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Tips on Painting 54mm Faces/Eyes

Discussion in 'General Figure Talk' started by blf, Jan 7, 2020.

  1. blf New Member

    Hi All - first post here & have been a long time armor builder that is working on improving my figure skills. I really like 54mm figures and at that size, it's hard to see what I've done on the eyes/face until I use my Galaxy S9 and ZOOM in to take a look.

    I don't know if you guys have ever tried that but it can be frightening how, what looks like a believable face to the naked eye, can look messy when you zoom in so much. Again, to the naked eye they seem a lot more precise.

    Just wondering how people approach this scale, thoughts on the subject etc.

    Thanks in Advance !
  2. theBaron A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Welcome to the Planet!

    I use the classic technique:
    1. I lay in the eyeball color-never white, but a light grey or even a washed-out shade of my flesh color. I don't worry about the final width of the open eye, when I do this
    2. I add a vertical band of my iris color, placing it where I want the figure's gaze to point
    3. I add a thin vertical band of black for the pupil-sometimes I leave this out, because in 54mm, and depending on the iris color, it's hardly noticeable
    4. Now I come back with black and add bands for the eventuall lash lines, to the top and bottom of the eye. This also establishes the width of the open eye, from a little better than a squint, to wide-eyed amazement
    5. Finally, I cut in my flesh colors above and below this, for the upper and lower lids. And I may add a highlight with a tiny white dot, though I don't usually do this in 54m.
    Naturally, there can be adjustments, but these are the broad strokes, if I may allow myself the pun.
    I'm sorry, I don't have pictures or a video. I'm sure the rest of the members will have better advice, and can probably point you to video tutorials online, too. But I hope this helps.
    Prost!
    Brad
    MattMcK., Blind Pew and s.e.charles like this.
  3. blf New Member

    Thanks Brad --- awesome info. I just don't know how I would see what I was doing when cutting in the flesh colors. I've tried this when fixing black dots I use as iris/pupil but over cut sometimes then frantically try to remove. Starts getting cakey and messy after a few screw ups :)
    theBaron likes this.
  4. theBaron A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Sure thing!

    Yeah, I have to use an Optivisor to see what I'm doing ;)

    Prost!
    Brad
  5. blf New Member

    Nice - i need one :) what magnification is good foe 1/32 to 1/35? Can you send a link?
  6. DaddyO A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Everyone struggles with eyes blf, so don't be too hard on yourself :)

    I pretty much only paint 54mm so understand what you mean about when you blow them up on a computer - remember people view your figures without this advantage so if it looks good to the naked eye then it's fine. That said I use a similar technique to Brad. As he says a magnifier makes everything easier because you can see what you are up to. A pair of off the shelf reading glasses work well (I've got a pair of 2.5 x which I use for pretty much all my painting these days) Most Optivisors come with a box of lenses so you can find one that suits you. Their main drawback I've found is the limited depth of field.
    Top tips would be-
    1) get a really good brush (I like Broken Toad or W&N series 7) which you look after by washing carefully using a brush soap after use to keep in good nick. No need to go too small I do all my painting with a '1' (That means the bristles have a bit of length and hold some paint)
    2) Never, ever use white for the scelera (white of the eyeball) Light flesh or even sunny skin tone work well. (with a dark skin tone I prefer to use a darker tone in the eye to stop a 'bug-eyed' look)
    3) Thin your paint and let it dry - often the water needs to evaporate fully to 'see' the paint colour. It's easy to add another thin coat, but too thick a coat of paint will obscure the details and give chalky appearance I've found
    4) Relax your shoulders and try to enjoy it. If it ain't working do something else and come back when your heart rate has slowed down a bit. Pulling your shoulders up to your ears when you are concentrating will cause the shakes - not good for details. ;)
    5) A tiny amount of glaze medium or similar in the paint will stop it drying on the brush before you get to the eye

    Finally remember you can always repaint if they're not quite right. I often re-do eyes so don't feel they have to be right first time (always nice when they are)

    Should be enough to go along with, but post some pictures and folks'll be happy to offer suggestions. I've added a few of mine to give you an idea (all 54's)
    Cheers
    Paul

    Little girl face.jpg Venator close up.jpg eyes 1.jpg

    ps - there's a great face painting article in the 'articles' section which has some good tips for painting eyes as well
  7. blf New Member

    Thanks AWESOME info & great pics ---- #3 is funny as I totally get tense when doing the pupil :0 Right, I'm supposed to be enjoying this haha

    You know I really would love some tips on thinning the paint. I use Game Air, Model Air (airbrush and brush) and like my model color bottles for better coverage. I have been using flesh tone washes over a lighter flesh base on my faces & like the results, just want to keep improving. I can see this forum is going to be immensely helpful.

    As far as re-painting the eyes, do you mean strip and repaint? I have been assembling, priming black then JUST airbrushing the face and doing the eyes first so I can strip the figure without wasting all the time of doing the rest of the figure if I screw up. I'll post a few of my first attempts
    Nap and Chris Oldfield like this.
  8. Chris Oldfield A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Another method I've used on 54mm & 1/35 figures (like you, I do AFVs as well so need crew figures for them) is to paint the eye first with a black or dark chocolate brown tone, then when it's dry take a fine brush (000 works best for me) or a toothpick shaved down to a fine point, & place a small dot of Sunny Skintone or Off White in the corners of the eye - in 54mm or 1/35 not too much white of the eye is visible, avoiding the pop-eyed look.
    Once this is dry I'll either leave the pupil as brown, or put another dot of mid-blue in its centre if a want a blue eyed boy.
    Finally, mix a light wash of Cavalry Brown or Pink & fill the eye area with it until the white area doesn't look so stark. If you mix the wash thin enough, you'll need several applications of this until you're happy with the effect.

    One last thing - with Vallejo paints or acrylics in general, I never thin them with tap water. I always use filtered water as the water supply where I live (South Wiltshire/North Dorset) is very hard & chalky, so filtered water takes away these impurities & avoids the possibility of tide marks with washes or those pesky white spots you can see when the paint's dried fully. It also cleans your brushes better, IMHO.

    Good Luck!
    Chris.
    MattMcK. and Nap like this.
  9. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi btf

    Great to see you posting your very welcome and to see you using the forum to get information as well

    Great response as well from members

    I can't really comment as I just paint busts ..eyes bigger ! but I paint eyes first then use flesh base to cut in

    There is a SBS on eyes in the Articles tab ( at top of pages )

    Happy painting

    Nap
  10. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
  11. Blind Pew A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Everybody struggles with eyes. Getting eyes right is crucial to doing a good figure, and can make or break an otherwise decent job.

    One's eyes immediately gravitate towards the face on 95% figures. And are drawn to the figure's eyes in particular. I believe a figure's eyes are a very important aspect of what you're trying to get a figure to 'say'.

    I have often struggled with eyes and for a while had a bit of a crisis of confidence with it. One thing I do these days is to often do the eyes first. That way if you've made a real balls up, you can do whatever you need to do to correct any issues, without impacting on stuff you've already done.

    I often paint a figure's left eye upside down to stop the nose getting in the way...
    MattMcK. likes this.
  12. Mirofsoft A Fixture

    Country:
    Belgium
    Personaly, when painting eyes, I work with the figurine head down feet up . I have the impression ( right or wrong ?? ) to have more place to access/see what I'm doing
  13. DaddyO A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom

    That reminded me of a tip I forgot to add -

    If you are right handed paint the left eyeball first which means the brush isn't blocking what you are trying to copy (obviously reverse if you are a lefty) Or you can turn the figure upside down as Mirosoft says, but sometimes the peak gets in the way when the figure is held upside down

    Happy painting whichever way up you are :LOL:
    Paul

    ps
    Incidentally I rarely do the face and eyes first. Pretty much when you've invested the time in the rest of the figure you HAVE to get the face right - love a bit of pressure :D
  14. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Get somebody else to do it!
    Steve
    Babelfish, Blind Pew and DaddyO like this.
  15. theBaron A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Yes, good point to bring up, to hold the figure upside-down. I do that, too, as necessary.

    Prost!
    Brad
  16. blf New Member

    Brad ! ---- OPTIVISOR is a total gamechanger for me :0 Brilliant ! I got the 10 inch focal length, 2x and already re doing the eyes on my last two. Thanks sooooooo much for the advice all. To anyone not using an optivisor, can't recommend it highly enough.

    I'll still do the eyes first though haha ---- too much pressure at the end
  17. pkessling Active Member

    I always painted the eyes first. For me, they are the “soul” of the figure, much as in real life. They have to be right.
    I always painted the eyeball itself with a very light flesh color, never white. I used wooden tooth picks that were sanded down to an appropriate size for the irises and the pupils. Darker red-brown for the upper eyelid/eyelash. I preferred a lighter reddish/flesh color to define the lower edge of the eye. Too dark just doesn’t look right to me. Look at your own eyes in the mirror. I preferred using acrylics on the eyeballs themselves because I could quickly repaint if necessary. Everything else done in oils.
    Blind Pew, Chris Oldfield and DaddyO like this.
  18. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Eye decals if you want to cheat a bit.

    I've seen some perfect eyes magnified up in photos of 54mm figures and I remain sceptical that anyone can paint perfect pupils and irises that small. Even master painters. I remain convinced that most (if not all) such examples are "undeclared decals". And of course there's also Photoshop and similar jiggery-pokery.

    The very best painters with the steadiest hands might be able to get somewhere thereabouts. But eye perfection in 54mm? Nah.

    Steve
    Blind Pew and Chris Oldfield like this.
  19. Chris Oldfield A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    I must admit to having some Archer eyeball decals in various scales in my bits box, & yes they do look very nice on the sheet.
    But I’ve never had the bottle to use them yet, because it’s easy to make a mess of them.
    Maybe one day I’ll try them out.....

    In the meantime I’ll stick with some of the methods listed in this thread, because they’re just as quick.
    Blind Pew likes this.
  20. yellowcat A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    This may help.


    eyes.jpg
    Blind Pew likes this.

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