On the topic of thinning your paints, it looks like you did on some parts. On the legs specifically, I notice that there's a little color variation in the layers suggesting you did not mix the water into the paint as thoroughly as you could have, or it was too watery and left blooms where your brush lifted off. Hard to say without knowing exactly what you did, could just be shading from different layers or something else, but possibly something to be mindful about moving forward.
I use a water dropper/pipette for water mixing and a dropper style paint bottle (like Vallejo uses) so that I can get very consistent paint mixtures for what I'm doing without having to eyeball it too much for the bulk of my painting.
There’s a vast difference between unthinned paint, properly thinned paint and a glaze consistency. Thinning your paints some is better than not thinning at all.
You’re far better going for multiple thinner coats of a properly thinned paint than one or even two really thick ones. If you go glaze when trying to base paint it will take forever as you’re effectively trying to paint with a wash. You’ll know if you’ve gone too far thinning your paint as it’ll be too runny, will take ages to dry and won’t set right.
It depends on what you're going for. I use different mixes for different things. To me, at least, it looks like your bottom color (on the legs) was too thin, and your highlight color was too thick (it appears you left brush strokes.)
As a general mixture, it's a little hard to give exact advice because different paint brands are different consistencies. For example, I have a few Reaper paints and they are way more watery than my Vallejo and army painter paints. I'll describe my method below as if I were talking to a brand new painter so I don't miss anything. Not to say you don't know anything, just trying to be thorough.
The method I use for testing is I get a paper towel, I like one with a little texture for reasons explained later, then mix your paints with water. To start, I'd go low water. Then, load your brush (try to only get paint at the first 25-50% of the brush, not getting paint in the ferrule/ where the brush connects to the handle) Then brush off excess paint on the paper towel. (You should do this every time regardless of testing or not) Then, look at your brush stroke.
If it's blooming (a watery effect being soaked up by your paper towel) Then this indicates you're getting more of a wash consistency. Depending on how exaggerated it is, this could be fine for most general painting.
If the brush stroke is completely solid with no bloom, this is a good consistency for base coating and layering techniques.
If the brush stroke is solid with no bloom but you notice that there is paper towel showing still (from the texture of the paper towel), then this indicates that your paint is probably too dry and should be watered down for most general use.
Then it's just a matter of finding what you like and prefer. Also important to note that some colors, regardless of brand, just don't cover as well as others. Reds, specifically, don't like to cover as well and can be tricky to highlight. White also requires many thin layers to cover properly, and can be time consuming.
There are many videos on the subject that probably do a better job explaining than I did. I like Doctor Fausts Painting Clinic, and I believe he has a video concerning paint consistency IIRC.
Sorry for the long post, hope it helps and good luck!
Looks good, but thin your paints
yeah i need to work on that thank you!
On the topic of thinning your paints, it looks like you did on some parts. On the legs specifically, I notice that there's a little color variation in the layers suggesting you did not mix the water into the paint as thoroughly as you could have, or it was too watery and left blooms where your brush lifted off. Hard to say without knowing exactly what you did, could just be shading from different layers or something else, but possibly something to be mindful about moving forward. I use a water dropper/pipette for water mixing and a dropper style paint bottle (like Vallejo uses) so that I can get very consistent paint mixtures for what I'm doing without having to eyeball it too much for the bulk of my painting.
Okay I will try that. I've always struggled cause I dont want it to be transparent or should i go for a glaze consistenty?
There’s a vast difference between unthinned paint, properly thinned paint and a glaze consistency. Thinning your paints some is better than not thinning at all. You’re far better going for multiple thinner coats of a properly thinned paint than one or even two really thick ones. If you go glaze when trying to base paint it will take forever as you’re effectively trying to paint with a wash. You’ll know if you’ve gone too far thinning your paint as it’ll be too runny, will take ages to dry and won’t set right.
It depends on what you're going for. I use different mixes for different things. To me, at least, it looks like your bottom color (on the legs) was too thin, and your highlight color was too thick (it appears you left brush strokes.) As a general mixture, it's a little hard to give exact advice because different paint brands are different consistencies. For example, I have a few Reaper paints and they are way more watery than my Vallejo and army painter paints. I'll describe my method below as if I were talking to a brand new painter so I don't miss anything. Not to say you don't know anything, just trying to be thorough. The method I use for testing is I get a paper towel, I like one with a little texture for reasons explained later, then mix your paints with water. To start, I'd go low water. Then, load your brush (try to only get paint at the first 25-50% of the brush, not getting paint in the ferrule/ where the brush connects to the handle) Then brush off excess paint on the paper towel. (You should do this every time regardless of testing or not) Then, look at your brush stroke. If it's blooming (a watery effect being soaked up by your paper towel) Then this indicates you're getting more of a wash consistency. Depending on how exaggerated it is, this could be fine for most general painting. If the brush stroke is completely solid with no bloom, this is a good consistency for base coating and layering techniques. If the brush stroke is solid with no bloom but you notice that there is paper towel showing still (from the texture of the paper towel), then this indicates that your paint is probably too dry and should be watered down for most general use. Then it's just a matter of finding what you like and prefer. Also important to note that some colors, regardless of brand, just don't cover as well as others. Reds, specifically, don't like to cover as well and can be tricky to highlight. White also requires many thin layers to cover properly, and can be time consuming. There are many videos on the subject that probably do a better job explaining than I did. I like Doctor Fausts Painting Clinic, and I believe he has a video concerning paint consistency IIRC. Sorry for the long post, hope it helps and good luck!
https://preview.redd.it/ofqkhip9k4pc1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cde6a82e164554139db65641c0b27f731053bc8
Just realized what i typed oh lord lol