5 Tools and Tricks That CHANGED MY LIFE | Miniature Painting

Check out Zoontalis Battle Royale! bit.ly/3dfM6ts
This week we are talking about miniature painting tools & tricks that changed my life! I talk about how to use your wet palette correctly, the best brushes and paints, the best grip for shaking hands, and more!
________________________________
Supplies (some of these may be affiliate links)
Red Grass Games Everlasting Wet Palette: bit.ly/2V8eTUi
Pro Acryl Paint: monumenthobbie...
Scale 75: scale75.com/en...
Fantasy & Game: scale75.com/en...
Vallejo: amzn.to/3BJU2MR
Kimera: scale75usa.com...
Reaper: reapermini.com
Thinner Medium: amzn.to/2lNWNZ2
Glaze Medium amzn.to/2jP4Bcr
Winsor Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Watercolor Brush - Round #1 amzn.to/2n2pQIU
Hobby Holder: gameenvy.net/
________________________________
Popular Videos:
Airbrush Miniature Painting Tips I WISH SOMEONE TOLD ME: • Airbrush Miniature Pai...
The Most BASIC Mini Painting Tips I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME!: • The Most BASIC Mini Pa...
Why You Aren't Miniature Painting (And How to Fix It): • Why You Aren't Miniatu...
________________________________
Instagram: bit.ly/2JJV4MM
Patreon: bit.ly/2LVP0Dn
My Tools: bit.ly/32xq4YI
Merch: bit.ly/3sC38n6
________________________________
00:00 Intro
00:34 Wet Palette & Bad Paint
1:59 The Right Paint For The Right Style
4:27 What Paints Are Right For You?
5:05 Thinning Made Easier
5:28 My #1 Tool: The Hobby Holder
6:30 What Does A Good Brush Look Like?
Lyla Mev The Mini Witch creates beginner miniature painting tutorials and easy-to-understand guides for Warhammer, dungeons & dragons, and more. My favorite things to paint are sisters of battle, display quality miniatures, and focusing on having fun.

[@LylaMev]

What product or trick has changed your life?

[@thomasjones3221]

domed brush from artist opus.

[@LylaMev]

are they really that much better than makeup brushes?

[@anthonymaravola3966]

@@LylaMev They are. While the big makeup brushes are great for drybrushing, both the Artis Opus and the Army Painter brushes do more. They stipple exceptionally well and both give more control and precision with placement. Additionally, when you add the drybrush pad and the texture palette, drybrushing and stippling become a joy.

[@spilbobaggins]

Wet Palette, easily. I never really use it for "keeping paint overnight" but it's really helped me thin it down and see what I'm working with. Also, getting an airbrush was a game-changer for me in terms of priming (no more rattle cans!!!) and doing all sorts of fun stuff with blending / etc.

[@Some-Guy-]

Quality airbrushes. The plural is important - being able to shoot multiple colors in rapid succession is crucial to getting armies onto the table.

[@chemgeektim]

A critical thing for me has been getting and using a really good light. You may think you have good ambient light, but then you get yourself a nice bright hobby light so you can really see what you are doing, and it amazing the details you can see and then paint.

[@LylaMev]

you can NEVER have too many lights

[@JakeDogg-RIP]

💯 I went to my frends to paint a while back and they all around his kitchen table painting… I couldn’t see what I was trying to paint properly coz I used to my desk lamps 😂

[@krzysztofmathews738]

This is the first time I'd seen someone using the handle of a mini holder as a proper reference surface for steadying the work. Very cool!

[@aldazor]

Yeah holy hell, I'd never even considered using it like that.

[@rallyrobx7604]

As new person to the hobby, what else would they be using it for?

[@alexbrown1930]

I just want to say that the biggest detail of your videos is that you do not assume we viewers have mastered everything. Maybe one day I will attempt loaded brush, but your videos are the best explanation of, say, wet blending I have seen.

[@anthonymaravola3966]

Things that changed my hobby life: Wet Palette- when I started, I was using a traditional plastic well palette for everything, and spent so much time keeping my paints in a usable state. The wet palette was a game changer for me. Artis Opus drybrush moisture pad and texture palette. I came to find out that I'd been drybrushing wrong for years. Just like we evolved from flat brushes to makeup brushes, if you use these two items, you learn why the shorter bristled domed brushes give greater results. I can't recommend Byron's tutorials or their products in general enough. Mediums. For everything. Need to thin your paints for the airbrush? Golden Airbrush Medium. Want to have a smooth consistency for your glaze? Liquitex glaze medium. Don't like the glossy finish of inks? Mix them with some Liquitex matte medium. Yes, you can do many of these things with water. But water is a solvent. I weakens the acrylic matrix. Medium, however, is a binder which means the paint holds fast and the matrix is preserved. It allows the pigment to be more uniformly dispersed within it, giving you smoother results from the airbrush or the paint brush. Add a few other additives like flow aid, which I use to wet my brush instead of straight water (not airbrush flow improver, liquitex flow aid) and drying retarder and you can do damn near anything. Good model clippers mold line remover. I swear, I never thought I'd say this. I've been a scale model builder for 30+ years and always just used a hobby knife to remove parts and clean up mold lines. Sure, it worked, but it is so much easier and worry free with better tools. I'm not talking the $80 GodHand model. I use a $30 pair of Tamiya clippers that come to a narrow point and both the Games Workshop mold line tool and the Monument Hobbies scraper and both are welcome additions to my toolbox. No more accidental cuts or gouging of plastic.

[@LylaMev]

Thanks for the list!!!!

[@kerr_b]

Glaze medium is underrated. As well as glazing, using a little bit in paint allows for easy wet blending & layering layers go on very smooth

[@beneisen6982]

I really like the side by side comparison of these different tools and how they affect your painting. Thank you.

[@LylaMev]

I'm glad it was entertaining!

[@isisnmagic1812]

For me it was getting a wet palette and a mini vortex mixer, and now you've explained and shown what a handle with that hook does it's in my to buy list now, thanks heaps.

[@Cliff_the_hobbygeek]

I Gould this video after doing a search for miniature painting with shaky hands. I ordered a Hobby Holder right after I watched the video.

[@pebblesthecat3625]

The best thing for me was having a dedicated area to do my painting. It wasn't this amazing set up with every conceivable gadget and paint ever produced, it was simply a corner of a room, with a small desk, a rack of paints on the wall, and a drawer where all my tools and brushes were kept. No one was allowed near it, and certainly no cats could get to and chew my brushes ! (Before that, and as a teenager with a Saturday job, I had saved to buy 2 Artis opus brushes. Within a week my new rescued kitten had discovered that he liked to chew the bristles of my brushes, including the new Opus brushes ! I was upset for weeks, and all my mum could say was "If you had put them away, he couldn't have got to them - it's your own fault"). Weeks later I had saved up and bought a second hand desk from a charity shop, also was the lamp, the wood for the paint rack was recycled from a set of broken shelves, and my pallet was a single large white tile costing £0.10p from a "seconds" bin at a tile shop, a a box of wet wipes. I used this set up for 10 years and was so happy with it.

[@rodmaia2099]

Finally someone explained to me the purpose of the hook on the miniature holder! Thanks Lyla!

[@dc345601]

Thank you for this! That tip…errr, uhhh… tip? confirmed my suspicion about my “super fine” tipped brush. New brushes have arrived!!

[@kevinwalker3918]

Thanks for the great videos. You cover a wide gambit to elements that go beyond just techniques! Very useful.

[@sulun1658]

Thank you for the time stamps! Not enough hobby KZbinrs add that to tips/tutorials and it really helped me navigate to specific info I actually needed!

[@LylaMev]

Glad it was helpful!

[@amalgamated6448]

I use my pinky to stabilize my hand 😂. Just got a new wet palette, and brushes this weekend. I think it made a big difference!

[@GreyHouseGames]

Thanks for the consistent flow of great painting ideas! Always able to find helpful tidbits in your videos.

[@LylaMev]

Thank you!

[@scottg9224]

I liked the honesty about what brands do each technique well , and then I rewinded it. Proacryl mentioned each time. Solid sneaky advice.

[@LylaMev]

Pro acryl is to notch!

[@MrFahqup]

I'm blind as hell and I like to prime in black, so I use magnified hobby glasses with a built in head lamp. It's super handy to be able to see my mini at 4x zoom under a really bright head lamp.

[@garyslomczynski6579]

I use all natural hair brushes to keep their shape and keep from drying out fast I use hair conditioner found this out in the 80's in fine scale modeler!! Also maintain the plastic guards when not in use!!

[@pebblesthecat3625]

I love how your fury little assistant tries to help you produce the show.

[@FHangya]

that eye detail is top quality... wooow!!! always great to watch your content, thank you so much!!!

[@Sw-nn6le]

You are my hero!! Thank you for the advice!!

[@isisnmagic1812]

Brilliant video, and when the boss meows you have to obey lol.

[@andrewm.9025]

The best thing that my painting has benefited from has been taking solid photos of my minis and studying them. I find it much easier to see areas needing improvement, as minis under a lens look much different.

[@RadioTeal]

I think my cats live to "photo bomb" my videos! 🙂 They just love to be involved in whatever their person is up to!! Thanks for the tips for painting and great videos.

[@Peter-ll7ot]

Had never thought of the idea about a paint journal; I think I'll try that out!

[@LylaMev]

Happy to help!

[@kirbyrawstorne]

Just wanted to say I love all your content, it's great to watch. Discovering Reaper Paints was a game changer for me, especially being in the UK where they're harder to find

[@thattabletopguy]

I used to push paint well past its prime on my palette because I was hung up on "wasting" paint. Once I stopped using miniature game paint and switched to student-quality artist paints, which I can get in tubes of 75 ml for $6 USD, I found it much easier to throw paint out once it expired on the palette, plus it's easier for me to mix different colors up now. I even went as far as picking up bottles of acrylic mediums to mix up my own washes as well. Overall, painting is much more enjoyable now that I can count on the paint to act as I expect it to. The journaling tip was a huge light bulb moment for me - I'm going to start keeping a digital journal in OneNote so I can take before, in-progress, and after pics of my minis and add notes about what I was using.

[@templargfx]

I got a magnifier desk lamp that has an 11" 5x magnifying lens with a ring light around it mounted onto a long double-articulated arm. The viewport is massive and you can just see everything through it in great detail! Its so big I can see my miniature and the wet pallet below so I don't need to look around it to go grab paint off the pallet while painting. I just put it infront of my face and get to painting! It has definitely changed my life when it comes to painting, and it only cost $30

[@chiripitio]

Amazing tips Thanos for Share !!!

[@jammywesty91]

Exemplars hobby handle is my favourite on the market. Being able to use regular bottle caps is great for hotswapping whatever you're working on. My favourite thing for fixing minis in place while painting is glue dots. Great vid mate. Your sound is getting much better by the way!

[@LylaMev]

THANK YOU! I've been working on my sound a lot!

[@brianfoley4328]

Okay...your videos are so good...how good are they? They are so good it's worth subscribing to. Thanks for the techniques.

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@kentellis5384]

Great video! very helpful I look forward to more videos

[@antongunther3977]

Reaper and pro acryl paints are amazing for layering. Though if you are frugal, like me, you can get away with army painter for base coats and than layer with the nicer paints.

[@willsweetin2313]

Loved the vid. Us noobs need all the help we can haha. Much love from CanadaLand

[@cg1370]

If the paint is older I use it on thing like bases and scenery, where the smooth transitions aren't that critical and a little gritty texture doesn't matter .

[@LylaMev]

Smart!

[@SteveSearle]

Nothing to do with painting but your cat made my dog sit up when it spoke to you 😂

[@igelkott255]

I love my Hobby Holder. I use it all the time. I added BBs to the handle to give it a little weight.

[@LylaMev]

Oooo good idea

[@brianahawkins8124]

Beautiful.💖

[@LylaMev]

Thank you!!!

[@brianahawkins8124]

@@LylaMev Yw, I couldn't tell if you were making a OC custom Skylander character. it still looks Awesome!💖👍

[@mikekelley2991]

The Expired Paint section really spoke to me, especially recently since I have been struggling with a certain model for some reason...

[@LylaMev]

Glad it wasn't too obvious 😅😅

[@olloplays]

Better lighting and a magnifier did loads for me 🙌

[@Ulfhrim]

Omg that mini. I needs it. Lol

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Very helpful video. Keep up the good work.

[@rayslover8526]

I backed that game earlier today. It looks super cute. Hopefully it's ready enough for my 7 year old to play, that's mostly why I backed it at the $50 level. And with my 2 - 3d printers I should be able to print out Everton I need easily and super fast.

[@Silvertaurus_]

2:35 While watching I had exactly same 'cat-attention-attack' at this moment 😉

[@JakeDogg-RIP]

So much helpful thanks Lyla 🥰🐶

[@j0lb0t]

As I’m getting into my forties and my near vision is declining, magnifiers on goggles have been a game changer. Now I can still paint.

[@kevinhayes517]

Great tutorial, as always, with lots of excellent and helpful tips for everyone……thanks!

[@shairazieffrim2008]

Mochi is love, mochi is life.

[@jamesonstalanthasyu]

Would you mention any other tools that you use? Like that nifty mini holder,, or the types of blades you have to clean up the extra fiddly bits on a miniature? Sometimes use a magnifyer & light setup?

[@kalosprismatic]

Maybe it wasn't the takeaway you were hoping for, but the breakdown of each line of paints and what they're good for was something I audibly exclaimed, "OH!" I still need to get a handle and wet pallette though.. I gotta get on that..

[@LylaMev]

That was 100% my goal

[@dspartan007]

I bought the army painter starter kit a few months ago, and at that time it was amazing for me, cause I was just using cheap paints until then (12 colors for U$2 in the supermarket). But now, I'm noticing that some techniques that I'm trying to practice, are very difficult for me, and often I found my paint totally liquid in the wet pallet, and in that state is barely usable.

[@LylaMev]

Yeah.... Army painter isn't my favorite...

[@TheGreatDazod]

So I’ve found that you can get great results with any paint brands. That said I come from a traditional art background (painting specifically)and the difference in my experience when it comes to brands is all about the energy it takes to get those results out of that paint, some brands “fight” you harder for different techniques or applications. My experience with Army painter is that it’s an awesome starting place to get into miniature painting especially if you need to build some of those foundational skills and don’t want to spend a lot.

[@LylaMev]

@@TheGreatDazod totally agree

[@AceTaxiaGaming]

@@TheGreatDazod personally I find Citadel a bigger pain in the ass.

[@dlh567]

Army Painter was my first paint I used for a long time. Some of them are good (Matt White and Black, Pure Red, and Crystal Blue come to mind) but I've had better luck with Vallejo on average.

[@MaskedRiderChris]

Oddly enough, I don't have any problems glazing with my Vallejo or P3 paints, so maybe it's just me? Using a wet palette was the biggest game changer for me in the last couple of years, easily--it just makes everything in general so much easier to do. Though I still use a well palette for metallic paints. Discovering mediums like Vallejo Glazing Medium and Thinning Medium has been a boon as well, and Golden Retarder Medium is something I'm getting better about using, I just stick my minis onto shaving cream can lids with double sided foam tape, and it works fine for me. :)

[@1KamaronConClase]

Really nice video! I will take a look at the grip for sure!

[@paulodegenhardt2718]

Danke!

[@funchick202]

I LOVE that little fish dude. the hot pink suits him.

[@LylaMev]

he is so cute!

[@hinge777]

love my hobby holder and wet palette from game envy! they've helped me a lot... now i need some better brushes!

[@OzDawg1333]

MY favorite part of this video had nothing to do with the products and everything to do with mochi wanting to eat plastic in what seems to be a thing every cat owner needs to deal with LOL

[@bluesunrise2323]

the hobby holderr looks like a game changer i have reallllly shaky hands lol

[@gedgedk4929]

top work ty!

[@karmaq8462]

Very cool ! Yep pro acryl is my go to now . I just haven't had success with brushes yet .

[@Kathdath]

I was looking for any tips regarding Army Painter, I just recently bought their full Warpaint annd Speedpaint lines

[@karmaq8462]

I don't really like army painter because you have to thin them down alot and use a wet pallete , with pro acryl you don't have to thin them down as much . Or use a wet pallete .

[@redgrass]

Very cool video!! 🙂

[@LylaMev]

Thank you!

[@ChristopherSmith-dq2xs]

I have noticed a crossover between makeup tools and miniature painting, to the point that I am using glass and diamond nail files, makeup brushes. However I would like to know if this is a good or bad thing?

[@U2QuoZepplin]

I often think about investing in a few of these other brands of paint like K Colour or Greenstuff World. I have a ton of paints already though so it always seems excessive and this hobby ain't cheap (as I'm sure no hobbyist needs telling.) I should get myself a hobby holder too, or two.

[@bronsonbarnhart8085]

What is the Technic/style that makes the minis look like if you touched them you would have chalky fingers? I saw this at a con once and lived the look!

[@SO-ym3zs]

You mention Vallejo, but it's important to note they have different lines with radically different properties: their Model Color range is far thicker than their pre-thinned Model Air paints, for example. Great paints, either way, but they work very differently.

[@rae_of_enfeeblement]

That model is so cute 🥺

[@LylaMev]

I knoooowwww!!!

[@LylaMev]

Axolotls are adorable

[@clubjer]

Great video as always! I'm thinking of getting the Hobby Holder but I'm wondering if it has any weight to it? I'm currently using medicine bottles filled with sand, but I like the idea of the stabilizer arm.

[@michaelhalbert9264]

You know the nice thing about doing minis, you can make them any color you want. I'm doing a B25 and I can't find the correct color it should be, even checked the net---no help at all.

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

Very helpful tips.

[@LylaMev]

Glad it was helpful!

[@theemissary1313]

Like, great video and all, i picked up some useful tips and tricks, but more kitty?

[@teers6258]

Don't think I heard the brand Army Painter in your breakdown. Which category would you put their style?

[@michaelnorton3042]

I love the upside down brush holder! Where do you get that?

[@brunodavid6607]

Very helpful!

[@LylaMev]

Thank you!!

[@alderonsabbet7217]

I have a Army Painter wet palette but I find that my pain either drys to quick or it's like there is too much water in it. How much warmer is best to have in a palette? I just wet the bottom sponge and then just put a bit of water in afterwards. But it seems like one side sometimes has not enough water so paint dries out but the other side has too much and it won't shift.

[@1AngelAlita]

Thinning mediums are great. For some reason youtubers usually thin paints just with water, I don't understand that...

[@frankling.robertsiii6811]

What brand mini holder is that, you are using? This looks like a handy tool I can get behind; especially as I tend to get the shakes after a while…

[@cbpoppet1288]

I also found Apple Barrel brand paints to be good for glazing.

[@LylaMev]

THAT'S GENIUS

[@KingKooba22]

Wet Palette and Hobby Holder made my life 400x easier

[@marcel_schweder-composer]

Great video but I liked most when Kitty sabotages your recording. 😀

[@seanm9036]

I'm sorry if I missed it somewhere but could you point my in the direction of your brush holder/water pot? That thing looks amazing! Great video and thanks for all the tips!

[@LylaMev]

It's the paint puck!

[@seanm9036]

@@LylaMev thank you! Do you recall if it's the "Mug" or "Jar" version? I believe the difference is height of the pot?

[@LylaMev]

I'm not sure, unfortunately! I just bought the one my local game store carried.

[@Lariendel1]

It seems like mine separate a lot on my wet palette. Especially the lighter colors. So I shouldn't use those after they seperate?

[@albertmockel6245]

hands free magnifying glasses FTW

[@m-tron5966]

Which wet pallet are you using?

[@karol30660]

What about keeping the paint from drying too fast? I'm mainly using vallejo and a wet pallete, and sometimes it dries up on my brush in dozen seconds, and I never ever managed a successful wet blend without flooding the area

[@DarkMatters96]

I think you forgot one important trick: to have a naughty cat around. 💙

[@ScytheNoire]

Some brands call pink magenta. :)

[@richardbradley2335]

i use emulsion to paint figs/vehicles.... should i be burnt at the stake ?

[@77refined]

I was wondering , what drives you ?

[@chemgeektim]

Ah Mochi...gotta "help" *grin*

[@LylaMev]

Gotta love that Moch

[@theezekarion164]

((Life Saver!))

[@davidbowman2501]

What is your opinion on P3 paints from Privateer Press?

[@LylaMev]

I have never tried them!

[@xenoterracide]

What brushes are those?

[@Walboro]

My goodness, if I had to restart my miniature painting from scratch again I’d be heartbroken. I’d have to get 1 good sable brush (size 1), a cheap synthetic brush (size 2/3), paint shaker and a Wet palette, can’t do the thing without those now lol! #NotificationSquad

[@LylaMev]

Really, the paint shaker? Why?

[@Walboro]

@@LylaMev I have a weak wrist after an injury years ago, so my vortex shaker is a game-changer to let me paint pain-free.

[@LylaMev]

that makes sense!

[@Nightsbringer1]

Wait. People leave stuff on their wet palette for longer than a single session?

[@ger5956]

Don’t forget to like and comment to appease the almighty algorithm 😁❤️👍🏼

[@LylaMev]

Yes!!

[@thomasjones3221]

an actual mini painting video. thanks. turned out pretty well.

[@LylaMev]

You're always so wonderful. Thanks for helping the algorithm!

[@ch-sqpopay9949]

it can? imo having a good brush is critical for good work...

[@Dragonfire-tn2jg]

For me 3 things, 1. Paint Brand 2. Pro Synthetic brushes sables don't work for me. 3. Cold palette from DR Faust, don't like wet palettes.

[@Some-Guy-]

What synthetics do you like? I'm trying to move away from sable myself

[@Dragonfire-tn2jg]

@@Some-Guy- Pro Synthetic from Monument Hobbies.