Q and A with Scott Hockley Pt 2

What do you feel you need to improve and why?Everything, always. LOL.
I think that it is natural not to be too confident, because there is always something new to learn. When I first got serious about painting I read loads of articles and learned loads of new techniques and colour combinations. I decided that the best way to progress was to try one new thing with every model, then improve that new thing over the next few models. Once comfortable with it, I could file it in my head for use when needed, or apply it with every model from then on. Occasionally I might fight a technique and give up on it.
Learning to paint well is a steep learning curve to begin with, and getting to a kind of 8 out of 10 level can be really quick, but adding the next 0.1 can take a long time.
Specifically, I want to try out oils. It's not even something that I've dabbled with, but it is something that I do want to sit down with a top painter of oils and understand the process. I suspect that I'd love it once I get into it, but it's always that first step...

Do you or have you ever felt like a Noob with Just his paint brush?I'm not sure that I have. I'm fairly sociable, and can count some top painters amongst my closest friends, so when we're together there's always plenty of banter flying around. I think that the majority of the on line mini based communities are friendly, sometimes incessantly so, so the people that frequent them are mostly amiable and not a-holes. I have a decent work ethic and know that you will only get out what you put into the hobby. Listen to advice when it is offered, regardless of who it comes from, because everyone else sees your work from a different angle. My wife is pretty good at cutting my efforts to the bone! I'm sure that my son will be my biggest critic as soon as he's old enough. :)

What three things would you have stranded on an Island?Depends on how long I'm going to be stranded and how much trouble I'm going to be in when I get home!
Failing that, my family, a well stocked bar and plenty of ice cream for the little one...

Is there a Color which you seem to favor and like to add it to all your models where you can? VMC Deck Tan. I started using it as a highlight colour years ago. I think that it is the only paint in my collection that I have had to buy a second bottle of because I've used it all up and not spilled it.

Can you pass on one trick or technique or tip that you think newer painters would find helpful or a technique that you wish someone had shown you when you were a new painter?Always try a new thing with every model, but don't try too much at once. Build your skill set steadily. Make mistakes, leave them on the model and move on. I think that we forget at times that most of these models are neither rare nor expensive to replace, so have fun with it. Don't leave unfinished models on your desk. Try to finish them if you can, even if they aren't to the best of your abilities. You will still be able to go back to them in the future and see what you did right and what you did wrong.
And thin your paints. You can always add another coat.

What does your work space look like? 
 Pretty tidy most of the time. I always pack my stuff away on a tray under the desk when I'm not painting. I can't have an untidy desk at home and especially at work.

Wet pallet or ceramic/plastic? 

Plastic well palettes are the preferred thing for me. I have a wet palette and I do use it sometimes, but I like really dilute paint with different media in it. That's not a lot of fun on a wet palette!

What paints do you use?All sorts. P3 and Vallejo Model Colour mostly, with some older GW paints, Scale 75 inks and some random Coat D'Arms and Andrea stuff too.

What do you use to thin your paints and to what ratio?I use matt medium and glaze medium a lot. Flow improver sometimes too. And lots and lots of water. I'm not one for consistent ratios, and different paints need more or less thinning. I guess that it's something that you get a feel for over the years.

What technique do you tend to favor when painting to Blend?My style is very much my own, and my method is too. I tend to put on base coats which are slightly lighter than my intended mid-tone, then glaze in highlights and shades. I move quite quickly and usually I'm working several parts of the model at once because the paint can take a while to dry. I rarely wet blend, and tend to try and use simple techniques to good effect. We can get too caught up in magic bullet techniques. I mix a lot on the fly too and rarely use repeated recipes. I often forget what I did, so when I do articles I'm often surprised at what I did when I go back and read it at a later date!

What's the deal with the black glove?

The glove... I'm quite fastidious. I don't mid getting my hands dirty, but I don't like having dirty hands, if that makes sense? The glove is somewhere I can wipe my brush before painting the model. It is also because I used to find that the moisture/oil from my hand would lift the paint from the model in my hand - I hold models actually in my hand rather than by whatever it is mounted on most of the time - so I started wearing a latex glove.
My wife does some part time work as a nail technician and uses a wholesaler locally for her supplies. I went in with her one day and saw all these gloves in different colours, I wanted black. The rest is history and drunken urban myth...

And finally is there anything you like like pass on to the noobs who are reading this hoping one day to paint as well as yourself?

I have absolutely no grounding in art at school. I didn't like it. I can't really draw. I've not painted a picture since primary school. I am almost entirely self taught. It's not rocket science really. Read between the lines of the flowery speak, because often different techniques are much the same thing, it's just showing off!
Oh, and only paint models that you like. Don't follow a trend just because so and so is doing it. There are so many models and genres out there. Choose the ones that interest you most, because it makes the hobby so much more fun - and probably makes for  a cheaper hobby too if you can avoid the "gotta catch them all", "shiny-shiny" mentality we tend to have. And of you crack that, tell me how, because my grey pile is just too big! lol

Work By Scott.

We would like to thank Scott for taking the time to answer our questions and we hope this has been able to help, also it may have raised more question if it has post them below and we will try to get them answered for you. If there are none this will be the end of this Q and A.