Painting Faces

[silversurfer1947]

First of all, I do not profess to be an expert - my artistic skills are minimal, as my old school art master would have rushed to confirm. Back in the early 70s, I was into 54mm Napoleonic figures, which, looking at them now, I painted very badly. Being before the days of personal computers, there was nothing much around for guidance. What I do now, I have learned from watching videos on YouTube. If you wish to learn from a master of the black art, have a look for videos by Dave Youngquist at Last Cavalry TV.

I do not attempt the full monte, but cut out some of the steps. I just paint till I think it looks OK.

As a starting point, I find it easiest to paint the head when it is detached from the body. I drill a hole and mount it on a cocktail stick as it makes it simpler to paint. I find I need to invert the head to be able to paint both sides. That done, a coat of Halford's grey primer for plastic from a rattle can follows.

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For the base skin tone, I use Vallejo Beige Red, number 70.804. It is quite a deep tone which you can always alter by mixing in a little of one of their other skin tones. 2 coats will provide a good base. Next step is the eyes. Not white paint but Vallejo Pale Sand, number 70.837. It sounds odd, but it does look more realistic. No need to be too careful as any over painting will be corrected later on.

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If this is too simplistic or otherwise no use to people please tell me. If you do find it useful, I will carry on. For those who say they can't paint figures, that's what I thought until I had a go. As a suggestion, if you have any Heng Long tank commander figures, just think of it this way - however bad you are, it can't be any worse than how they start out.

[doc larsson]

almost exactly what i use surfer but i do use white and put a fine dirt wash on the face then paint in the eyes !

[wibblywobbly]

Keep going...I have the full set of Vallejo skin tone paint...there must be a combination of colours that will produce the required results. Are you airbrushing or hand painting?

[silversurfer1947]

All done by hand apart from the primer. For the skin tones as I said, I have stuck with the beige red, but I see no reason why you should not use the skin tones. I have the set as well, so I may well experiment as I still have more figures to do. I would suggest using one of the darker tones. If you have a spare figure, give it a coat of one of the paints that you have and see how it looks.

Still to come will be highlights and lowlights, which are what give the face some definition and character. If you look at the heads as primed, you will see the shadow effect that the light from the side has had. It gives a good indication of where the darker lowlights will go.

[silversurfer1947]

Next stage is the eyes. Apologies in advance for the photos - even in macro mode, my phone camera won't get close enough for the detail I would like. Using Vallejo black, 70.950, put in what will be the iris. Again, don't worry if they are too large. You can retouch with the pale sand. Do be careful to get both eyes looking in the right direction. I've had one or two who started a bit cross eyed.

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Next, the iris. For this I use Vallejo Grey Blue, 70.943. I realise not everyone has blue eyes or even the same colour blue. I have tried various different blues and brown but find they do not look right. The brown do not provide sufficient contrast with the black. The other blues straight out of the bottle are either too dark or too vibrant. At some stage, I will try changing the grey blue with the addition of a small amount of a different blue. When you apply the iris colour, try to leave a thin black outline.

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The final item is the pupil, which I find the trickiest part. You need a brush with a very fine point. I actually use a five 0 brush, though a larger brush will do, provided it will form a very fine point. This tends to mean a good quality one.

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The final piece for today you can also see in the above photo. The eye has been outlined above and below with a darkened skin tone. This to give some prominence to the eyes. This is made of a mixture of the beige red with a little mahogany brown, 70.846. Don't use black, and don't make it too dark, unless he's been in a fight and collected a couple of black eyes!

I have used flash as it brings up the individual colours. In natural light, they are much more muted.

I hope you can follow this. If anyone has any comments or would like further information please just ask and I will do my best to explain.

[jarndice]

Richard you have given me the confidence to ruin my eyesight on more than just PE, THANKS!!
Where are you getting the Heads,
Shaun.

[silversurfer1947]

I've worn glasses for nearly 60 years now and I think it's only now that I've found being short sighted a benefit. Being able to get up close to what I'm painting does make things a little easier.

[silversurfer1947]

If anyone is thinking of using any of the Vallejo Flesh set of paints, I would suggest hanging fire for the moment. I have just done a test on two figure, one using medium flesh and the other dark flesh. They will both need a second coat, but at present look a bit odd. I will post pictures for comment once the second coat has dried .

[silversurfer1947]

The next stage is to add some definition to the face. Again using a mixture of beige red and mahogany brown, I have painted all the recesses in the face - under the cheek, under the lower lip, under the chin etc. The intention is to produce the sort of shadow effect seen in the early photos. In addition, a little streak on either side of the nose.

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The result may look like a Native American with warpaint, but it will be corrected as we go along.

[wibblywobbly]

If you want any heads to experiment on, I can print this sort of thing. In theory I can do helmets as well. The challenge is 1/16 torso's, especially British ones.