(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best art painbrush sets

You could paint them if you'd like. Personally, IMO they are board game pieces rather than actual miniatures like Malifaux or Warmachine (which by the way, aren't really 'expandable miniatures games', they are tabletop miniatures games, but thats pedantics) and painting them is an unecessary hassle for little gain (actually tbh, it seems like it would be detrimental to paint them as the minis come in color-coded plastic for quick n easy recognition on the game board).

Really though, painting is an insignificant financial investment, but a hugely significant time investment, which isn't to say it isn't enjoyable, but there are basically two types of people in this world: Those who enjoy painting minis, and those who dont, and you won't know which one you are until you start painting.

Primer, paint, and brushes is really all you need unless you're trying to paint the sistine chapel of miniatures, and the cash outlay doesn't need to be significant if you're picking up cheap brushes and equipment, but keep in mind the quality of your output will correlate directly to the quality of the equipment and materials you use.

If you are going to go ahead and paint then I would do the following:

1. Pick yourself up two Winsor & Newton Series 7 miniature brushes - http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-series-7-kolinsky-sable-miniature-brushes/
   
   You will want a larger brush for blocking in larger areas of color and a smaller brush for doing fine detail work. I personally use a 2/0 and a 1 but for your needs I would suggest a 0 and a 2 (I primarily paint Infinity/Malifaux/Warmachine minis that often have finer details than what you're dealing with). Also get yourself some brush soap, if you take care of your brushes, they will last longer and give you far better results.
   
   Primer wise, you have a couple options. You can go to walmart or homedepot or equivalent and pick yourself up a can of grey or white (my recommendation, black primer is for more advanced painters IMO) spray primer (most other spray primers dont bond well to plastics so make sure its a recommended plastic primer) for $4. The can should be good for at least 1 copy of the game, possibly 2 or 3 depending on how heavy handed you are and in this case you really dont want to be heavy handed, the heavier you put the primer on the more detail you will obscure, but you absolutely must do this outside (your place will smell for days otherwise, you'll likely feel fairly ill, and you may end up discoloring your furniture/flooring, etc. as the colored dust/mist settles over time). If you go this route, its not critical that you get a full even coat on your minis, in fact I would advise you against even trying for that, and instead settle for a dusting, just enough to give the paint some 'tooth' and adhere to the minis.
   
   Personally, I don't recommend spray primers. I myself run Vallejo Surface Primer through an airbrush, but you're looking at a couple hundred dollars to get set up to do that. Instead what you can do, is buy a third larger paintbrush (in this case I would recommend you get yourself something cheaper than a W&N7, just a cheap synthetic hobby brush like one of these - http://www.amazon.com/Humbrol-AG4050-Coloro-Paint-Brushes/dp/B001JJVT2Y/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1448975726&sr=8-6&keywords=hobby+paintbrush ) and then either buy a bottle of grey/white Vallejo Surface Primer and brush it on (for this you can go for a thin even coat) or a bottle of gesso.
   
   For this (2 W&N brushes, cheap brush soap, one cheap larger brush, bottle of gesso or Vallejo Surface Primer) you're looking at about $40-45. You can cut back on the cost pretty significantly by replacing the W&N7 with cheaper synthetic miniature hobby brushes for $3-5 ea, but in my experience, those brushes dont last very long and they give you shitty results as the fibers tend to deform/fish hook pretty quickly which makes painting details more difficult. Still, it might be a good idea to go that route in your case just to learn some basic technique and brush care, and also to determine if painting is something you actually enjoy, and then you can invest in better brushes later.
   
   Then its just a matter of getting your paint, what you go with is really up to you. The most popular options are:
   
   Citadel - Large color selection/variety, the color range is mostly focused on brighter more vibrant colors which would be ideal for Arcadia Quest, but kinda pricy and everything has silly names. Also the paints are meant for use together as part of a system theyve devised, so the paint formulations are different depending on the color and which sub-range (basecoat, foundation, layer, wash, etc.) its part of. This might be a bit too complex for a total painting noob, but not sure.
   Privateer Press P3 - Much more limited color selection again focusing on brighter and more vibrant colors/hues, I think they are probably better quality and definitely a better value than citadel.
   Vallejo Model Color - Large color selection mostly focused on colors you would find on real world military equipment, so lots of greys,browns, greens, and other muted tones, with the occasional brighter blues, yellows, pinks, etc. The dropper bottles are a lot easier to use IMO than the flip-top bottles of the previous two, but that might be personal preference.
   Vallejo Game Color - Similar to the Model Color in quality, packaging, formulation, etc. but wit the more vibrant colors of the Citadel/P3 lines.
   
   I personally am unfamiliar with the current Citadel line, as I stopped using them shortly before they switched formulas some years ago, these days I mostly use Minitaire (which is a range of airbrush paints) through my airbrush and Vallejo Model Color with the occasional P3 color when I want something with more intense pigmentation or a more colorful palette. For you, I would recommend you try either the Vallejo or the P3 (or both) just to get a feel for it, as well as to figure out what your preferences are, as the two formulations are very different (you will definitely find that one range is thicker or more consistent or easier to work with, etc. than the other is).
   
   There are other paint ranges out there as well such as humbrol, testors, tamiya, coat d'arms, etc. but I would recommend you stay away from those for now as they are all very different paints and definitely for more experiences modelers/painters.

For someone just starting out, quality paper is the most important thing followed by paint and brushes. I recommend shopping online as you'll pay 2-3x more locally (unless you have a Blick store nearby, they usually match their online prices) and you can set your girlfriend up nicely without breaking the bank. I'm not sure what you're looking to spend so I'll try to give you a decent range of options.

Paint

Cotman and Van Gogh are the student versions of professional brands (Winsor Newton & Rembrandt) and the most often suggested for beginners. They come in pans (dried paint blocks you swipe with a wet brush to reactivate) and tubes. Though these are student grade they're both used professionally and very high quality. They're lightfast (won't fade with exposure to sun), use the same pigments that the professional brands do (though with a smaller amount) and are both very reasonably priced. And if she enjoys painting and looks to upgrade in the future, she could pick up the Professional version with minimal relearning how the paint performs (All brands behave a little differently on paper).

Of the two I would suggest Van Gogh as they're extremely vibrant, the pans are very easy to rewet (Cotman pans are difficult to get pigment from in my experience, and for someone learning to paint having to scrub a pan with a brush will be frustrating. The tubes better.) and come in nice compact travel sets that have a built in palette for mixing. The Set of 12 Pans is plenty to start with, you can mix a wide variety of colors from that. The 18 pan + 2 tube set is a great option as well as it gives you a nice variety of warm and cool primaries as well as convenient greens and earth colors, it comes with a small brush and sponge, I'd go with that one. The larger sets of 30-48 aren't necessary as they're mostly colors that are mixed from the single pigment paints included in the smaller sets, but if you think she'd enjoy having a ton of colors available without having to mix those are something you can look at too.

If you wanna ball out a little bit and get her some professional paints, Da Vinci has a ton of pan and tube set options. The 12 Full Pan Set again has everything she'd need getting started. They're as good as any brand out there. The pans are also twice the size of the student brand options and will last a very long time.

There's a ton of great paints out there, I suggest these because they're great value as well as quality and don't include a lot of the weird and rarely used colors you find in a lot of sets. I'd go with pans because they're ready to go as soon as you open them, you don't have to wait for the tube paint to dry for a day or two before you can store it or take it with you, they're very attractive gifts that are nice to look at (if you look on youtube you'll see 100s of videos of people just opening them and showing them off) and you can refill them with your own tube paints later on once you know what you like and start building your own palette. This time of the year there's tons of deals out there so if you find a nice set of Winsor Newton or something on amazon that's a great snag as well. Just avoid "store" brands like Artist's Loft or Masters Touch, or the tons of really cheap chinese sets you'll find online.

Paper

100% Cotton is the way to go. It can handle any technique and can take a ton of water without buckling or falling apart. Even the nicest paint will appear dull on poor watercolor paper and they can't handle much water before they start to give out. It can be a little pricey but it's well worth it. Again there's tons of brands but Arches is the most used and it's excellent so I don't wanna bog you don't with a bunch of brands. You could also grab a 22x30 inch sheet of Arches and tear it into a variety of smaller sheets (this is the most common and frugal way). Cold press is medium textured, Hot Press is smooth and Rough is obvious. Cold press is the most versatile so I'd start there. I don't use sketchbooks but if you're looking for something like that I've heard these are good.

Brushes

Brushes are personal preference, some people only use one for everything and some people like a variety of size and hair types. If you wanna keep it simple a 10 or 12 Round is a good workhorse that can handle small detail and a larger wash. There's sets if you wanna get her a few to see what she likes. Synthetic or a blend is where I'd start as real sable or squirrel is pretty expensive. There's water brushes that aren't "traditional" but are popular for sketching or coloring ink art and are easy to use.

Hope this helps!

This is a good faith c&c, but it’s going to be long, so bare with me. I am only a moderately talented painter, but even I recognize some real issues here.

***

The execution on this looks pretty bad.

Biggest single issue is the thick paint. This paint looks like totally unthinned GW paint, which is gloop out of the pot. You need to work in much thinner layers.

I personally recommend a bottle of Vallejo thinning medium. It mixes in better than water and the cap design is controllable. If you can’t get that try to at least use distilled water that is clean and in a separate pot than your brush water.

This dude needs to get a nice even spray prime, I recommend white or gray. (Money tip: Krylon Colormaster Primer sold at Walmart works fine and is only $5. Make sure you get the primer, not the prime&paint 2-in-1 can) Then layer on the main colors in ~2 separate thin layers before applying some washes, and then finally some highlights.

For the armor, uniform, and skin I would pick out a base color, a wash, and a highlight color. For each section paint your base in 2 thinned coats, wash it, reapply a very thinned original base color to the highlighted areas, mix the base color with the highlight color and reapply that to a smaller area to define the most raised bits, finished off with very gentle applications of the highlight color to the very top areas.

For the boots and pouches just paint them brown, highlight with a brown/skin tone mix, then overwash with a brown or fleshwash to merge the tone together. Easy way to get a leather look. Paint the pouches all brown, don’t make random flaps on them the tan of the body armor. You want to communicate that the armor and pouches are different items.

For the green uniform, a green camoshade or a DIY wash made from a dark green will work. Don’t use a blackwash on it or it will look like soot. On your current wash of the legs there is also pooling down below the back of the knees, this is caused by excess wash on the surface as it dries. You want to avoid this by having a brush move the wash back into the recesses or remove it from the model as the wash dries.

Certain areas should be underpainted. All the silver should be painted black if you primed white/gray. Then you can drybrush/lightly apply silver paint and any areas you miss will be black which makes it look like dark metal. Sometimes I’ll leave fairly sizable gaps of black in silver colored items, it really works to create depth. For metal I’d reapply a black/nuln wash over it as well to really make it darker.

The exposed skin should be underpainted white if you primed black. I would not do facepaint on a helmeted head, it doesn’t read. If you want to do tactical facepaint, a helmetless exposes head. Catachan or Anvil heads.

I generally try to paint from the “inside” out. So I do the button layer like the cloth uniform and get it based and washed, then the body armor, then the pouches. I try to minimize the numbers of touch ups needed on the lower layers. This helps me keep models crisp.

For most of this process you should be using large or medium sized brushes. Save your fine brushes only for when you need them. If you need cheap but good larger brushes, these have worked for me really well: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ARMLLB2?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I also automatically always recommend getting a small jar of Masters Cleaner & Preserver to keep your brushes in good working order. This will save itself in cost easily by saving your brushes. Clean them with this and with cool or running room temp water throughout sessions, do not uses hot water as it can ruin the glue holding the bristles in place.

Catching up on YouTube’s warhammerTV tutorials will be a great help. Even though your guardsmen use a different color scheme, the general principles will remain the same as the guides.

Going to back up here and talk about moldline cleaning. This is a secondary issue but it has to be done before priming. Get a hobby knife and pull the blade over all the plastic seams to get rid of them. These seams become visible problems especially when you start using washes.

I got this question all the time when I worked in an art supply store.

I totally suggest getting paper. When buying paper, you want to look at tooth and poundage. The tooth is the texture of the paper, and most watercolor paper is cold press which means it has a bit of tooth. Hot and cold press are terms you’ll see. Hot is smooth and cold is rough. Think of what an iron does to clothing (takes wrinkles out) and that’s what it does to paper. If she likes to do a lot of fine detail, go for hot press, if more expressive or if you’re unsure, go cold because she’s probably already using that. Now for pounds, this has to do with the thickness of the paper (there’s s reason why but I don’t want to get too nerdy) the bigger the number the thicker the paper. On average watercolor paper comes in 140 lbs. the lowest you want to go is 90, but stick with 140. 300lbs gets to be almost like wood, but amateurs don’t typically go there. Paper comes in ring binders, in blocks, and loose. Go for rings or blocks. If you want to get fancy for books you can get something like this but hard covers aren’t all that necessary. I have a few Canson Montval pads, they’re middle range, Canson XL is student range (read less quality) but cheaper and not awful for beginners. If you get Strathmore go for the 400 series (brown cover not yellow). Blocks are more expensive but they make a lovely gift. Arches is good, get the green one (standard watercolor paper). This also comes loose so if she paints large you could get her a few sheets. If she likes to experiment, you could get her synthetic watercolor paper like Yupo. It comes in white or translucent, and it’s extremely smooth. It’s good for all kinds of wet media.

She will always need paper. You don’t know what paint she uses or brushes, and paper will be much more affordable for you. My suggestion is get her a pad in a size you think she might like and if you want to spend more, give her a gift card to a store like Blick or Jerry’s art-o-Rama, or wherever she shops. That would be a super boss gift :) I hope that helps!

Edit: if you MUST get paint or brushes.... paint I suggest Qor because it’s got a great pigment load… and it’s what I like. Daniel Smith is good also. I know Qor comes in sets which are in little tins that double as palates. I think with Daniel Smith you gotta figure it out. Tell me what she paints and I’ll suggest colors she probably won’t have. These are artists grade paints, so they will have series numbers associated with them depending on how much they cost. Series numbers have to do with the cost of pigment, not quality. Some are more expensive to manufacture so you only pay what you need vs having whole line being costly. Student grade has one cost across the board but they substitute with fillers and don’t contain all the true pigment. You’ll know when it has ‘hue’ in the name. Cadmium Red Hue isn’t made with cadmium, but with a cheaper substitute to look similar. It matters when you mix, and to use hues or not is the preference (and budget) of the artist. The paint I’m suggesting comes in tubes not cakes. If she prefers cakes/pan (the dry stuff) I have friends who like Grumbacher. You may see ‘opaque’ and ‘transparent’ when looking at watercolor. Opaque is often a term used for gouache. Gouache and watercolor share the same binder (what holds it together) so they’re friends and can be used In tandem without issue, but it might not be what she’s used to. Pan sets come in all price ranges. Don’t go for kids sets because frankly the are shit.

If she likes to travel she might like a water brush they have a reservoir for water so you don’t need a cup, just squeeze to make drips or to clean it. There are other brands besides what I listed. Brushes, buy in a set since you don’t know what she needs. Cotman are decent and not expensive for what they are). If you want to have her love you forever go with natural bristle like red sable or black squirrel, but they will NOT be cheap.


Ok, I think that covers a few options

Glad to hear it.

On the inevitable Painting supply questions that will be coming shortly...

Do you plan to paint like the box art for your army? or going to do your own thing?

Paint:

• While Games Workshop paints are pricey per volume, but are great for getting started. Well organized and lots of great resources out there to learn how to paint with them to get results that are close to the box art of your faction.
  
• Vallejo or Army Painter are great alternatives if you don't want a 100% match with the box art style colors. So great if you want to do your own thing. Army painter makes a great starting set with 50 paints at under $2 a bottle. (https://smile.amazon.com/Miniature-Painting-Bonus-Wargamer-Regiment/dp/B01MTXRUUT/)
  
• Wherever you go with for main paint supply... if looking to save time, and arguably improve the finish of your models I highly recommend the colored primers form Army Painter or Game Workshop colored undercoat sprays.
  
  
  Brushes:
  
  
• Regardless of what you get, you'll want some of The Master's Brush Cleaning Soap.
  
• I'm a fan of Zem brushes, they aren't terribly expensive and are a step up from throw aways, while getting close to the higher end Kolinski hair brushes. Synthetic Assortment for Base Coating and Drybrushing Then also get Zem Kolinsky for glazing, shading and detail work.
  
• Others prefer bulk throw away brushes as you can get a fresh tip for every model. Then you don't need to bother with the soap. 50x 10mm throw aways
  
• Games Workshop brushes aren't bad either if you want to stick to the exact Guides. But very expensive for what you get.
  
  Glue:
  
  
• You'll want both Plastic Glue, Super Glue, and some PVA (Elmers Glue).
  
• For Plastic Model assembly, my preferance is Games Workshop Plastic glue, but Testors and Army Painter Plastic Glue have works well too.
  
• Super Glue for Glueing models to the base, or working with resin/extra bits. I'm enjoying how quickly the combination of Army Painter Super Glue and "Magic" kicker are setting.
  
• PVA is used often in decorating your bases with sand/rocks/sprigs of grass.
  
  Model Fixes:
  
  
• Greenstuff and/or Vallejo Plastic Putty can be used to help fill cracks, repair models, and do a bit of kitbashing. So you can customize your models a bit for your own taste or weapon setups.

Nails are SUCH a great source of euphoria once you get it down! Make sure you have a good base coat and top coat. Base coat to let the polish adhere better and to prevent the polish from staining your nail. Top coat to protect all that effort you put into doing your own nails! My fav for both are Seche Vite and Seche Clear. As others have said, wipe off any excess polish on the lip of the bottle. I typically will bring the brush up to about 2 mm to 3 mm from the edge of where the nail meets the skin/cuticle and press down and push up. This fans out the brush head a little and allows you to inch closer to the edges without necessarily touching the skin there. then drag down the length of the nail. Repeat on the 2 flanking sides. Once that's dry, repeat for a 2nd coat. Usually you would have to wait for the polish to dry before putting on a top coat, but the one I linked is great for impatient girls like me because you can put the top coat on while the polish is still wet! It binds with the polish and keeps it strong and the whole thing dries relatively fast too.

I always get some polish on the rest of my finger even though I try really hard not to, its inevitable, (especially when you switch hands to the non-dominant one >__<) so I use a small brush I have from painting art supplies. The thinnest brush (like the ones on the left side), or asmall angle brush used for brows work great. Dip that in some nail polish remover and clean up the sides/excess polish. Voila!

Best of luck girl! You got this!!

PS: Right now my favorite polishes are from KL Polish. I bought a ton of them when my friend said they were going out of business and had a big sale. The colors are great and very long lasting, but the best BEST thing about this polish is the brush. OMG this brush!! It's a nice curved shape that conforms to your nail and makes it a lot easier to get closer to the edges.

Since you asked for C&C:

1. Seams. Very visible seams along the entire length of the fuselage, and the wing roots. Seams along the leading edge of the wings as well.
   
   
2. Decals: From a distance, they look reasonably good, but realistically, in the future, use a gloss coat and decal setting solution like Micro Sol, followed by a flat coat once the decals have set. Some of the decals upon close inspection are silvered, i.e. the clear film of the decal is visible. Ideally, it should not be and simply appear painted on. Those clear film outlines shouldn't be visible. It looks like what you did was apply the decals directly onto the flat paint, which is why that's the case. They also don't look like they're sticking properly, or you're applying gloss (or is that decal film?) only where the decal is being applied, creating localized areas of glossy paint/surface that doesn't look like it belongs on the rest of the model.
   
   
3. Paint is a bit thick on the chin turret, it has visible texture. But I imagine you brush paint, so that's more likely to occur. Thin your paints a bit more next time and be mindful of that, but it doesn't look bad.
   
   
4. There are various splotches on the model (or are those fingerprints from a dusty model that's been handled?), along the tail, and left wing. If they are splotches, try to avoid those next time.
   
   
5. Mask your markings using tape, e.g the triangular "K" on the tail fin. Yes, including the lettering. It takes five or six minutes to draw and cut a mask out of something like a post-it note to use as a stencil, and looks way better. Or since you're brush painting, draw it directly onto the model and just carefully fill in the lines.
   
   
6. Canopy frames are detached from the body of the plane, but I suspect that's because that area has relatively difficult fit.
   
   
7. Canopy frame masking: the turret above the cockpit's frames are messily painted.
   
   
8. Bleeding paint: you can see where the olive green/drab has bled into the lighter gray below, see e.g. the area near the nose cone, just below the pinup drawing.
   
   
9. Looking back at your previous models, I think you need to read up on doing decal work. Plenty of tutorials on youtube.
   
   
10. Use a much smaller brush to freehand your markings. In some cases, I'd say you'd need an 5/0 to 20/0 brush (available at art stores) For example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R9SB3UM/ref=asc_df_B00R9SB3UM5278077/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033&creativeASIN=B00R9SB3UM&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198071540295&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13272101989228897543&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004075&hvtargid=pla-324041884931. I use rounds and liners most frequently, but whatever.
    
    
11. I would skip adding more weathering for now or stuff like that. Focus on getting a perfect, clean build first. Also, I'd recommend something other than Revell USA for your next kit. Consider: https://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-Models-North-American-Mustang/dp/B000LFWIV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511368443&sr=8-1&keywords=Tamiya+p-51D, or Airfix's Spitfire PR.XIX: https://www.amazon.com/Airfix-Supermarine-Spitfire-Airplane-Building/dp/B00BBCO9OE/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1511368490&sr=8-12&keywords=airfix+spitfire
    
    Both have relatively simple paint schemes, and both assemble well.
    
    Not bad overall, but many areas where improvements can be had. Hope that helps! And anyway, have fun.
    

$100 will get you pretty far! obligatory ymmv, a lot of supplies depend on what and how you paint (do you paint large or small? do you paint outside a lot and need a travel kit? and so on), etc, etc, but here is how i would spend the money:

• paints
  
  kuretake gansai tanbi, 36 color set - the best set of watercolors i have used and relatively cheap, the colors are vibrant, mix well, and set beautifully.
  
  
  
• paper
  
  probably where most of the money should go after upgrading your paints. i like the strathmore 500 series and the canson papers for sketching and learning. other higher end brands that are recommended a lot are arches, bee paper, and fluid 100. definitely try out both hot press and cold press, people usually develop a preference but one is not necessarily better than the other.
  
  
• brushes
  
  honestly, brushes are not that important as long as they are not frayed or shedding. i've seen tons of professionals use and recommend this cheap set by grace art. i also like the princeton neptune brushes.
  
  
• extras
  
  if you still have money left, i would suggest trying something cool like metallic and pearlescent paints if it interests you. or use the money towards other mediums if you want to branch out.

>Get a bigger palette.

Thanks, I definitely will :)

>I use a nylon bristled 2" and 1" brush.

Is the nylon not too soft for the oil paint? I guess it doesn't make a huge difference for background work, but I thought I'd ask.

Are there any brushes you use frequently that are missing from the set I found?

>Jerry's Artarama Online

Wow, that's a way better price than other stores I found online. That's awesome, thank you so much! Link for the curious.

>I'm documenting my progress on youtube

I took a look, your paintings look great! I'm excited to get started too, hopefully someday soon. Thanks for all your help!

Everyone touts the W&N line and natural hair brushes but I've been having no problems with my synthetic brushes. You dont need to pay an arm and a leg for brushes if you dont need to, if you are looking for a decent set here is one on amazon for 26 bucks that has a great selection of sizes. Heck a lot of the reviews for this specific set came from warhammer painters. Here is a set with a few more brushes and costs less, reviews seem good too.

You can save up over time for W&N if you want, look up basic brush maintenance and keep your brushes in good shape and you will rarely have issues. In the end the best brushes are the ones that have good quality while being comfortable to use. W&N is just really good quality hair, but I dont find them comfortable to use so it didn't matter.

I paint on my primer due to living in a complex that doesnt allow aerosol paints on site, so I can really help much there, sorry.

Happy painting.

Paints: /u/cajolerisms mentioned Windsor and Newton Winton paints as a solid student grade, and I second that recommendation. You're going to do a bunch of paintings where the limiting factor is skill more than materials, and for those the materials only have to be good, not great. W&N Winton is good paint.

A couple of drops of walnut oil will keep your paints on the palette from drying out for a good long time, a couple of days at least if you seal it in Tupperware and refrigerate it when you're not using it. Thinned with a drying medium they'll still dry to at least tacky to the touch overnight on the canvas, though, unless you really build up a thick impasto layer.

For colors I use a Zorn palette for portraits: ivory black, titanium white, cadmium red medium, and yellow ochre. For everything else, I drop the black and yellow ochre and add in ultramarine blue, cadmium red medium, cadmium yellow medium, and burnt umber. At some point when I'm more experienced I'll probably want a warm / cool palette, and a strong green like sap green for doing landscapes, but for now just the simple chromatic palette works fine.

Brushes: Hog bristle brushes are your workhorse. They're not expensive, either. I have these, these, and these. The first two are better quality but I end up using the long-handled ones most, for the first, like, 75% of each painting. Then I switch to the others for the finishing work. I've got some cheap synthetics and a long-handled watercolor brush - a round size 0 - that I can use for fine details, and when they wear out I'll replace them with some better ones, but I had them lying around already so I put them to work.

Surface: If you want to work on canvas, canvas panels are more economical than stretched canvas. (And I never liked the bounciness of working on stretched canvas; I like having a stiff surface to scrub on.) These and these are, I'm pretty sure, exactly the same panels, just with a different label on the back, and I've been happy with them so far.

Medium: Windsor and Newton Liquin is a solid choice. A good basic medium is half linseed oil / half odorless mineral spirits.

watercolors LINK

we starting to use it in art schools and continue to use them in art academy. they really are good. no need to dig deeper in more expensive, pro watercolors.

fancy watercolors (i personally love them, but really, basically fo fun, mixed media) LINK

watercolor pad LINK

that's my choice. would highly recommend this producer, really great absorption, thick paper, different formats available. anyway, it's really good.

brushes is really very personal choice, depends on technic and such. I like this one LINK great for miniature work. You can look for some squirrel hair brushes in local store orLINK , they are good for starters and for wet painting.

EDIT. fanart sample where all those stuff used at once :P

yeah. i love how a super cheap cheap paint brush becomes a 7 dollar one once you put the word 'detailing' in front of it.

Granted chemical guys are the worst of the worst, but this is one example, Im sure you already get the rest.

btw, I just got a new tire brush for a dollar at dollar tree. It's exactly the same as my previous 8 dollar tire brush. And I found an engine bay brush. I've been searching for one like this for a while, it's just perfect for engine bays although I may use it on my wheels as well. The brush itself is in a circular wire bail that I can bend and flex to fit into tight areas so I can get it behind things, into smaller spaces, etc. The handle's about a foot long which is perfect for reaching in, and the bristles are the perfect density, just soft enough not to scratch any plastics, but firm enough to really get the grease and dirt off. It's the perfect engine bay brush, and I got it for a dollar too. Funny thing is they called it a toilet bowl brush.

1 - Line the parts. Basically a very general rule for miniature painting is that you want there to be a dark line between any two colors, say where a red sash meets a purple dress, there should be a black or black brown line between them, very fine, but noticeable.

You can do this from the start by priming black and then as you paint make sure to leave a black line there. Or go in afterwards with a very fine brush and simply line the parts with dark paint carefully.

2 - Something you can try, prime them white and then instead of base coating them and painting them like you normally would, thin your browns and such down a LOT until they're basically washes and fairly transparent and apply those to the base. This a really simple way to get dark and light areas, you simply re-apply the wash again and again to darken the whole thing if you want it darker, or leave it light if you want it lighter. The image you linked looks like it may have been painted like this, but most likely it's the method yous ay you already tried.

3 - Synthetic brushes all have issues for some reason, you would think a civilization capable of lifting several hundred people into the air with a rocket and a couple wings could figure out how to make fake hair that works somewhat similarly to real hair but apparently we can't.

You might try stuff from this brand but I've not used them personally so I don't know if they're any good.

4 - Take ratios and toss them in the can. Ratios might be great for washes and stuff like that, things where a recipe will actually work. But when it comes to simply painting models, there is no magic ratio. While people recommend "1:1 for base coating" that might be coming from someone who uses thick as hell paints from Vallejo while you could be using pre-thinned paints from Reaper. Every paint is different, often even when they're from the same company there are variances. You need to play with it and find what works for you and stick to it.

Generally I start with about 1:1 and add more water until it's the consistency I want, just add your water or whatever until it's nice and flowy but not so transparent that it'll take 10 coats to get good coverage.

5 - This is too complex to answer in full.
There are so many different ways to paint without washes and really even pros use washes, they just don't use them like new painters do.

But in general, how thin should your paint be when you're doing glazes and such? How thin is a wash? How transparent is a wash? You want your paint about that transparent, maybe a little less, but it depends on the technique, the paint you're using, the effect you want etc. Read tutorials, we have several in the wiki on the sidebar that talk about this subject.

As for how to create shadow without a wash, a real basic way to do it is to just use a dark color, a mid color and a light color and mix between all of those, so like:

black

black+brown

brown

brown+yellow

yellow

6 - Not entirely sure what you're asking here. See above I think?

Hi there! I think Acrylic paints are a great starting point for anyone as they allow experimentation with layers and dry really quickly, in around 10-15mins actually! Here's a small list of starting equipment I think would be best:

• Set of basic acrylic paints containing at least the primary colours. This should be fairly cheap to pick up.
  
  
• A starter pack of half decent paintbrushes. Make sure they're of good quality as fraying brushes are a nightmare for detailing. There are some good sets on Amazon for around £10-£15.
  
  
• A pack painting boards or canvas. Painting on paper with acrylic causes it to warp and curl when it dries so boards or canvas are the best. You can get a pack of 5 quite cheaply.
  
  Other from those basic things there are a few other supplies needed which you may already have such as; jars or cups for water and a ceramic plate or plastic pallet for mixing the paints.
  
  I've included a few links to brushes and things below. Have fun and good luck my friend!
  
  Brushes
  Paints
  Boards

Of COURSE!

I got these little business cards: https://www.amazon.com/Fecedy-100pcs-Blank-Business-Message/dp/B01M9ANM0J/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1524834471&sr=8-3&keywords=business+card+blank

A cheap watercolor and paintbrush set: https://www.amazon.com/Watercolor-Variety-Quality-Brushes-Everything/dp/B01G7KHNWE/ref=pd_sbs_201_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01G7KHNWE&pd_rd_r=BCHHR7BDEC6BWT64H4WC&pd_rd_w=UiU2S&pd_rd_wg=5teXV&psc=1&refRID=BCHHR7BDEC6BWT64H4WC

The watercolors were super easy to use, they blend quite well on the paper cards. I would start with a lighter color and then add a few drops of a dark and smoosh it all together into a big blob. Some of them look better than others, but taken together when they are hung in the clip card holder I have, they look nice.

My sister in law did the writing, she used a brush lettering pen I think. I was going to try and do it, but she has nicer handwriting than me. :)

This set looks really wonderful to me! I'm not an artist, but those reviews could convince even me to give it a try!


I know it isn't relevant to what I linked for you, but I'd love to have this game for my family to play together!

It’s a 9x12 paper, and I used a Pentel Aqua Pen for the little details. It took a lot of patience and letting me not trying to be a perfectionist to work with that brush tho. I’m sure smaller brushes would have worked better.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0017OLHNM/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1525728870&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=pentel+water+brush

Arteza Classic Watercolor Paint, Set of 36 Vibrant Color Cakes, Includes 1 Water Brush Pen (Set of 2 Items) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078X275FV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Tt4EAbQZ92Y65

Watercolors so I can try some new art styles (:

Krytox 205g0 is typically the preferred lube for linear switches. You can get it from switchmod.net, and you'll want some fine tipped paintbrushes like this. Read some lube guides if you've not already, Topclack has a good one or Krelbit (the guy who runs switchmod).

I don't ;-;

The entire thing became super messy.

But

I have a super fine paintbrush that makes things easy to control.

Nothing stops you from learning

Imagine if we would have a WDYWT, but everyone would paint their outfit instead, lol

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D9W6SNS/?cv_ct_id=amzn1.idea.30QJOPDITFI5D&cv_ct_pg=storefront&cv_ct_wn=aip-storefront&ref=exp_cov_taehatypes_dp_vv_d

This is what TaehaTypes has on his amazon storefront, it's what I use as well.

Black paper is gonna be a disappointment, just paint the background black, trust me.

As for beginners sets, is Michaels art store a thing in the UK? They have great beginning sets and always have coupons.

Someone gifted me this set and I liked it a lot. I bought acrylic paints from the seller company and have had no complaints. I'm still kind of a novice myself, but there's my two cents.

i bought these brushes from amazon and they work fine

I use an off brand watercolor kit off of Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G7KHNWE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_5k.Wzb19G4QJ4

Bought it at Michael's, but here's a similar set on Amazon.

Knock: https://www.amazon.com/Wildrider-Layer-Paint-Games-Workshop/dp/B007RSHL2S/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=citadel+red+paint&qid=1565187497&s=gateway&sr=8-4

Yourself: https://www.amazon.com/Games-Workshop-Citadel-Base-Mephiston/dp/B007RHZ9CS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=citadel+red+paint&qid=1565187535&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Out: https://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-Models-Mini-Acrylic-Paint/dp/B0099WQ5O0/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=red+model+paint&qid=1565187638&s=gateway&sr=8-11

https://www.amazon.com/Crafts-ALL-10-Professional-Watercolor/dp/B071WLVR7B/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=model+brushes&qid=1565187660&s=gateway&sr=8-6

www.amazon.it

Look for atossico aquerello

Link here.

Today I learned the word for watercolor in Italian is "acquerello" and the word for non-toxic is "atossico".

I started with synthetic brushes and ended up getting bristle brushes afterward. It's the type that Bob Ross uses. They pick up more paint and are a bit stiffer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N0J37MT

I highly recommend staying away from Turpentine. It's known to sensitize the body resulting in skin reactions such as eczema, difficulty breathing, irreversible kidney damage and even nerve damage.

It's just not worth the risk in my opinion. Check out odorless mineral spirits or terpenoid as a much safer alternative.

CDC Occupational Health guideline for Turpentine:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0648.pdf