When you first start miniature painting it’s relatively easy to find your paint scheme inspiration – Just paint it how it’s ‘meant’ to be painted.
Space Marines? How about the classic Ultramarine Blue with Gold.
Owlbears? Try a rugged brown.
Stormtroopers? White and black of course.
As you build up your painting skills, as well as start collecting a more varied collection of minis, you’re going to want to start experimenting more with different colours, methods and maybe even some fancy styles. Perhaps you’ve picked up a free Miniature of the Month from your local Warhammer store and want to try something fun and different with no pressure for it to fit in with anything.
Where do you start?
I’m constantly starting small projects and painting individual models, so I thought I’d pitch in with a number of suggestions for where to look the next time you’re starting a project.
Box Art
This is the one which will come most naturally to you, because you’re usually shown it whenever you buy a miniature.
When I say box art I’m of course referring to any of the official photos of painted models or artwork directly from the miniature’s seller. These exist for a reason – brands want to show off their models in the best ways possible, so often these are relatively eye-catching or even iconic.
Perhaps you’re even trying to paint a character from some other media such as Star Wars or Marvel, in which case this makes even more sense. Trying to paint the character as accurately as possible can be it’s own fun challenge.
Lore
If you want to dive deeper on the hunt for a unique paint scheme then consider moving away from the box art and into the more in-depth lore of the various factions. Games Workshop has a plethora of books in their Black Library. Many of these cover the major factions with descriptions of their armour and weapons you can draw inspiration from. Alternatively, there are readily available databases of official faction styles. For example the Space Marine chapter image above shows a wide variety of official faction colours. Find one that catches your eye, and then dig into the faction to find if it fits with how you want to theme your army.
Social Media
Social media, particularly image or video focused platforms like TikTok or Instagram are goldmines of painting inspiration. On Instagram #warhammer has millions of posts. You’ll find an huge variety of photos under that, and similar hashtags, including some absolute works of art. Following a few painters who’s styles you want to emulate will give you a stream of inspiration, and your algorithm will quickly be showing you more paint scheme inspiration automatically. Just make sure you follow @handfulofdice while you’re on Instagram!
Art
Another very creative way to explore styles and get some inspiration for your paint scheme is to delve into art. Obviously we’ve mentioned the established box art already. But while that gives you rigid, ‘correct’ schemes for miniatures the wider art world has more variety in its offerings.
Wanting some grimdark ideas for your 40k army? Explore some gothic artists to see if their works spark ideas. Looking for something alternative and bright? Pop Art would be a cool place to start.
Set yourself a bit of a challenge. Find an art style you enjoy, and see about incorporating it onto a miniature. For example cel shading, the comic book art style which inspired this Nighthaunt model.
AI
For a slightly different spin on your inspiration you could always turn to the rapidly developing work of the Omnissiah artificial intelligence. You can now find thousands of images generated by AI in essentially any genre you can think of. Consider the type of style you want to explore – maybe a futuristic cyberpunk style like the image above and see what images you can find.
Not found anything to get the sparks flying? Try generating an image of your own using an AI like ChatGPT. Just feed it an appropriate prompt that describes the vibe you want and it’ll throw you back an image. Hell; struggling to think of a prompt or even a slight glimmer of inspiration? Ask it for suggestions on how to paint your models and see what it comes back with.
Movies, TV & Video games
There is so much media out there that we consume often without really thinking about it. But look a little closer next time you’re watching Netflix and you’ll find carefully chosen visuals that are designed to be eye catching, evoke emotion and create engagement. Movies, TV and video games are an incredible source of inspiration that can be used to craft a paint scheme. You can use genres to guide your style; horror films like Alien draw easy comparisons for Tyranids. Western films can provide inspiration for rugged gun fighting troops for Astra Militarum and Space Marine armies. You can get as bold as you choose, if you’re willing to take risks and commit to a scheme. The artistic style of the Sin City movies inspired this striking Hexbane’s Hunters Underworlds scheme, which really stands out.
Nature
For something a little more outside the box you can look to, well, the outside. Nature can provide striking visuals and colour combinations if you search enough. The photo above was used as inspiration by AJB Minis for some Warcry terrain. Drawing out the red, white and blue into a cohesive scheme produced the scheme below.
Random challenges
Random challenges is a more unique way to find paint scheme inspiration, and could take various forms. You might challenge yourself to paint a specific set of models, like above, where I set myself the challenge of painting all the Unforgiven chapters of the Dark Angels. You could also simply limit yourself to painting a model with a selection of randomly selected paints, or buy into a random painting challenge – like those offering by Travelling Man.
Colour wheels
Utilising a colour wheel is a great way to plan a scheme that will work cohesively together. Once you’ve chosen starting colour you can quick identify colour harmonies that will work as a scheme, which you can then apply to a test model to establish a scheme. Scroll through the images above to see how the wheel works to establish a scheme; including how effectively the Ultramarines scheme fits with these rules.
Where do you source your painting inspiration from? Anything out of the ordinary that we’ve missed off? Let us know in the comments!
Did you enjoy this article? You could always tip the author with a coffee (or something stronger). If you fancy getting yourself some minis to try your new ideas on, then check out Element Games. They have great deals on paint supplies and a wide range of Warhammer and other minis. Finally, make sure you’re following us on Instagram to stay up to date and get involved in our community!
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