Rising Sun Painting: Dragonfly Clan Shinto

[@jean-nicolasgagnon9960]

You should have seen the eyes of my son when he saw his mini during the video. He was in total awe :D Thanks for that ! Really great job on these, they are the 1st I want to paint when I'll get to the armies

[@TheKingofAverage]

SO glad to hear that! If he keeps at it I don't think he'll need my help to be internet famous :) - seriously though, really glad to hear you both liked it and good idea on starting with these, they are quick, easy and look fantastic afterward. A very rewarding way to start for sure.

[@neolancer005]

I picked up a couple of boxes of rising sun expansion sets for the minis. Really good paint guide! Gonna try paint the feathers like a crow.

[@13Robzilla]

Your growth as a painter is really showing. Great job!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Thanks Rob, I appreciate the kind words and am very glad you enjoyed the video :) I didn't have any issues at all for this paint job, was just an all around pleasant experience so that was certainly nice!

[@toothywisdom]

They look great. I think you did a great job with that freehand pattern.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Thank you! Glad you think so and that you enjoyed the video :) It's super hard not to be overly critical, but I think it adds a lot to the minis and looks fantastic not so up close.

[@timlarge2954]

Been waiting for these ones. Thanks for the entertaining video. Awesome job!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Me too! I've wanted to paint these since I saw them alongside the Turtle Shinto in the previews! Glad you enjoyed the video :D

[@BandaInku]

Dude you got that pretty dang close to the concept art! Nice job!

[@BandaInku]

Also - Winsor & Newtons are great as is Ochre Brown. It's one of my most used browns / yellows. Have Old Gold as well - never really found a good use for it though.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Thanks man! You were right about blending it the blue on the back :) As for Old Gold - I originally bought it thinking it'd be a good base coat to highlight with regular gold - still think it might work well that way but pretty happy with the more brownish color it provided here.

[@BandaInku]

Sweet! Glad that worked for ya! Yeah the Old Gold goes well with the colors you chose

[@TheKingofAverage]

Thanks!

[@Not_Quite_Dead]

Very instructive and inspiring video, as usual! Many thanks for the effort you put in it! A quick question about the hot water-cold water trick, as you speak about it in the beginning of your video and as quite a lot of my Rising Sun miniatures were bent (mostly the spears or katana). Have you experienced that, over time, the corrected plastic miniatures tend to get back their bent position? Or does it happen only to my miniatures, because I'm doing something wrong?

[@TheKingofAverage]

Sadly it happens to me sometimes too and it's really hard to tell if it will happen. The only thing I can suggest if you are concerned is to fix the bend several days before painting. If you notice it bend back over time then correct it again. I've had to do this a few times over the course of the week before, but eventually it does stop "resetting". Obviously a lot more work but helps ensure it'll stay put! Ideally, setting it in ice water would resolve this and it normally does, but not quite all the time. Glad you liked the video :) Let me know if you ever have more questions I might be able to help with :)

[@Not_Quite_Dead]

@@TheKingofAverage Thanks for your answer. I'll try that on bent miniatures. Even if it sounds kinda tedious, I guess it's worth the effort.

[@TheKingofAverage]

For something like a base most definitely!

[@kylewinston]

In this video you mentioned that Army Painter Voidshield Blue is a good match for the dragonfly clan color. Do you have suggestions for good matches for the other clans?

[@TheKingofAverage]

So for Turtle I've used Castellan Green(C), For KOI I plan to use Pure Red(A), Lotus will be Emperor's Children(C), Bonsai will be Flash Glitz Yellow(C), Fox will be Light Orange, Moon will be Grey Blue(V), and Sun will be Barbarian Flesh(A). - Hope those help in your search!

[@kylewinston]

The King of Average Great! Thanks.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Sure thing!

[@jjhistoricalmodels]

very good painting work on the figures, I will follow you to see your next videos. Regards my friend

[@TheKingofAverage]

Thank you! Very glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@NecroMancer84]

I am painting The Orc from MJ Miniatures. Honestly it is probably way out of my skill level but I want to try to push myself and I got a good deal. I try to only really paint for display (or that's the goal I still have a lot to learn) since I don't have a gaming group. Which is what is really nice about CMON is that there are so many minis to practice and some of the pieces can make pretty nice displays!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Woah, awesome! I expect nothing less than what I saw on their website :D Really though, take your time and you'll do great I'm sure! Was just discussing this on BGG but I really believe that while talent is surely a thing, the most common limiting factor is simply time investment. I follow a really talented painter and talk sometimes with him and he painted this beautiful KDM monster. I asked him about time and he spent almost 4 hours for EACH WING of the bird thing alone. Anywho, I'm sure you'll do great! Would love to see it when it's done!

[@gsw0882]

Hey, King! Great tutorial as always. One Q - Something jumped out at me during your voice-over. You said 2-brush blending is, "...when you have two brushes, one dry, one loaded down with paint..." I've always heard (and practiced) 2-brush with a color brush and a clean, wet brush (water or saliva). How about a demo with a second brush both ways - dry and wet?

[@TheKingofAverage]

Hi! Glad to hear you liked the video :) As for your Q, you are correct and I spoke badly. When I said dry vs loaded with paint I mean one without paint, not dry completely - sorry for the loose description - you are indeed correct! You want it wet so it can properly move the paint around, if it is dry it will simply soak up the paint and potentially not move the paint around at all.

[@timlarge2954]

Hey man. How do i know when to move on to the next color? Basically what I’m asking is how long should i let each color dry before moving to the next.

[@TheKingofAverage]

That's a great question! The simple answer is "when it's dry, as long as you are not trying to wet blend." The problem with a single answer is it depends on the paint brand, paint pot itself, and how watered down it is and with what. Honestly though I try to avoid waiting for it at all which is why you often see me swapping colors or what I'm doing so much. If I apply a wash I'll then go highlight something or paint another part of it so that when I finish that then the wash is dry and I'm ready to highlight that area next.

[@timlarge2954]

Thanks man. I wasnt sure. I tried doing that and accidentally mixed colors. But I’m extremely new to this and really bad at it haha. But I’ll get there.

[@TheKingofAverage]

I'm sure you will! Even where you live (humidity, temperature) can change the dry time but you will get a "feel" for your paints and location with time. Welcome to the hobby! Did you start with Rising Sun? If you accidentally mix again, you can always use a wet, clean brush to clean up the paint in that spot, or simply paint over it once it dries. With correctly thinned paint (should be the consistency of melted ice cream) it's pretty minor to fix :)

[@timlarge2954]

The King of Average yes i did start with rising sun. But i cheated a bit. The game is too nice to risk messing up so i found a guy selling a bunch of random minis from rising sun for super cheap. So I’m painting those. Got about 15 of them. Members only, no monsters.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Awesome! These are some great minis to start out on! Let me know if you have any questions along the way. I'm also still fairly new, only started about a year ago now in late 2017. I know a lot of people that are only focused on getting their games finished painting but I've never been one of those, in fact, I've never completely painted any of my games. I just really like the hobby :D

[@AndyJablonski]

Why do you say to avoid the sta-wet sheet? Cost perspective or does parchment perform better?

[@TheKingofAverage]

It's actually because of the paints we use for miniature painting and then specifically, how wet we need them. The parchment paper that comes with it doesn't transfer the necessary amount of moisture whereas non-waxed parchment paper does wonderfully well. If you use the paper that comes with it then you'll end up with dry paint :) Just be sure to cut it slightly smaller than the area as it will slightly expand when wet.

[@AndyJablonski]

Ah, i didn't know that! I've always just used the sta-wet sheets and was wondering about that. I'll give it a go! Thanks

[@TheKingofAverage]

Hope it helps! :)

[@NecroMancer84]

Awesome video! Have you tried Rosemary & Co brushes?! They are my favorite by far. Shipping can be a little expensive but I bought 4 brushes for like $35 (shipping included) and they are amazing!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Thanks Chris! I have not but that's probably next on my brush list to try out as I've heard good things about them. That price is fairly comparable to W&N's so will be good to compare them directly. What makes them your favorite?

[@NecroMancer84]

The King of Average they just hold their points very well and I just like the feel of the bristles while I am painting. I have used one of my #2 brushes (I bought 2) as my work horse doing base coats and what not and have used it that way for several months and I can still easily dot eyes with it. They also have a really nice belly that works well for me because I live a pretty arid region and paint can dry on a brush pretty easily. The brushes themselves are a great price about $5-7 a brush but then shipping is around $15-16.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Nice! It's amazing how important the belly is of the brush, I feel it's overlooked often. I'll be sure to give them a try at some point :D

[@NecroMancer84]

An idea for free hand is to use a micron pen or calligraphy pens. With the calligraphy pens you can still use you acrylic paints and you can find them pretty cheap on Amazon

[@TheKingofAverage]

Oh that is an interesting idea! I've heard of people using pens, will definitely look into what a micron pen is :) As for calligraphy pens, I'd worry it'd damage the soft plastic, is that typically not the case?

[@NecroMancer84]

The King of Average I haven't used the calligraphy pen but from what I have seen is people using kind of a stipling or dots really close together to make tge pattern then use a really fine brush to just kind of smooth it out

[@TheKingofAverage]

oh nice! I've seen some people on Instagram do stippling and it looks AMAZING as as cloth texture highlight as well - that'd be good practice :D

[@NecroMancer84]

I really liked the freehand you did anyways! I also love the feathers. I have got to get around to painting my RS! My "To Paint" shelf is starting to overflow :)

[@NecroMancer84]

LesterBursleyMiniatures has a good tutorial on how to use the pens for freehand on his channel. I think it is some kind of Wood Elf Ranger or something.

[@bigwaterrescue]

Ochre brown looks orange to me... and I'm not color blind!

[@TheKingofAverage]

That is reassuring! I can never be too sure ;)

[@toddsperling2047]

That model has a very Native American look to it. They are related after all!

[@TheKingofAverage]

Hey yeah you are totally right! I hadn't even notice that but you hit it on the nose for sure.

[@toddsperling2047]

Check out the Mississippian bird man for a parallel.

[@TheKingofAverage]

Oh yeah that is cool! Literally the same darn thing :D