My personal standard is when I look at it and say, "hey, that doesn't suck."  I'm pretty good with that.

I have been painting minis for 30+ years. Am I the best or fastest painter? No. Am I at a level that I want to be ? No. Do my minis work for what I want? Hell yeah. Do I have a blast painting? Yes. Do I get to teach my kids and grandkids to paint Yes. I'm happy so that works for me. Great Video and much needed

False. I am painting for the Emperor. You have shown your true colours, bearded man.

Alert! Every painting-newbie please watch this video to avoid frustration!

I have been painting for 40+ years.  I am not great, and I do not aspire to be.  I love what I do and have fun doing it, and that is all that matters.  Great video.

The last 10 or so of your videos I've watched havent done much for my painting or gaming, besides the wet palette, but Good Lord if you havent motivated me to make a lot changes in my life in general via associating them to something I do a lot when I should be improving myself. Thanks a lot. Your videos are amazing and one could say life changing.

3 yr old son "Who it that?"
Me "He's called Adam."
Son "But he's not real, he's just in your phone!"

I rarely post reactions to videos but this was actually a big eye opener. and all I have to say is thank you. I'm definitely in a different mind set now that I saw this

As I've gotten older, and I've been painting figures for around 40 years now, in some ways my painting has improved, and in other ways it has declined.  My ability to use techniques, tools, and products has greatly improved, while the steadiness of my hand, and eyesight has gotten worse!  I look at some of the freehand work I did 20 years ago, and know that there is no way I could replicate that.  But I look at the kind of haphazard dry-brushing, and the lack of a wash or highlighting, and see how I've improved.  Am I better or worse?  Probably neither, just different.

This has become one of my favorite channels. 51 year old here and your advice and suggestions are on point. Thanks a bunch

I might be wrong Atom, but I think that this can simply be the most juicy video in the entire history of the channel! It simply touches the bedrock of (for many) the most important aspect of the hobby - painting, all all the headache we get along with it:-)

As usual, there's great advice in this video!  The reality is that people will either be impressed with your painted miniatures or they won't but at no point should this be the focus of your efforts.  Have fun and enjoy what you're doing; after all, that's what a hobby is supposed to be about.  Savor that sense of satisfaction and happiness when you finish single miniatures as well as when you put that first fully painted squad on the table.

So very true about finishing a unit in a timely manner or you may not like how the first pieces turn out.  I get bored of working on a particular scheme and will switch to something else then come back to an old scheme years later.  Then I have to paint the way I did then to make sure the models match..... and remember how and what was used.  I now keep a painting journal that records what paint I use, what styles were applied and what order everything is done.

Pro painter.  I only paint for myself.  But it's fun to show off.  Also good luck, never turn down free advice on painting. It helps.

Very good advice, not only for painting but in life in general. If you do something in order to be congratulated or validated by others, then when others don't respond as you hoped, you'll surely hit despair. This is a process which relies 100% on external, uncontrolled behaviour, and so you're 100% at the mercy of things you don't control. Being that malleable will tear you down and stress you out of unpredictability.
Everyone knows about all these stars who seem to have everything, money, fame, etc, and then surpisingly still manage to fall into huge depressions and crippling addictions. A lot of them were certainly following the same process of doing their thing only to be recognized and adulated by others. Then when it starts not happening anymore or not enough, they hit bottom.
The view others have on you can only make you feel good temporarily, as well as money, drugs or any activity done for bad reasons, thinking it will make you happy on the long run. It doesn't, and you have to do it over and over again to feel that little bit of externally sourced satisfaction because everytime it will run out just afterwards. This is not living, this is trying to fill a void frantically without ever seeing the end of it. Most of us do it without being aware of it, but if you manage to be honnest with yourself and see your activites for what they are, in order to change them or the way you do them, you can begin to follow another path, your very own path, which is the one path that can make you really happy with your life.

Tips i want to give to people regardless of painting level or skill 1: feeling low in confidence or ability? Grab a chaff unit like say a poxwalker, a tau drone, a gretchin or simple ork boy. Use a shade or just 1 color and see how it goes. 2: keep experimenting with colors and mixtures from the citadel range or other paint making companies. You can stumble onto amazing effects you never could make otherwise by just layering on the model or blending on the pallet. 3: use as little paint as possible and make it smoother by using hot water or boiled water for very good blending and smoothing paint. Remember each model is a lesson after completion. Go back and look at what you learned from it, do touch-ups if you feel brave or let them be as you made them to the quality standard of that time. Looking back can be inspiring to help you see your progress. Each model has to show you something you did well or did wrong. I keep my mistakes to remind me what went wrong. Good luck!

if there wasn’t any painting, i would have never got into the hobby

painting & lore is where i have my fun. i paint & read books for the same reason, it’s just some good relaxed fun

This is one of the many reasons i subbed. Often times the most important and maybe even obvious answer is the one we don't think of or don't want to hear. Love your content, glad you addressed this topic.

I just took up miniature painting 4 months ago. I have a wife and 2 kids so time just isn't there for a lot of things. Blacksmithing, woodworking, oil painting, bonsai. No time for any of my old hobbies. The set up and clean up for those things were just too time consuming, but I still need some sort of artistic outlet. Miniature painting is great. It takes up very little space and I can be painting in less than 5 minutes and can be cleaned up just as fast. Someday I'll have time again. For now I'm really enjoying it and it keeps thing simple.

Mentioning the pro painters was really great for me. Often I look at stuff like heavy metal paintjobs, then back to my work, then back to heavy metal stuff. I just feel inadequate at the end of the day. It helps to know that it's not really a competition, unless it is... but outside of awards it's not.