Making the leap from painting tabletop miniatures to painting pieces for display (and beyond) can feel a bit overwhelming. This workshop takes a lighthearted and encouraging approach to a solid set of skills, blending theory, planning, and hands-on practice. It is designed to help aspiring display painters build a strong foundation and grow in this incredible hobby.
Note: This workshop is best suited for painters who are already comfortable with advanced tabletop painting techniques and are ready to explore the world of display painting. It is not intended for brand-new or beginner miniature painters.
Is this for me?
The workshop is best suited for painters who are already comfortable with basic and advanced tabletop painting techniques and are ready to explore the world of display painting. You should already be comfortable with the core process of building, preparing and painting miniatures, and have a reasonable understanding of more advanced techniques such as blending, glazing and stippling. An understanding of basic colour theory and mixing colours isn't essential, but will be very handy.
You do not need experience working on display miniatures or busts, painting larger scales, or entering competitions. Ultimately it is designed to be approachable for a wide range of skill levels, but if you aren't comfortable with the process and techniques of painting a miniature from start to finish already, you may find the class a little overwhelming in parts.
For this workshop, we will be painting the [insert name here] miniature
Before the workshop begins, I encourage you to consider and bring ideas for how you would like to paint this model.
If you have any issues bringing or finding the below items, please reach out via admin@evastudios.com.au
What to bring?:
Paints: The following colours (closest equivalent) in your preferred brand of paint. Kimera paint names used as reference, visual guide here: White, Black, Magenta, Red, Warm Yellow, Pthalo Blue(Green shade) and Violet. Additionally, bring any paints that fit the colour scheme or idea that you have planned for the bust.
Paintbrushes: For the workshop, at least the following brushes are recommended: Pointed Sable Round brushes in Size 1, 2 & 3. Nat’s personal recommendation are the Rosemary & Co Series 33 brushes for price and quality, but any equivalent sable watercolour brush should suffice.
Palette: Wet palette preferred, see here for details on how to make a simple one
Painting Lamp: Painting lamps are designed to give miniature painters bright, even light so it’s easier to see details and colours properly, especially at small scale. Many painters use specialised ‘tasklamp’ style lights (such as this), however a budget friendly option is an Ikea TERTIAL Lamp (or similar) with a daylight bulb and a diffuser cover. Links are supplied as examples, and may not be the best deal/availability
Notebook & pen: For jotting down techniques, recipes, or tips.
This class will be focused on understanding form, light, and colour in miniature painting. Using an exclusive Beastman bust created specifically for the workshop, students will explore how to read and paint macro volumes, interpret smaller surface forms within them, and use temperature, saturation, and controlled colour choices to guide focus and strengthen the final result.
What to bring:
The lost art of True Metallics
True metallics are somewhat of an afterthought in contemporary display painting. However you can still paint simple but effective metallic effects that can be appealing to look at from beginner to master. In this painting jam Kyle will go through some theory behind metallic paint and how to make it shine on your miniature before showing you how to paint your own steel on a miniature provided.
What to bring?:
Brushes + Pallette - plastic welled palette preferred
Dark metal paint - Iron Warriors (Citadel) or Black Metal (Scale75)
Medium metal paint - Leadbelcher (Citadel) or Thrash Metal (Scale75)
Light metal paint - Runfang Steel (Citadel) or Heavy Metal (Scale75)
Black Wash - Nuln Oil (Citadel) preferred
Dark Blue Wash - Drakenhof Nightshade (Citadel) preferred
This jam session will provide you with some putty basics to get you personalising your minis while avoiding some common pitfalls. In two hours, we’ll discuss how to work with different types of putty and their pros/cons, how to make a simple press mould, and we’ll all have a go at adding a fur cloak to a mini, both with the mould and freehand. Bring a mini you’d like to personalise.
Understanding putties
- Right putty for the right job, putties explained
- Recommended tools
Push moulds and beyond
- Making a mould
- Recreating parts
- Creating stamps
Sculpting fur cloak/trim/stole
- Using a stamp
- Sculpting fur manually
What to bring:
- A mini to customise
- A couple of old paint brushes that you don’t mind ruining
- Latex/nitrile gloves for mixing/handling putty
- Silicone clay shapers - I’ll have a few on hand but best to bring some
- Some Milliput standard
Planning on entering a painting competition, learning new techniques, or just want to tackle a challenging project? Join me for a discussion on best practices for mapping out your next miniature project to help set yourself up to accomplish your goals.
We will be discussing everything that goes in to planning your project including:
- Coming up with a guiding ‘idea’ for your next piece
- Emphasizing the strengths of your project through composition, colour, lighting and atmosphere
- Gathering the right references
- Contingency as things change throughout the process of painting the model
We will discuss some examples from my own painting, and (hopefully) will have time to brainstorm some ideas and come up with a plan for your next miniature project
What to bring:
This session will focus on an aspect of miniature painting that everybody loves to hate: painting faces and eyes! We’ll be going through ways to approach painting realistic faces, including understanding facial geometry, sketching, and colour variation. We’ll also be going through how to paint eyes that give character and life to our models.
What to bring?
All the usual painting materials: paints, brushes, palette, light, etc. A 3D printed, primed academic bust will be provided
