle nudge in the right direction with constructive criticism, "if asked", is a safe way to approach it.


    Awesome points, Richard, all of them. Having a seat next to Calvin while he paints must have been a real hoot, excellent! You described me in there very well, color clueless, except I do know how to mix enough oils to get the tone I want. :surprised: Yes, this is all about how far we want to take this Sport. Do we want to push it to the limit or hang loose and go with the flow? Regardless of where we are and where we might want to go, the fun of it, the journey, is to me, the prize. You said it, "enjoy"!


    Excellent, Chris. A common theme I'm seeing, and I'm in total agreement with, btw, is not trying to keep up with the Jones'. Personally, I see some of the work out there and many times I'm in need of a winch to reel my jaw back into socket. It's crazy, but I love it, and that gives me inspiration to improve and learn to manipulate those brushes; tweak em like a killer guitar player cranks his strings. I know I'll never be as good as some of those painters, but who cares? I’m never in competition to beat anybody and we shouldn’t be, it’s a kill-joy, imho. Once again, for me, the journey is the prize.


    P.S. All in jest here, Gents. Just a Yank’s curiosity, but I thought all you Brits were prim and proper, but your punctuation is lacking in some cases. :surprised: I would have had a ruler across the knuckles if ever I tried to pass off a “run-on” sentence, HA! What gives?
    Hi Steve,


    Many thanks for the suggestions regarding Putty & Paint etc, I shall give them a look before I start the next project. And thanks to all the contributors of this thread with your detailed, comprehensive responses.

    Also it's interesting reading the British/American similarities etc. I'm from rural Norfolk in Eastern England too by the way, it's lovely this time of year with the fields all harvested etc, everything takes on a lovely golden hue in the late summer evening sunshine.

    Also, this is off topic by the way, but I had to go to Germany recently for a works training course, and I would just like to say it's definitely worth a visit if you've never been; it's a very interesting country regarding history, culture etc.

    Regards,


    Gavin.

    Comment

    • john hutton
      • Dec 2020
      • 211

      #62
      Hi all, what a great post. Have just spent a very enjoyable hour reading through it. Lots of questions raised and very in depth answers too. Will definitely need to re-read this as there is so much to take in. As for the original question, my own experience has been spending many hours practicing to try to emulate my miniature painting heroes, then whenever I get somewhere close to what I consider acceptable along comes a post on here or other figure site that make me feel like packing away the paints and brushes. But of course the next day I am normally back at the bench... Will probably still be looking for the " hole in one" moment Ten years from now God willing, still loving every smudged eyeball and iffy shadow and skin tone. That is what makes this hobby so incredible, as well as the painters and modelers .

      Comment

      • Steve Ski
        • Jul 2024
        • 222

        #63
        That's pretty awesome John, glad you could join in. There's been a lot of great replies and it's good to see the different ideas. Ya never know till ya ask.
        Originally posted by john hutton
        my own experience has been spending many hours practicing to try to emulate my miniature painting heroes, then whenever I get somewhere close to what I consider acceptable along comes a post on here or other figure site that make me feel like packing away the paints and brushes. But of course the next day I am normally back at the bench...
        I hear ya, John. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the Joneses, we all got em. I think we all try to do our best and many times we feel it falls short, but IMHO, not really, it's always a learning experience. As I was perusing Putty&Paint this morning, as I usually do every morning, I saw Matt Wellhouser's "Road to Carentan" Air Borne vignette.
        This diorama depicts a group of 101st Airborne troopers on the way to Carentan, just after D-Day. it is 1/16 scale. All the figures are by H3 models. The Jeep is by Takom.

        Matt is Master Class, no doubt about that, but what got me is his color tones for the AB uniforms, incredibly spot on, if you ask me. So, what did I do? I looked at my "Embarrassing Moments" dio and what did I see? Woof, the color tones are way off from what they should be. Oh well,................ So ya, I beat myself up all the time, too, but that's how we learn, at least for me it is.

        If I ever reach my personal goal of making figures walk it won't be because of me. No, that's the good Lord doing that, I just hold the brush. So, I'm gonna keep at this as long as I'm still having fun like yourself and still learning. Then again, if the eyes grow dim and hands start to shake I may take up water colors, who know, right?

        Looking at your work, John, you've got wonderful talent I'm sure you paid for by many hours, just like the rest of us. Besides, it's too dang fun to do anything else, right? That Para chaplain is looking very fine, btw.

        Ruck On, Bby!

        Comment

        • john hutton
          • Dec 2020
          • 211

          #64
          As a side note, I have recently been banned from YouTube for " continually breaking hate speech rules". I can assure everybody here that is something I have never done. Of the probably less than 30 posts I have made over time all have either been complementary to model builds or to favorite music tracks that have been posted. The only possible reason I can come up with is that my Avatar has given offence. So Steve has one of my own models "got up and walked" so to speak...Here is what I think could be the culprit.
          Attached Files

          Comment

          • Steve Ski
            • Jul 2024
            • 222

            #65
            Wow, I can relate in a different vain. A young lady I met in the fall liked my work, but when she saw the nazi flag she freaked. I had to explain to this 26yr old that it's called "history". Needless to say it was a waste of breath. So, I'm assuming you were dinked for the same reason. The pendulum is slowly swinging back the other way, so we can hope for saner minds in the future,........hope.

            No Sir, none of my figures have gotten the gumption to get up and hi-dittel'd up the middle, but I'm workin on it. If that ever happens, I'll go back to underwater basket weaving, it's much more relaxing:anguished::smiling5::smiling6:

            P.S. What is your new avatar, John, it's hard to tell?

            Comment

            • john hutton
              • Dec 2020
              • 211

              #66
              Hi Steve,
              So you too have suffered. In all honesty though if it was that Avatar all YouTube needed to do was email a warning and I would have removed it. New Avatar is a cute little Robin sitting on a snowy tree branch. It is a bit small but I will leave it up for now.

              Comment

              • Steve Ski
                • Jul 2024
                • 222

                #67
                Got it, now I see it, dooooooooooee! My eyes were messing with me:anguished: I think you'll be safe,..............

                Comment

                • A_J_Rimmer
                  SMF Supporters
                  • May 2024
                  • 800
                  • Arnold
                  • North Wales

                  #68
                  For someone that is pretty much a complete beginner at figure painting this has been a fascinating read - certainly from my perspective I've nothing to add that hasn't been said by others more experienced than me. Certainly I think investing the time to practice can improve your painting to a decent level, but I do think a bit of artistic talent helps to really push the limits of what can be done.

                  One other thing I can add is it helps to have consistency of practice - or regular practice. My figure painting has been a bit patchy, some here and there with long gaps in between. I painted up some Genestealers for my ancient copy of Space Hulk a good few years ago, and I managed to do some nice blending etc. on the heads which I can't seem to replicate now, as I can't remember how I did it!

                  Use it or Loose it you might say.
                  Arnold Judas Rimmer BSc SSc

                  ''Happiness is a Triple Fried Egg Sandwich with Chilli Sauce and Chutney''

                  Comment

                  • Steve Ski
                    • Jul 2024
                    • 222

                    #69
                    Originally posted by A_J_Rimmer
                    For someone that is pretty much a complete beginner at figure painting this has been a fascinating read - certainly from my perspective I've nothing to add that hasn't been said by others more experienced than me. Certainly I think investing the time to practice can improve your painting to a decent level, but I do think a bit of artistic talent helps to really push the limits of what can be done.

                    One other thing I can add is it helps to have consistency of practice - or regular practice. My figure painting has been a bit patchy, some here and there with long gaps in between. I painted up some Genestealers for my ancient copy of Space Hulk a good few years ago, and I managed to do some nice blending etc. on the heads which I can't seem to replicate now, as I can't remember how I did it!

                    Use it or Loose it you might say.
                    Good points, but like you said, use it or lose it. Every time, and I mean every time I return to painting figures I have to relearn, or warm up just to gete to a comfortable level. There's usually a sacrificial face or figure that gets a few "Oven Cleaner" bathes before I feel comfortable enough to continue on.

                    Keep workin it, Arnold, it'll happen for ya.
                    Originally posted by Lee Drennen
                    Nah fit right in.
                    Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full!

                    Comment

                    • Ian M
                      Administrator
                      • Dec 2008
                      • 18247
                      • Ian
                      • Falster, Denmark

                      #70
                      Can we keep on topic please.
                      Group builds

                      Bismarck

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