What and How I like to Paint
The first time I ever painted figures I could have been around ten. I had a limited palette of colours. They were mostly enamel house paints with the odd Humbrol hobby tin and an old tube of oil paint. The subjects were cowboys and Indians from the cereal packets - copies of Cresent, although I did not know that. There were also some flat plastic cowboys and Indians.
My next painting phase, when I was around thirteen, involved Airfix Eigth Army and Afrika Korps, Napoleonic British and French in 1/32 and also a swag of Airfix HO ACW and WW 2. I also painted the odd kepi light blue or yellow on a few Timpo and Britains Swoppets. Again, Airfix and Humbrol enamels were the main paints. I continued to paint figures into my late teens and early twenties.
The next stage was in my mid twenties when I discovered ACOTS and began painting units of twenty four for ACW and other periods. Then I ended up painting thousands of 1/32 figures.
When I was a secondary student I discovered books in th school library on how to paint 'model soldiers' and took on board tips on how to paint shadows, highlights, eyes and tartan.
At some point I started using acrylics and now that is mainly what I use as they dry quickly, don't stink and are easy to clean up. An influence on me in my late thirties onwards was Games Workshop and White Dwarf magazine. Traditionalist historical gamers often rubbished fantasy and science fiction but Games Workshop helped to lift the standard expected for wargames terrain and painting. I began collecting and painting these figures as well. In any case I loved military history AND SF and fantasy.
As for periods, I painted a LOT of ACW, so many that I got a little bored with painting any more but I still do a few now and then. Although I have a few Napoleonics painted this did not become my favourite period. It is colourful but there always seemed something too ... regimented... about it! I like individuality in my soldiers. I know a certain Adelaide collector who gets very frustrated when he sees regiments of my figures with odd coloured jackets, hats and so on. This is especially so when I depict irregular or ACW figures because if we are talking campaigning that is actually more accurate. If the truth be known that would also be true for Napoleonic, if perhaps not as common as in ACW. Maybe I'll paint up a regiment of French grenadiers complete with patches and items of civilian gear.
On the other hand I like the Napoleonic style Mexican uniforms of the nineteenth century because I can put the same figures against others in buckskins and even war paint. I have always liked the Old West and so I painted a lot of cowboys, Indians and US cavalry. I can pick up odd figures and add them into the mix. The same thing goes for my medieval, fantasy and science fiction as every figure has his own character.
At the same time, over the last few years I have been building up my Victorian armies of Britain and other European countries, especially in the Funny Little Wars tradition of HG Wells, with semi fictitious countries. Ever a man of contradiction, I have to say that a lot of these units do look the regimented spic and span, except for my Balkans irregulars and Russian type militia....
As for painting style, I spent many years in my twenties building up my model painting style with shading and often some dry brushed dust on boots and knees. At the same time I began collecting some old battered hollowcast and repainting them in traditional style.
As for techniques my ten year old skills were basic with no shading but in my later teens I was developing the shading and highlighting with blending. I still do this and find I can do it with acrylics although not quite so easily as with enamels. I find myself using paint and ink washes a lot more as they are quick shortcuts when I paint so many figures to fill out armies. I don't use black washes though, except on dark colours, mainly furs and the like. Also the black wash works well with armor.
There are a couple of things I am not that keen to see on figures. One is exaggerated 'black lining'. Again, our Adelaide friend is very proud of his black lining. I ask, how often do you see a bloke walking down the street with black lines delineating every item of his clothing? The fact is, on a figure it looks contrived and sometimes even ugly. I occasionally use it in a limited way but usually with a dark grey or a brown to create more definition where it might be unclear. At least black lining requires some skill, even if misguided.
The other thing I really hate to see is what I call the 'poached egg' eye. A lot of wargamers don't bother to paint eyes, even on 54mm figures because they say you couldn't really see them at this scale, or more honestly, because they don't have the time or the steady hands. Some compromise and use a brown wash to define he eyes and facial features. At the other end there are people who take great care to paint eyes on 28mm and smaller figures. Then there are those who don't have good eye sight or steady hands and endeavour to paint the eyes, whites and all. Unfortunately this is where the 'poached egg' look come in, or perhaps the 'Marty Feldman look'. I say if this is going to be the result don't paint the eyes or use a brown wash instead. The other thing is that the lips are not bright red but toned down with a little flesh or brown, I also add a touch of red to the cheeks, sometimes slightly exaggerated for my 'Funny little Wars' late 19th early 20th century period troops.
Personally, I always paint the eyes because it gives the figures 'a soul'. I can't stand to see the little fellows stumbling around blind! To avoid the staring look I mix a touch of blue in with the white, when that is dry I put in dark brown, blue or green dots. Then I make a red brown line above the eye and paint the flesh back towards the eye to make the line thin. I also paint the eyebrows. I used to paint the pupils as well but even I think that unnecessary in most cases. For dark eyes you won't see them anyway. There is no way round the fact that you need a good fine brush for this and if it has not got a point it is pointless to use it for anything other than painting large areas. I buy new brushes every two or three weeks. You have to make sure the brush you buy has this point and if the shop owner lets people fiddle with the brushes the chances are they have already lost their brush covers and their points. For this reason I favour one small newsagent supplier over the bigger one.You then have to make sure you wash them in detergent or soap after each use; baby oil is also good for cleaning them . Don't leave them standing head down in the water glass as they will end up bent. That is the brushes rather than the newsagents; I mean you couldn't get a glass that big and there could be unfortunate consequences, like loss of supplier!
With the traditional finish I paint black dots for eyes. If you want the figure to look really traditional you can even put them slightly in the wrong position as the original painters were no Leonardo da Vincis. Even then the dots should be quite small and not take up a huge proportion of the face. With this style of painting it is, well, stylised, so you have the round pinkish splotches on the cheeks and the red lips. Even here, though, I don't make the cheeks too red.
If I was to say what my favourite individual figures to paint are I'd say my conversions as this is the final stage in bringing to life my unique figures that no one else will have. Call it the Frankenstein complex!
My next painting phase, when I was around thirteen, involved Airfix Eigth Army and Afrika Korps, Napoleonic British and French in 1/32 and also a swag of Airfix HO ACW and WW 2. I also painted the odd kepi light blue or yellow on a few Timpo and Britains Swoppets. Again, Airfix and Humbrol enamels were the main paints. I continued to paint figures into my late teens and early twenties.
The next stage was in my mid twenties when I discovered ACOTS and began painting units of twenty four for ACW and other periods. Then I ended up painting thousands of 1/32 figures.
When I was a secondary student I discovered books in th school library on how to paint 'model soldiers' and took on board tips on how to paint shadows, highlights, eyes and tartan.
At some point I started using acrylics and now that is mainly what I use as they dry quickly, don't stink and are easy to clean up. An influence on me in my late thirties onwards was Games Workshop and White Dwarf magazine. Traditionalist historical gamers often rubbished fantasy and science fiction but Games Workshop helped to lift the standard expected for wargames terrain and painting. I began collecting and painting these figures as well. In any case I loved military history AND SF and fantasy.
As for periods, I painted a LOT of ACW, so many that I got a little bored with painting any more but I still do a few now and then. Although I have a few Napoleonics painted this did not become my favourite period. It is colourful but there always seemed something too ... regimented... about it! I like individuality in my soldiers. I know a certain Adelaide collector who gets very frustrated when he sees regiments of my figures with odd coloured jackets, hats and so on. This is especially so when I depict irregular or ACW figures because if we are talking campaigning that is actually more accurate. If the truth be known that would also be true for Napoleonic, if perhaps not as common as in ACW. Maybe I'll paint up a regiment of French grenadiers complete with patches and items of civilian gear.
On the other hand I like the Napoleonic style Mexican uniforms of the nineteenth century because I can put the same figures against others in buckskins and even war paint. I have always liked the Old West and so I painted a lot of cowboys, Indians and US cavalry. I can pick up odd figures and add them into the mix. The same thing goes for my medieval, fantasy and science fiction as every figure has his own character.
At the same time, over the last few years I have been building up my Victorian armies of Britain and other European countries, especially in the Funny Little Wars tradition of HG Wells, with semi fictitious countries. Ever a man of contradiction, I have to say that a lot of these units do look the regimented spic and span, except for my Balkans irregulars and Russian type militia....
As for painting style, I spent many years in my twenties building up my model painting style with shading and often some dry brushed dust on boots and knees. At the same time I began collecting some old battered hollowcast and repainting them in traditional style.
As for techniques my ten year old skills were basic with no shading but in my later teens I was developing the shading and highlighting with blending. I still do this and find I can do it with acrylics although not quite so easily as with enamels. I find myself using paint and ink washes a lot more as they are quick shortcuts when I paint so many figures to fill out armies. I don't use black washes though, except on dark colours, mainly furs and the like. Also the black wash works well with armor.
There are a couple of things I am not that keen to see on figures. One is exaggerated 'black lining'. Again, our Adelaide friend is very proud of his black lining. I ask, how often do you see a bloke walking down the street with black lines delineating every item of his clothing? The fact is, on a figure it looks contrived and sometimes even ugly. I occasionally use it in a limited way but usually with a dark grey or a brown to create more definition where it might be unclear. At least black lining requires some skill, even if misguided.
The other thing I really hate to see is what I call the 'poached egg' eye. A lot of wargamers don't bother to paint eyes, even on 54mm figures because they say you couldn't really see them at this scale, or more honestly, because they don't have the time or the steady hands. Some compromise and use a brown wash to define he eyes and facial features. At the other end there are people who take great care to paint eyes on 28mm and smaller figures. Then there are those who don't have good eye sight or steady hands and endeavour to paint the eyes, whites and all. Unfortunately this is where the 'poached egg' look come in, or perhaps the 'Marty Feldman look'. I say if this is going to be the result don't paint the eyes or use a brown wash instead. The other thing is that the lips are not bright red but toned down with a little flesh or brown, I also add a touch of red to the cheeks, sometimes slightly exaggerated for my 'Funny little Wars' late 19th early 20th century period troops.
Personally, I always paint the eyes because it gives the figures 'a soul'. I can't stand to see the little fellows stumbling around blind! To avoid the staring look I mix a touch of blue in with the white, when that is dry I put in dark brown, blue or green dots. Then I make a red brown line above the eye and paint the flesh back towards the eye to make the line thin. I also paint the eyebrows. I used to paint the pupils as well but even I think that unnecessary in most cases. For dark eyes you won't see them anyway. There is no way round the fact that you need a good fine brush for this and if it has not got a point it is pointless to use it for anything other than painting large areas. I buy new brushes every two or three weeks. You have to make sure the brush you buy has this point and if the shop owner lets people fiddle with the brushes the chances are they have already lost their brush covers and their points. For this reason I favour one small newsagent supplier over the bigger one.You then have to make sure you wash them in detergent or soap after each use; baby oil is also good for cleaning them . Don't leave them standing head down in the water glass as they will end up bent. That is the brushes rather than the newsagents; I mean you couldn't get a glass that big and there could be unfortunate consequences, like loss of supplier!
With the traditional finish I paint black dots for eyes. If you want the figure to look really traditional you can even put them slightly in the wrong position as the original painters were no Leonardo da Vincis. Even then the dots should be quite small and not take up a huge proportion of the face. With this style of painting it is, well, stylised, so you have the round pinkish splotches on the cheeks and the red lips. Even here, though, I don't make the cheeks too red.
If I was to say what my favourite individual figures to paint are I'd say my conversions as this is the final stage in bringing to life my unique figures that no one else will have. Call it the Frankenstein complex!
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