How to Get Through "THE GAP" in Your Painting

[@koppfrosch7439]

The most importent things of all is: ENJOY the gap. its not about being the best or having the most beautifull minis, its about having fun doing it. i paint since almost 25 years now and i am still mediocre but i like every of my minis. the last 2 years i ve painted minis in boardgames i play with my family and they all like the minis because they are colored and not grey anymore. Its the painting that counts and not the outcome. I am having a blast in the gap and hope to never leave it.

[@cinnabarsin4288]

The thing I hate about the "gap" in anything you're trying to learn is the ambiguity of it. There's usually tons of advice for complete beginners on a skill and tons for people in advanced stages, but that middle part it's hard to find guidance or information that benefits you. Also really easy to find it directionless and not always knowing how to get through it, you know how to do the thing but can't do it like you want. We're such impatient creatures too and it's just keep doing it.

[@Marconius6]

Or there's plenty of advice, it's just all contradictory...

[@beardhammerwargaming]

@cinnabarsin4288 Interesting, what is the middle part for you? And what are you looking for specifically? I tend to agree but with every painter, there is another definition for “the gap” :D

[@Mikey__R]

The other problem with the middle part, progress is no longer linear. You'll reach plateau after plateau, progress a little then stall out again. I honestly don't think painting more minis is the answer. Part of it, maybe, but you won't get better at a new technique unless you mindfully practice it. Maybe we all need Larry the Ogre, and his millions of thin layers of paint.

[@alancook1053]

Take a class, start over with someone from the very beginning as if you knew nothing, and do a new system. Teach someone what you do know. Paint in a style that don’t really like? I probably won’t win an award but everyone who has seen my work likes it so much better than I do😂 cheers and thanks!

[@darrenthurman]

Finding the video I need is much easier than finding the courage to try a new technique on my models.

[@thetbird69]

One thing I've found is don't force yourself, get your models to a level youre happy with, or even just "battle ready" then as you progress and gain confidence you can come back and improve on them with things such as high lights. I finished my skaven blood bowl team yesterday, it only took me 2 years and 8 days. And in that aspect it took me getting my models base coated and then playing to spur me on to want to finish them.

[@dkerr200]

Battle ready really needs to be most peoples end goal. When they are on the table you won’t care. What annoys you 6 inches from your face won’t even be on your mind when its 6 foot away.

[@KrullMaestaren]

The "pushing" part depends on the person. I personally need to "paint bravely" from time to time if I want to improve. I also had to accept that all ideas doesn't turn out as imagined but I think all of us grow a lot and gain freedom in painting if we take the courage to go back and try fixing it. You don't have to fix the mini immediately though. Personally get the best results if I take one or more days to think on the problem before touching it with a brush. Completely agree with aiming for a realistic level that you are happy with. It can be tabletop ready or if you don't like painting minis, maybe aim for an artistic style that you can achieve with a few spraycans and a base coat on a few details. Like broadsword silver on weapons. The first example that comes to mind is people that copied the cover art for the Cursed City box when painting their minis, with great effect. One person I know just added some selective, metallic colors and a bit of brown for some shoues and belts. Done! Looked completely amazing! and he did it in a day even though he absolutely hate painting.

[@Bloodfencer1990]

I've been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and one quote that stuck with me was "Professionals stick to the schedule, amateurs let life get in the way". Might sound a bit extreme at first glance, but what he meant is that even if you are having a bad day or you only have 5 minutes to do a thing, it's important to sit down and do it. You might not enjoy it, you might not get a lot done, but it will help you stick to your habits. If something is important to you you should try to do it every day, or at least as often as possible, and not just when "the mood is right". Of course you can take a day off when you are sick or there's been an important life emergency, but you should get back into as fast as possible.

[@theragingdolphinsmaniac4696]

Most of my model building is 5 minutes here 10 minutes there as i get some spare time,

[@2WARDEN2]

I needed to hear this tbh. I churned out multiple armies in a year, then put the brush down for 3 months, just picked it up again after I stopped making excuses, really wish I'd done it sooner. Even if I was just painting one-off figures just to stay on top of it, it would have saved me a lot of burner figures I had to get through just to get back on the horse.

[@Bloodfencer1990]

@@2WARDEN2 I can really recommend Atomic Habits. I mostly got it because I was hoping it would help me deal with my ADHD and I was not disappointed.

[@HacksawsHobbyBunker]

Been in that Gap for painting not once, but twice. I started painting minis back in 2000. Around 2012 or so I stopped for life reasons. At that point I was getting fairly good. I had won a couple of local painting competitions and while not on my way to the "big leagues" I could take in work for money and have satisfied customers. After about a decade of not painting I took it back up and immediately found myself with a set of shockingly atrophied skills (not to mention that loss of muscle memory). Along with a corresponding degradation in my eyesight (cuz, old) I was a bit disheartened. I knew I wanted to paint so I just stuck with it and adapted to my new reality. It was that or just give up and that was not an appealing option. Looking back on stuff I was doing before I stopped I know I will probably never reach that level again - but I can use some modified techniques and materials to make up for it. The one bonus of one's eyesight getting a bit poorer is that at arms length, "good enough" is a bit easier to achieve. I now paint mostly to get lads on the table. Every so often a real banger slips through and that helps. But just getting units done now is the goal. Even "meh" minis in large numbers, with nice basing, look pretty darn good. Just keep painting. You may find just a bit of adjustment in technique makes all the difference. Cheers!

[@davidwasilewski]

People just need to be self aware enough to be able to soldier through the inevitable ‘demoralisation phase’ when they move from the ‘unconscious incompetence’ stage to the ‘conscious incompetence’ stage. Resilience!

[@Bloodfencer1990]

Sometimes easier said than done, but it's very true. You gotta stick with it and see the lows as opportunities to put the practice in.

[@chunkestylevlog5921]

I haven’t made it through the gap yet. Just started painting mini’s in February of 2023 but I have done several hundred and yes they are starting to look significantly better. I now know how I like to thin my paint for each brand I use and have figured out certain brands are only good for certain things and not other things. Really enjoying the process and find the whole thing super relaxing.

[@mattbaxter688]

Best advice I've ever been told is to "trust the process". My first attempt at stippling armor looked terrible and I almost stripped them But once the trim/details and weathering was done I was amazed at my own work

[@elijahdprophet]

Every time I get through The Gap and get happy with my work I find that after a while a new Gap appears. It isn't a bad thing, I'd like to always be improving, but there's always that next technique, or another Instagram account with the most absurdly gorgeous highlights and NMM work, that knocks me down a peg and makes me question the time I've already put in to the hobby. I've found that sharing work with a community of similarly skilled painters helps a lot. Sure, every discord has a semi pro or two, but it helps to see what 'normal' hobbyists are creating and sharing. If you only ever see top level award winning work the gap is going to feel FAR wider than it really is. I actually won Best Painted Army in a small local tournament earlier this year and I've been riding that high for months, but its also putting some anxiety on me to really step up for the next one.

[@PistolPeteLee]

I started painting again after 17 years away from the hobby. I did it 6 months ago and didn’t like how I was doing. I spent a lot of time not painting cause of life, and my mental health taking a dive, but since then, I’ve spent an abundance of time watching videos on techniques I’d like to learn, and just trying things, being more patient with myself and my skills. I’m not a patient person, but that’s been one thing that has really helped. Consuming so much content gave me the knowledge, which I then found easier to apply because I’d watched it so much.

[@gammafighter]

I like Battletech and I'm really glad my first paint scheme was easy. I did a military-style olive green that turned out way better than I expected. I'm guessing I chose good quality paints that did a lot of the heavy lifting. I can identify issues with my paint job and areas I can improve, but overall I'm super happy with how it turned out. My second paint scheme is mostly white and it is really really rough. I'm powering through now to try and learn as much as I can, but it's tempting to strip the mechs and go back to green. If I hadn't had such good results with the first lance, I might be more frustrated. But now I know that there's something about this color scheme that is different- at least for me. Now my job is to try and learn how I can make this one work.

[@kumarsalib722]

KZbin content creators are great for providing bubbles of insight and new things to try, which then have to be proportional to practice trying those techniques and developing through experience.

[@toasthammer]

The Gap by Ira Glass is one of my favorite... micro-lectures? I've ever seen as a passionate creative person who often needs extra motivation. Great video applying it to minis!

[@jonesfigures]

The fun part is...the gap NEVER ENDS!!! I've been in this since the late 80s...currently have 2k 40k armies closing on double digits (most of which are *wrong*...like a kit-bashed Custodes army made from Necrons and old-edition chaos warriors to be *Men of Iron*, or a Grey Knight army, built as Legion of the Damned...Dark Mech...it goes on.) My fun comes from making an idea come to life. Quality comes and goes...but it's good folk like you, that have actually helped push me on and give me new ideas. Great vid, sir!

[@CorndogBilly]

Took me 15 years of practice (on and off) to finally get to a point where I am happy with my own painting. It was worth the journey. I used to be intimidated and avoid higher quality minis but am now going back and finally painting those centerpiece models.

[@stelstorm5157]

Excellent advice. Time is all that is really needed to grow in your hobby. The latest and greatest model, tool, advice or trend will not make you better.Doing makes you better - it’s that simple. You only get out what you put in. Please don’t forget to HAVE FUN!- it’s a hobby….

[@-RTC-]

This is great advise! Im by no means an amazing painter, but I originally started painting minis by deciding I wanted to paint my entire collection of Descent: Journeys in the Dark 1e. There are well over 100 miniatures in the entire range. Its wild how much you can see my progress as a painter throughout each miniature and if you hold some of the last ones I painted up next to the early ones, you’d think it was a totally different painter.

[@Spark_Chaser]

I still have the first twelve minis I painted. They were the old "Schaeffer's Last Chancers" from Warhammer 40K 3rd. They're very basic, for the most part, with a few fun embellishments that I thought came out good. I painted them in 2000. If I compare them to what I do now, my new stuff is miles better. Better brush control. Better blending of colors. The materials of the different parts of the model "feel" like different materials when you look at them. It's twenty three years of practice, experience, and learning from others that has made my work better. I'd love to get a box of the Last Chancers to do again as a comparison, but I'll never redo the ones I have, as they're a monument of where I started from. Have I fully crossed my "Gap" yet? I don't think so. But I'm further along than I was, and the more I work at it, the closer I'll get to where I think I've finally crossed it.

[@danielangevine1346]

'first step to getting good at something is sucking at it' - adventure time i understand im not a great painter, nor do i strive to be. i like ninjon's slay the gray philosophy - some color looks better than plain and there's lots of little things like slap chop, or speed paints to help newbies like me get better or at least feel more accomplished in the limited hobby time. solid point on doing more of it - practice doesn't make perfect but at least you're kept fresh and able to build on what youre doing. i find if i have a long bout between paintings i often have to have a bad model or two before i remember how each of the paints flowed (speed paint, citadel contrast, green stuff inks, proacryls, and the express color are all different). thanks for sharing and encouraging those in the hobby!

[@OwlShapedCeramic]

I started painting models about 3 months ago. The biggest lesson that improved my painting was that I can always try something and if I don’t like how it looks, I can put another layer of paint over it. It’s helped get over a lot of hesitant about putting paint on plastic

[@mattjames184]

Thank you so much for this video. I started painting minis 30 years ago, then took a 20 year haitus. My sons are starting to get into the hobby now and are getting disappointed that theirs don't look at good as what they see in store or online. This has helped so much in the mindset that practice and "sucking" is only the first part of the path to that Golden Demon trophy. My youngest (8) is a fantastic artist, but the patience needed for mini painting compared to 2d drawing is what is currently setting him back. He wants everything to look good instantly. Your vids on zenithal priming have helped immensely. Thanks again. MJ

[@hakbash7588]

Been painting for more than 40 years and I’m still learning new stuff all the time. If you’re just starting don’t get discouraged. You get better with practice. Keep at it. 👍

[@metajock]

Well said!!! I had to totally re-learn everything when I went from those horrible old enamels to acrylic paints. With the internet, we have someone teaching something new almost every week, its wonderful. Just keep doing what you do.

[@ReconRabbit132]

Been away from the hobby for a few years. When i started up again recently came straight back to the channel to listen to these awesome little lectures! Love the way you explain different paint techniques and different ways of tackling motivation

[@pulcherius]

Thank you for the boost, I really needed it. I have a mantra that I had forgotten until now; be happy with what you can until you can do better. I also keep an old Battletech Atlas mini I painted 30 years ago to remind me of how much better I can do now.

[@gwyn5144]

this is a good one. i like this channel. things are alot different for the hobby now that everyone has internet. makes learning much easier. but steadily seeing my models improve as i paint and being able to look back at progress is probubly one of my fave things. iv only recently gotten to where i look at my models and make heavenly music play in my head. it feels nice to go from unhappy with your poo paint jobs to eye candy you cant stop looking at. i think honestly having less helps more because if you need a wash? make it yourself. need a color? mix it. need a tool? improvise. i think you learn more with less than you do if you have every single paint and tool at your disposal.

[@woodyrobinson9628]

This man is "The Godfather" of miniatures painting. Everything he is saying is absolutely true. I started playing drums 🥁 at 11 years old & have practiced & played too many hours to remember but I got better. Im not famous & never will be but I play bcuz I enjoy it. The Godfather reminds us all keep working, have fun & you will get better. Speed paints & washes help me complete my units & im happy to put them on the table and play. Thank you Godfather

[@tabletopminions]

I’m not sure I’m “The Godfather” - I think I’m more of an uncle. Thanks for watching!

[@alphaleigpyne]

Painting more than one skirmish force or a few Kill Teams helped me over the decade, along with learning on the way from some painters who've taught me more and a few mistakes I've made while painting. Looking at my older works on the models I've started before being able to paint them very well on newer projects. I also examine my models I paint by looking at them with a head light to correct some mistakes or paint areas I've missed.

[@scalefreakgaming]

Great comments. I keep my 'recent' first mini (20 year break) next to my painting desk to be a reminder.

[@stochasticagency]

Getting back after a LONG time away and finding that I'm in the gap. I painted for a long time, but I've really given a lot of thought to just going back to the basics when the painting starts up again.

[@3Xero3]

This has some great information, I have 2 additional tips that helped me out. If you get stuck and don't know exactly what to do, at least make some core progress, such as priming or bass coating. This can help get everything ready for when you have that eureka moment of creativity and are ready to paint proper. Second, find things to help you stay motivated. I have come to really appreciate a lot of youtube creators, not only for helpful, educational hobby content, but also for their supportive motivational comments.

[@shagakhan9442]

I just bought a cheap airbrush from harbor freight. It is exciting to learn the new tool and techniques. Though I am still an apprentice of the brush, the process is inspiring. Great to paint more battlemechs. I started painting in 2014, and now I enjoy my paintjobs. It's been 9 years on and off. KZbin has been indispensable.

[@grahamfowler7017]

I’ve been painting heavily for the past 12ish months and didn’t know that I had gotten Past “the gap” until I switched from Army Painting Historicals to painting individual Fantasy/Sci Fi dudes.

[@aponly]

Thanks for the video! I’ve been painting on and off for 50 years (with big gaps) and my paint skills are “mostly adequate.” I now have all the best paints, brushes, and tools. I just need to just put in the time and “paint more minis!”

[@Hudjunababa]

I busted through the gap by shear volume honestly. This was also during the time before the abundance of tutorials online so just learned as I went and discussed with other folks. I got myself to a good place and can still crank out a mini at that level in a short time. Thankfully now though I enjoy the process much more and have learned and am learning new techniques thanks to the wonders of the internet.

[@tommcnamara-fe3ep]

Agree, I learned a lot from painting a lot of minis by seeing what works and what does not. When I stopped for 6 months I had to relearn how to paint to the standard I was at before.

[@peteryoung2160]

I was just watching another video, where in part of it the gents talking about painting mechs dropped a quote, which they admitted came from somewhere else, "Paint Bravely". No idea who coined it, but it was enough for me to realize I've been playing it safe, and it's time not to just enjoy the gap, but to expand the area of challenge, to encourage growth by accepting new techniques that I will suck at (looking at you checkers and free hand numbers/cockpit art)

[@spacedock873]

As usual, really good, helpful and sound advice. I have taken your previous advice to heart and have readjusted my expectations to a more realistic level and have found that this allows me to enjoy and appreciate my results more. I now get a significant percentage of minis that I really like and am proud of. They are obviously not up to the standards of, say, Vince's figures, but they are markedly better than many previous efforts and to a standard that I am very happy with. I can see that for the sake of simplicity for the video you refer to "The gap", but in reality I feel that there are actually many "gaps" of varying sizes on the road to better results. The good news is that, in general, they can all be crossed using the same solution - paint more minis! 😃

[@Lessons_from_the_front]

I've recently started making a project list and keeping a diary of finished products. I find this is very useful, because its good to mix and match projects which stretch you and also projects which you are using techniques that you know will work.

[@christopherwiggins1705]

I think sometimes we forget that the journey is the point. Personally I very much enjoy the steps, the sucking the getting better, taking time off cause of life, sucking again and reprogressing. Adam and Vince have been my noble painting wise wizards to guide me through the steps forward and when my life has forced a pause and we take a few steps back.

[@Jeremus717]

I feel like I'm still in the Gap and I've been painting minis on and off for 20 years now. But then sometimes I put my stuff on the table and look around at the other folks at my LGS. Many of those armies are not painted at all, only primed, or painted but in maybe the three color tournament legal standard. My models are by no means award-winning, but they are finished to a pretty high standard with all the details painted before I put them out to play games. I'm not the best, but all of my miniatures are work that I'm proud of. Maybe for you, that IS closing the gap. I know it was enough for me.

[@earnestwanderer2471]

You mentioned this briefly someplace in the video, but the key for me was comparing my current work to my earlier work, rather than the award winners in White Dwarf. Also, to an extent, painting to please myself. As in, if I like the look, or color scheme, that’s more important than trying to slavishly reproduce the box art.

[@foulplay99]

A good thing to remember with everything is “don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to how you did yesterday”. That way you can appreciate your own abilities and if you are progressing it’s great, and if not you can have a good look at why that might be. I had to get over the intimidating box art at first, took a while before I was happy with my own abilities and results. I felt the best when I consciously decided to go with a completely different colour scheme, that way I couldn’t compare my work with the GW stuff directly, even though I know my techniques for edge highlighting and blending are nowhere near as good.

[@Gherkinkhan]

Make yourself happy. Do not set unrealistic expectations for yourself. Be proud that you complete something; that is awesome!

[@poulsentyler]

I haven't gotten through the gap but I try to paint everyday and in the year and a half or so that I've been doing this hobby I've made huge strides and know I can keep getting better. I've also gotten my fiancee to paint with me and I try to encourage her and help her as well.

[@ArchBunBun]

Thanks for the advice. Still very much in the Gap, and I know all the things you mentioned, but it's still nice to hear it from someone else.

[@itsBobtart]

I’ve noticed that if I try to speed paint through an army I tend to become bored and am very likely to procrastinate on finishing. However, when I give myself time to actually paint and experiment with different techniques the more fun and enjoyment I get out of the hobby. It may take me a month to finish 10 Ork boyz but I enjoyed the process and was excited to sit down and paint each time. That’s how I started bridging the gap. I took the time to learn and practice.

[@thejesusaurus6573]

I'm certainly through the gap and I love my work these days, I'm still slow and I don't paint as much as I like but the results are good. I'm sending this to a few friends new to the hobby.

[@theNwDm]

Another absolute banger. Just the motivation needed to knuckle down and keep painting.

[@robertevans3173]

I am in the gap, and still pushing. Keep up the good work everyone

[@RealJahzir]

Thanks. This is one of the most needed videos for growing the hobby. I will be sure to share

[@thewannabepainter1]

I certainly haven't got through the gap but since being back in the hobby for the last couple of years I've tried to adjust my mindset. I used to do the comparison to others and hating my minis. But not I try and paint each project by trying one new thing. Whether that's a technique, colour scheme, type of mini, etc. Then I judge the model on how I did on the new thing. That way I don't worry if I've done crap edge highlighting because the focus was airbrush work, for example. It keeps me motivated to start the next project but also engaged to try out new things and improve my skills.

[@foulplay99]

I have to stop looking on Instagram because the paint jobs that amaze me are so far beyond my understanding and capabilities I get kinda jealous and feel a bit down about my own stuff - but then I just have to look at my slowly filling cabinet of stuff I painted over the last 18 months and how fun it was to paint them, I can live with my own skill level, so long as I can see progression in my own work, and some variety. The Imperial Knights have always been my favourite units, but it took me 3 years before I was brave enough to paint the first one. 2 years later I have 3 painted Imperial Knights, one Cerastus knight and now I’m painting the Porphyrion at the moment, and I’m experimenting with some more in-depth painting techniques and making some new and “interesting” mistakes :-). My best advice would be to be inspired by the box art, but don’t try to be as good as that because that is impossible - just don’t be intimidated by it.

[@joeltasker6956]

Well I started painting minis with enthusiasm when I was 17. I’m now in my mid forties. If I ever get to the other side of the gap I’ll let you know. The important thing is to enjoy it. Last weekend I spent a couple of afternoons assembling and painting a Sherman tank (I’m sure you can guess why), it turned out great and was possibly the most fun I’ve had with making a mini in ages!

[@novoc2081]

I feel myself on an island in the middle pf the gap where I am pretty happy either with the speed or quality of a miniature I paint but not quite both at the same time. The remedy is simple and known but life is what it is and I just do the best I can with the time I have.

[@hogger95905]

Hey thanks for the early morning motivation as I paint models this morning!

[@forrestwentworthii1321]

I've said this before: I love how Uncle Adam's miniature painting lessons just translate so well into Life Lessons.

[@DiggingForFacts]

I tend to go with Mark Novak's approach to this (although his applies to gunsmithing): "Start screwing up. Sooner or later your screw-ups will start looking like work. Eventually people will pay you to screw up [...] screwing up is inevitable, so start doing it!" You can't learn things like 'thinned nuln oil cannot be substituted as a glaze' until you do it and have to go back to square one. The benefit of mini painting is that you can always strip the paint off and start over; that's not necessarily as easy when working on metal and machining. As for the elite among the painters, it's important to remember that the little "extra" they seem to have in part comes from having so much experience with painting that they know where that extra needs to be. In other words: they've screwed up so often that they can look at new things about the craft that they wanna try to screw up.

[@theaces3697]

the part of the process that gets me in the "gap" is i have maybe spent a weekend doing a perfect zenithal on my figures and they look fantasitc in the black and white glory its at that point i dont want to add paint in fear or either ruining the look or it not turning out right, of course once i force myself past that point the models turn out really good but its just a hard part to push yourself to commit

[@daelynmarcaigh4474]

I think one of my strengths is I have always known what I know and what I don't know. With that, I know what I can and can't do and know I need to do the thing, study, learn to understand it or get better. I may not always be happy with my final product, but I know it will improve as I work at it. I compare each miniature to the last I just completed and can see what I did better, what I did worse and know what I need to work on next, I also am open to just trying something I haven't to see what changes it makes in how I feel about it completed.

[@RJ77S]

Burnout is a real thing and structure to your painting routine. I usually paint in parts every couple hours a day after work, which then gradually becomes an almost finished model when your days off are approaching. Which maximizes the excitement of completing a model.

[@johndarhower]

All you say is so true, love you show have a great and happy holidays.

[@howardcoates6985]

Ahhhh, motivation, thy name is Uncle Adam. Cogent points and helpful advice. Thank you. Now where did i drop that brush?

[@ZakuBlk]

In my limited experience, i have found that you can almost choose wether to deal with smaller gaps that are closed quicker with less gain or larger gaps that take longer to cross but build stronger skills.

[@whitefoxplays]

Great encouraging video! Finally got a new desk, with space to leave minis out while painting over multiple days. Hopefully this will help me close the gap. Also, thanks for including some BattleTech Minis!

[@darrenthurman]

Just the video I needed this week! So much white in my current project.

[@IBPaintsppp-wt5ou]

One thing that may help people with the gap is to narrow your focus. For example, I painted the same army (40k, Drukhari) for 3 years without starting another army or painting more than a one off mini. It helped me practice that style over and over and let me refine the process. I can't possibly master many different styles, but I've been able to become very competent in my own style. And I have a massive, cohesive army that I'm proud of. Other people like the approach of painting a large variety of mini's to learn painting different objects, textures, ect. I think that can work, but it seems so overwhelming to me, I think I would lose interest if I learned mini painting with that approach. I feel like so much of mini painting is painting how light interacts with objects that you can hone those skills with a single army.

[@mx.lucyfur]

I've also found looking at each mini like an experiment rather than focusing on the desired outcome helps. Yes, I have a mental idea of what I hope it will look like, but I focus on the process and learning - often by playing around and making mistakes - rather than the product. 3D printing is great for this because you can make fresh copies pretty cheap or print several of the same thing at a time. And it's not the same sense of loss if you toss one compared to when you buy one. Or, as you said, get cheap ones. Heck, if you have friends with old minis see if they'll give them to you so you can maybe strip them and practice. The, uh, minis... not the friends.

[@howabouteverything]

Love the video! Except for once again stringing me along with clickbait of Battletech, my main crush 😂. I try to encourage people to paint, and have started the habit of always complimenting a good paint job I see every time the thought comes to mind. Why not tell them what you are thinking? I also try to encourage new or learning painters (or just ones without much natural ability) by finding one good thing I like about their minis. I think this video definitely describes me; I paint inconsistently, I’m easily discouraged and impatient. I tend to batch paint tabletop quality minis and put getting better and trying hard to improve on the back burner. Its better to just keep painting for fun, but soon I’ll try to improve my skills. I’m stuck on one of those ‘plateaus’ and working on that ‘gap’. Way to encourage people to enjoy the hobby bud! Keep on painting everybody!

[@ianwieserman1068]

I don't know if I'll ever fully get across "The Gap", but I've had alot of fun trying! My minatures were ok when I started out, but 7 years later and I'm almost always pretty pleased with my paint jobs. I also feel the gap can be coming back to the hobby after breaks of not doing it and also being able to come back when life gets in the way. Regardless, your worst paint job will still better than a gray model! (Also, thank you Uncle Atom for helping me get through the gap all these years! You're great my dude!)

[@RequiemWraith]

Great video, and something that is important for people to understand. I think i was quite lucky, in that I've been playing guitar from the age of 17 (now 40) so I came into the hobby already well versed with just how much work I'd have to learn the control and techniques necessary, and then of course the practice, so I've never been too disheartened by producing less than stellar results. Its still a bit disappointing, but i already understood that it was all part of the process.

[@chrisrobinson196]

We can also help folks when we'reat conventions by always saying nice things about the sweet looking tables and figures they have, you never know if they're a relative newcomver or a veteran, it's nice for both but it'll certainly give the newcomer a boost to their day. One of my favourite moments was having a long-time GM coming by my table and complimenting me on it, it's been a few years but I still get a charge out of it.

[@battlebrushstudios]

Excellent advice as always!!!

[@alancook1053]

The gap is forever! Either I love things or it’s a chore! I think you explained it well. In my experience the better the painter the more critical! Great video and I hope many follow your sound advice!

[@devononair]

Remember that social media are curated: people only post their best work and the algorithm is more likely to show you the most well liked models. Don't get disheartened by what you see. Focus on your own progress.

[@BadDecisionDinosaur89]

I think there's a lot of good advice in this video, but I also think that if you're a new painter and you're not getting the results you want on a model or a scheme, sitting down with an experienced painter for a bit and working out your problems can really help improve your skills and really boost the quality of the outcome. If you're proactive about learning and getting feedback, there's no need to suffer through dozens of terrible models before you improve.

[@tabletopminions]

You can certainly learn for more experienced painters - on KZbin as well as in person - but you have to practice the things you learn to really get it. Thanks for watching!

[@ronec2092]

Thanks for sharing.

[@CharlesPrince]

Option 3: Understand what you're actually trying to accomplish. When I started, I thought that I was aiming for "tabletop quality" ... but I wasn't. I later came to realize that was I was really trying to do was, "looks great on the tabletop, and still looks good when you pick it up and look at it closely." That's _not_ the same thing, at all. So, for me, just understanding that gave me the confidence (permission?) to paint faster, or to risk trying more complicated techniques, knowing that even if they're not perfect, they'll still look great on the tabletop. And some of them even do still look pretty good up close. What also helped was realizing that I paint to game, and not the other way around. A squad that I can get on the table is always the goal, even if it's never going to win a Golden Demon. Or even its low-rent local counterpart ... Tin Imp? Plastic Slightly-naughty-garden-gnome?

[@tonyhicks8775]

such a basic idea but yet still such a powerful message. well done!

[@beowulfjast]

Like you mentioned, sometimes it's not about how well you paint, but that painting lots of minis makes you so much quicker is such an underrated thing in the hobby. I got through the gap in 2020, so as weird as it was, it got me to be a better painter!

[@shogunmage9036]

Another great advice video. As always.

[@theragingdolphinsmaniac4696]

Great video. I just had a long disagreement with someone on facebook who got frustrated with their project, had a hissy fit temper tantrum and threw the project out, then told me they have done that several times. Why bother with building models if you keep arriving at the same place?Every creative skill has this same issue. Those who succeed don’t let their “failures” faze them and keep working and learning.

[@elmothejunkie]

When I was put in a position where I had to learn drums to keep my band going, I read a review of the Jesus and Mary Chain Psycho Candy, where the drumming was described as primitively as "hit it, then hit it again". That became my mantra for practicing any skill from then on

[@mistermetaphor]

Good vid; we all like the motivation ones. There is also 'The Gap' in every project itself. Some boring part of the process (touch-ups, countless boring pants, etc) that stalls the process. Uncle has talked about this before sort of. I think this is why Nuln Oil is so satisfying. It looks immediately more 'done' once a wash is done.

[@nicholasmiller1909]

I have to constantly remind myself to "trust the process." That's really tough when you're not able to put much time in very often. So the growth takes so much longer. Another side of it is the frustration grows when you realize you're putting a poor paint job on something that's fairly expensive(most of the time).

[@alexbarrett3832]

I'm still unconvinced by the notion of "talent". I really think practice is more important than anything innate. What professional mini painters and golden demon winners "have that the rest of us don't" is time to practice all day everyday as part of their job.

[@RavenAdventwings]

For me, the concept of "talent" is more a combination of experience, intuition, and curiosity. That instinctive "what would happen if I try this?" feeling coupled with just enough discipline to not go overboard with an idea. Being confident enough to take that first step and learn from its numerous failures is what most people looking in would call "talent." Because if they can't explain it with talent, they can't think of anything else that wouldn't imply they could be doing the same if only they had the right mindset and experience to know what to do.

[@Demoliri]

I would rather think of it as 99% practice, and 1% talent. The kicker here, is that Golden Demon isn't looking for the top 1% of painters, it's about the top 0.0001% of painters, and at that point talent does come into it.

[@CharlesPrince]

I've always thought of "talent" as how good you are when you start -- maybe you've got some combination of skills or attributes that let you pick a thing up quickly. But, that's as far as "talent" gets you, and if too many people compliment you on that "talent," you just rest on it, and never get any better. Why yes, I do speak from personal experience. Why do you ask...

[@saltfreegamer]

I agree, although I think it's more than just time. The self confidence, interest, resilience (stubbornness?), etc to keep going separates the best from the rest. And as Vince says, intentional practice is key. Repeating the same mistakes over and over does not make you a better painter.

[@jacobwachtman1429]

The Gap can be frustrating too because trying to close it with new things to oneself can mean even worse paint jobs. My first two models were some of my favorite and had less judgement, then it felt like downhill from there.

[@rudiruttger]

Thanks for the tips man.

[@occasional-dabbler]

In my case, it would help a lot if I knew anyone personally who was interested in painting. So I get to look at the stuff online (and nobody ever shares the stuff they paint that kinda sucks! I mean, really, show us some warts, fer cryin out loud!), which makes my attempts look like crap; and there's the stuff my friends paint, which of course looks very basic and they're not trying to improve much, so my stuff looks nice,but they don't really care, I just get a nod-and-smile from them. The work is lonely enough, but when there's no personal community, well, all I have is the awareness of how much I suck at it.

[@Ulrican414]

We are all different, but for me, I compare myself to amazing painters all the time. Looking at the work of incredible artists shows me what's possible and motivates me to learn how to do what they do. If they can do it, so can I. I just need to put in the work.

[@ramonosuke]

Maybe not entirely the same, but I'm a board game mini painter, and started about 4 months ago when a friend gifted me a copy of Cthulhu: Death May Die. I loved how they looked, and felt it was a crime to keep them in gray plastic. My biggest hurdle is knowing the difference between "table ready" and I guess "competition ready". I beat my self up over not getting a mix right, and I even thought this game with over 50 minis was a big undertaking for a brand new painter. But I had to take a step back and ask myself, do I think this looks better than the flat gray or brown plastic they were molded in. Answer almost always was a yes, and when I got the game tabled and others saw, they were not only amazed at how they looked, but even asked me to paint one of their games(which I also did), and they loved, some even said I could charge for this service on fiver or something(their words not mine, I just love painting the minis lol). At the end of the day, getting a model to a point of where you're happy about it, and not comparing it to people who have been doing this for 15+ years, is something that's best to grasp early on IMO. Not to mention, I'm always learning and even want to go back and touch up another game's models the more confident I get.

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@billfromwork7203]

Thank you

[@flowerknight4879]

fantastic video, can you please do one about "Things you wish you knew before making a skirmish game" I've worked as a video game designer for years and I have some ideas for skirmish games. You and Vince have really inspired me to just make them and release it anyway I can, but its a different medium and I think people would love to hear from your experiences (or at least I would lol.)

[@Ainar86]

As someone with ADHD that quantity and persistence part is the hardest thing ever. I can paint for 12h straight and then not touch the brush for a month. On the bright side the progress between each mini is incredible. :P

[@DaveVanDam84]

I got through the gap once I got into zombie apocalypse games. Painting a horde of cheap plastic zombies was a great way to practice new techniques, and any mistakes could be hidden with gore and grime. Even though some of those early zombies were not so great, I learnt a lot, and even now they look good when mixed in with my more expensive metal zombies 👍

[@MrGatonegroish]

I arrived under the impression this video was about getting the brush in those tight unreachable places after you've assembled the mini. This is pretty good advice too, I suppose.

[@LukeMartinVideo]

Just starting the video. My guess in self diagnosis is I want to do to well but I should get the army done and get skill over the number of models painted instead of trying to get the first one better than I need if I don't want to discourage myself. So... I finally got to doing the kruelboys from my dominion box. And they are so much fun because I care less than with the first sequitors I was spending hours on...

[@LukeMartinVideo]

Hahahaha 😂 I'm so wise I knew what to do ! Yeah also : PAINT MOOOOOORE MINIIIIIIIIIS

[@manda60]

What helped me pass the "gap" was to get a very limited palette of colours - basic blue, red, yellow, convenience brown, black, and white - and paint a whole model, mixing colors to get distinct shade and wet blending on the model itself for transitions.

[@John1musPr1me]

You had me at the Jake quote. 😀

[@jimmysmith2249]

I live in the gap. The gap is my groove, and it is comfortable.