Under the hood: How Paint of the Week is chosen
Community manager Patrick Lindsey talks about how the weekly Trading Paints recognition is awarded.
Editor’s Note: In his blog debut, Trading Paints Community Manager Patrick Lindsey provides a little peek behind the curtain for how Paint of the Week is hand-selected each Friday.
Who are you?
I’m Patrick Lindsey, Community Manager and Social Media guy for Trading Paints. In 2017 I created Paint of the Week as a way of recognizing talented artists in the community.
Paint of the Week? That sounds like fun. What is it?
Every Friday we choose a deserving paint from the Trading Paints Showroom. It goes to the first slot on the top of the Showroom for the week so everyone can bask in the warming glow of a Good Paint. Once we have 48 Paints of the Week, we run a bracketed voting contest at the end of the year to crown a Paint of the Year.
Are there rules for this amazing award?
For the entrants, a picture of the car in the sim is a must. If I can’t see what it looks like then it’s not going to be chosen.
Also, you have to line things up. Simply pasting a 2048×2048 PNG over the template might be a quick way to paint, but it’s going to look janky on the template seams.
For 2026, we’re going to make it a true Paint of the Year, as the selections must be uploaded after the start of Season 1 2026.
OK, OK, I get it. Do YOU have to follow any rules, Mr. Paint Picker?
In order to keep it “fair” I only choose one paint from a painter each year. Also, once a car is picked (e.g., the Mustang GT3) I don’t select that same car again until the next year.
So, can I be Paint of the Week?
Sure! Just upload your original work (it can be a real world paint you’ve recreated, you just need to actually do the work) to the Showroom for other people to use. Don’t take someone else’s paint and use it without their permission.
Follow along with Trading Paints Paint of the Week every Friday on Instagram and Bluesky.
