Jack of Clubs is back with another fantastic hobby read. Check out his 3 big tips to help anyone become a better painter and keep your head in the right place.
It’s a great time to be a wargamer! With games like Warhammer 40k and Age of Sigmar entering an extremely popular phase, and new wargames coming out more and more frequently, it’s a great time to grow your hobby muscles or get into wargaming for the first time.
With a huge resurgence in hobbyists coming back to wargaming, joining for the first time, or people just looking to get better at painting their minis, I thought it was a good time to hand out some hobby philosophy.
Tip #1. Never say, “I’ll never be able to do that…”
This is one of the most important mentalities to break. Even after painting at a high level of skill for almost a decade, I still struggle to keep that thought out of my head when I see amazing works of miniature painting. I see people say this all the time! It’s one of the most limiting mentalities that hobbyists can have. If you tell yourself that you will never be able to do something, then you won’t. Painting miniatures is a hobby, and we all enjoy it, why else would we be here?
As we pursue the hobby we chase that sense of personal pride and satisfaction from painting a great mini, or a whole army, and getting better at executing a great paint scheme is very satisfying. So, why would you tell yourself you cant get better?! Always push yourself to improve, if that is your goal. Personal confidence is very integral to growing knowledge and skill. So if you first believe in your ability to try that new painting technique, master an airbrush, find the next hobby hack, then you will grow in skill, and your sense of satisfaction and pride will grow too.
Tip #2 Never compare your finished work, to others’ work…(with some exceptions)
This tip pairs with Tip #1. Many times when people say, “I’ll never be able to do that…” they are comparing their work, to others’ work. And usually, the work being compared too, is done by people with decades of experience. Here’s the thing, skills can be learned or taught. Experience can’t.
This is why I tell people who watch my tutorials or ask questions on my live stream, never compare your work to others’ work. The best way to learn painting techniques is to practice, and compare each finished mini or test piece to the last one that you painted. Don’t compare your mini to a mini painted by someone with ten or twenty years of painting experience under their belt.
I should clarify, this tip is for people that haven’t quite reached that high level of painting that you see professional painters execute. If you are trying to learn a new technique by following a tutorial, of course, it’s ok to compare what you are doing to that instructional material. I still do this myself! My point is that if you want to paint, say…Imperial Fists. Don’t go looking at crystal brush entries and get discouraged, bc those examples of Imperial Fists are amazing and intimidating.
Set little goals for yourself, get better at painting with yellows, try to execute edge highlights cleaner, paint those little details just a bit nicer. Things like that, and then only compare those finished works, to ones you have done previously. That is the best way to know if you are improving.
Tip #3 Be willing to learn and accept helpful criticism.
This is extremely important. If you want to get better, you have to be willing to learn! Don’t be that person that wants to get better, but never seeks out information to do so. You need to search for the knowledge to grow your skills. This is true in almost all learning pursuits if you don’t know, you ask. Or read, or watch a video, or whatever gets the job done to get you the information you need. As I stated before, this is the best time to be a wargamer and hobbyist. Online resources have never been more plentiful, you can literally find literature and tutorials on anything related to hobby techniques. Youtube, Twitch, Pinterest, Reddit, blogs, the list goes on forever. Get out there and get your learn on!
The second part of this tip is to learn to accept criticism. And this is fairly specific. If you seek feedback on a finished miniature, army, or project. Make what your motives very clear. If you are just displaying a finished mini, as if to say, “Hey I’m proud of this!” then say so. And if people encourage you, great! If they give criticism, fine, if that’s not what you want, mosey along and let it be. Now, if you want criticism or ask for feedback so as to improve. Accept it, if it is genuine criticism. Don’t be that person who asks for feedback, then explodes on the first person to offer it. If someone says, “that sucks lol” obviously not genuine, they can kick rocks. If they say, ” looks great, could use some work on the basing here and there, and maybe some more contrast.” “Try thinning your paints a bit, details are getting lost on the finer areas” etc. Then accept this and use it to learn from.
Hopefully, these bits of painting philosophy can help you in some way. You could be a beginner or a pro, but each tip still applies. If you frequent Spikeybits, then you are fully aware of the wealth of hobby knowledge and learning material here. On, top of this website, there are tons and tons of resources available to us hobbyists. Don’t be afraid to look for it.
If you liked this article, feel free to check out the miniature wargaming community on Twitch. Before I list my own channel, let me provide links to other great painters and teachers. Slowfusegaming, Next Level Painting, Reiner72, & JanuineVision.
And you can catch me four nights a week here, Jack of Clubs Painting. I also create Youtube tutorials as well under Jack of Clubs Painting.
Cover image by OCD creations
About the Author: Wyatt Turk
