Back when I attended ReaperCon, I met a miniature painter named Geoff Davis. I really liked one of the displays he had at his booth. We got to talking and he said all the minis on that display were painted in approximately 2 hours. I thought that was pretty impressive, as it takes me probably a week to get anything close to what he had. I found out the minis were from his free online paint along sessions and he gave me some info on it.
Well, I kept meaning to attend one of those classes, finally in February I did just that! I started writing up a post on my experiences, but I ultimately decided to break it up into three posts.
The first thing to note is that all the minis are ones you can buy off of Reaper’s site and he uses Reaper paints too. This was a big plus for me, as I’ve found painting tutorials using Reaper paints on YouTube is a bit harder to come by. Also, I’ve wanted to pick up some of the newer Reaper minis, which is another plus.
The Ice Dragon
This was my first experience with the online painting class. In preparation, I got things set up the night before. Brought out a card table and stuck it in front of my computer monitor, set out paint brushes, supplies, and my most frequently used Reaper paints close by.
Rearranging my space!, The desk (Zombies in a tray in back, in case I had more time, foolish!), Dragon primed…Grey
Lesson #1: Paint choices. Geoff posts the paints he plans on using just before the class starts. With that list, I started grabbing paints from my paint rack and other places. It was a bit of a scurry and unfortunately he chose an old paint that I didn’t have. I tried to get an idea of what color it was (some light blue), but couldn’t tell from the video if was a good match or not. He said we didn’t need to worry too much, we could ‘just mix something close’.
Lesson #2: Priming. Instructions on the site say he primes in black. I noticed he also tends to do a Zenithal prime with a bluish color. He said we don’t need to, that he mainly does it so things show up better on camera.
Well….since this was an “Ice Dragon”, I primed in grey. Thinking no one would want to go from black to white. Nope, I was wrong. Geoff had primed in black. I tried to roll with it, but quickly noticed my color values were not looking good on the mini, so I rushed to brush on black primer over the whole mini and that put me way behind. I managed to start catching up, but definitely a lesson learned.
Lesson #3: Geoff paints fast! He has a painting studio and does some commission work. He is used to working very quick, so I found myself trying to do my best to keep up with him. Several of my classmates were in the same boat, so I guess it wasn’t just me. I have a feeling he slowed down a bit for us, but we still had a hard time matching his speed.
The Class
Geoff ran into some technical issues, and the class ended up going on longer than 2 hours. I had to go, and ended up leaving before the mini was finished. I figured I could just watch his YouTube video afterwards, but because of the technical issues it didn’t get posted. Which was too bad, because I’m not sure how to finish the dragon and was really hoping to. I might have to reach out to him or maybe I will catch him at a future ReaperCon and ask him someday.
Geoff used a very different approach to painting the mini than I’m used to. Building up the values of the scales, but also keenly focused on where the light source was coming from. One side (the purplish side) was in darkness and the other side (green) was in light. At the end, I ended up with an unfinished mini, but the faster pace and different method got my brain going. The directional lighting really stuck with me and that’s why last week’s Champions mini “The Ray” turned out different than he otherwise might have.
Next time: Stargrave
Double Down Dice 
Sounds like you had fun regardless Brian, and that you learnt some new things along the way as well. I used to undercoat everything black when I was undercoating, as I found you could get a deeper richness to all the colours, rather than using grey or white, but again this is a personal preference, and with any lessons take what you want from them, and if it adds a new wrinle to your style, it’s got to be a good thing.
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Cheers Dave! After the session, I was a bit tired and my brain was a bit full. I don’t if you’ve been in a class or workshop, where so much is thrown at you at once and you just feel a bit exhausted? But after having some time to digest everything, it was really good.
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I know what you mean, on the second day of the course we started at 10 am, ran until 9 pm and then had a two and a half hour journey home ! LOL still refer back to it now, and went to it over 8 years ago ! LOL
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Wow, that is long! What type of course?
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It was Banshee’s colour theory course, it was intense over both days, but was well worth it.
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Two days and that many hours, is pretty intense. I hope part of it was hands on, and not just lecture?!
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There was lots of practical exercises over the two days, but not much of putting brush to model, but then this course wasn’t really about that.
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Sounds like a good idea to me! :-) I like what you’ve done on the dragon so far – do you not just fancy doing your own thing to finish it off?
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Thanks John! I honestly am not sure where to go from there. If I can’t get ahold of Geoff, then yea, it will probably got into one of the project trays at some point and I’ll be forced to figure it out.
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Sounds interesting, but also a bit of a mess. If I were teaching a class of some sort (heaven forbid!) and my students needed to bring something or have a thing prepared a certain way, I’d be sure to list it all with at least a few days notice to allow prep time.
Sounds to me like his classes fly by the seat of his pants..
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Cheers Az! There are instructions on prepping (including priming) the mini on their site, which I clearly didn’t follow. It seems he logs in 10 minutes or so before class and lists the paint colors. I think in some cases, he does figure them out just before class. The class is free though, so I’m not going to complain about spending 2+ hours of their free time to teach mini painting! 😉
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If it’s free a hell of a lot more is forgivable I have to say. I had the impression that it was paid!
If I could get a camera set-up to where I paint its something I might consider, but my surface pro is a bit old for my usb C- only webcam. Also I’d need somewhere to put it and I’d also have to clean my painting desk! 😬
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Yea, hear that…it was a chore just getting the monitor so that I could see it comfortably while painting. When we move, I’m hoping to get a screen and speakers closer to my painting desk. Then I could pull up ref pics and listen to some tunes easier.
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Yeah, the painting desk is behind my back from the computer desk, but the painting desk is kinda floating in the room instead of against a wall (it was originally a temporary setup) but if I move it close to that wall it cuts off access to a cupboard and bookshelf entirely.
In theory I could potentally try to set up a temp space in front of my keyboard to do a simple tutorial on something like how I do something like camo super quick and easy, along with a few “as close as you own” colours – essentially something that can be used across a bunch of different figure types instead of “we’re all going to paint the same griffon with the exact same paints”.
I dunno. What do you think?
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I think people would find those tutorials pretty useful. I’d still love to see how you use Contrast paints. I know you’ve explained it several times, but I think I need to see it visually to really understand. That could be either a step by step pictorial or video. Hmm, maybe throw out a question/poll on your next post to see if there’s interest and/or a few topics you’d want to tackle to see which one has the most traction?
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Maaaate you should definitely do an online painting course for all of us!
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I’m not sure he would want this lot as students! ;P
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Great post. I have never tried a painting class, just picked up tips here and there. This shows in my painting quality which has now reached an OK level, but I am never going to win a painting contest.
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Thanks GP! ReaperCon is what got me the most interested in classes. I’m definitely not going to be winning any painting classes either!
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I didn’t know that people were offering online only classes though in today’s day and age, it makes sense. The price seems fair too considering the technical issues. My obligatory light hearted comment is that I can’t believe there was a paint on the list you didn’t own! 😉 Its interesting to read about your experiences in the class and I’m glad you enjoyed it/learned something from it. I encourage everyone to keep trying new things and keep trying to develop their skills and this class was a great way for you to do that.
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Cheers Jeff! His studio also does in-person classes. In one of our classes, he was talking about having just done an intro to mini painting class for about 10 people. He really enjoys teaching the hobby, especially to beginners.
Haha, yea…though Reaper has such a huge amount of paints they’ve released, that it’s really not surprising. They tend to release stuff and then discontinue it. I imagine that’s based on sales, feedback, or some other secret formula. I know they have seasonal paints that get released for fun. Some of those come back if they prove popular.
The class was definitely worth it, and more to come on that!
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Passion is key with teaching in my experience so that’s good to hear!
Limited time paints!? What won’t marketing departments do to make money 🙂
I’m looking forward to hearing more about the class (and future classes)!
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The holiday ones are certainly advertised as limited time, but I don’t think the others are. I feel like Reaper is marketing to a different crowd than the 40k wargamers though. So it doesn’t really matter if your bottle of Grimstone Blue runs out, because most of them aren’t painting armies. Though if you really liked that color…I guess you better be vocal about it on their forum or something!?
There also seems to be a core set (9001-9090) that look like they will always be in stock. Once you get above those numbers, it’s probably more dicy.
Oh weird, I just looked at their site and they are selling some of those old colors in in 12 bottle lots. They aren’t in stock, so either I missed it or they are getting things ready. I’ve been able to track down a lot of them on Ebay, so it’s not like I’m really missing out anyways. Ohh…I do see “Denim Blue”, which I think Azazel mentioned using a long time ago. I thought he was crazy, because I had never actually seen it show up in any of my searches on Reaper or eBay. That’s pretty cool!
Anyways, they have over 300 paints, so it’s not like anyone is probably going to have them all.
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Reaper definitely has their unique way of selling paints. I don’t know if GW could get away with colors that are temporarily for sale. I think people would complain about that for the reasons you alluded to.
This is a dangerous question, but how many of those 300 paints do you currently own? You don’t have to count them up exactly but I’m guessing you have a good chunk of them!
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Actually, I’m sure I short changed them. Reaper has the Pathfinder line of paints too, paints specifically formulated for that game and a few more in MSP Bones. It’s hard to say how much I have, as they scattered all over my desk currently until I figure out a better system for arranging them in my wall mounted paint racks. I have most of the core set, except the metals (not a fan of the metals). Then I pick up the odd color here and there when I find them. 150ish?
I found an article on their website about discontinued paints. It sounds like sometimes it’s because of sales, but also it could be that certain ingredients go out of stock or are too hard to come by. They do offer a ‘custom order’ option. Buy at least 10 paints @$5 per bottle, with a month or so turnaround time. But of course, it’s going to depend on supplies. Still, I think that’s a pretty good option, if you’re really dying for a particular paint. Us mini painters are super spoiled though, as regular painters just mix their own!! 😀
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150 was less than I expected. I figured 200 or even 250!
That is a pretty consumer friendly practice and good to hear. You’re not wrong about regular painters. They mix up most of their paints which I find impressive. I do mix paints but I really rely heavily on the fact that GW/Citadel have so many colors already at my fingertips!
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It could be more, definitely is if I include AK. I have all of AK’s regular colors and metallics. The military uniform colors are harder to find for me, but I pick those up as I can. I’ve found some really nice colors in that line, but sometimes they can be more matte than the others. I think they also have “figure” paints, which I don’t think I have.
Yea, I honestly prefer not to mix except for highlights. I’ve ran into the situation too often where I will mix a color, then get halfway through a part on the mini and run out….say one arm. Then it’s hard to make sure the second arm is identical in color. On a highlight, it’s not quite as important as its a small area and I can always just go lighter, darker, or glaze if needed.
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I was only thinking about your Reaper collection. I know you’ve got AK kicking around too 😉 I should count up how many paints I have. I bet its 100 or less… The humble drawer I keep them in is pretty full so I’m not in a hurry to get too many new ones.
It can get tricky when you mix highlights if you don’t remember how you did it or don’t paint everything in that shade in one go. I usually mix paints a bit from start to finish but I think you have to do what you’re comfortable with and delivers the best results at the same time.
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The mixing thing really comes down to what you’re painting and how many of them you have that need to be uniform. Army or unit painting- sure. Civilians or individuals- knock yourself out with unique mixes. That’s how I see it, anyway!
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Do yourself a favour and grab a few bottles of Denim blue. You’ll be glad you did. A great paint with so much use and weirdly not easy to get hold of (hence grabbing a few!)
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Yea, it’s super hard to find. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it, so you’re right I should pick up more than one. Dirty Bone is another someone mentioned, that I never seem to be able to find.
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Sounds like you had a good time man and the dragon looks good. I’ve picked up tips on YouTube and from other bloggers but my usual approach is stumble through the dark and hope for the best haha.
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That’s pretty much how I learned all I knew up to that point. Plus tips from fellow bloggers. Painting class takes it to a bit of a different level. One, is the feedback/pointers on what I’ve done. Two, is forcing me to do stuff that I’d never have even tried before or learning something I didn’t really know about. Like I might see a YouTube video on OSL, and go “nahhhh!”. But when a teacher says today we’re going to do ‘OSL’…you either roll with the punches or complain about your internet connection and log off! ;P
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