Painting Posture

Painting wargame miniatures can be a pain-staking process that requires apt concentration, a steady hand, a clear eye, and a certain amount of technique. The first step when beginning a painting session is to get yourself into a comfortable position with good light and everything you need readily at hand. Your own preferences regarding painting posture and ergonomics may vary, but the key is to experiment and find a way of positioning yourself, your hands, and the miniatures you are painting that is comfortable and which allows you to paint with confidence.

Another important tip...if you're having trouble visually focusing on what your painting, if your eyes are tired, if your hands are shaky, or if you starting to feel fatigued and find your attention wandering, pack it in and call it a night. There is no sense making painting a chore and the quality of your work will only suffer as a result.

Here are some collected tips on proper posture for painting and to avoid the dreaded shaky hand syndrome:

Stan Olson: Your painting position should be as follows:

Sit upright in a comfortable chair;
Try not to rest your elbows on a table or desk;
Have light sources positioned so that you do not have to bend over or across-towards the light while holding a painting base
Hold the brush between your thumb and first 2 fingers just like a pen-pencil and keep your shoulder-arm-fingers loose (painting is not about strength, tension causes fatigue and muscle exhaustion or cramping)
Rest both your elbows beside or touching your upper ribcage, but do not push the elbows together, this is uncomfortable and restricts your breathing .
Holding the base in your left hand, place your wrists together. This is the main technique for steadying your painting hand (and thereby the brush tip). An alternative is to have the 3rd 4th or pinkie finger of your paint brush hand gently touch the base of the painting stand to steady it. This will allow you to paint from above the figure when required.

In this position, your arms-hands-figures move as one unit in time with your breathing.

The figures need not be held any higher than level with your throat If you must hold them closer to your face, look into glasses and or bi-focals.

Magnifiers should not necessary for painting 25mm figures unless extraodinary details are being applied. Magnifier lamps preclude normal binocular vision (i.e., your two eyes are both focusing through a single big lense) which limits your 3D depth perception. If you use bifocals or the visor magnifiers this will not happen as much, but you will need more illumination as every lense reduces the image brightness of the figure. Magnifiers can also be tiring because you must hold the figures exactly the right distance away. An optical aid that exhausts your body is not encouraging diligent diciplined productive painting results.

Experiment with this method and see if it works for you. There are many ways to skin the painting "cat." Everyone's body has got different proportions and that effects how they paint .... forearm length, finger length, nose size (don't want to get any on our nose now do we ?), etc.

SM Huckaby: Shaky hands are a problem that takes practice. If you have ever held a new object before you will have experienced this--say, for example, the first time you draw a bow to fire. The key is to learn bracing. When its time for a straight line, try planting your elbows on the table and then painting. Or rest your wrist on a book and then bring the figure to your hand and paint.

Ian Mackridge: To extend the analogy to firing a rifle, I believe many sportsmen in this field use controlled breathing in overcoming the shakes. It certainly helps me when I'm painting. I'm not really sure of the physiological reason for this. I know many relaxation techniques make you focus on your breathing and it may be as simple as this. I know if I hold my breath when doing some intricate parts it's a disaster.

Jim Veatch: I agree with the remarks made previously and would like to add the importance of a sturdy, stable (not horsing around) table for painting. I use a small conference table with two swing arm lamps for light. This gives me plenty of room for all the paints, brushes, and other assorted tools.

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Last Updated: July 29, 1999

Comments, questions and additions welcome. Send them to Chris Brantley at brant@erols.com.