Advice for Miniature Painters no one tells you - An alternative beginners guide

[@52Miniatures]

Check out Infinity Operation Sandtrap here: store.corvusbelli.com/en/infinity/wargame/miniatures/operation-sandtrap

[@philthymofo]

The best painting advice I ever got was - if you want to get better at painting - just paint.

[@capnskustomworks]

Absolutely! Good to keep in mind!

[@jimbusher5895]

Love this. The painting miniatures world is so full of “the only way to” and “how you should be” hyperbole which restricts creativity and exploration. Thank you for explaining, provoking and encouraging us all to try

[@Dark_Burner]

I loved the video, as usual! ❤ The video is definitely different than typical "start here" videos, but in a good way. Something else to share with new hobbyists is that some people never really find a "style". I have been in the hobby (off and on) for 40+ years, and I still have not decided how I want to paint. I just kind of put paint where I think it should go, like a paint-by-numbers. I have seen videos with undercoating with colour, or using a sketchy style. I cannot seem to get out of my head to use these new techniques. Having said all this, I enjoy the hobby immensely, and I try to do it 4+ times per week. The enjoyment factor usually outweighs the lack of confidence I have in my work.

[@jonathancrider533]

I'm finding myself falling into the trap of watching videos instead of actually painting too many times these days. And yet it's great fun to experiment with new techniques or colors or paints to find something that works for me. I recently read "Every tool's a hammer" by Adam Savage and was reminded how important it is to actually make things vs just thinking about making things. Now off to watch another video!

[@jamiem9490]

Can confirm this is also good for painters who have been painting a while but life and indecision has got in the way of. Lovely stuff.

[@philgee486]

Hobby thinking for folks new to painting, or perhaps emerging from the GW bubble to paint and play with different models and different games, outside the perceived doctrine of GW taught painting. There's nothing more worthwhile, rarer and more valuable than a vid that get's us thinking about how we can enjoy our hobby time more by exploring/thinking it through and reaping the benefits of good ideas

[@DrProut77]

Loved your video. I'm deep into the "analysis paralysis" and find myself looking at hundred of hours of video and painting close to none. It could sound paradoxal but I think your words will help, I feel it, I feel...lighter ? So thank you very much

[@52Miniatures]

Worth making the video just for this, thank you for sharing. Good luck 💜

[@Geistermoor]

Well, that's different. I like it. Less a 'how to do it' and more a 'how to approach it'. The first one is highly available all over youtube - the second one is now here. Thanks for that.

[@valtsu5752]

hot damn this was a good video. this man has the smarts, you should listen to him.

[@Mr_Quimper]

Reminded me of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. Just needed alternating blue stripes.

[@gabrielmccray3457]

Always keep your first mini. It's a special thing. Sadly, lost mine a few years ago but had it for 13 years. And not being able to see it leaves a bit of a longing, of a time before learning technique and just going off what I could imagine.

[@Carbide-1]

Always an encouragement watching your content Alex! I'm painting again!! Thank you!

[@clothaire84]

Fantastic video! The humour is again, spot on 😊

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you, I appreciate it CH 🙏

[@SPQRKlio]

6:27 -- Exactly what I need to hear and take to heart. And I DO have too many minis to be so fussed about it if one goes wonky.

[@markfrommontana]

Alex, I could write more than a few paragraphs which would still fail to express how much I appreciated this video. I’ll just sum it up by wholeheartedly agreeing that “finding someone to share the moments” is at or near the top of the list. Thank you so much for sharing your moments with us.

[@pauliieb8301]

Thank you again for another great video. I had to go and compare my first miniature to my most recent after watching. The most noticeable improvement is thinning paint, my first Nid was just caked. 😅

[@GiverThought]

My first 40k minis were 'nids too! I had a gloss black primer for them from the hardware store that other paints struggled to stick to. But I learned!

[@coopersm2]

I always love your videos, and not simply for the crafting. Your line, "experience is time spent failing" really struck me. Thank you

[@aidan-h3p]

I like to approach painting as a method of lying through a visual medium. My goal isn't to make something look genuinely good, that takes thousands of hours and hands steady enough to get a side gig as a brain surgeon, it is to deceive people into thinking it looks good. How I cackle to myself whenever someone is foolish enough to compliment the pigmented vomit I have slathered onto an innocent miniature in a monstrous parody of art. I am a con of biblical proportions, a master manipulator at work with colorful evil goo, the most dastardly equivocator in the realm and very humble too. Sometimes I even fool myself.

[@52Miniatures]

I think this can work as an overall life approach 😂

[@brianv769]

Great video, the paint scheme looks really good. I am looking forward to Sandtrap and finally getting into Infinity. Thanks!

[@52Miniatures]

Great! Thanks Brian

[@mordecaitoth6703]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@capnskustomworks]

Those look really awesome, and the sculpts are definitely excellent! And those tufts!!! Always a delight! (And did I mishear, or did ye say there is a “Holy Scone” to be found??? I would like one. 😆)

[@stevenrodgers9126]

Another glorious video! Exactly the sort of start to paint video I had no idea we needed! Will be sending it round to some friends I am, ahem, gently encouraging to start the painting hobby

[@benjaminjack867]

A great reminder Alex

[@PigGibbon]

I’ve just been discussing your several ways to paint yellow with a friend I have unashamedly got into the hobby. I’ve got some years of painting on him, and this video is perfect to try and explain my exact point! He’s first models are much better than mine, and he is already attempting techniques I have not tried or don’t want the effect of. But it’s all about doing it. That’s what matters. And company. That’s good too.

[@52Miniatures]

Great to hear PG, thank you

[@PigGibbon]

@@52Miniatures I think I should be thanking you. There’s really something about your reflective view point. It’s just what I need. And makes excellent company.

[@mrgatsby6443]

An amazing video as usual! Your videos are like hobby mindfulness...and this is possibly the best hobby channel. Im a design and sculpture teacher and we will shortly have a Corvus Belli digital sculpture artist teaching us their process! Can't wait!!

[@GiverThought]

I have next to zero sculpting experience, but I'd love to see that! Coincidentally my 3-year old and I did our first little polymer clay bake thing last night. Was my first time touching the stuff but my wife made lots of things as a kid, apparently. Good times were had by all.

[@bluefangs867]

This was as useful to a 'veteran' painter as a beginner. Many things to take away here :) great video, Alex!

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks Blue 💙

[@SleepyGhst]

Your content is always so thoughtful. Also I need your mic.

[@hobbybobley]

Just a fantastic and mindful video rammed full of gentle encouragement and guidance - thanks 52! Hoping you're all very well 😊

[@52Miniatures]

I am doing well, thank you. 🙏 In this moment I’m pissed off about KZbin :) but that comes with the territory I guess. Kitbashing a mini to get over it.

[@EdwardWinkworth]

Thank you for this. Always a great reminder to just get out and paint

[@52Miniatures]

My pleasure Edward, thank you 🙏

[@fitz394]

This is the video everyone needs, not just beginners. Thanks man

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks you. The video has absolutely crashed, so looks like not many will see it but thank you, I appreciate it.

[@fitz394]

​@@52Miniaturesoh no! Everyone who paints needs to see this

[@GiverThought]

Thank you once again Alex! Your videos always invite the kind of reflection and creative contemplation that put me in my preferred zone for painting. And I love how those look! I've seen a lot of red+white JSA; I love how you balanced those out with the yellow & gray, and the end result is an overall "earthiness" while they are, of course, very far indeed from Earth! What's that planet JSA & Pan-O are now fighting on again?

[@TheNeonCaster]

Great video! And I love that you're working with the anime-cyberpunk vibes of Infinity. I definitely agree that that initial approach to the idea of technique and theory when all you wanna do is make a squad playable looks super intimidating to new painters. But oh boy the point where I had a handle on the theory and then immediately used that to do the most out-of-pocket colour schemes I could think of was so thrilling!

[@52Miniatures]

It is indeed a balance of both worlds. I’m glad you liked the video.

[@ThomasGallinari]

So refreshing. When I was a kid there was no KZbin, there was barely Internet, and I painted instinctively without worrying about techniques or paint brands. I found out many years later that I was using actual techniques (feathering, wet blending...) without even knowing it! Point is: paint, enjoy, and you'll get better eventually.

[@mellily6178]

Thank you! I have been into Warhammer for many years, struggling to get my armies painted. I am a people pleaser, putting the needs of others before my own, I struggle to be unapologetically me, & have been painting things as they are expected to be. I know I should not worry what others think about the way I paint my miniatures, but now that I am using the bright and colourful paints I have always wanted to, the painting side of the hobby is much more enjoyable.

[@52Miniatures]

I’m glad to hear you found the colours! :)

[@Starstrykerx]

Those look great. I just finished my JSA and painted them in a very similar theme. You videos are always my go to in order to break the paralysis of not painting that I sometimes run into. I kind of got over watching too many videos a while ago and now am at the have to many unpainted minis and projects that sometimes cause a screeching halt in my hobby. I painted all the Sandtrap JSA, which I found extremely fun to paint (and I bought them based on part on you previous Infinity video, but had been quietly stalking the line for a while) but then got paralyzed after doing only 3 of the included Pan Oceana figs. Anyway, watching one of your videos always manages to jump start me. Thanks!

[@AndrewCampbell84]

Getting back into mini painting as an adult was so much easier than when I was a teen because of all the videos and beginners guides, and sticking with painting was so much harder because of all the video and beginners guides. Love to see a video reminding me to just enjoy the process - the painting bit is my actual hobby, not the churning out models for insta. Thanks!

[@victorrivera022]

Great video and lovely reminder. Thanks!

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks Victor I appreciate it 🙏

[@Saubaer]

Tbh I need the exact opposite. I am shackled by perfectionism. I need an even more step by step guide to get results that I am content.

[@harbl99]

Nine-year-old: "Stop talking to me like I'm a kid." Adult: "Please explain like I'm five." A solid grasp on fundamentals is important, and it's always worth revisiting what you assume you know.

[@torn.blue.sky101]

A really insightful and well presented video. Couldn't come at a better time... It's really helped me switch perspectives, these are the things I really need to hear. Does it matter if it's the right colour or too vibrant or a, particular shade? It really doesn't... It's your work when all is said and done... So who are you trying to impress, or what? It should, be, an individual undertaking rather than who can closest colour match something that's, been done 100 times, before. A certain wise old Ork... Or was, it, a, goblin 🤔 was once heard uttering something about inlearning all, you have learned. I think that's a good approach. Thank you for that.

[@Wijkert]

Art books are my favorite form of inspiration. Professional 2d artists tend to be leaps ahead of me, so I try to pick a couple of things I like to incorporate into my projects.

[@WasiKaBooM]

Cheers Alex !

[@TheRedMisterChow]

Thank you, that was great. I've been painting a Pirate themes Orcs & Goblins army of an upcoming tournament, and I've been feeling a bit constrained by the timeframe and having to work on the same "thing", even though everything is vastly different. I've become a bit frustrated, and that's all on me - in fact I am doing the thing I want and love on a regular basis. My biggest take away from this was practicing some gratitude, I definitely need to take a step back sometimes and see the bigger picture

[@52Miniatures]

I like the sound of a pirate orc and goblin army. For a particular game?

[@AGooseofBattle]

Great video Alex! This is EXACTLY what I needed to get painting. Thank you so much! ❤

[@zippy5131]

Another relaxed approach to the hobby from Alex, what more could you want. I'm sure plenty of people have said this already, but if you find something that works for you, stick with it and change only the things your not happy with. Don't overload on things like 'This is how you should paint.........'. Enjoy the hobby.

[@52Miniatures]

Good words :) Thanks Z

[@smokey5495]

"Diving into the miniture world lets you come out the other end as something else" Yeah, poor

[@markfriesen1435]

Loved every second of this video, especially the tabletop-ready miniatures at the end, ready to go. With the very dry and subtle jokes dotted in between. Thanks Alex

[@stepfannify]

Your best work, aside from all the miniature-videos, was voicing the G-Man in HL2. Thanks for that!

[@slimehousetv]

Great work man, beautifully shot as always and love the colorscheme on the minis. 🙏

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks man! I Appreciate it as always

[@Reformedhillbilly369]

I think I understand now. So the hairy sticks are called brushes?

[@52Miniatures]

Wait a minute!? What? I thought that was the mould line scraper

[@mrgatsby6443]

🤣 I think we need to put the hairy sticks in the colorful liquid

[@Reformedhillbilly369]

@@52Miniatures I don’t know. Sounds like a made up item. Like elastic titanium, breastplate stretchers, or safety pins.

[@davidnandrin8825]

Thank you the Mr. Miyagi of miniature painting ! Excellent guide full of true and tested advices ! Would recommend without a second thought 👌 !

[@evidentside]

Another quite exceptional hobby video Alex, always enjoy these more general hobby philosophy videos you create.

[@BadgerLovingFluffster]

Great vid Alex. I always appreciate the humour in your videos and the down to earth way you look at our hobby. Top job. And nice minis too x

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks Fluffy Badger!

[@BadgerLovingFluffster]

@@52Miniatures And you know that name is going to stick now! Thanks Alex 🤣

[@МихаилГерасименко-н1е]

i consider mysefl a "professional" minipainter, i won at competitions, i painted minis for money and i guess i got stuck at Get Gud mindset. I cannot let go and paint miniature in "tabletop" ready standard. Now i am in a middle of another 80+ hour long killteam project with full nmm eldars and sometimis i feel that i am wearing off, that i am working for result and not enjoying process of getting there. Thanks for your videos and sharing a way you feel about hobby, it is hobby afterall. I have ordered another miniature game starter box to play with my dad where i want to ultimately have fun all the way down while doing hobby. Lets see how it will went.

[@davegoodwin8385]

Subscribed when I spotted the collection of Pratchett books...

[@52Miniatures]

Trial by books. Welcome to the channel

[@Wijkert]

Saw you post on Insta about this video tanking 😥. Since it's a evergreen topic, I hope it will have legs. Also like your view on quality over quantity; like positively influencing a small group of beginners (or even just one person) being very important to you. Speculating on the cause of it not doing well: maybe your subscriber base has a limited amount of beginners. Speaking for myself, I tend to skip these kinds of videos when I see them in my feed. Not this one though; love your stuff Alex!

[@stuartpriest8868]

This is actually brilliant. Thank you for this.

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you!

[@TeamIslas]

wow man what a great video! I love your fresh take on the hobby

[@52Miniatures]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@aslbaron1]

This is really good! More Corvus Belli content! :)

[@simonm8221]

30 seconds in and mesmerised by the intro!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@robhassall1996]

Great video Alex!

[@TheFipsdotcom]

Great video.

[@ajer1989]

Awesome video with great thoughtful advice

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks so much!

[@Wolfineer_]

I enjoyed this TEDTalk.

[@52Miniatures]

Glad to hear it

[@DarkCastleMiniatures]

The best advice! #warhammer #paintingminis

[@xgymratx83]

The tufts. Its all about the Tufts!

[@52Miniatures]

Indeed!

[@torn.blue.sky101]

Thanks

[@Grabacr]

Such a good video!

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you!!

[@MrZippidydoodahh]

I currently have a lot of assembled and primed minis on my desk from some value box or another. They all got put away and I'm painting some little 4$ Reaper Mini bee warrior. He's cute. He wasn't expensive. There is no box art. I'm hoping he can help me get over that overwhelmed feeling and get my brush wet.

[@NiklasAnderssonPlus]

Thanks!

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you kindly Niklas!

[@KäptnKrückschwank]

„How you wish you could use them“ 😂

[@52Miniatures]

Paying attention is key :)

[@fraserskomorowski2311]

🪚👍 floor 🤣

[@Wijkert]

If you feel a little down because of the amount of views, have a look at that like to view ratio!!!

[@naib_stilgar]

The issue as I see it with most 'advanced techiques' is that they are difficult to teach as step by step procedures. Teaching these methods is akin to teaching art, and having the combined skills of knowing how to paint and knowing how to teach is quite rare. You, for example, are a great painter and presenter but a poor teacher. This is not a slight, and I hope you do not take it as such. I love your channel and have been following it for the longest time, but I can not honestly say I 'learned' from it. That is the problem with 90% of YT minipainting content, mostly due to how the algorithm works. Even channels I used to rely on for teaching me things have for the most part devolved into being 'shows'. Sad but true..

[@52Miniatures]

I think everyone enjoy different style teachers. As said in the video, my approach is relying on that if folk keep painting they will discover techniques by themselves. That my style, but then not yours. And there is nothing wrong, we are just different. When it comes to KZbin, I'd probably say if you want step by step guides it might no longer be the place to look. I'd go check out various Patreons for that kind of stuff. Admittedly you have Vince Venturella out there :)

[@grapetonenatches186]

Its just minis. Its not that big of a deal.

[@52Miniatures]

I think for quite a few it can be