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Like the title says, I’ve been painting figures with cheap dollar store craft paints (and a few other cheap materials) rather than “proper” hobby paints. Gauging if there is interest among people who might want to try mini painting but are intimidated by price or the idea of complexity.
These minis were printed on a lower quality printer, then primed with some kind of mystery spray paint during bad weather, then given to me. So this would be a guide in making tabletop standard baseline minis, and people following it would probably have better results than me but I’d do a starter guide if there is enough interest for me to take pictures and notes.
My thoughts on contrast paints are complicated. The TLDR is that they are sold as a shortcut, which I think is misleading and causing a lot of frustration for new painters. Contrast paints are one possible option that should be used by a painter who knows the fundamentals. For as expensive as contrast paint is, you really should know what you’re doing and have a good idea why you chose it over normal paint for a certain job.
I have a few ink washes that I made which act similar to contrast paint. I’ll show them off when I make the guide. No magic in contrast, it’s all just color pigments being moved around on a surface.
While I mostly agree with you, I do think that contrast paints are a great shortcut. However, not for new painters necessarily. But once you get the hang of painting a bit, they can be fantastic for speedpainting.
Washes, however, are talent in a bottle for everyone starting from the very first mini they paint. It's amazing how they can turn your mini from "argh this is a mess" to "this looks amazing!" so easily.
Contrasts are a tool best used as an informed option rather than a replacement for somebody who is intimidated by painting. I think the marketing around them to new painters is more of a problem than the product itself.
Washes, similarly have their place. They are great for some purposes but can easily end up being counter productive when all the person applying them knows about them is “wash = good”.
Tools have their place and I want to talk more about expanding options for people and showing alternatives and different methods for different situations rather than say something is always good or always bad for a mini.
Sure, nothing is always good or bad. Of course. That's also not what I was saying? At least, what I meant was, washes are great for someone who has no idea what they're doing yet. Because without having learned any skills, a lot of things you try don't work out. Washes, however, even when applied without skill, generally do work out great and massively improve the beginner's paint job. Obviously, not always, but it's a very very safe bet.
And then, if you do know what you're doing, you might use loads of different techniques. But washes are still great to have and can provide great effects when the mini calls for it. But since we were talking about beginners taking up painting for the first time, I figured a nuanced discussion for experienced painters was not what we were looking for. :)
I got the impression from the idea of liquid talent, and it called back the many times I’d see applying brown wash as a suggestion for new painters, with very little detail on how and where exactly to apply it. Not always the worst idea, but I think elaboration on when and how to use wash is useful. Introducing people to wash is great, I just don’t want to let that introduction be the last guidance on the matter.