Tools of the Trade - Beginning to Paint

Everyone is always looking for the best paint brushes, palettes or paints for their miniatures, often looking to professional painters thinking that they should mimic what they use. Sadly this rarely results in a mirror image of said artist.

So what should you use?

Paint Brushes

You cant paint without them, but finding ones that are both of good quality and wont force you to mortgage your house an be difficult. Finding the right brush an be more or less trial and error. Some painters like a brush with longer bristles so that it an hold more paint, while others prefer synthetic over natural hair. The biggest thing I can suggest here is comfort-ability, no sense in buying a brush that you are not happy to be painting with.

Here are some of the more common brushes on the market for miniature painters:

• Raphael Series 8404 Kolinsky Red Sable (my personal favorite brush)
• Winsor Newton Series 7
• Rosemary & Co 
• Ichiban Pro Line & Synthetics
• Broken Toad
• GW/Citadel (Wash Brush is fantastic)
• Army Painter
• Privateer Press (Large Drybrush is my favorite from this line)
• Reaper Master Series

There are probably others, but these are the ones I have used at some point and had some success with. A google search will show you where to purchase if you are not able to locate them in a shop.

Start out with modestly priced brushes, you still get what you pay for and when you buy cheap you are likely going to get cheap results. As I stated above, I general use Raphael's but I have a bunch of Series 7, Broken Toad and Rosemary & Co as well. 

Lastly, another hot topic is brush size. This again will come down to your ability and how well you an control your brush. I paint almost exclusively with a Size 2, with a good tip and a properly maintained brush you don't need to use a 0 or 00 to paint tiny areas. With a larger brush you can quickly go from painting the base color on a large cloak or dragon wing, to dotting the eyes of a miniature. 

Paint

Just like with brushes, there are numerous companies to choose from for paint. For the beginners out there here are some of the choices:

• GW/Citadel 
• Army Painter
• Vallejo (Game & Model Color)
• Vallejo Air (Airbrush Ready Paint)
• Reaper 
• Privateer Press
• Minitaire
• Secret Weapon
• Winsor Newton
• Tamiya
• Scale 75

Again, there are probably more to choose from but that is a good place to start. Each of these lines I have found has certain colors or types of paints that work better than their counter parts. 

Army Painter has a matching system for their color sprays so that you an touch up mistakes, or better highlight your basecoats. GW washes are a fantastic way to shade your miniatures without an overly glossy finish. Vallejo Air is ideal for becoming familiar with consistency (please still thin them a little before use in the airbrush ;) ). Secret Weapon has great technical paints and washes for weathered effects. 

Experiment with all of the ranges, paint an be expensive but well worth the costs if you find what works best for you.

Palette (Wet and Dry)

Wet palettes seem to be all the rage, but I find that is more from the desire for painters wanting to do what the "pros" do. Wet palettes are great, and can be of great help when you are working on blends of color, transitions or just have a large project that may have you taking breaks in between finishing. All a wet palette is doing for you is keeping your paint wet and usable, longer.  

I own a wet palette (Privateer Press sells a great one), but for those just starting out, or anyone who is not in need of one, you just need something to put your paint on! Old CD"s, plastic lids, tile from the hardware store, or as show above small plastic well palettes. 

If you are looking for a wet palette you can check out www.artistsclub.com or www.dickblick.com. There are also some great videos on how to make your own, like this one:

http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-to-wet-palette-20.html

"Pro" Tip

I am no professional, but I will make one plea to all of painters out there. CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES!!!

Make sure that you take care of your tools. Leaving paint in the bristles or leaving your brush in your water cup so that the tip is ruined or curved is horrible.

If you take anything from this post, go out to your local hobby store, or hit up Amazon and get this:

This small investment will keep your brushes working longer and keep money in your pocket for more toys!

If you have any questions let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!