Haldir's Elf

Still trying to improve my painting, although I wouldn't rate this as one of my better models. The paint is much too thick in places, and much of it is sloppily done. With this figure I was working on my metallics - specifically gold, and my reds. As far as colours go it looks good, now I just need to refine the techniques.

The two biggest things that need improvement are my brush control, and my thinning my paints adequately . If I can get these techniques down, then I think I can take my painting up a notch. This will, however, require patience. I think I spent about two hours on this figure, but if I was using thinner paints and painting carefully, that figure would easily double. 

I also think my layering needs a bit of work as well, but without thinning my paints more, the extra layers of paint will build up far too thickly. The trouble with using paint that is thinned, to the consistency of milk for example, is that it can be difficult to get it to stay in place. Too much water, and it runs.

So, to all you display-level painters out there, how would I go about upping my painting?