Consistency & the need for Notes

I started keeping a painting notebook shortly after starting this Blog. I was still a n00b when it came to painting 15mm WWII figures and I felt like I needed to go right back to basics and re-learn my painting skills. Keeping a notebook has been very useful in helping me develop my style of painting - I've learnt a lot in the last three years - but I'm not sure I have utilised it properly to ensure consistency from one project to another.

When I flicked through my notebook one thing I realised was that I had pasted a lot of pictures into the book but hadn't actually made many notes. Of course I need reference material but most of this comes from books or online and isn't easily transferred to a notebook. What was missing were details of which colour palettes I used and what blends I opted for when painting highlights or shading. In short my painting notebook lacked pretty much any information required to paint a given figure to the same 'formula' as a previous model.

I'm in the process of working on a new batch of Lehr Gepanzerte Panzergrenediers (I'm expanding my existing platoon to Company level) so before I got started I pulled out the first Panzergrenadier Platoon I painted back in June 2010. I quickly realised how much my 'style' of painting has developed and changed since then (I didn't use ink washes for a start).

Clearly I am not going to be able to achieve a consistent look across all the platoons in my new Company and I will need to do quite a bit of work on the existing models to bring them up to standard. I also need to do some work putting down on paper the colour palette I use so that subsequent units have a consistent quality. I'll just have to notch this up as another important lesson learned the hard way!