Not everything we try in life is a success. Above is my first attempt at trying out a new technique. It didn't end well. I kept at it though and things got better with each try. Let's explore a brief review of James Wappel's Painting Pyramid DVDs and my adventures with the shaded basecoat technique...


The DVDs are of a high quality and broken into chapters that are easy to watch and follow. I highly recommend them just for the NMM tutorials alone. God, he makes it looks easy, but the lady above puts paid to that lie doesn't she? Barf. So bad.

I say this: I have decent skills at painting and yet, in this particular case that was the problem. Jim's technique would be a great thing for someone completely new or even with limited exposure to mini painting to learn. Hell, it's a lot of fun for a veteran too, but don't think you can watch the videos and crank out minis like Jim in 90min!!! The style he uses requires painters like me to let go of a lot of the careful and controlled techniques we've developed which can be terrifying and freeing. You should all give it a shot for sure. Here are some tips to help you out from my perspective. I thought I'd pick up a couple of cheap Bones minis to try it out on. Don't do that. The soft cast and unfamiliarity will work against you when you are trying to learn a new technique. That is the last thing you need. Pick a mini you know and love and try it out on that, a few times. It will all click faster. Above is Astrid the bard from Reaper's Bones line (One of my favorite Reaper sculpt ever). My first thoughts "Yay, I'm gonna paint Astrid the Bard!" I got the Bones mini and was like "Boo! I'm gonna try to paint Astrid the blob." She died a messy death under The Hammer Of Frustration before she was done. Pick a mini you know well to learn this technique. Below are 2 more Bones minis I was able to complete. Not fast or that great, but good enough for learning.

First up a dark elf.
I did the normal basecoat but mixed the color of my pallet together the get color unity. I didn't do the shaded basecoat because of my lack of familiarity with the sculpt, but I 'll get there.
Mids and highs...
I also broke up tints and glazes in two steps to slow things down and learn.
Glazes and shades...
Back to mids and highs and details...
And with a matte spray...
Total painting time: 2hrs. Not bad. Want to see nicer display pics of her? Yeah, me too...
 Eeesh. Look at those mold lines. Bones: You get what you pay for. To quote a guy on the interwebz I know: I'm just gonna make this face -_-

I don't give up easy though and tried again on this lady who looks like kinda like The Lady Inquisitor with that raised eyebrow and big gun. "Oh really?"  That's her catch phrase.
The Lady Inquisitor is named =][= REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE HOLY INQUISITION =][= so sometimes people call her Rosie - and then die slowly pleading for mercy. Better them than me!
Basecoat. Again, not familiar with the mini but mixed my colors to get some color unity.
Mids and highs...
Shaded and Glazed...
Details, mids and highs...
Flat spray...
"Oh really?"  Naaaaailed it!
Better and faster: 1.3 hrs this time. Display pics? Sure, why not. We all like mold lines, right?
Hey hun, I painted a mini that looks just like you... "OH REALLY?"    o_O ~gulp~ 
 Not my best work, but I have picked up a few new tricks to add to my painting and I highly recommend the DVDs and trying out the techniques Jim uses. It's a great way to break out of your painting comfort zone and have some fun learning a new way to paint and look at colors.

Next Post: I'll show you the Shaded Bascoat Technique in all it's glory on a mini that is really familiar to me - a Space Marine! Thanks for scrolling through that one, let me know what you think and remember; you can't spell paint without a little pain ;)