Another painting tip: when doing multiple dry brush coats on your miniature, don't clean the brush between colors. It actually looks better if the colors blend together a bit. This doesn't hold true if you're switching between a really dark color and really light color, unless of course you want a color in-between to show up.

Also, I've found that the best order in which to paint a miniature is: 1)skin, 2) clothing and armor, and then 3) details and weapons. This way, you minimize the amount of areas that you have to go back and re-paint because of errors.

When you think you might base coat all of your miniatures in the same color, such as black, buy a spray primer! It's much easier and quicker.