Learn how to paint miniatures in 5 minutes. (a super easy guide.)

This guide will take you step by step through the painting process, looking at colour choice, technique, brush care, and quantity and it will only take a few minutes of your time.

Although daunting, painting miniatures is super fun and surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it.

Let's assume you have some paints and brushes by now.

If not check out this post on the best paints and brushes to use. (coming soon)

Colours

So, you have your white undercoated miniature and are ready to paint, but what colour should you choose?

Painting the colour as is, straight from the pot, is the easiest way to start. Once you delve into mixing colours you run the risk of not being able to recreate the same colour, for touching up the inevitable screwups later on.

You can leave the paint mixing to when you feel a bit more confident. So pick a colour you like and go for it. Bright and bold always looks good on the tabletop but it depends on the setting and kind of miniature.

You can always modify it later with washes (guide coming soon) and dry brushing (guide also coming soon) but we’ll come back to that.

Technique

The correct, boring, way most people recommend is put a dab of paint onto your pallet, mix in a little water to make is easy to handle, then paint away.

I, on the other hand, have always been pretty comfortable painting straight from the paint pot. Just dip it in and scrape of the excess on the lip of the pot. Also your thumbnail is right there as you grip the model. A perfect mini pallet for smoothing your brush and reducing paint.

Experiment and find out what fits your style.

You should apply your paint in short dabs, always checking to see how it is going.

Make a mistake by going over the wrong area or putting too much paint on, don’t worry. Quickly wipe it off with some tissues or even your finger. It’s a lot easier to get rid of wet paint and fix it at the moment, than after it has dried.

Brushcare

You'll want to maintain a point on your paintbrush as you work.

After you dip it into the paint, try and twist the paint brush as you scrape the extra paint off. This rotating movement will hone your brush into a nice pointy shape.

So sharp, pointy and delicious! Definitely did not lick it.

At some point your paint brush will become too unruly. You need to smooth it out, but your hands are full with paintbrush and miniature! A sinister voice in your head will whisper, "why don't you just lick the paint brush?"

Don't do it! It's important that you ignore this hobby demon. Once you get into this habit it’s very hard to break. Put down the miniature and smooth it with your fingers like a normal person.

Make sure to wash the paintbrush thoroughly in between colours and when you finish painting. Nothing worse than a dry and crispy paintbrush!

Quantity

The amount of paint you have on your paintbrush is important. Overload it and it will spread more than you want and will quickly fill up crack and details.

The perfect amount is when the paintbrush retains its size and shape and there are no bulges of paint anywhere.

Final thoughts

You should be having fun! Don't worry about mistakes, try new things and experiment.

Bear in mind, every time you put paint to miniature you are improving!

That concludes the basic painting miniatures guide. For more in depth tips, guides and examples check out this definitive post about collecting and painting miniatures.