I agree with all the advice here, the best way to improve your painting is to paint!
But love reading these discussions as you can learn so much from your fellows. When I first started painting miniatures in the late 1970's I had to learn everything by experimenting. I used to paint Historex with Humbrol enamels and then I mixed Winton (remember them?) oil paint, white or black into the Humbrol to light and shade. Paint the highlight and then, working quickly with a fresh brush, feather the highlight colour into the body colour. Repeat for a second highlight and then do the shading. Quite nice results but a bit prone to matt and shiny spots. Later I turned to oils exclusively, often on a Humbrol base coat.
Inspired by the wonderful displays in the "Under Two Flags" shop in London (what a great shop!) I changed to painting white metal miniatures, mainly Chota Sahib. And my paints changed. Flesh, horses and washes for rifle stocks etc. were still oils but all else were water-based Rose Miniatures colours and Pelikan Plaka. Rose gold powders and Humbrol steel for metals. Humbrol Grey 34 as a primer. Black leather was painted with Dylon Black shoe dye. This was a amazing discovery; water based shoe dye that would shrink and dry rapidly to a satin finish perfect for shading and weathering. Life was simpler in those days as we did not have much choice in our media.
Fast forward to today and there are so many different paints to choose from that you don't know what to use. Look at what we have: traditional oils, water based oils, artist's acrylics, acrylic gouache, modeller's acrylics, blah, blah, blah. The list is endless. I have acquired more paints than you can shake a stick at but my painting is becoming increasingly crap as my eyesight is shot and my stupid hands shake. Painting seems to take forever and I am seriously considering assembling all my models and spraying them in grey primer. Then straight into the display cabinet, like Biscuit Porcelain. L'Armee Gris. I weep when I contrast the beautiful detail of an MM when it is in the grey to how it looks after I have finished smearing paint all over it. But we must not give in to these dark thoughts, keep trying. The next one will be better.
Here's a few thoughts that I would like to share about paint. Sorry if I'm repeating things you already know:
I have not found the perfect paint. I enjoy using acrylics but then I miss the smell of linseed oil and turpentine. Mainly though I miss the handling and blending qualities of oils. Oil paint is so addictive, solvent abuse is another story but oil paint on the palette just feels good. What is the perfect paint?
Blending acrylics. I find that acrylics dry too quickly for blending. If you like using acrylics, buy some retarder to keep the paint open for longer and try blending wet on wet. Buy some matt or glaze medium so that you can paint your lights, mids and darks and then glaze thin coats of the base colour over to soften the transitions. I can recommend both the Vallejo and Liquitex products.
Matt finish for acrylics. This is an ongoing discussion that never ends. Acrylic paint sometimes dries to a satin finish. If you have any issues with satin or glossy finish with your acrylics then invest in a pot of Tamiya X-21 Flat Base. A little dab in the mix gives you a dead matt finish and a little goes a long way. Which is good news because you only get 10ml in the pot. I have had the same pot for ages and there's loads left but I would prefer that the paint dried to a matt finish without my having to do anything. Vallejo Model Color is prone to separation and must be throughly shaken or stirred or you will get a shiny finish. Life Color dries matt and does not separate easily. Same for Andrea. When painting Napoleonics, I have the colours I need in both Andrea and Vallejo but I always pick up the Andrea because it's more convenient. I am currently experimenting with Liquitex Artists Gouache and will let you know the results. I think I spend more time buggering about with paint than painting.
Matt finish for oils. This is another forever discussion and everything in this thread is of interest. Oils usually dry to a glossy finish which may matt with time but it depends on the colour, the manufacturer, the time of the year and quarter of the moon and whether or not you put it in your special drying box. As many contributors advise, leaching out the oil on cardboard is not always a good idea as it makes the paint too dry and hard to work. But I find that new tubes (especially Winsor & Newton) do seem excessively oily and then it is a good idea to use the cardboard but only for about 30 minutes or so. Should you want a guaranteed matt finish for oils then you need to use a medium. I have used Spectrum Matt Spectragel several times and it consistently gives a dead flat matt finish. It's a thixotropic gel, which means its a horrid gloopy substance which you mix into your paint. It softens into a liquid as you mix and it improves the flow qualities of the paint making it easy to brush into a thin coat. A little bit goes a long way, however the smallest pot is 250ml which is enough for a lifetime. It's available from Ken Bromley in the UK.
Mixed media. Recently I started painting a Tommy's War figure and wondered whether I could repeat the old Humbrol and Winton method. I can't bring myself to paint WW1 khaki in oils; oil paint is for the Imperial Guard. Khaki has to be in utilitarian acrylic. I painted the base coat with a few layers of Andrea khaki and let it dry throughly. Then I mixed Andrea khaki with Winsor & Newton Artisan Oils Naples Yellow, a water soluble oil paint. I was expecting it to turn lumpy and useless but no, it mixed perfectly. I dipped my brush into Liquitex retarder and mixed it all in. Then, working quickly, painted the highlights and feathered the paint using another brush. Let it dry and then did the lighter lights. When it was all dry, I mixed the Khaki with Vallejo glaze medium and painted a light coat over the top. The result was a matt finish and nicely blended transitions. I never thought that it would work but it did. Amazing.
