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Painting skin on large-scale figures...

Discussion in 'Painting Techniques' started by Einion, Jan 14, 2008.

?

...freckles and/or body hair (not merely the chest)

Poll closed Jan 28, 2008.
I haven't tried it yet but I intend to 10 vote(s) 33.3%
I haven't tried it yet and I don't intend to 3 vote(s) 10.0%
I do this sometimes 16 vote(s) 53.3%
I do this always 1 vote(s) 3.3%
  1. Einion Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure what scale and above we should consider from, maybe 1/24 and larger? A lot has to do with the skill of the painter as well as the scale and subject.

    Einion
  2. Guy A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    I occasionally add on body hair to a 120mm figure or larger (bust). Have never tried freckles tho.
  3. KeithP Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    This is semi timely. I spent part of my week end experimenting with painting chest hair on the Pegaso, Sans Cutllotte, 54mm. Not sure how successful I was.

    May be at that scale I should not even bother? How is this likely to appear at this scale? Not as individual hairs perhaps but stippled in?

    Keith
  4. "Tarakaman" New Member

    Country:
    United-States
    I have never tried freckles or body hair ,but now that you raise the Question I might give it a go....
  5. tonydawe A Fixture

    Country:
    Australia
    Guys

    I like painting large (up to 1/6th scale) figures and I've always tried to add a few extra details such as hair on the arms, face and chest, freckles, pimples, sweat stains, cuts, scars and skin blemishes to add an extra level of realism to a figure. If you think about it, its very unrealistic to paint flesh in a single shade or colour. In real life, skin colour is made up of thousands of little colour variations, created by exposure to the sun, diet, age and lifestyle, and the translucence of the skin.

    One of the reasons I like painting large scale figures is that it allows me to attempt to paint a level of detail that is simply impractical in smaller scales, for example painting cracked or chapped lips, eye lashes, etc. Most painters simply wouldn't bother doing this in 54mm, because you could probably only see it with a magnifying glass.

    The downside to painting very large scale figures, of course, is that everyone can clearly see all the finest details, without the need for a magnifying glass. There are simply no short cuts when it comes to painting in these scales, as everyone knows what a human face looks like.

    Cheers

    Attached Files:

  6. Einion Well-Known Member

    Good to read the input so far Guy, Keith, Matthew, Tony.

    I would. I think with chest hair, on most men you do see it at 'scale distance' - say, from across a street.

    And obviously the hairier the bloke is the further away you'd be able to see it. Plus, if their hair is very dark it's much more evident of course - with a hirsute black-haired Italian or Spaniard or Arab you can definitely see how hairy a guy is from ~100m away (at the other end of a beach for example).

    Treatment is a very personal issue; I think we should try to aim for a consistent look across the figure, so base the method for the body hair on the level of detail you go for in your highlighting and shading.

    If you have a softer, more general painting style then a kind of blocked-in technique would probably look best. If you go for an ultra-detailed finish then a meticulous, almost hair-by-hair attempt would fit; IMO the larger the scale the more you really have to adopt this approach for it to look right.


    As well as the difficulty in viewers seeing that kind of detail unaided it is nearly impossible for most painters to actually paint this kind of thing that small! (At least successfully).

    Style/taste still plays a part in this. Even among the painters of the ultra-large, like garage kits, you see the entire span from comic-book type colour and shading all the way to the superdetailed paintjob, with individual arm hairs, sweat beads and drips, freckles, dirty fingernails, you name it.

    Would love to hear any more views on this.

    Einion
  7. davidmitchell A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    I am working on Pegaso Macomannic Warrior in 75mm .I think at this scale it is workable but i dont think it would work on a 54mm. As soon as its ready i will get some photos, on and everyone can judge if it works.

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