Starting to paint 28mm miniatures might seem easy. You get some figures, build them and then paint, easy, right? Unfortunately, painting miniatures for the first time isn’t always that simple.
For most of us, actually getting started, especially if it’s something that you’ve never done before can be more difficult. Life, to-do lists, work and other distractions get in the way. Most of us tend to have something more important to do than start a new hobby.
The unpainted figures that you are collecting, playing tabletop games with, or in your board games are testament to this.
So, how do you get started painting miniatures, and why should you?
Why Paint Miniatures
First the why. If you’ve been playing with plain or bought figures for this long, or you’ve never had much interest in miniatures at all, and you are short on time, what’s the point in learning to paint miniatures now, or, why shouldn’t you just hire a professional miniature painter?
Painting Miniatures is Relaxing
Painting miniatures requires time and attention to detail. This means you need to concentrate and makes it a great way to clear your head and get some peace. Once you learn not to stress about how good you are, or how neat the eyes are, you start to find painting 28mm figures exceptionally relaxing.
Painting Figures is a Great Way to Pass the Time
All those hours that you spend browsing Netflix menus, or doom scrolling social media could be used doing something creative, relaxing and learning a new skill. And, you never know when you might need a new lockdown hobby.
Painting is Creative
Exploring your creativity and practising a creative hobby has many mental health benefits, aside from being relaxing.
A Chance to Spend Time Alone
Time alone is good for you, but we’re not all good at it. Painting miniatures takes time and helps you to spend time on your own, focusing on something that you enjoy and want to do.
Learning to Paint Miniatures is a Worthwhile Skill
Whether you one day make money as a 28mm Miniature Painter for hire or you just show off your new hobby to friends and fellow wargamers, it’s an impressive skill to have, and certainly not something that everyone can do.
Miniature Painting Will Improve Your Attention to Detail
Attention to detail is a great transferable skill that can be used in a variety of areas of your home and work life. Painting small figures is a chance to improve and develop yours.
Level Up Your Tabletop Gaming
If you play tabletop games being able to paint your own miniatures to a high standard means that you can customise your armies and show off your skills. Wouldn’t it be great to answer the question “who painted those?” with “I did”.
Get the Right Equipment
The first thing that you need to do before you sit down to paint is getting the right equipment.
When you are just starting out and finding out if this is a hobby that you want to pursue, you don’t need things like wet palates and painting handles. Nor will you need very expensive brushes or supplies for bases.
But you should have decent brushes in a range of sizes, some figures that are built or that you can build, and a set of paints with a range of colours. You can always upgrade later, and you certainly never need to spend a fortune all at once.
Find a Workspace
The same goes for your workspace. If you are happy trying painting out on your dining table, go for it.
But remember, miniature painting takes time and requires great attention to detail.
If you’ve got a workspace with a desk or worktop, bright lamb, a comfortable chair and some space or storage to keep figures and supplies, even better, especially if it means that your painting gear is out of the way of the rest of your household.
Start with a Miniature Painting Project That Interests You
Some people will tell you to start on cheap figures that you don’t care about. Then you can just throw them out if you aren’t happy with them.
But it can be hard to find the motivation and commitment to sit and work on a miniature painting project that you know you aren’t bothered about.
Instead, it can be better to start work on projects that you are interested in. Whether that means painting 28mm historical miniatures from a period that interests you or painting the plain grey figures from a board game that you enjoy, it’s a great way to care about what you are doing and to really find a love of painting 28mm miniatures.
Take Your Time
Painting miniatures isn’t a hobby to fill an empty 5 minutes.
Later, you might use these short chunks of free time to finish projects, to base, to wash or to prime, but to start with, you shouldn’t try to paint in short snatches of time.
Give yourself time to relax into it. Paint when you’ve got at least an hour free, and your house is empty and quiet.
Forget About Eyes
Eyes are hard, and the truth is, bad eyes, look a lot worse than no eyes at all. No eyes, with a little shading, don’t stand out, bad eyes look absolutely ridiculous. Many very experienced, professional painters still don’t bother and eyes certainly aren’t a detail that you should worry about as a beginner.
Keep Trying
Your first figure will not be your best. Your hundredth figure still won’t be your best. In fact, if you carry on painting, practising and learning, you’ll keep getting better for a long time to come.
Those first figures could be absolutely awful. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll never be any good. As you practice, learn new skills and hone your technique, you may well improve beyond all recognition.
A lot of painters like to keep those first projects somewhere, to compare to later on.
Why Hire a 28mm Painter?
If you can paint yourself, why would you ever need to Commission a 28mm Miniature Project?
Well, 28mm Miniature Commissions are still a popular choice, even for keen painters. Some of the reasons to hire a miniature painter include:
- Save time
- For a specific project
- To get results beyond your current skills
- To impress other gamers
- To expand your collection
If you are looking to commission a project to compliment your own painting, take a look at my gallery, services and contact pages.