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This may be the best video on mini painting in a while. It's totally spot on and covers probably 99% of us that just paint minis because we love to.

"They always impress people outside of the hobby space" Oh, man. I feel that one.

As someone who is a perfectionist, and literally started painting her first mini yesterday...after watching MANY videos.... Thank you for this. It makes me realize that I might not want to start this hobby off my being to hard on myself and ruin the who point of a hobby. This is SO very appreciated!

i dont do miniature painting but honestly, the message of this video is just a nice reminder no matter what. anything worth doing is worth half assing if the alternative is not doing it at all !!

I had to stop watching mini painting KZfaq for a bit because it felt like I was so far away from being able to use most of the advice I was seeing. Then eventually I got to a place where I'm happy with my skill level. I don't paint to win awards, I paint to make my game table look cool, and I feel like my table looks pretty cool these days. Now I can enjoy those videos for what they are and not beat myself up over it.

You are an inspiration. Staying real and down to earth. We don’t need another “slapchop” video. We just want to have fun in our hobby, and you excite us to do so.

Your no bullshit approach to the hobby is the reason why we keep coming back to your channel! You are the one who taught me to minimize my tremors while painting, to stop being afraid of failure and to accept working at my skill level without comparing myself constantly to professionals. I really appreciate your content and you have helped me a lot on my journey. So thank you!

I've watched a ton of your videos, for a long, long time. One of things I've *always* appreciated and *will* always appreciate; is your integrity. You don't bullshit. You don't fake shit. You just give your take and do what you love. Cheers for authenticity mate.

Was using Goober's video for "slap-chopping" since I had ~500 unpainted D&D minis. This video gave me a couple more tools/ideas for when I get to the Large/Huge/Gargantuan minis, since some of the steps aren't really feasable at Medium or smaller minis. So far I've done nearly 100 since christmas, without having painted minis before, and yeah don't look too close 'cause they're not great, but in a game setting and at that scale they're perfect. Beats the hell out of flat, gray pieces on the gaming board for sure.

As a fellow Winnipeger, I gotta say I take pride that you're from the same frozen wasteland. Your videos got me into Terrain, and then gave me the guts to try mini painting next. Really appreciate the way you talk about painting with normal human language!

This advice is so accurate. I taught mini painting & color theory as part of a teen STEM class last week and they were all worried about details & accuracy at first. Teaching them skills like dry brushing so it "looking good at arm's length is fine" was a game changer for them.

I recently took up D&D, I always wanted a 3D printer, now I have an excuse. I learned some basic techniques from your channel and got to work. 100+ mini's later, I'm feeling pretty good about what I've done. Dude, this video spoke volumes to me, the guys I DM for are blown away each time with the next wave of weird and wonderful enemies. Keep up the good work 👍

I started my mini painting journey by following your beginner playlist. seeing you talk about this is very refreshing, as I am always worried that im "not good enough."

Thank you for being a voice of reason in a hobby that often gets too caught up in dos and don'ts, usses and themses. :) There is a handful of hobby channels I know I will enjoy no matter what the latest video is about, and you have been on that list for a loong time. Not changing anytime soon! Thanks again!

The part of this video that really stuck out to me was, the bit about mixing contrast paints and speed paints on the model. You honestly don't know what is going to work for you until you try. The beauty of uniqueness is that it may work for you and not everyone else. It's about having fun and what YOU want to see, not what everyone else wants to see. Let them chase their preference while you focus on yourself :). Fantastic message here!

I like the incredible artists like Sergio Calvo and Squidmar and the like, but I also really like stuff like this. There's a place for all levels of skill in this hobby!

I love seeing your process of mini painting. Unlike a lot of processes it actually looks achievable for beginners

Oi! don't scare me like that! :-) Outstanding video dude, the big chonker looks pretty dang cool.

Love it! Fantastic advice for painters of ALL skill levels. I've been working on spending LESS time on miniatures and giving myself permission to stop when it's "done enough". It was also cool seeing your scroll past one of our videos :D

thank you for appreciating my work! I hope to keep surprising you. Congratulations for the video, it's great! :D

"It's okay to paint models badly." I've come to the same conclusion after (almost) 25 years in the hobby. And I wish I understood it sooner (much sooner). Those words should be spoken to everyone who play with miniature. Thank for spread them!

I've been painting and model making for almost 25 years. I also teach painting at the local hobby store where I work. The first thing I tell all of the people who come in to learn is exactly what you said, "Mistakes are okay, the most important part of the hobby is to have fun. If you painted a crappy or okay miniature, but had a good time doing it, that's all that matters."

Omg thank you for posting this!!! I was feeling overwhelmed with the "perfection" of mini painting. Makes me feel better to know it's not just me that says it's good enough!

This is what first drew me to your channel ages ago -- empowering people to try, despite the skill level, and to have fun with it anyway. You got me into foam terrain crafting. I've been dreading getting back into mini painting (but I have SO MANY unpainted minis, I feel I need to). This was just the thing to inspire me into action, getting them done, rather than trying for perfection. Thanks again!

Your videos always have a very down-to-earth take on hobby crafting for tabletop. Keep doing what you do!

TRUTH!!! Thank you for speaking it! I tried so hard to paint every mini to a masterpiece and it just resulted in a giant pile of unpainted grey minis, lol. I just recently bought some AP speedpaints and tried the "slap chop" method and Holy crap! I got a whole box of minis painted and they look good!! Why have I been wasting so much time and effort?!? Ain't nobody got time to compete for a golden demon or crystal brush, haha!

This video is why you are one of my favorite painters. You make it seem possible. Yeah, I watch the others too, but sometimes what they do is so awesome that it just seems like I'm not doing a good job. Dry brushing is my favorite way of pretending!

Painters got crazy good during lockdown, definitely easy to get overwhelmed by people showing 80 hours of work in a 10 minute video. I’ve always appreciated how easy it is to apply ideas from these videos into craft builds.

Honestly this is great to hear. I’ve really gotten into painting miniatures recently and I feel like I need to constantly be improving and trying to get professional results. This reminds me of why I even started painting in the first place

You're right. I got too into watching Miniac & Ninjon which led me to watching Jose Davinci, Angel Giraldez etc. I'm going back to watching more of you and the Goobs.

I absolutely love the mentality you and your buddy Brent are down with. The hobby shouldn't only be for the rich or super talented. The more we open ourselves and our loved hobbies the more we are going to get out of them. You guys are doing the work of the gods. Keep it up.

When this started out as a 10 step program I was afraid I would need to sign up for a free webinar or some shit. But instead its a great mini painting tutorial video with the message that really needs to get out there. Have fun. Good job man.

This video was spot on! I think a lot of us get caught up in wanting to be the best mini painter, with the newest technique and best skill set. A lot of beginner painters (myself included) feel like if it’s not equivalent to Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, it’s absolute garbage. But it’s important to remember what the main point of a hobby is: to let us have fun and create something that we can totally call our own! Thank you so so much for the tutorial on speed paints, shading, and most importantly for the reminder to let us have fun with our creations!

Grisaille is what old master oil painters used. I learned it in college (for illustration) using Paynes Grey and White for the underpainting, then glazing color. It was one of my favorite ways to paint on canvas, so I'm likely going to love it on models as well! (Still working on pushing the whites on my underpainting as most of my models are ending up quite dark)

“Permission to suck” is incredibly freeing. Thanks for making this!

It's so refreshing to hear takes like that compared to some professional painters on the big channels ripping appart speedpaints and stuff like that. THANK YOU!

Awesome video, and I agree with pretty much all of it! I'd even say it's required viewing for those who get discouraged! I recently adopted UV craft resin and love it. I didn't have fishing line on hand for drool in a recent project, but did have some thin fiber optic (I put lighting in some models) and it worked about the same.

Thanks Jeremy for this wonderful breakdown of a process that is easy to follow, pushes boundaries for starters and shows what the hobby could be all about! I've been experiencing the same tendency of many of trying to achieve the photo-worthy quality of models I'd seen in Citadel army books, magazines and game shops. It really is all about the fun and intended goal of your own hobby skills, and this reminder (and permission to yourself) is a very freeing message.

This was a great great vid. Wholly agree with the sentiment of this. Its very easy to go down a rabbit hole of Tier 1 grade painting, and then feel frustrated when yours looks nowhere near, and if you dont have literally 50 hours to spend painting 10% of a mini, it just ends up demoralising. Clean simple good looking is all most people are really after.

Bob Ross said it best when he told us "it's your canvas and you can do anything you want with it." ♥

I needed to hear this. I have MS.. and with this last Flair up has made it were how I use to paint , I am not able to paint like that.. so I kinda just stop painting.

I'm not a model painter, but I watched this video to the end. The advice and philosophy is spot on, and applies to all forms of art and craft. Perfection is the enemy of progress. Don't worry about the product not being perfect. Just do the work... and do it again and again. By doing, you will advance and your work will become better.

“…Don’t be caught up in those diminishing returns.” Gold.👌

Great ideas. Small thing: Wet blending is super simple -- in fact during the section you stated "ain't nobody got time for that," you're literally wet blending. So -- yes you do have time for that and it looked great! Good job!

Best painting video ever. How you want to paint for the return you want is so spot on. Everyone does it differently and you have to find the style you like. You don’t have to put 100s of hours into a miniature to put it on the table to play/use it but if that is what you want there in nothing wrong with it. I always say experiment with different things. Painting miniatures is an art and like all art it is the painter who says when it is done and good.

Once again, you make an aspect about this craft feel attainable by the common hobbyist who isn't getting paid to do so. After all the heartache that I've been hearing from WoTC and OGL, it is so refreshing to see one aspect of this hobby still giving me joy. THANK YOU!!!

I'm a tattoo artist and the comments you made about shading first is spot on and exactly how I approach a tattoo 😁

"Don't get caught up in diminishing returns" Man, this one hit home hard.

Always love your mini painting videos, but this one is tops! Yeah: just have fun, get things on the table for friends, and make some badass memories!

1. Glad for a return to “the basics”, feels very classic BMC. 2. Throwing shade at gate keeping clowns. Niceeeeeee.

Hands down the best miniature painting video on KZfaq.

You make amazing artwork. I love your videos

More beginner oriented / friendly content please. Even remaking old videos with updated info or minor changes. Hunting for old content actually takes my kids across newer high skill floor concepts first. Keep bringing the “ you can, and should, just do it” content

I love that attitude: "Who cares, you can do it, it's fine" when it comes to modeling; you can and should do whatever you want 🙂

This is just what about 99% of the painters need. Just have fun and make it as cool as possible. That's why we do the hobby!

as someone who literally started miniature painting this week and has never held a paint brush before I appreciate this video not only was it helpful but its always nice too be reminded how fun the hobby can be and not how bad you are at it

This is one of the major reasons I follow your videos - you're down to earth and encourage those of us who are starting out and/or have little talent. I'm not a pro painter; I never will be - tbh, I don't want to be. But having people like you encourages me to want to paint just for the enjoyment it gives me, not someone else.

I started painting miniatures in 1968, and went to model shops in London to look at the Napoleonic and Empire 54mm figures. These painters encouraged me and gave hints and tips, we worked with enamals and artists oils which can give a beautiful finish, horses look great. The problem was the drying time, dark blue oil takes for ever, so we welcomed the coming of water based paint. However, my painting style varies to what I'm painting at the time. You make some great points in this video and it will help a great many people.

There's perfectionist techniques, then there's stuff like this where it's like Bob Ross tricks to painting happy little trees. I love it!

(Didn't watch video yet.) FINALLY the TRUTH comes out about the esteemed Black Magic Craft! I always knew this day would come.

Very much appreciate the video. I dread painting so much and find it such a barrier to feeling satisfied with crafting. I hope to take your methods here and get painting down to manufacturing-level efficiency. A fun game with minis is more about the story, lore, and mental exercise than about impressing someone with a great paint job. Even having a showcase of miniatures interferes with sorting them by armies and having them all together if you have a lot. I'd just be glad to have most of my regularly used common stuff treated like NPCs and the custom-built stuff can have a little more detail, but their weapons, mounts, armor, and other implements are more important than how they glisten in sunlight.

I gotta say, this has been one of the most fun/entertaining "How to Mini" videos I've watched in a long time. I love watching the "pro painting" vids sure, but I love the message behind this video that it's not about "Superior quality" its about enjoying yourself and having fun.

Painting is a zen experience for me. The pursuit of skill isn't remotely a factor. I like it to look nice, but it doesn't need to be some masterpiece, it's like gardening. I do it for the fulfillment of a finished product at the end, and because I enjoy the path there.

"You can do it. It's fine, trust me. 😎" This video made me feel a lot better about my painting skill and put me at ease hahaha

This is video is so true, especially if you "only" want to get your army "table ready". One thing I found out is, that a simple base (really simple like put glue on a base and dipp it in sand) pushes your table-ready minis even further. I painted my whole Steel Legion Army this way: Sand base coat, metal parts in silver, armor in dark grey, pants in blue, leather parts brown, light tone/dark tone wash - done! And they look awesome!

I love speed painting a bunch of minis at once for DnD. It might not be the best paint jobs out there but shades and dry brushing make your minis look great on the table. And my friends love them and enjoy using them for our sessions, and that's all that matters to me as a painter.

"you are getting stuff done and having a good time doing it and that's all it matters" man - i love that quote i just started mini painting and i have been following your channel for months. love your content

PREACH IT! Thanks for taking the time to make this video and ... so well done! Excellent approach to addressing the subject and encouraging painters at every skill level to keep grinding on and ENJOY the process.

This is my favorite mini painting video. Using oils and epoxys are two steps further than I go, but am glad to see people promoting layman's painting.

"You're gettin' stuff and havin' a good time doing and thats all that matters"- Words to live by.

This is just a good message for anyone who is starting in trying their hand at making anything.

Thank you for posting this video. There is a saying I was told many years ago when I began scale model building and painting miniatures. "Build to your own Satisfaction, and not to the Expectations of others" Which you echo in your video regarding painting as well. I am looking forward to viewing your past and future videos. Thanks again. 👍

One of the useful tricks I've found as a painter is acrylic paint doesn't cure as soon as it touches the model. So if you make a mistake and touch a part of the model that you have already painted if you have a brush already wet you can usually wipe off the mistake if you are quick, within a few seconds, too long and it will start to leave a ring, though sometimes you can still get that off with a bit more work. It is usually much faster than repainting the area, especially if that would require you to do a few layers on it. This works even better with shade/contrast paints with their longer working time. I even sometimes intentionally do this with small nooks and crannies where I've already painted the outer area just paint the inner area not worrying about hitting the outer section and then wipe off the inevitable mistake.

I am a perfectionist and needed to hear this. I shouldn't feel like painting is work. I should paint because I can get immersed in the creativity and fun and make my games more fun.

I am so glad you also noticed that everyone was going for the "optimal, best, easiest" methods and it's just inflated. I really appreciated the OG slapchop video and I now appreciate this one. It makes painting seem so much less daunting.

I am new to this hobby and I must say, this video should be MANDATORY for anyone starting out. Straight to the point and shows that you don't need godly skills in order to do it. Well done, and thank you.

The kind of high-skill painting technique is there for people who have already developed their own proficiency, and look for a challenge and to look _really_ good. They do it for themselves, for their own artistic edification. If you're starting out painting or just want to get to the table, you don't need to feel compelled to match that artistry. There are different skill levels with mini painting, just as with every other skill. The purpose of videos like this is to demonstrate that, even if you're using simple techniques that require low skill, you can still make your models look pretty good.

I love your explanation of the Law of Diminishing Returns. BRILLIANT !

"Dont get caught up in diminishing returns." Great advise on many levels.

You're spot on at the end there. I would love to spend loads of time on miniatures and paint them to the very best of my abilities but I'd never get anything painted that way. It's about finding a level you're comfortable with really

The trick with the thinner is fantastic! Board game minis (which is my focus) don't always need to look 'dirty,' which washes do. This will let me keep some things bright and only keep the shadows dark.

Big fan of the contrast paints and Speedpaints. Remember that even a so-so paintjob looks infinitely better than unpainted grey plastic.

One cool thing I have noticed in the KZfaq mini- and scale-modeling community is just how fast new knowledge has passed around. Everyone is clearly watching each other's videos and comment on the techniques they use and namedrop who they learned it from. One guy references slapchop and it carries around to everyone else. All my favorite youtube modelers share their favorite tricks that they learned from their favorite youtube modelers.

As someone in art school working to become an oil painter, i found a good lot of the times painting minis as a hobby becomes so much like schoolwork with the pressure and mindset ive unintentionally set to paint minis perfectly. For a while building minis felt more fun than the painting itself and the unpainted shame pile grew, recently I took a shot in the dark and bought a bunch of contrast paints and honestly im never going back. Contrast paints, technical paints, airbusing, and sfx paints made mini painting feel more like a fun hobby again than being caught up with having to think about every miniscule detail. If anything it goes hand in hand with my paintings for my classes as being able to loosen up a bit with mini painting also helped me loosen up and not focus too hard about the tiniest details for my large scale canvas paintings! At the end of the day im painting minis to have fun, this video really helped remind me of that! Thanks!

This is an AWESOME video! I get that lots of folks love all the fiddly, “advanced” techniques and mini painting KZfaqrs would, of course, need to show those. It’s their passion, after all, and they need content for their channel. For me, THE GAME, is the focus, not the mini - those are just tools. If I’m making a bookcase, THAT is the focus, not my saws, planers, etc.

Never let perfection get in the way of good enough.

I really love this video, both the explanation of all the steps and the encouragement! I have barely started with the hobby, and while I like it so far and found some helpful videos for getting started, they are indeed very intimidating and I'm getting scared of painting a great miniature too bad so easily, that I'm barely brave enough to start on one. Thank you so much!

As someone who has been mini painting since 2016 I will say this is spot on. I used to fret details and it took forever to paint. Now I do similar and it tends to look similar if not better at times due to not being burned out painting it.

I was completely overwhelmed when I started playing 40K. I had a whole army of Tau staring me down and needed to be table ready. But your tutorials over the years inspired me to give it a try and the simple steps of basecoat, detail, wash, pick out highlights allowed me to batch paint a ton of minis. I found some great rattle cans of close to Desert Tan (a little lighter bc I knew I was gonna wash it in Seraphim Sepia and/or Agrax Earthshade) and sprayed everything down as a base coat. Then I picked out some details I wanted to uniformly highlight (blue and red lights/lenses, metals, burnt orange for rank insignia) and got to work. Then a coat of Seraphim Sepia, and then touch up details and dry brush with a tan that's closer to the desired Desert Tan, and they were good enough! I got enough complements from players that the scheme reminded them of military ACUs that I felt the paint scheme was successful. Later on the Stealth Suits I experimented with adding a stipple pattern of 2 more browns over the top of the tan base similar to the actual ACU pattern and they looked even better! The paint job was sloppy at best, but it didn't matter. I focused my time on steadying my hand for painting details like lenses and metallic elements and accent markings in a somewhat uniform rank insignia fashion, and it looks great from a distance. Yeah, I'm not winning any Golden Demons any time soon, but this sloppy (yet careful) method allowed me to put a lot of paint on a lot of minis in a relatively short time. With that practice under my belt, I've since used the same methods as detailed in your video here to paint up minis for DnD. With the only difference being: paint outwards from the hardest to reach spaces to the easiest. If you're new or don't have a steady hand, this helps immensely with mistakes. It's easier to cover them up with the next layer as you move outwards to easier to access areas. Base coat like that, wash with Agrax if you want shadow, Sepia if you want a dirty look, then go over the highest areas with your original colors to bring back the brightness. Avoid the deepest recesses so you can still get the illusion of shadow. Then paint your details and you're done. Take it to the next level and distract people from your semi-pro paint job with a little basing material and a couple of Woodland Scenic grass tufts and suddenly everyone thinks you're freakin Squidmar Miniatures because they don't know how much technique it takes to paint like those pros. Your point about diminishing returns is 1000% accurate. Get steady enough to paint inside the lines, wash, highlight or drybrush, and then pick out a few details. It'll be table ready in better quality than the prepainted WOTC or Pathfinder minis already, which is good enough for the DnD session.

This video was soooo needed. Thanks for not taking yourself and the hobby too seriously.

Now you say it... i really enjoy putting the gore on models more than "trying" to get perfection.

I think this is good advice for almost any modeling hobby when it comes to painting model kits. Very on point with the "diminishing returns" thing.

LEGEND! My Hubby doesn't usually watch your channel, but he watched this one. Just what he needed to hear instead of stressing about how good a 2 inch tall D&D miniature looks

If the definition of a well painted figure is not how well/cool it looks relative to the individual viewer, it really begs the question what else it could possibly be. Great video!

It's all about having fun with the process no matter what the result. I learn more from my failures than successes. Good job Jeremy.

@6:49 - "you don't have to be particularly perfect ...... it's good enough" - this quote is what I work by. Since I only paint table top/ CMON minis I find there is no point comparing my work to KZfaqrs who, 99% of the time, are painting GW models to a display standard. And the final comments about the ratio of effort : improvement @13:30 are spot on. I stopped painting for over a year when I didn't see much difference between my first minis and my last minis. Then after sorting out my collection I realised my first were pretty damn good so it wasn't a bad level to stick at, considering I paint really slowly and have limited time to allocate towards getting it done.

In the end, the more "bad models" you paint, the more models you paint, and the better and faster you'll get. Even as a professional painter, I still have my own bag of cheats. In the end, just get good at the handful of things you really enjoy painting and have those elements steal the focus from the person watching your toys. The one or two beautiful bit of the model you enjoyed painting will cover up the rest of the low-average part of the model. It also help to paint models that look good in the first place, instead of needing to work hard to make a bad model look decent.

I have never painted a miniature. However, this video is one of the most inspiring videos I have watched in a long time. I think this attitude (diminishing returns, have fun, just do it) can be applied to many of the topics you see on KZfaq, the more hobby and fun oriented the topic the more it likely applies.

Thank you for this video. Some times hearing someone give permission to "suck" and remind us to have fun really takes a lot of pressure off the process.