tips for painting miniatures?

[cellio]

A friend came back from Origins, a gaming con, talking about how his niece apparently has a knack for painting "lead" miniatures. (What are they made out of now, pewter?) So they're looking for tips on technique, and they'd be interested in any local contacts in Columbus.

I did some figure-painting back in the 80s and didn't completely suck at it. I learned from friends and from magazine articles. Now I imagine there are good web sites, but I haven't done this in years so I haven't hunted them down. Before I bring the power of Google to bear on my friend's request, I figured I'd ask my friends here for recommendations. I know some of you paint; what sites have useful advice for beginners?

Comments

[cellio]

Thank you! This sounds like excellent advice. (And you're right; I'd never heard #6 either.)

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! More stuff I forgot:

Washes and drybrushing are your friends. Immensely time-saving, and will automagically bring out details
Undercolor is very important -- pigments aren't opaque, so color will vary highly by what you paint over. This can be used to cool effect by doing a thin coat over a sharply highlighted base color (i.e., paint the mini grey with bright white highlights, then do a thin coat of a bright color (green, say) over this).
If you find your paint rubs off, invest in some seal coating/shellac, and put a few washes of it over the finished product; but beware, some brands "fog" the mini and make the colors washed out.
And of course...Never buy more miniatures than you can paint! :P

[cellio]

And of course...Never buy more miniatures than you can paint! :P

Oh, like anyone gets that right! :-)