Painting Eyes?
- Thread starter BizGF
- Start date
For eyes there are a few things you can do:
Paint them white, a bit watered so it can flow in, and then when it dries i recommend a black permanent fine tip markers.
Sometimes my brushes are not ine or strong enough, so a sewing needle works too.
GW recommend in some cases that you paint it black, the eyeball, and follow up with two tiny dots of skull white.
When you say faces, you mean the flesh on it, or detailing?
Paint them white, a bit watered so it can flow in, and then when it dries i recommend a black permanent fine tip markers.
Sometimes my brushes are not ine or strong enough, so a sewing needle works too.
GW recommend in some cases that you paint it black, the eyeball, and follow up with two tiny dots of skull white.
When you say faces, you mean the flesh on it, or detailing?
Remember, eyes on a miniature are very small. Sometimes, not even worth doing at all. I still do them though.
I paint a thin white line, then a black dot in the centre, be sure not to leave any white all the way around an eye otherwise it will look like it is staring... :shock: .
If both pupils leave a little white above them, then it will look as though they are looking down, and vice-versa.
Try to make it so both pupils have a little white either side of them so that they look as though they are looking forwards, or to the sides. It will take a while to getting used to cenering them, some people find this easier with a magnifying glass, I personally dislike this as it lowers my depth perception and I end up ruining the mini!
Hope this helps?
Faces...
It's difficult to explain, it depends how you paint in general. I try to work from a basecoat up to highlights in at least 3 layers (Kevin Dallimore style etc), so brown, brown mixed with flesh, flesh. Often I do more layers than this to excentuate certain areas of the face, such as the brow, the cheekbones and the nose. Sometimes the lip too.
It's all a matter of looking at LOADS of other people's work and being really into painting. I found looking at close ups of 25mm minis really helps. It helps you see the transitions between colours, blending. Also read lots of articles.
Don't be scared by miniature faces, think of it as any other part of a model. I paint portraits of people and have to think that constantly. I also tyr hard not to focus too much on realism in colours! If I was really pedantic, I would take far too long!
I hate protraiture, but its part of my art course. :?
Anyway, hope this helps mate.
I paint a thin white line, then a black dot in the centre, be sure not to leave any white all the way around an eye otherwise it will look like it is staring... :shock: .
If both pupils leave a little white above them, then it will look as though they are looking down, and vice-versa.
Try to make it so both pupils have a little white either side of them so that they look as though they are looking forwards, or to the sides. It will take a while to getting used to cenering them, some people find this easier with a magnifying glass, I personally dislike this as it lowers my depth perception and I end up ruining the mini!
Hope this helps?
Faces...
It's difficult to explain, it depends how you paint in general. I try to work from a basecoat up to highlights in at least 3 layers (Kevin Dallimore style etc), so brown, brown mixed with flesh, flesh. Often I do more layers than this to excentuate certain areas of the face, such as the brow, the cheekbones and the nose. Sometimes the lip too.
It's all a matter of looking at LOADS of other people's work and being really into painting. I found looking at close ups of 25mm minis really helps. It helps you see the transitions between colours, blending. Also read lots of articles.
Don't be scared by miniature faces, think of it as any other part of a model. I paint portraits of people and have to think that constantly. I also tyr hard not to focus too much on realism in colours! If I was really pedantic, I would take far too long!
I hate protraiture, but its part of my art course. :?
Anyway, hope this helps mate.
ah i see. My problem is I never tried dotting the pupil with a marker. I will try that =D
Faces as in painting the flesh are just bothersome for me though. No matter what all the detail seems to go away .. i don't use THAT much paint lol.
Thanks for your advice though.
Cause I'm gonna use it!
Faces as in painting the flesh are just bothersome for me though. No matter what all the detail seems to go away .. i don't use THAT much paint lol.
Thanks for your advice though.
Cause I'm gonna use it!
Graywinter
Mongoose
Personally, I have found that painting a black line in the eye socket then using a pale gray color to dot the corners works best for me. The gray mutes the eyes down since at this scale you really shouldn't be able to see the eyes so clearly... and helps to keep your minis from looking bug eyed.
Also, sometimes, you just have to say "This mini will not get painted eyes" when the casting sucks, or the detail isn't pronounced enough to really see. In these cases, you can get away with a dark brown or chestnut wash in the eyes to put a little shading to it.
Painting faces is tricky. It all depends on what genre you are doing and if you want the face to be rugged, or fair or something in between. Generally its best to start darker, and build up with progressive layers of lighter paint, highlighting the raised areas that would normally reflect light on a person. Each time you lighten the paint, you want to focus on the more prominent details. So that the last thing you highlight is the brow, bridge of the nose, and the chin/lips. Do this carefully, and the key to remember is "Less is more" Do too much and the face will look like a clown's
All about practice, and don't be afraid to borrow ideas and techniques from other painters. Ask lots of questions, and like has been said - water your paints down a bit to help avoid ruining the detail.
Hope that helps!
Also, sometimes, you just have to say "This mini will not get painted eyes" when the casting sucks, or the detail isn't pronounced enough to really see. In these cases, you can get away with a dark brown or chestnut wash in the eyes to put a little shading to it.
Painting faces is tricky. It all depends on what genre you are doing and if you want the face to be rugged, or fair or something in between. Generally its best to start darker, and build up with progressive layers of lighter paint, highlighting the raised areas that would normally reflect light on a person. Each time you lighten the paint, you want to focus on the more prominent details. So that the last thing you highlight is the brow, bridge of the nose, and the chin/lips. Do this carefully, and the key to remember is "Less is more" Do too much and the face will look like a clown's
All about practice, and don't be afraid to borrow ideas and techniques from other painters. Ask lots of questions, and like has been said - water your paints down a bit to help avoid ruining the detail.
Hope that helps!
Also don't be afraid to paint over it all with your flesh color if you mess up. Just don't do it to many times. I do the white strip with a black micro marker for the pupil. You'll usually have to go back with the flesh color and tidy up around the eye once you are finished. Here is something I recently did. I didn't like the eyes the first time, so I painted over them and redid them. Much better the second time.
SimonJester
Mongoose
I rarely if ever have a mini with the eyes oriented straight ahead; they're almost always looking to one side or the other. It helps give a sense of motion, and also makes painting them a bit easier.
I paint the eyes an off-white, then half a dark-hued color - blue, green or brown. then a stripe of black centered in the color for the pupil. Just the barest touch of off-white in the corner completes it, and then a touch-up of the lids in the proper flesh-tones to cover any slips.
Simon Jester
I paint the eyes an off-white, then half a dark-hued color - blue, green or brown. then a stripe of black centered in the color for the pupil. Just the barest touch of off-white in the corner completes it, and then a touch-up of the lids in the proper flesh-tones to cover any slips.
Simon Jester
Can you get your eyes painted a different color? Is there a surgery, or something, that can change your eyes color?
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market samurai ~ marketsamurai ~ marketsamurai.com
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market samurai ~ marketsamurai ~ marketsamurai.com
BizGF said:
Two recommendations for faces:
First, use a brush that is neither fully loaded with paint nor strictly a "drybrush".
Second, I use the Citadel washes for darn near everything. Smear some Ogryn Flesh across the face and hands then drybrush the flesh tone, lightened a bit, over top once the wash has dried. For some magical reason, probably one involving complex chemical formulas, this particular brand of washes collects in all the little nooks and crannies. When I get a chance to, I'll post a pic of one of my US Airborne guys.
Jamescuk
Mongoose
I actually find it easier to do the eyes first, before even starting the skin, First i do the white line, i then paint a line down the middle of both eyes to create the pupil, i then tidy up the white by bring it back with black, then i apply the shade skin tone (i don't use washes on my skins)
Jamescuk said:
I used to always paint them last but moved to first a few years ago following a nicley painted mini on which I left the eyes till last, did a reasonable job. Left for a while but in having another look decided to improve them and to cut a long story short eventally caused so much of a problem that I had to strip it and start from scratch.
Jamescuk said:
Yeah, it kind of just "creep escalated" in stages and got to point where it could'nt be recovered via painting over. Lose the face, especially on a beautiful woman, and the mini becomes pointless. She is a very subtle sculpt, especially around the face, one of Werner Klocke's. (slightly less subtle form the rear view)
The rest of her paint job was fine as well, still becoming annoyed with myself as I write this. Sometimes you have to learn to stop trying to improve a single paintjob. Was a good lesson.
The stripped pieces are still sitting at the back of my paint workbench to this day, some 2-3 years on. Will get back around to her at some point. Good thing really, my painting std is better now than it was then, (arguably)
Jamescuk said:
Or merely the simple fact that her eyes needed to be improved and I botched the attempt :lol:
Maybe should "paint in" some perspective, in the last 6 months painted around 110 minis, and in my entire life 1000 or so. In all that time stripped 3 minis, oh and 1 due over this weekend after experimenting this week on my first Blue Star paint job v canon and the first attempt was superceded by the superior second technique. & only then beceuse I need 4 "blue" stars for a series of pics for posting in the CTA forum next week.
So not even mild OCD, if anything, & to paraphrase a quote from Red Dwarf.
My name is Kickaha and I am quite, quite mad.
Well so Mr Fibble tells me anyway. 8)
Balgin Stondraeg
Mongoose
As I recently popsted elsewhere for someone else.
And..
I can probably grab my camera and take some step by step photo's when it's no longer too cold to paint.
These'll have to do for now 'though.
And..
I actualy found a really good trick to painting eyebrows. It is simply not painting them. As I (personaly) start with the dar shades then work my way up, I simply leave the underside of the brow ridges the same colour as the darkest shadows on the skin and it miraculaously looks like I've painted eyebrows (depending on how the brow ridges were sculpted, most Dark Sword minis suit this style/trick 'though). I haven't painted eyebrows in years. Now I just highlight around them instead (and nobody notices they're a touch low).
I can probably grab my camera and take some step by step photo's when it's no longer too cold to paint.
These'll have to do for now 'though.
