For figure painting, this is my go-to guy... he's the one who got me started in the miniature painting hobby in the first place. His first 10 or so videos (out of about 400 now) detail his work painting a 40K Space Marine, but the techniques used can be applied to any part of any figure, IMHO. Watch the Tyranids (around Vid 150-ish) painting vid series, any of his 'Ask A Painter' vids, and his build-up of his (now stalled) Wood Elf Army project for more painting tips too:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AGProductionsInc
It's all about taking advantage of the translucency and transparency of thinned acrylics over a basecoat colour to create the illusion of hilights and shadows on flesh and cloth. As well, an understanding of brightening or dulling colours with other colours vs. lightening or darkening colours with black or white helps too. Biggest thing: practice!! Second biggest thing, IMHO: your tiniest brush is not necessarily your best tool for the job. A round brush with a proper point (no hook or fly-away bristles), no matter how big, is the ideal tool for this task. Just use the tip of the brush to push the paint where you need it. Bigger brushes carry more paint, that's all.
Other tips....
1) mount the figure to an easily handled base with some blue-tac (like a prescription pill bottle) so you're not handling the fig with your fingers
2) Hold the figure in your left hand, put both your elbows on the table, and plant the fleshy part of your right palm into the natural crevice of your left wrist. Use a drawing motion with the brush tip, rather than pushing or laying the bristles against the figure.
3) if that's still not steady enough, plant your forearms on the edge of the table for more steadiness.
4) Lay off the coffee before painting a figure. Do it either when you first get up in the morning or late at night (when you're relaxed).
5) Deep breaths! It's the 'meditative', 'zen', or 'in the zone' thing. Inhale, brush stroke, exhale.
Check out Les Burley (AwesomePaintJob), GirlPainting, or our very own AKE (aka ThePaintingClinic) on YouTube for colour layering ideas & other paining tips. I think AKE recently uploaded a bunch of beginner miniature painting vids.
I hope this helps and I'm not regurgitating stuff that everybody already knows!
