Hi Steve,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/completed-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?
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.
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.
